After a somewhat shaky start to the tournament, reigning League of Legends world champions DWG KIA are all but assured of moving on to the Mid-Season Invitational, boasting a 5-1 record in the Rumble Stage at the close of Sunday’s competition at MSI in Iceland.
After defeating Cloud9 on Day 3 of the Rumble Stage and reaching five wins thus far, they are, of course, still fighting; winning every game is important so they can dodge Chinese rival Royal Never Give Up in the knockout stage.
DWG KIA jungler Kim “Canyon” Geon-bu, has been the most consistent player for the team so far, and was the driving force in many of their wins. Overall, the team has struggled in their early games, often trailing behind their opponents when it comes to the mid game teamfights. Canyon, however, has a huge experience difference advantage at 10 minutes, and leads his team in gold difference at 10 as well. Thanks to his command of the jungle and his neutralization of his opponents’ tempo, DWG KIA are often afforded a chance to scale into the late game behemoths that we all know and expect.
The team has had some slip-ups at MSI, including a loss to North American squad Cloud9 in the group stage and Day 1 Rumble stage loss to Royal Never Give Up, the other top contender for the first international title of the year. Canyon will need to keep up his godlike performances if he wants to follow up his Worlds victory and spring split championship with an MSI title, but he’ll also need a bit more help from his teammates if they’re to take down RNG.
“If we can win MSI, it’s gonna be a huge record, but in terms of opening a new era, you have to be really good consistently and continuously, and I think that is a really difficult task,” Canyon said via a translator. “I think it all comes down to our mindset.”
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