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League of Legends

DAMWON Gaming Win the Worlds 2020 Finals, Defeat Suning Gaming 3-1

DAMWON Gaming has defeated Suning Gaming to win the League of Legends World Championship. The LCK representatives lifted the Worlds 2020 Finals trophy after an insanely close 3-1 victory over their LPL opponents. In front of a packed stadium, a rarity this season, the Korean squad secured the first Worlds win for their region since 2017. In doing so, they became just the 8th team to win a World Championship in the 10th season of the competition.

The Worlds 2020 finals kicked off with a thrilling opening ceremony featuring multiple Worlds themes, augmented reality performances from KDA, and choral performances. Featuring previous Worlds hits such as Rise, Warriors, and Take Over, the multiple performances and highly featured live crowd hyped-up the event to no end.  The performance culminated in the reveal of the Worlds 2020 trophy.

Damwon immediately discovered the home-field advantage Suning would be playing with. The blistering applause for Damwon’s opponents versus the stoney quiet when Damwon were introduced was in stark contrast. Although Damwon were the clear favourites, the crowd, which had been absent from all other stages of this event, would clearly be a vital part of this finals.

Suning kicked off their game one draft with bans against Nidalee, Lucian and Twisted Fate, while Damwon took away Camille, Syndra, and Jhinn. The first round of picks saw the immediate pick up of Graves for Kim “Canyon” Geon-bu, with Suning prioritising Leona for Hu “SwordArt” huo-Chieh.

As Damwon got into game they immediately pressured the jungle, and grabbed the first drake. Even with Suning taking first blood, it was Damwon who quickly grabbed a Mountain Drake off the back of the toplane death. But even with these advantages Suning were able to hang on and prevent a snowball. Instead they turned multiple ganks around into their own set of kills, staying neck and neck with the Korean team.

Moving into the mid game Suning set up great vision to contest the fourth dragon. However, a series of disastrous fights that saw Suning split meant they still conceded it, and put the potential of a 28-minute Elder Dragon on the table. 

But out of nowhere, Suning were able to grab a series of kills that put them back into the picture to contest the Elder buff. After a crazy engage from SwordArt, Suning were able to grab the elder buff, while Chen “Bin” Ze-Bin suicided to buy time. However, after Damwon grabbed a pair of barons, things quickly collapsed for Suning, as they dropped the first game. The infernal drake advantage was just too much in the end.

For game two, Suning opted to put their top laner, Bin, on a more aggressive Fiora pick. They seemed to hope this would enable his hard-engage style from the previous game to be more effective. However, Damwon retained their strong execution, and were quickly able to gain the upper hand. But it was the Rengar from Lê “SofM” Quang Duy that was the difference maker. In a incredible performance, the LPL’s representatives punished Damwon’s reservation and discipline, catching them out.

With both Fiora and Rengar incredibly fed, there was nothing Damwon could do but watch as Suning pushed into their base. In a desperate engagement, Damwon attempted to prevent the inevitable. But with nothing to slow down the Fiora, Bin was gifted a pentakill, the first one ever in a Worlds final. Suning took game two, and pushed us to a guaranteed four-game matchup.

Game three, Dawmon shot out the gate with a quick first blood by Canyon onto Bin in the top. But after seemingly being in control the entire game, Suning pulled out a surprise fight at Baron and stole the momentum. With Baron buff and SUning attempted to push into Damwon’s base. However, with Elder Dragon spawning, both teams backed off to try and contest it. After a crucial fight at the drake pit, Suning came away with two dead and the Elder Dragon buff, while Damwon went back to base empty-handed.



But even empty-handed, Damwon are dangerous. Rushing to Baron, Damwon grabbed the second buff of the game, sprinted down mid and took the win. A single mistake spelled disaster for Suning, and Damwon were one victory away from a World title.

For game four, Damwon picked up a heavily long-ranged comp, while Suning opted for several comfort picks. The Korean team quickly jumped to a one kill lead, and with unprecedented aggression attempted to quickly put away Suning. The Chinese squad shot back with a number of trade kills, but the advantage Damwon had built in the lane looked to be just too much. Suning just appeared to fall apart, and ultimately, Damwon were able to secure the win.

Damwon lift the Summoner’s Cup after an incredible series, while Suning are left to hope they can battle their way through the highly competitive LPL scene to reach these heights again. It’s been an incredible Worlds, which despite the challenges presented by Covid-19, has still lived up to expectations. Congratulations DAMWON Gaming!

