After getting swept by Team Korea the day before, Team China’s only chance of securing a medal was in the third-place match, this time against Team Vietnam.
Fielding players from the VCS, Team Vietnam surprised by taking game one. LPL’s persistence and prowess however, shone through the next two games. Despite being on the defensive, they managed to close out game three with patience for the 2-1 victory and the bronze medal.
Team China versus Team Vietnam was a super exciting series filled with non-stop team fights
Team Vietnam surprised not only because they managed to win game one — but also because they did it by drafting the double AD carry composition that Team China used unsuccessfully the day before against Team Korea.
Led by head coach and former LPL pro player Lê “SofM” Quang Duy, Vietnam drafted Renekton, Maokai, Tristana mid, Kai’Sa, and Sett support in game one, while Team China went for K’Sante, Wukong, Neeko, Aphelios, and Nautilus.
Vietnam surprised in the early game, proactively rotating around the map to pick off champions in all lanes, putting themselves up four kills to one. By mid-game, they had double the kills, and had secured the first two dragons.
After successfully isolating two opponents in the mid lane, they immediately grabbed an uncontested Baron at the 20-minute mark, which China traded for an Infernal Dragon.
Riding on momentum, they never lifted their foot off the pedal and ended game one in 27 minutes with both Đặng “Kati” Thanh Phê’s Tristana and Trần “Artemis” Quốc Hưng’s Kai’Sa dealing more than 13,000 damage each.
On blue side, Team China bounced back in game two. They first-picked Renekton, added on the beef with Sejuani and Braum, then drafted a high poke damage backline comprising Jayce and Ashe.
Team Vietnam on red side took a page from their counterparts in game one with K’Sante, Wukong, and Neeko, combined with Xayah and Alistar for bot lane.
Putting Bilibili Gaming’s Peng “Xun” Li-Xun on Sejuani, Team China had much more control in game two by ganking mid lane and leading the charge in team fights. This resulted in Zhuo “knight” Ding’s Jayce reaping three kills.
At the 17-minute mark, Team Vietnam made a mistake: they wanted to down mid lane’s first-tier turret, but ended up diving too deep in between two towers. Their Chinese opponents punished them hard, cutting off their retreat with teleports, putting themselves up 11 kills to four with a 7,000 gold lead.
Running away with the game, Team China ended the bloodbath in 25 minutes with 23 kills to six. Knight found himself on top of the scoreboard holding an impressive 12/1/19 KDA.
Team Vietnam went back on blue side in game three, drafting Renekton, Wukong, Syndra, Zeri, and Rakan, while Team China relied on Jax, Viego, Neeko, Xayah, and Rell.
Team China led by five kills to two in the early game, diving top lane to get Chen “Bin” Ze-Bin’s Jax ahead. This definitely paid off as Renekton could not hold his own anymore.
Nonetheless, Team Vietnam found opportunities elsewhere on the map, forcing constant exchanges across the Rift. Throughout the mid game, the gold was neck and neck, with no clear winner in sight.
Heading into the late game, Vietnam picked off three in the mid lane, took down the second-tier mid turret, and went for an early Baron, breaking the standstill and nabbing a 4,000 gold lead.
However, they were their own enemy. They instigated a fight at red side raptors deep in their enemy’s jungle and overstretched at that choke point. Their opponents used the terrain to peel back and escape death, then completely turned the tides.
Taking down three, Team China got a free, uncontested Baron and never looked back. With the buff, they won a second team fight before plowing down mid lane to end the series 2-1 and win the bronze medal for their country.
This is China’s second League of Legends esports medal. They took home gold at the 2018 Asian Games by defeating Team Korea 3-1.
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