DAMWON Gaming defeated Royal Youth to begin day 4 of the 2019 League of Legends World Championship Play-In. In defeating Turkey's TCL champion, the #3 LCK Seed ensured safe passage to the Knockout Stage for South Korea, moving to 3-0 in the Group Stage and securing the 1st Seed in Group D.

DAMWON Gaming 2-0'd its first day in the Group Stage behind a two-man Solo Lane show of Jang "Nuguri" Ha-gwon and Heo "Showmaker" Su. Nuguri's AD-bruiser answer of Kleptomancy Vladimir has been nothing short of otherworldly, and the fact that Showmaker was even given LeBlanc in the Play-In at any point should tell LCK fans everything they need to know about DWG's dominance throughout the first stage of Worlds 2019.

DAMWON's victory against Royal Youth was a much cleaner affair all around when compared to the Korean side's first two wins in Group D. Nuguri still played Monopoly on Vladimir for the majority of the game, but DWG as a whole looked more cohesive as Royal Youth' nexus was shattered in convincing fashion. 

In speaking of DAMWON's form just after the win, Riot Games color caster Joshua "Jatt" Leesman mentioned to play-by-play Max "Atlus" Anderson that while he didn't believe DWG's claim that the team was only 'at 10%' in its first round robin, he admitted the team had tightened things up for day 4. 

"In my opinion, the first statement was an exaggeration. I'd say there were at more of a 45% level before, and this win was at about 70%."


DAMWON Gaming will face off against Brazil's Flamengo eSports next. If the Brazilian champion is able to upset the South Korean side, it will qualify for the Knockout Stage as Group D's 2nd seed, with DWG as the 1st seed. If DWG wins, it will finish the group 4-0, and Royal Youth will be given the opportunity to force a tie-breaker by winning its final Group D game against Flamengo for the final seed in the Knockout Stage. 

Of course, there is also the dream scenario for the CBLoL faithful in which Flamengo wins both its games in the final day of the Group Stage, which would not only qualify Flamengo for the Knockout Stage, but would also force a tie-breaker for Group D's first seed with DAMWON Gaming.