Through the eyes of Korean high elo: metagames

It seems every League of Legends server has a few habits/meta-games of their own. Ranging from champion picks, level one strategies, and objective control, these differences may confuse players who are used to a different type of meta-game. While the EU and NA regions are pretty similar in their approach to the game (Morgana support is popular in both, for example), I’ve found pretty big gaps between the meta-game in Korea and NA. For example, Korea likes to group at level 1 and fight. Top laners rarely ever go top before the 1:55 game-time mark. Instead, they group up for a fight around bottom side and try to get a few trades in, hoping for the enemy to use a summoner spell or to acquire a kill. Nmare, a Diamond 1 player in Korea, explains the psychological side of this.

(See: Through the eyes of Korean high-elo: the Korean LoL server mentality)

We want to finish the game fast, so we all in. You know that one game we played and we got first blood and they gave up? We can almost always predict that they will give up on early game. Before they patched the first blood, it was Korea’s strongest point. First blood gave away 450 gold. It was such a great feeling. If we get first blood, it helps the morale. In China, Vietnam, and Taiwan they do the same thing.

For some, it’s just a thing that’s been going on for a while, and they refuse to stop doing it. However, Support-nim Mikaels Please, a Diamond 3 player, claims it’s about morale.

I feel a rush through first blood. In the case of Solo Queue, Koreans have a weak mentality (a word Koreans use for morale), so it’s easy to break it by taking a first blood. They say that League of Legends is a game of mentality. You can use first blood as a way to attack the enemy’s mentality.

As some use first-blood as a way to attack the opponent’s morale, some (like Silver Ring, a Diamond 1 player) still see first blood as a cookie-cutter strategy that is worth the effort.

I don’t think people say “Lets fight level 1 no matter what!” Instead, it’s a more careful process. We compare our own level 1 against the enemy and try to group first to get an advantage. I’m sure there are those who group defensively to fend off an attack. Whoever is stronger during the level 1 fight has an easier time controlling the buffs. I think the importance of level 1 lies in that: advantage.

One thing remains the same through all these replies, though. Everyone groups during level 1 at start. Recently, I played on the North American server and I was surprised to see that people weren’t grouping at the start. Instead, they took a more defensive opening; they spread their players apart throughout the map to watch for invades. I asked my friend Shinto (a Diamond 4 jungler in NA) about this.

Yeah no one in NA wants to invade. A lot of times, people aren’t even in game. They’re just minimized, because nothing ever happens.