At the World Championship (Worlds) 2022, teams from the LPL and LCK regions are undoubtedly the most highly regarded names. Even before the tournament, many opinions suggested that the championship of Worlds 2022 would be a grand battle between these two regions, which have some of the best League of Legends talent in the world. Among them, Gen.G Esports, Royal Never Give Up, JD Gaming, and TOP Esports are the names that are rated the highest.
However, many surprises occurred during the recent Group Stage. Specifically, all four representatives from LPL faced significant difficulties. Despite being rated higher than the LCK representatives, EDward Gaming lost both matches against T1. Meanwhile, RNG lost their top spot after two consecutive defeats against Gen.G, and JDG almost faced a similar fate if player 369 had not shone. TES had an even more “dismal” performance as they had to return home right after the Group Stage.
The LCK representatives, although rated weaker, have been performing very well. T1 won both encounters against the reigning World Champion 2021 (EDG). The third seed from LCK – DWG KIA also posed difficulties for JDG. The LCK champions – Gen.G also defeated RNG to secure the top spot. Meanwhile, the last representative DRX contributed to making TES the first LPL team eliminated in Worlds 2022.
However, not all LCK teams are rated highly. Recently, Doinb – the “spokesperson for LPL” made some new statements about the teams at Worlds 2022. According to him, the Mid Laner of LNG Esports believes that DK is the weakest representative of LCK at this tournament. Doinb further shocked fans with his statement: “If DK faces T1, Faker and his teammates could even win against DK playing with their feet”.
According to information from the community, this assessment may stem from the training results of the teams that Doinb is aware of. Moreover, at Worlds 2022, the third-seeded team from LCK has not performed impressively. While ShowMaker and Canyon have somewhat regained their form, Nuguri is still an issue. In his matches, Nuguri has not showcased his best performance, particularly in the tie-break match against JDG. Despite using a high-damage champion like Irelia, Nuguri made no contributions, and DK was defeated.
DK has reached the Quarterfinals, and their opponent will be Gen.G – the reigning LCK Summer 2022 champion. This is an opponent that DK is very familiar with and has defeated ShowMaker and his teammates multiple times. However, there is no reason not to believe that DK still has a chance to win. Both teams will certainly have to give their all because just one mistake could end an entire season immediately.