On Feb. 16, in the 2022 LCK Spring Split, Liiv SANDBOX faced Fredit BRION and Nongshim RedForce played Gen.G. Liiv SANDBOX defeated Fredit BRION 2-1 and ended their losing streak. Nongshim RedForce and Gen.G fought with several absent starters due to COVID-19, and Gen.G came up on top.

In game 1 of Liiv SANDBOX and Fredit BRION’s match, Fredit BRION had a good start, as they took the Rift Herald while trading a kill. They added three kills using that Rift Herald in the mid lane, and Fredit BRION was able to take down the mid lane turret in 15 minutes. In the next teamfight, Liiv SANDBOX lost again, and fell to a 5K global gold deficit. However, Kim "Dove" Jae-yeon's Tryndamere kept his team in the game, and they started to turn the game around, as they took the first Baron. After taking an ace in a mid lane teamfight, Liiv SANDBOX took Fredit BRION’s Nexus.

It was Corki all the way in game 2. From early in the game, Fredit BRION killed the opponent Syndra twice, through roams and ganks in the mid lane. Through the ganks, Kim "Lava" Tae-hoon's Corki was able to scale quickly. Although they fell behind, Liiv SANDBOX controlled the dragon well. However, at this point, Corki was extremely strong. Liiv SANDBOX stole the fourth dragon to gain the Ocean dragon's soul, but Fredit BRION slew Baron. The global gold difference was more than 8K, and Fredit BRION ended the game through the Elder dragon buff.

Liiv SANDBOX picked Rek'Sai in their jungle for game 3. While Dove's Jayce went ahead in the top lane, Liiv SANDBOX collected more benefits around the Rift, and took control of the objectives. Fredit BRION attempted to close the difference at the second Rift Herald, but this allowed Liiv SANDBOX to spurt ahead even more. After winning a teamfight around the Elder dragon, Liiv SANDBOX took the win and ended their losing streak.

The second match was between Nongshim RedForce and Gen.G, two teams who have been suffering from COVID-19. In this match, several starters weren't able to play. Nongshim RedForce jungler Lee "Dread" Jin-hyeok moved to the top lane to fill in for Kim "Canna" Chang-dong's absence, and players from challengers were called up in the jungle and bot lane. Jang "Ghost" Yong-joon played as the support. On the other side, Choi "Doran" Hyeon-joon was off and Kim "Zest" Dong-min filled in for Doran.

The two teams fought fiercely from early in the game. Han "Peanut" Wang-ho took priority with Jarvan IV and threatened the bot lane continuously. Through this, Gen.G took down the bottom turret quite early. In the top lane, Zest collected his first kill in the LCK with a solo kill. Although Gwak "Bdd" Bo-seong had revenge on Zest, Gen.G was already quite ahead. When Gen.G won the 5v5 teamfight around the dragon, the game was tipped over completely. With a global gold lead of over 10K, Gen.G destroyed Nongshim RedForce’s Nexus.

In game 2, Nongshim RedForce drew first blood in the top lane, and took the first turret as well. However, Gen.G focused on the bot lane. They took down the bot turret first and secured two dragon stacks first. The following fights went in favor of Gen.G, and they easily gained the Mountain dragon's soul. All objectives on the map were taken by Gen.G, and before Nongshim RedForce was able to do anything about it, Gen.G was all over their base. By destroying the Nexus for the second time, Gen.G swept Nongshim RedForce and finished the first round with a 7-2 record in 2nd place.

2022 LCK Spring Split Feb. 16 Results

Liiv SANDBOX 2 - 1 Fredit BRION

Nongshim RedForce 0 - 2 Gen.G

2022 LCK Spring Split Standings

1st T1 8-0 (+12)

2nd Gen.G 7-2 (+7)

3rd DWG KIA 5-3 (+7)

4th DRX 5-3 (+2)

5th KT Rolster 4-4 (+2)

6th Fredit BRION 3-6 (-5)

6th Nongshim RedForce 3-6 (-5)

8th Liiv SANDBOX 3-6 (-7)

9th Hanwha Life Esports 2-6 (-6)

10th Kwangdong Freecs 2-6 (-8)