DAMWON KIA locked a semifinal spot, sweeping MAD Lions in the Sunday quarterfinals. The LCK champions continue their undefeated run into the semifinals, where they will face T1.
After T1 and EDG secured their semifinal seeds, Sunday saw the third semifinal between LCK champion DWG KIA and LEC champions MAD Lions.The Korean team came into this series a heavy favorite, leaving their group with a 6-0 record. MAD, meanwhile, came out from a very contested series where they ended in second place after some very up and down performances.
The two teams already clashed this year at MSI. Then, the LCK champions won 2-0 in the groups and 3-2 in the quarterfinals. Would MAD be able to pull off the crazy upset or would DWG triumphantly proceed to their showdown with T1?
A Clean Sweep
The two teams came out to deliver a mostly even early game before a 2-0 and a dragon opened a gold lead for DAMWON. They quickly shut MAD out of the game and another 2-0 fight just before the 20-minute mark resulted in an early Baron. The LEC champions had no presence on the map and while it took another Baron buff to end the game, the outcome was clear.
Game two started in a much better way for the Lions, who focused the top lane and found several early kills, amassing a 3.5K gold lead just 10 minutes in. DK’s only point of power was Heo "ShowMaker" Su’s Azir, but they did not give up easily. The LCK team managed to equalize the game, but MAD remained in the fight. In the end, despite falling behind early Kim "Khan" Dong-ha’s Kennen secured DAMWON the decisive fight and the second win.
The favorites did not relent, keeping up the early pressure in the third game. They exploited MAD’s weaker top side picks and quickly zoomed ahead in kills and gold, getting a nearly 10K gold lead after an ace 20 minutes. However, a heroic fight for MAD a few minutes later saw them get four kills back and secure the Baron, allowing them to scale for some very even 15 minutes. However, a great teamfight for the infernal soul ended in an ace for DAMWON - and that was all they needed to close the game out.
Read more:
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