With the South Koreans and Chinese teams battle out with one another, this time we have an exciting match up with an EU team fighting for the top spot in the Quarterfinals. For the Knockout round on 24 October, South Korean top organisation, DAMWON Gaming will be facing EU’s MAD Lion.
DAMWON Gaming lineup:
- Kim “Khan” Dong-ha – TOP
- Kim “Canyon” Geon-bu – JUNGLE
- Heo “ShowMaker” Su – MID
- Jang “Ghost” Yong-jun– BOT
- Cho “Beryl” Geon-hee – SUPPORT
MAD Lion lineup:
- Irfan “Armut” Berk Tukek – TOP
- Javier “Elyoya” Prades – JUNGLE
- Marek “Humanoid” Brazda – MID
- Matyas “Carzzy” Orsag – BOT
- Norman “Kaiser” Kaiser – SUPPORT
DAMWON Gaming had been consistently performing since 2020. They had won many major tournaments after forming their most formidable team, signing Ghost and Khan in the process to boost their Top and Bot lanes. In the LCK Summer Split 2020, DAMWON Gaming a very good run winning many of the top teams. They were not a force to mess with having clean records except losing to DRX and Gen.G Esports, which were placed 2nd and 3rd respectively in the Group Stages. In the Finals, DRX did not have a single chance to fight back and gave DAMWON Gaming a 3-0 advantage to obtain a ticket to the World Championship 2020. They were top in their Group B after winning their opponents PSG.Talon, Rogue and JD Gaming but only dropped their last game to JD Gaming with a 5-1 record. They subsequently cruised towards the Finals after winning their rivals, DRX and G2 Esports and faced Suning in the Finals. Suning, being the less experienced team gave the champion to DAMWON Gaming, which led them to the first South Korean champions after Samsung Galaxy last won in 2017.
Since 2020, DAMWON Gaming is one of the top LOL team after having won LCK title for the first time. Khan subsequently joined the team after Nuguru has signed with FunPlus Phoenix in 2021. The new roster continued their good form throughout the next season so far. During the season, DAMWON Gaming had perfect form, winning the KeSPA Cup 2020, LCK Spring Split 2021 and the LCK Summer Split 2021 including a second place for Mid-Season International 2021. They are now looking to repeat their feat, having already topped Group A with a clean record winning all of their matches.
MAD Lion, on the other hand, had introduced their new roster for season 2021 after ending 4th in the LEC Summer 2020. They have replaced Top and Jungle lane with Armut and Elyoya respectively and it had worked very well for them. They have subsequently secured the titles for LEC Sprint Split 2021 and LEC Summer Split 2021. Their run was unfortunately cut short after having lost to DAMWON Gaming in the Mid-Season Invitational 2021.
In face, the two teams had their fair share of past rivalries. The met twice in the rumble stages and also had a bout in the Semi-finals of Mid-Season Invitation 2021, all of which DAMWON Gaming had an edge over MAD Lions. At Group D of the Worlds 2021 Group Stages, MAD Lion barely made it out after all four teams in the group were forced into a tiebreaker. MAD Lion was very lucky to progress after sending LNG Esports home in the 2nd tiebreaker match.
This matchup will likely see DAMWON Gaming triumph over inconsistent MAD Lions as they will need something more than a miracle to overturn the odds.
Prediction: DAMWON Gaming 3 – 0 MAD Lions
