Last night, an e-sports story was written in League of Legends. On October 30th, the semifinals at the LoL Worlds 2022 took place between the Korean champions Gen G. and the underdog team DRX – and there was a big surprise. This also destroyed the last 8 perfect Pick’Em bets. The 25-year-old Cho “BeryL” Geon-hee is the first player in 5 years to reach 3 Finals of the Worlds in a row.
These teams played:
- Gen G. were favorites to win the Worlds before the start – bookmakers saw their chances at 1:4. Since “the Messiah,” Chovy, reinforced the team on the mid lane, the chances of snatching the second world champion title since 2017 seemed good. Back then, Team Faker messed up title number 4.
- DRX, on the other hand, had to earn the right to start at the Worlds in the Play-Ins. Their odds were seen by betting agencies at 1:34. Although they had brought in the support player Beryl, a strong and experienced player, nobody really expected the team to perform well. The Worlds 2022 should be the farewell tournament, a “Last Dance,” for the 26-year-old ADC Deft.
Before the match, DRX was practically without a chance: they had lost their last 13 games against Gen G. It was almost a miracle that they had survived the quarterfinals against EDG a week before:
DRX wins semifinals 3-1 against Gen G.
How did the series go? Gen G. could clearly win the 1st match 12-2. Ruler played flawlessly with 5-0-3 on Varus. The game was done in 29 minutes. Gen G.’s bot lane with Ruler/Lehends looked incredibly strong.
In match 2, the bot lane of DRX turned the tide with the veteran Deft and anime fan Beryl: Deft played 5-0-3 on Caitlyn and the game ended after 39 minutes in a “low-kill” match with 9-3 for DRX.
Match 3 was a clear affair: Zeka in the mid lane had 7-0-2 on Akali and made Chovy look old on Azir.
In match 4, there was no comeback from Gen G.: Once again Deft on Varus with 5-0-6, supported by Beryl and this time jungler Pyosik closed the deal.
Is the final boss awaiting:
Weakness in the jungle suddenly becomes a highlight
How is the match perceived? On reddit, it is believed that this is truly a miracle story: Jungler Pyosik was actually considered washed up and a weakness. It is unbelievable that someone can make such a comeback and shine like this.
The improvement of mid laner Zeka is also extreme. That he could hold his own against Chovy was hardly expected by anyone: the young Korean Chovy is considered one of the best players in the world.
Someone says: “Forget Church of Chovy – Church of Zeka!”
The Korean site Inven sees strong macro play at the objectives as an advantage for DRX. Time and again, dives, team fights, and early kills decided the games: DRX managed to convert small gold advantages into victories over time. In League of Legends, this is called “snowballing.”
The most-watched Twitch clip of the day: Chovy wastes a flash – that is actually completely uncharacteristic:
From the Play-Ins to the Finals
What records were set? In the history of LoL, no team had previously succeeded in progressing from the Play-Ins to the Finals until last night. DRX are therefore the first.
In the Play-Ins, the second tier of teams from major regions traditionally compete, teams that are good but have not long been championship material from their countries.
The support player Beryl has managed to secure his 3rd Worlds Final in a row with this victory; in the last two times, he was alongside Showmaker and Canyon with DWG KIA in Finals. In 2020, they even won the Worlds.
Beryl is now the 4th player to reach three Finals of the Worlds in succession. The other three were Bang, Faker, and Wolf during T1’s run from 2015-2017 (via dotesports).
DRX destroys the last perfect 8 Pick’ems
What’s the deal with Pick’ems? Before the Worlds, all LoL players can predict the tournament outcome in the betting game “Pick’Em”.
Eight players had gotten everything right so far and saw T1, JD Gaming, DRX, and Gen G. in the semifinals – but all 8 saw Gen G. ahead now. No one had bet on DRX, so now there can be no “perfect Pick’Em” anymore.
The final will take place on November 5th. DRX awaits the final boss, T1 with Faker and the young wonder bot lane:
LoL: 100,000 watch 40 seconds on Twitch, where Faker (26) tricks the best players from China
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