HANJIN BRION took down Beijing JDG Esports in a one-game match at Demacia, and the win ran through GIDEON. His Lee Sin finished 6/1/9, had a hand in 15 of the team's 18 kills, and died only once. Teddy matched that discipline on Miss Fortune at 5/1/9, staying alive long enough to keep pouring out damage in the fights that mattered. Behind them, Namgung's Nautilus racked up 12 assists and Roamer's Ryze added 3/2/11, giving BRION a front line and a mid laner who were always part of the play.

The map told the same story as the scoreboard. BRION secured four dragons to JDG's two, took both Barons, and finished 18 kills to 10. Casting's Jayce was the most aggressive piece at 6/4/9, trading a few deaths for constant pressure from the top side. With every neutral objective that decided the late game in their hands, BRION ended with a lead of roughly 8,000 gold and seven towers down. It was an upset on paper, with BRION sitting ten places below JDG in the rankings, but nothing about how they played looked lucky.

JDG were not outclassed everywhere. xiaofang's Pantheon was their best player by a distance at 7/6/2, landing seven of the team's ten kills, and JDG still destroyed six towers, so they found real openings. The problem was conversion. GALA's Ezreal went 0/2/4 and never got rolling as a carry, Vampire's Karma died four times, and Xiaoxu's Yorick ended at 2/6/5 as the side lane pressure dried up. Without Baron and losing the dragon count, JDG ran out of ways to stop BRION's push.