Longzhu Gaming came out strong on Tuesday with a dominating 2-0 sweep over the Spring Split runner-up in KT Rolster on the opening day of the 2017 League of Legends Champions Korea Summer Split in Seoul, South Korea.
With Longzhu fielding three new players in its starting lineup this split, questions arose about how the new unit filled with rookies was going to perform. Longzhu answered critics with strong performances from top laner Kim "Khan" Dong-ha's Jarvan IV and mid laner Kwak "Bdd" Bo-seong's Orianna. From the outset of Game 1, Khan and his Jarvan IV fit Longzhu's pick-focused team composition extremely well. While his teammates landed crowd control left and right, Khan put himself in the middle of every fight to tank and deal tons of damage while also putting together an MVP-garnering 5/3/9 KDA (kills/deaths/assists). Bdd did his part with pinpoint Command: Shockwaves and high damage output, posting a flawless 6/0/5 KDA and helping Longzhu control the game and lock up the 38-minute win.
If it ain't broke, don't fix it - Khan and Bdd were on the same champions for the second game. Bdd's play on Orianna in Game 2 was what put Longzhu ahead. His lane opponent, KT mid laner Heo "PawN" Won-seok, went with Fizz for this game and was abused throughout the match by Bdd from the very start. PawN missed far too many Chum the Waters to be very effective, which, combined with Longzhu's merciless camp in the mid lane, led to a plethora of deaths. Bdd, on the other hand, was on point for the match, utilizing his full kit to shred KT in fights while dealing a game-high 18,400 damage to enemy champions. The high damage, coupled with his 6/0/5 KDA, earned Bdd MVP honors and gave Longzhu an easy 32-minute victory to secure the first sweep of the 2017 Summer Split.