On day 9 of the 2021 LCK Summer split, DWG KIA faced off against DRX in the first match of the day, while Afreeca Freecs faced off against kt Rolster.

Just like they did in their last match, DWG KIA fielded the changed roster, with ShowMaker and Canyon going ADC and mid respectively, while Malrang subbed in for Ghost. It was a clean 2-0 victory for DWG KIA; not only did Malrang give his laners leads in lane through his ganks, his momentum also carried over to game 2 as well. 

Malrang’s synergy with Khan is also great news for his team as well. There’s a lot of 2 vs 2s happening in the current competitive meta, which goes to show the importance of the top lane. Since the Spring split, Kingen and Pyosik have gained early leads for his team from the top side of the map. As skirmishes around the top side were somewhat expected, Khan and Malrang were able to absorb their aggression, which completely dismantled DRX’s game plan.

The second match of the day also marked 400 career kills in the LCK for both teams’ junglers, Dread and Blank. In the end, however, AF defeated KT 2-1 and showed that they were unfazed from their previous match loss against DWG KIA. As AF’s laners showed more stability than they did in Spring, Lehends was a key player in teamfights. Not only did his Alistar make great engages, he also zoned out the enemy ADC, which completely dismantled KT’s positioning.

In game 3, KT drafted fasting Senna with Lee Sin, an unorthodox champion duo to a conventional playstyle in the bot lane. It can be assumed that KT wanted to play Senna-Tahm Kench, but due to picking Diana in the first rotation of their draft, Tahm Kench was taken away by AF, which resulted in KT picking Lee Sin. The last time Lee Sin was played was 2969 days ago [in 2013], which resulted in a loss; KT failed to make the pick work in the bot lane, just like the last time in the LCK.

■ 2021 LCK Summer split day 9 results

DRX 0 vs 2 DWG KIA

Afreeca Freecs 2 vs 1 kt Rolster

■ 2021 LCK Summer split standings

1st Gen.G 4-0 [+5]

2nd DWG KIA 3-1 [+3]

3rd NS RedForce 3-1 [+2]

3rd Afreeca Freecs 3-1 [+2]

5th T1 2-1 [+3]

6th Fredit BRION 1-2 [-1]

6th Liiv SANDBOX 1-2 [-1]

8th kt Rolster 1-3 [-1]

9th Hanwha Life Esports 0-3 [-6]

10th DRX 0-4 [-6]