Taipei: Taiwan's League of Legends team is setting its sights on securing at least a silver medal at the upcoming Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, with gold being the ultimate ambition, head coach Chen "Warhorse" Ju-chih announced on Monday. Following their silver medal achievement at the Hangzhou Asian Games in 2023, Coach Chen is determined not to let the team fall short of this benchmark.
According to Focus Taiwan, Chen expressed his hopes for the team saying, "I hope we can at least win silver and then find a way to compete for gold." While China, a traditional force in the game, will not be competing in the League of Legends event, Taiwan views South Korea as the team to beat. However, Chen noted that Vietnam presents an immediate challenge, given that four players on Vietnam's roster are part of his team at Team Secret Whales (TSW), which has dominated the League of Legends Championship Pacific (LCP) throughout 2026.
The LCP tournament comprises competitors from Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau, Japan, South Asia, Southeast Asia, and Oceania. Chen acknowledged the challenge posed by Vietnam, stating, "They have played together for nearly two years, so we have to get past Vietnam before talking about how to beat South Korea." He believes that his familiarity with the Vietnamese players' style and strategy will work to Taiwan's advantage.
The team's preparations for the Asian Games face complications due to the club commitments of key players like jungler Yu "JunJia" Jun-jia and mid laner Tsai "HongQ" Ming-hung, who both play for JD Gaming in China's League of Legends Pro League (LPL). The full squad might have less than a week to practice together before their departure on September 27, although the available players have already been training at the LCP arena for about two weeks.
The remaining players, each from different LCP teams, include top laner Chen "1Jiang" Yi-chin, AD carry Chiu "Doggo" Tzu-chuan, and supports Lin "Woody" Yu-en and Liu "ShiauC" Jia-hao. Notably, Chiu is the only returning player from the Hangzhou Games. Coach Chen will be leading Taiwan at the Asian Games for the third time, having previously coached during the 2018 Jakarta Asian Games demonstration event and the Hangzhou Games.
The competition will feature eight teams playing best-of-one round-robin matches in two groups from September 29-30, with the top two teams from each group advancing. The best-of-three semifinals are scheduled for October 1, followed by a best-of-five final on October 2.