The League of Legends (LoL) national team won its first-ever gold medal at the Hangzhou 2022 Asian Games (AG) on Monday, despite a number of “favouring China” controversies. LoL team defeated Chinese Taipei 2:0 in straight sets in the final at the Hangzhou Esports Centre in Hangzhou, China .The Hangzhou AG, the first time esports has been included as an official sport, was mired in controversy even before it opened, with allegations of favouritism towards the host nation. Most notably, the version of LoL used for the tournament was version 13.12, an older version introduced in June .With each patch, LoL makes significant adjustments to the overall game balance, including the performance of the game’s 160-plus “champions,” or characters that players choose to play each game. The current version is 13.19, which was released on the 27th.Changes in balance naturally lead to changes in strategy, but the problem is that the version of the patch that Hangzhou AG will use wasn’t released at all until earlier this month, and the team reportedly struggled to practice in the early stages of the organisation. On the other hand, there have been multiple allegations that China went straight into training camp after finishing their domestic league and had been practising with version 13.12 for a month beforehand .South Korea’s poor group stage and quarter-final performances have also come under scrutiny .From the group stage to the quarter-final against Saudi Arabia, South Korea played in the Hangzhou Esports Centre auxiliary stadium, which was cramped and difficult to cover. The condition of the auxiliary stadium was described as “worse than a neighbourhood PC shop” by domestic broadcasters and fans alike. The hosts, on the other hand, played their quarter-final against Macau at the main stadium .Speaking to reporters after the win over Saudi Arabia on 27 July, national team coach Kim Jung-gyun expressed concern that China had experienced the main stadium first, while Korea had not .Despite the fans’ concerns, South Korea defeated China in straight sets 2:0 in the quarter-final match the previous day to reach the final. China settled for the bronze medal after beating Vietnam 2:1 in straight sets in the 안전놀이터 third-place match earlier in the day.
