Photo via Riot Games

DWG KIA defeat Hanwha Life Esports, now sole leaders of 2021 LCK Spring Split

DAMWON and ShowMaker proved to the world why they're still the kings of the LCK.

DWG KIA beat Hanwha Life Esports 2-0 today in the 2021 LCK Spring Split. This win puts DK in the driver’s seat of the LCK this split since they now sit alone atop the league’s ladder with a 5-1 record.

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Coming into this League of Legends series, both teams were sitting on four wins and looking to prove themselves as the biggest threat in the LCK. Interestingly, HLE decided to field DuDu in the top lane over Morgan, who’s been starting for the team in all of their recent matches. It didn’t make much of a difference in the end, however, since DK truly flexed on the one team that looked to threaten their claim as the kings of Korea.

The first game lived up to the hype of a true top-of-the-table clash. Both teams traded blow for blow in a game that was never convincingly favored to one side until it was called. Ultimately, it was a smart Quinn performance from DK’s top laner Khan that helped his team secure game one.

Image via LCK

For HLE, Deft and Vsta used their Senna pick to carve out an early-game lead for the squad. Having this extreme range advantage over the other bot lane helped push the waves faster, allowing for more aggressive and proactive roaming from HLE’s bot lane duo, which helped create early map pressure.

Through a lapse of judgment by HLE in the mid game, the second Rift Herald that was secured by DK was allowed to take two towers, exposing HLE’s base and handing over their early-game lead.

Despite coming out on top of a few skirmishes across the map, HLE paid for this mistake. DK’s top laner Khan on Quinn set up a strong splitpush that forced HLE to play from within their own base. From there, DK stormed the opposing team’s Nexus and took the win.

The second game was much different. It was less methodical and more of an absolute messy bloodbath.

The craziness started in the draft, which saw HLE’s Deft and Vsta pick up a Vayne and Senna bot lane to help cut through the tanky nature of DK’s Sion in the top lane. But this combo was ultimately poked out of lane by DK’s aggressive Seraphine support pick and they were made quite useless due to their low CS.

HLE were getting bullied all over the map, but they spotted an opportunity to grab the first drake of the game and decided to take the risk to relieve some of the map pressure that was mounting on their backs. But despite being able to secure the objective, it was the fight immediately proceeding the drake that sealed the fate of HLE.

Just 13 minutes into the game, ShowMaker’s Zoe scored three kills and five assists—and he wasn’t going to be stopped from there. The so aptly put “level six fiesta in the river,” fed the DK mid laner beyond belief. And when it was all said and done, he finished with a KDA of 11/0/11 and player of the match honors to help DK claim the uncontested top spot in the LCK.

Following this win, DK (5-1) are now the frontrunners of the 2021 LCK Spring Split. Their next matchup is against Liiv Sandbox on Friday, Feb. 5 at 2am CT.


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Author
Samuel O'Dwyer
Aussie freelance writer with a focus on League of Legends, Overwatch and TFT. Twitter is @yaakiisoba.