Longzhu Gaming made short work of the ROX Tigers in a swift, 2-0 sweep in Seoul, South Korea on Tuesday to close out Week 8, Day 1 of League of Legends Champions Korea.
Game 1 of this series was the definition of a slow burn for Longzhu. While it bounced back from giving up the first blood by securing the Rift Herald then winning a 3-for-2 teamfight win at 14 minutes, it started to give up kills to ROX. Pushing the Tigers ahead was mid laner Kim "Lava" Tae-hoon's Syndra, who had three kills by the time 23 minutes had passed. Despite being down in terms of kills, all it took was one fruitful engagement for Longzhu to get right back into the swing of things. A 4-for-2 teamfight win at 26 minutes gave Longzhu the impressive snowball it had been waiting for, as it started winning fights decisively and picking up more objectives. On the back of mid laner Kwak "Bdd" Bo-seong's 7/0/5 KDA (kills/deaths/assists) on Taliyah, Longzhu snagged the 34-minute win.
Game 2 showcased a massive lull in action after ROX picked up the first blood at four minutes, there were no kills from either side for almost 20 minutes. During that time, Longzhu showed off its strong macro play by taking objectives across the map, building a sizeable lead even in the absence of kills. Longzhu finally got on the board when Bdd secured a pick on support Kim "Key" Han-gi's Taric with his Orianna. Just a few minutes after this, Longzhu exploded with a 5-for-1 teamfight win out of nowhere, led by AD carry Kim "PraY" Jong-in who grabbed a triple kill in the fight. With the skirmish taking place right at the doorstep of ROX's base, it was no issue whatsoever for Longzhu to simply stroll right into the base and lock up the 25-minute win.