DRX lock up last LCK playoff berth with convincing Summer Split victory over Kwangdong Freecs

The final match of week eight of the LCK Summer Split saw DRX and Kwangdong Freecs go head-to-head in a pivotal match with playoff consequences. In today’s match, DRX and Kwangdong were the only teams in Korea who had either clinched a playoff berth or been eliminated from contention.

After a straightforward 2-0 victory from DRX, though, the LCK’s playoff teams are set, as DRX earned their spot in the postseason while directly slamming the door on Kwangdong in the process. 

Today’s match was a must-win for Kwangdong, who entered with a surface-scratching record of 6-9. A win would have kept their playoff dreams barely alive. Now, though, they are mathematically unable to catch up to any of the top six teams in the league before the regular season ends next week, as there are not enough matches left on the schedule for them to win to force a tiebreaker.

After DRX cleanly took care of business in the match’s opening game, the second game of today’s series largely stood in favor of Kwangdong Freecs until the 29-minute mark, when DRX claimed a Mountain Soul and Baron buff on the heels of a three-for-zero teamfight victory. After being down in gold throughout the game’s majority, DRX kept themselves in the contest via their control over neutral objectives. When they claimed their final neutral objective of the game, an Elder Dragon, at the 36-minute mark, a clean ace to close out the match was only a formality.

DRX played nearly the same team composition in both of today’s victories, with the only exception being regarding jungler Pyosik, who played Xin Zhao in game one and Trundle in game two. The most glaring common denominator among DRX’s repeat picks came in the form of AD carry Deft, who played two games on Sivir to the tune of an 11/4/15 scoreline while contributing to 38 percent of DRX’s total damage to enemy champions during the series.

Although playoffs are clinched for DRX, the team still has a chance to move up the postseason table. This win has pushed DRX into a tie for fourth place in the LCK alongside DWG KIA and KT Rolster, although they have the chance to move as high as third place in the league by the time the season comes to a close.

Each team in the LCK has two matches left on their schedules. DRX will open their week nine slate of matches with an extremely consequential match against KT Rolster on Aug. 11.