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League of Legends

DAMWON Gaming Defeats G2 and Advances to Worlds 2020 Finals

DAMWON Gaming have defeated G2 Esports at the Worlds 2020 Semi-finals advancing to the final stage of the tournament. The win marks the first time since 2017 that LCK team has advanced to the Worlds finals. 

In a 3-1 victory, Damwon proved to many that they are the best team Korea has produced in many years. They viciously dismantled G2, with methodical play that saw them in the right place at the right time at every moment of the game.

The matchup started out badly for G2. In a definitive drubbing by Damwon, the European representatives couldn’t manage more than a token defence against the strongarm play of Damwon. The bot lane was the crucial part of this game, with the support picks being the make-or-break champions. G2 were clearly not ready for Leona, even picking it in the second game.

Game two seemed initially to be more of the same. But a huge swing of momentum at a crucial fight just before baron catapulted G2 into the lead. After one of the largest Baron buff plays of the tournament, G2 took the second game to prevent a 3-0

Yet in game three it was a devastating performance from Kim “Canyon” Geon-bu on Graves that punished G2 for even thinking they could rotate on the map. Despite some heroic attempts at team fighting, G2 came up short in this crucial game. Rasmus “Caps” Borregaard Winther and Mihael “Mikyx” Mehle in particular seemed out of sorts in this matchup. The pair would have previously been standouts in the event, but against Damwon looked to be suffering. 

Game four started off disastrously, with Caps being first-blooded and pushed out of lane. And front here, they went from bad to worse for G2. Cho “BeryL” Geon-hee’s braum roamed the map and ganked all lanes. The support player dominated his opponents, and before long it was 6-0. Then, in the shortest finish to a Worlds’ semi-final in history, Damwon pushed down the mid lane, deleted an inhibitor, and crushed G2’s hopes.

The loss perhaps marks the end of an era for G2, the greatest team ever fielded by Europe. For the past three World Championships, this team has made at least semi-finals. Along with Fnatic, they’ve been a constant face of their region on the international stage for almost four years. 

DAMWON Gaming, on the other hand, look unstoppable. There’s little to suggest that either Top Esports or Suning Gaming would have any chance against this incredible team. Worlds 2020 continues tomorrow with TES taking on Suning for a chance to face this dominant LCK squad.

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League of Legends

Damwon takes out DRX in 3-0 stomp at Worlds 2020 quarter-finals

DRX has been eliminated from Worlds 2020 in the Quarter-finals after being defeated 3-0 by fellow LCK team Damwon Gaming. The loss whittles the number of Korean teams at Worlds to just 2, with only Damwon and Gen.G remaining.

The 3-0 defeat was a widely predicted result, with Damwon’s dominance of the group stage, and seasonal advantage over DRX weighing heavily on the minds of analysts. Nonetheless, DRX went into the game with a plan, attempting to neutralise the strong macro game of their opponents with individual skill.

In game one, DRX’s poke comp attempted to whittle down Damwon from range. With a Jayce/Orianna composition, the plan seemed to be to delete Damwon’s champions before they could engage. However, expecting mistakes from their opponent’s proved to be too ambitious for DRX, who found themselves 0-1 after the first matchup.

For their second draft, DRX allowed the Ornn to go over to Damwon’s Jang “Nuguri” Ha-gwon. Their plan was to counter with Jax, a strong fighting champion who could out brawl the Ornn. And then as the game started, it looked like DRX might have a chance. They took an early kill lead, out maneuvering their opponent’s Twisted Fate pick with their own Galio. 

However, just as in the first game, the squad underestimated Damwon’s raw ability. DRX’s opponents then flipped a pair of team fights against them, coming out on top thanks to perfect execution. As a result, DRX were now down 0-2 and clinging to life.

With their Worlds survival on the line, DRX then broke out the unorthodox Vel’koz pick for Jeong “Chovy” Ji-hoon, facing off against Damwon’s Orianna pick. And in the early game DRX did well, with Chovy grabbing a strong lead versus his opponent. But are a series of bizarre misplays, Damwon found themselves in the lead again.

After more disastrous teamfights for DRX, Damwon took a dominant position on the map. They pushed down lanes and trapped DRX in a defensive position. With little to strike back with, DRX finally rolled over and in 25 minutes, Damwon wrapped up the series. 

Now the question remains whether anyone can stop Damwon Gaming? This LCK team is one of the strongest we’ve seen out of the regions since the heyday of SKT T1. The winner of G2 and Gen.G semi-finals match will have their work cut out for them in the semi-finals. 

The Worlds 2020 quarter-finals continues tomorrow. For all the latest Worlds 2020 news and analysis.check out Dart Frog on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.