DRX has extended its stay at the 2022 League of Legends World Championship. On the roundup day of Group C in the Group Stage, the fourth seed from the LCK showed up strongly and defeated Rogue and GAM Esports. DRX joins Rogue as the Group C representative at the Knockout Stage; the LEC team secured its spot earlier in the day.
GAM Esports was kind enough to lend a hand in DRX’s qualification race. The VCS champion, eagerly trying to stay in Worlds themselves, took down Top Esports in a nail-biter of a game. This result eliminated all but one possibility in which DRX could face direct elimination from the Group Stage, pending other results. But DRX did not let others decide their fate. In a rematch against Rogue, who had beaten DRX when they met initially, the South Koreans flexed their creativity. Their Ashe/Heimerdinger bot lane quickly spun out of control. After a dominant early game, DRX’s lead flooded the entire map. Mid laner Kim “Zeka” Geon-woo and top laner Hwang “Kingen” Seong-hoon broke the ankles of Rogue. DRX dominantly put their first win on the board.
DRX continued on the same pace against GAM Esports immediately after. They went with another Ashe/Heimerdinger bot lane combination, but GAM answered well with Syndra in the support role. This time, the difference came from the top lane. GAM attempted a three-man dive on Kingen, who once again played the Aatrox, but the VCS champion’s attempt failed miserably. Kingen used his early lead perfectly and became an unkillable war machine once the map opened up. GAM tried to hit back by stacking drakes, but once DRX pulled the trigger on that objective as well, there was no escape for GAM left.
With DRX and Rogue making it out of Group C, LPL second seed Top Esports and GAM Esports have been eliminated from the tournament.
LCK dominance at Worlds 2022
DRX is the third team of the LCK to qualify for the Knockout Stage at Worlds 2022. In Group A, second seed T1 wreaked havoc and finished first with a 5-1 score. Third seed DWG KIA almost made it out of Group B in first place, but has to make do with a second-place finish after losing a tiebreaker game to JD Gaming. Gen.G, the fourth LCK team at Worlds and first seed of the region, still has to qualify for the Knockout Stage. They’re currently sitting at a 2-1 score in Group B.
The other spots in the Worlds 2022 Knockout Stage have gone to the LPL. Reigning world champion EDward Gaming finished in second place in Group A, and JD Gaming came out on top in Group B. Royal Never Give Up is in prime position to join their countrymen in the top eight. They’ve won every game in Group D so far. RNG plays its remaining games tomorrow.
