DWG KIA have become the 2021 LCK summer champions after a 3-1 win over T1. This win cements their place in the League of Legends World Championship as South Korea’s first seed. They are the second team after T1 to win three LCK championships in a row. Moreover, the win marks a 10th title for the DWG KIA veteran coach, Kim “kkOma” Jeong-gyun, making him the first person to achieve such a feat.
🏆 @DWGKIA kkOma’s 10th #LCK trophy lift! 🏆 pic.twitter.com/VMipmKSBb9
— LCK Global (@LCK_Global) August 28, 2021
DWG KIA’s journey to winning the LCK Summer championship
After losing the Mid-Season Invitational finals to Royal Never Give Up, DK returned to the LCK summer split with inconsistent gameplay. Their bot lane duo of Jang “Ghost” Yong-jun and Cho “BeryL” Geon-hee continuously struggled to adapt to the meta. Their usual weak style of play in the bottom lane could not withstand the early game aggression of other teams.
DWG KIA experimented with role and roster swaps to fix their problems. In their game against Afreeca Freecs, Ghost was subbed out for Kim “Malrang” Gim-seong. They then moved Heo “ShowMaker” Su to the bot lane position while Kim “Canyon” Geon-bu played in mid lane. DK defeated Afreeca but soon returned to their original lineup in Week 4 of the LCK. Over time, all five DK players adapted to the league’s current meta, finishing the split in first place with a 12-6 record. Their first-place finish also meant they had enough circuit points to qualify for Worlds. DK defeated NongShim RedForce in a 3-0 clean sweep to advance to the LCK summer finals.
In the finals against T1, DK began Game 1 with a convincing performance, setting the tone for the rest of the series. Kim “Khan” Dong-ha’s Camille proved unstoppable, earning him an 11/0/7 kill/death/assist ratio. The top laner who will be joining the military for his mandatory service enjoyed his last moments in the LCK with 22 kills across all four games.
While T1 bounced back in Game 3, they could not keep up with ShowMaker’s Leblanc in Game 4 which had half of DK’s entire kills in that game.
Korea’s chances at 2021 Worlds
DWG KIA, T1, Gen.G and the winner of the Regional Finals will represent the LCK at the 2021 World Championships. While China’s FunPlus Phoenix looks like the team to beat at the tournament, the LCK teams are also ones to watch. DK’s performance today showed some glimpses of how deadly they are as a unit. Additionally, T1 seem to have found their rhythm. With the experience of Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok and Park “Teddy” Jin-seong in international tournaments, T1 is also a team to be wary of at Worlds.
