The LCK took the Worlds quarterfinals by storm, with T1, DRX and Gen.G taking three of the four wins and leaving JDG as the lone LPL representatives
With the group stage over, it was time to see which of the top 8 teams at Worlds was truly worthy of being the best. After a pretty disastrous week two for the western teams, seven out of the eight playoff teams were LCK or LPL representatives - and Rogue, the lone LEC survivor, looked a bit shaky. Still, no Worlds tournament ever goes without some surprises, and the quarterfinals gave us some pretty unforgettable bouts. Let’s get into it:
JD Gaming 3-0 Rogue
With Rogue struggling in the second week of groups and JD Gaming coming as the champion of the LPL and first in their group, things were looking grim for Rogue - and they were. The LEC champions did have a good start in the opening game, but as it went on JDG’s better vision game and strong teamfighting execution proved telling. The Chinese team went on to have a better beginning in the next game, and while Rogue drafted to scale, they were unable to stay close enough for it to matter. Now two games down, the European representatives had a much better showing in game 3 with several early kills, but once more JD Gaming dictated the pace in the mid-game. Rogue were very competitive in the mid lane where Emil "Larssen" Larsson fought tooth and nail, but 369’s topside dominance was telling and their bot lane was not able to fully carry.
You will be missed New York #Worlds2022 pic.twitter.com/4muyDq561a
— Rogue (@Rogue) October 22, 2022
T1 3-0 Royal Never Give Up
We expected a very heated battle from the two teams that delivered a five-game series at the MSI finals, but in the first game, T1 looked on a different level. They remained ahead for the majority of the first game, eventually taking over after a desperate RNG engage. The LPL representatives came back a lot stronger, however, and dominated for the first half hour of the second game, but the Baron going to T1 delayed the game and 37 minutes in, they won a heroic teamfight near the Elder Dragon to turn the game around. This shook the Chinese team and despite an okay start, they quickly fell behind. The LCK finalists never gave them a chance to come back and stamped their semifinals ticket with a clear 3-0
Gen.G 3-2 DWG KIA
After two sweeps, it was time to have a close series and the two LCK teams gave us just that. Gen.G took the first blood after a close early game turned into a rout after several key mid-game fights. The second game started poorly for the LCK champions but they fought back and despite some great teamfighting by DWG KIA mid laner Heo "ShowMaker" Su after over 40 minutes of play found a clean ace that put them on match point. Damwon were not ready to go home just yet, however, and Showmaker put on his carry pats for game 3 with a massive Swain performance that saw his team end in just over 25 minutes.The fourth game saw them once more take charge of the game and, after a massive Aphelios ult, take down the enemy Nexus to tie the series. The decide game saw the two teams once more go the distance as Damwon fought their way back after a poor start, but just as they seemed to have Gen.G cornered near the Baron the LCK champions had an amazing teamfight to win the game - and the series - in style.
DRX 3-2 EDward Gaming
In the last series of the weekend, DRX took on EDward Gaming. The LPL team wn the opening game with a very strong performance by mid laner Lee "Scout" Ye-chan, before putting their fans on a rollercoaster in game 2 where they narrowly avoided defeat when Kim "Deft" Hyuk-kyu sought to take down their base only for the inhibitor respawn to prevent the last attack. This overextension allowed EDG to get to 2-0, but DRX were not done. Deft redeemed themselves with a clutch Draven performance in the third game and the LCK team secured the win in a very contested game 5 to tie the series. In the decisive game, their mid laner Kim "Zeka" Geon-woo lead the charge with multiple 1v1 kills against his counterpart and despite EDG fighting back hard, the LCK team took the win to complete the reverse sweep.
Read More About Worlds:
- LoL Worlds 2022 Main Phase: Schedule, Live-Stream & Scores
- Worlds Groups MVP: JDG 369
- The Best and Worst of the Worlds Groups, Part 2
Worlds continues from 11 pm on Saturday, October 29th. JDG will defend the honor of the LPL against a T1 that has looked stronger with every week. Don’t miss it!