China leads group A after defeating SKT T1, while EU shows the weakest performance and TSM comes out with a 1-1 score.
The first game of the night would be none other than the American fan favorites 'Team Solomid' against 'GG.Eu.' The drafting advantage went heavily in favor of Team Solomid, with the team grabbing some of their favorites including Corki, Shen, and Zed. A mishapped dragon fight would swing Team Solomid way in the lead, but GG.Eu caught back up with counter-ganks and the first tower.
As the game shifted into midgame, WildTurtle would prove to be an absolute monster. The tri-force buff definitely aided TSM in this game as WildTurtle went legendary in under 25 minutes. Shredding the team apart with the help of Xpecial's passive magic pen and astounding play himself, TSM were able to close out the game in a convincing manner. This marked the very first win on the world stage.
In a matchup that some would consider a one-sided stomp, Lemondogs countered the supposed "underdog syndrome" with tactical genius. With an early first blood followed by initial map control, Lemondogs were looking at an early 4-1 lead against SKT T1. However, the outcome of a game is determined by much more than early laning. SKT T1 would quickly bring their wits and turn things around.
A game that was once lead by Lemondogs slowly started snowballing out of control in favor of SKT T1, and Faker started working his magic. Piglet brought an equal amount of pain, largely being ignored in favor of shutting down the very infamous Faker. Faker brought a level of damage unseen by most other Ahris in the world, probably warranting him a ban for the rest of the tournament on that hero.
Perhaps one of the most anticipated spectacles of the night, OMG tackled down TSM. TSM had a decent early game, but the heart of the team was having major problems. We saw in the past that Reginald did not have superb play on Fizz and he decided to pick him against arguably the strongest mid laner of all of China. While Reginald suffered punishment for this decision, we saw TheOddOne have one of the best jungle games he's had in a long time.
Though Team Solomid suffered from starving solo laners, TheOddOne secured a nearly impossible baron steal which kept TSM in the game much longer than anyone would have suspected. Catching OMG in tight corridors allowed Team Solomid to give OMG a bit of their own medicine, but it wasn't enough to close the deficit. Ultimiately, TSM almost crafted a difficult comeback, but OMG kept strong and swept the game.
Lemondogs vs. Gaming Gear Eu was the by far the biggest washover in Worlds thus far. Coming back for vengeance after a loss to SKT T1, even following an early lead, Lemondog were looking for a win and took all of their issues out on the once potential dark horse of the tournament. GGEU were having trouble keeping up in pace with Lemondogs' preparation.
As the game progressed, GG.Eu made some decent plays, but again, just could not keep up with the speed at which Lemondogs was rotating and securing objectives. Individually, only Zorozero was being contested with the other lanes losing individually. Eventually, GG.Eu fell face first in just about every category compared to LemonDogs and suffered a decisive defeat.
The clash of the group A titans commenced with some interesting bans, starting with Vi from OMG. OMG would shock the world by pulling out a very early 3 minute tower dive, putting San in a huge lead in a rather disadvantageous lane. Despite SKT being behind in gold, Faker made his trademark plays and took out Cool. Throughout most of the game, he was unkillable as well as being the kill-holder for every death on OMG.
As time went on, the gap between OMG vs. SKT T1 grew insurmountably high and their lead over SKT T1 was actually broader than it was in their game against TSM. With San's strange Sorc' Shoes Corki and their awesome disruption, SKT T1 fell victim to the first major upset of the tournament.
