Back from a small break, the League of Legends Champions Korea just wrapped up its fourth week of the 2022 spring split. With COVID-19 cases impacting many teams, this week was interesting for many squads and proved to be beneficial for a lot of the middle of the pack ones. Here are the lessons we learned from Week 4 of the LCK 2022 spring split.
DRX emerge from the middle of the pack
DRX started off the LCK 2022 spring split with more of the same when they began with a poor 0-3 record. However, since the middle of Week 2, DRX has not dropped a single series. In fact, they are the second hottest team in the LCK only behind the undefeated T1 squad. DRX came into Week 4 riding a three-series win streak. Which put them in the middle of the pack standings-wise in the LCK. In Week 4, they had an opportunity to break free from the four-way tie in the standings and they took full advantage of that.
In their opening match against KT Rolster, a team they were tied with, DRX were forced to field almost their entire academy roster due to four of their starters contracting Covid-19. The only starter that played in the KT series was their veteran bot laner Kim “Deft” Hyuk-kyu. It turns out that’s all they needed as they managed to pull out the victory in 2-1 fashion. Deft was able to take one of the two player of the game honors in that series.
In their next series against Hanwha Life Esports, DRX had their entire starting roster back and it was still the Deft show. DRX needed three games to put HLE away, but in the two games DRX won Deft was the MVP. He picked up both player of the game honors. With a spectacular week for Deft, he now sits in second place in the player of the game standings with five as DRX head into Week 5 with a five-series win streak which is now good enough for fourth in the standings.
Showmaker and Canyon carrying DK on their back
The current DWG KIA team playing in the LCK is a far cry from the team that was in back-to-back world finals over the last two years. With Kim “Khan” Dong-ha gone and their bot lane reformed, the only two members of the team that were a part of both of DK’s finals teams are Heo “ShowMaker” Su and Kim “Canyon” Geon-bu. Although the excuse could be made that they is going through growing pains, DK shockingly came into Week 4 of the LCK 2022 spring split with a poor 3-3 record. They did end Week 3 on a somewhat high note as they pushed T1 to Game 3 before losing the series. In Week 4 they left on an even higher note.
DK had two matches in the fourth week of the regular season. They played against the two worst teams in the league in Liiv SANDBOX and Kwangdong Freecs. Fortunately for DK, they had no problems dispatching the two bottom dwellers. They swept them both to go 2-0 on the week. But the telling signs of their games was that their two superstars are at the forefront of DK’s success.
Over the four games played, the player of the game honors for DK were split between only Showmaker and Canyon. Heading into Week 5, Canyon leads all players in the player of the game standings with eight, ShowMaker has three and no one else on DK has more than one.
T1 needs to watch their back for Gen.G
T1 came into Week 4 of the LCK 2022 spring split securely in first place. After all, they were undefeated in matches, sitting at a 6-0 record. They also had a clean 13-3 game record showing that their lone move in the offseason was paying off. However, with the rise in Covid-19 cases plaguing LCK having rosters, many teams were forced to field incomplete rosters for the fourth week of the regular season. One team that didn’t have to was T1. However, they played like a team that did.
In their opening match against the bottom-dwelling Hanwha Life Esports, T1 actually dropped the first game of the series in 32 minutes. It was their new top laner Choi “Zeus” Woo-je who replaced Kim “Canna” Chang-dong in the offseason that came up short as his lane opponent, Lee “DuDu” Dong-ju carried HLE to the Game 1 victory. T1 cleaned up in Game 2 but struggled to put away HLE in Game 3 as it took T1 46 minutes to secure the series win.
In their second match of Week 4, T1 went up against a battered Gen.G squad, a team that was forced to field three replacement players. In what should of been the battle of the two best teams, the match looked like anything but. T1 might of picked up the 2-0 sweep, but it was ugly. Mid lane superstar Jeong “Chovy” Ji-hoon had to play top lane for Gen.G in their series against T1. With his Tryndamere pick, it took T1 45 minutes to put down Gen.G. Game 2 was more methodical for T1 but Gen.G stuck around. They fought hard against the No. 1 team in the LCK despite their best player lane swapping and having three subs.
It was not a good week for T1, but if this is the T1 that plays going forward, Gen.G with their starting roster is in a prime position to take over.
