In League of Legends, the international tournament “The First Stand” is currently taking place. A team from the supposedly weakest region in LoL, Southeast Asia, has become the surprise of the tournament: CTBC Flying Oyster from Taiwan. The team won today, on March 14th, against the favorites from China, Top Esports, and not by a narrow margin, but clearly. This is shaking up the world of LoL.
This is what the team from Taiwan has accomplished: CTBC Flying Oyster has won 3 out of their 4 games at The First Stand. They defeated Karmine Corp from Europe and Team Liquid from the USA.
The most surprising is today’s clear victory against Top Esports, the favorites from China, who have disappointed across the board. The Chinese team is actually excellently staffed, with stars like Kanavi or JackeyLove gathering much experience, even at the international level, and they were able to win the Chinese league LPL in Split 1 2025.
However, they had to clearly accept defeat against the underdog from Taiwan with 3-19 and 12-21 today.
Surprise victory from Taiwan saves the European team from embarrassment
These effects it has on the tournament progress: The final results of the group matches are not yet set, as the US team, Team Liquid, still has to play against the team from Korea. But if Hanwha Life (South Korea) wins this match, which is expected, then the tournament would proceed as follows:
- The European team Karmine Corp would advance to the playoffs despite a catastrophic start to the tournament, because they unexpectedly defeated Top Esports and at least won one match against the overpowering South Koreans
- The US team Team Liquid would be eliminated
The USA is eliminated in LoL – Europe is luckily in the semifinals against Taiwan
Update March 14th, 14:35: It has now been decided:
- Team Liquid is eliminated
- In the 1st semifinal on Saturday, Hanwha Life plays against Top Esports
- In the 2nd semifinal, Karmine Corp faces the team from Taiwan
- On Sunday it will be decided who wins the tournament and the $300,000 prize money
Meta change in LoL apparently becomes a problem for China
This is how it is commented: On reddit, the Chinese from Top Esports are being mocked harshly. This is a drop in performance that is hardly explainable. Apparently, Top Esports benefited during the season in China from the “Laneswap” meta which has now been banned. Individually, the players have disappointed a lot in the tournament.
Some joke that after a defeat against Taiwan, the players wouldn’t even be allowed back into China. A loss against Taiwan would likely be unforgivable for Chinese fans.
But there is also much praise for the underdogs from Taiwan, who played a fantastically good and innovative game of LoL. It is said that one can learn a lot from the players from Taiwan. However, we are still owed the star appearance of Teemo at this event: Pro in LoL considers playing the impossible champ to surprise the stars from Asia
