Lessons Learned from Week 7 of the LCK 2022 spring split

Week 7 of the League of Legends Champions Korea 2022 spring split has come and gone; deflation after Covid-19 ruined another marquee matchup, leaving more questions than answers. However, here are the lessons we learned from Week 7 of the LCK 2022 spring split.

We need to see T1 vs Gen.G for real

T1 entered and came out of Week 7 of the LCK 2022 spring split undefeated. At their current pace, they are likely to end up with the first undefeated season in LCK history, as their toughest matchups are now behind them. However, there is a slight asterisk next to their mark. This is because in their two matches against their actual toughest opponent, Gen.G, T1 had a significant advantage due to COVID-19. In the first match, Gen.G were playing with three sub-players due to some starters contracting COVID-19. In Week 7 COVID-19 struck Gen.G once again, this time with their star bot laner Park “Ruler” Jae-hyuk being ruled out. Guess who T1 played in Week 7.

Just like the previous result, T1 defeated Gen.G handily, as Gen.G fielded a mid-lane sub to fill in as their bot laner’s replacement. There is no blaming T1, as it was out of their hands and they can only play the team that shows up against them. However, everyone watching T1’s streak will have to wait until playoffs to potentially see if they’re actually as good as their undefeated record says they are.

The LCK has developed a simple hierarchy

On the side of Gen.G, two of their only three losses have come against T1 while having to field subs due to COVID-19. Their other loss came against KT Rolster back in January. With that in mind, when looking at the standings after the results of Week 7, the hierarchy looks clean. T1 and Gen.G sit at the top of the standings with no real competition close to them. In third and fourth place there are the two other “good teams” in DRX and DWG KIA, who are alone in their tier. Sitting a tier below that are the two mediocre teams in Fredit BRION and Kwangdong Freecs who will likely make the playoffs despite having losing records. That is because the bottom four teams are all terrible.

There are distinct gaps in four tiers of the LCK with a drastic drop off after each tier. In simple terms, there are four good teams, four really bad teams and two teams in the middle. Week 7 helped make this true as all four of the bottom teams went 0-2 with every team in the top six at least going 1-1 on the week.

DRX and DWG KIA are trying to break that

With that in mind, there are two teams actively trying to get out of their respective tiers. The two teams in the “good team” tier are among the hottest teams in the LCK coming out of Week 7. Both DRX and DWG KIA clean swept their Week 7 opponents, going 4-0 in games and 2-0 on the week in matches.

Both teams gained a game on Gen.G, who obviously lost to T1, but they still sit two series back with four to play. But that’s not to say it’s impossible. DK has the current MVP front runner on their team in Kim “Canyon” Geon-bu who leads all players in the LCK in Player of the Game Honors with 12. But DRX’s Kim “Deft” Hyuk-kyu sits in third place with 8.

Both teams will have a shot at proving they belong at the top in the final couple of weeks. DK gets a shot at Gen.G in Week 8 and the final match of the LCK 2022 spring split will be DRX against T1 in Week 9.