Nuclear shuts up haters, gets big win for Damwon at LoL Worlds 2019

Sin “Nuclear” Jeong-hyeon is looking to shut his doubters up. The Damwon Gaming bottom laner outperformed Invictus Gaming in their matchup at the 2019 League of Legends World Championship.

Nuclear has been considered Damwon’s weak link for the longest time. The bottom laner can struggle in lane and has made some questionable decisions in key team fights. That hasn’t changed at Worlds, as Nuclear looked shaky in his first two games.

He started turning things around at the expense of face Yu “JackeyLove” Wen-Bo.

Damwon gains a winning record at Invictus Gaming’s expense

Kim “Canyon” Geon-bu’s pathing enabled Nuclear in the early game. The jungler on Taliyah scored effective ganks early that helped Nuclear get an advantage over the enemy duo. Nuclear took full advantage of the jungler’s attention and used it to win the lane. Nuclear styled on JackeyLove with a solo kill that set the mood for the rest of the match.

In the top lane, Jang “Nuguri” Ha-gwon proved the strength of Kleptomancy against one of its biggest detractors, Kang “TheShy” Seung-lok. IG’s top laner has been vocal about his dislike for the rune and particularly Nuguri’s use of it. TheShy said that Nuguri is the kind of player that he dislikes because he calls for ganks too often. This time around, Canyon left Nuguri to his own devices during the laning phase so it was a pure one-versus-one situation.

Damwon showed a massive improvement against Invictus Gaming, the team was disciplined and didn’t fall into their old habits. The squad played around their vision, focusing in on objectives and avoiding unnecessary skirmishes. On IG’s side, TheShy did his best to get his team back into the game. He showed his proficiency on Akali, a champion that he doesn’t play too often.

Despite his best efforts, Nuclear helped Damwon maintain its lead en route to victory.

This result blows Group D wide open, leaving first place up for grabs. The first half of the round robin is likely to end in a three way tie between IG, Damwon, and Team Liquid.

Group D will return to the stage on October 20.