On Oct. 23, DRX faced EDward Gaming in the quarterfinals of the 2022 LoL World Championship. Although DRX fell in the first two games, heroes appeared here and there to reverse-sweep the series, and to gift reaching the semifinals to Kim “Deft” Hyuk-kyu for his birthday.
Game 1 started quite slow, as first blood came at the second Rift Herald. The two teams traded a few kills, with EDG coming up on top, but DRX had secured two dragons. The next fight came while dancing around the third dragon, and the two teams traded some kills. EDG took more kills, but DRX was able to take the dragon. The game went on quite even, with DRX having a slight global gold lead, but the game was decided at the fourth dragon. As Azir and Kennen burst in, EDG scored an ace, taking the dragon and Baron in order. DRX attempted to backdoor, but EDG stopped them and finished the game.
In game 2, EDG picked up several kills in the bot and top lanes while DRX's dive attempts were evaded well. Still, DRX took the lead in global gold. DRX snowballed their global gold lead, but EDG managed to stay in the game by scaling their main damage champions and collecting dragon stacks. Even though the global gold difference was big, the teamfights were quite even. EDG's main focus was collecting dragon stacks, and they even gave up two inhibitors to secure the dragon soul. With the soul, the damage of Park "Viper" Do-hyeon's Aphelios became colossal, and EDG started to push forward. When EDG started Baron, DRX attempted a backdoor through Deft's Ezreal. While the other players prevented EDG from recalling, Deft took down the twin turrets and started hitting the Nexus. However, with one hit to go, the inhibitors respawned, and the backdoor attempt failed. That was the last DRX could do as EDG took the Elder dragon and marched in.
DRX kept their heads in the game despite the two losses. The main picks of the two teams, Heimerdinger and Azir, were banned in game 3. EDG took first blood as Kim "Zeka" Geon-woo overextended before the first Rift Herald, but DRX was able to steal it. As the game went on, the two teams' main focus was different — DRX focused on taking dragon stacks, and EDG focused on scaling Viktor. After Viktor built Rabadon's Deathcap, his damage went off the scale. However, DRX caught EDG off guard when EDG was pushing the mid inhibitors as they won the teamfight and secured Baron. That fight decided the game, and DRX managed to stay alive.
EDG selected the blue side in game 4. DRX support Cho "BeryL" Geon-hee had been picking unique champions during Worlds, and this time, his pick was Ashe. DRX had a comp full of CCs while EDG relied on LeBlanc and Lee Sin's trickster plays. The gold difference wasn't big, but DRX had more dragon stacks. The game decider came as DRX secured the Hextech dragon's soul and won the teamfight. After slaying Baron, DRX collapsed on EDG and took the match to game 5.
It all came down to the last game. EDG decided the Sejuani pick was the main priority, and they picked her into their jungle, and Deft picked Ezreal, trying to forget about the failed backdoor attempt. The gold difference in this game was the closest of all games — the two teams were even past 15 minutes. However, the balance started to tilt towards DRX's side as they won the teamfight around the third dragon and scored an ace. Zeka's performance on Sylas continued to soar as he solo killed Akali four times. As Aphelios shut down Sylas, EDG hit back, but after Hong "Pyosik" Chang-hyeon stole the Ocean dragon's soul, DRX wiped out EDG and won the game.
Through the win, DRX advanced to the semifinals to face Gen.G.
All images by Riot Games
- David "Viion" Jang
- Email : viion@inven.co.kr
Sort by:
Comments :0