Griffin take down Damwon Gaming, remain undefeated in 2019 LCK Summer Split

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Griffin have bounced back from a close series against Afreeca to beat Damwon Gaming 2-0 in the LCK today. With this win, Griffin rise up to the top of the LCK standings with a 2-0 record and maintain their 13-0 record against Damwon.

Both games were relatively even to start, but Griffin suffocated Damwon off the map, using their CS advantages to expand their lead over time. In game one, lane pressure in ranged matchups gave Griffin nine turret plates across the map to burst out to an early lead.

Jeong “Chovy” Ji-hoon’s Ryze made Heo “ShowMaker” Su’s Akali invisible for most of the game, dominating the lane before walking over the rest of Damwon. As Griffin edged a lead across the map, Damwon were looking for a desperate objective to turn the tide in their favor.

That’s when the game broke open, but not in Damwon’s favor. While Damwon secured an Ocean Drake at 23 minutes, Griffin cleaned house, acing Damwon and taking the Baron right after. With Baron, Griffin’s lead exploded to beyond 15,000 gold and there was nothing Damwon could do.

Changing up the team for game two, Damwon subbed out both Lee “Flame” Ho-jong and Son “Punch” Min-hyuk for Jang “Nuguri” Ha-gwon and Kim “Canyon” Geon-bu. But the game played out almost identically, except another one of Griffin’s laners soaked up the lead.

In game two, Choi “Sword” Sung-won absorbed pressure on the top side, allowing the rest of the map to edge ahead. Lee “Tarzan” Seung-yong managed to shut down Canyon’s Sejuani by being in the right place at the right time to counter-gank.

While the heavy splitpush-focused composition of Fiora and Camille allowed Damwon to alleviate some pressure in the mid game, Griffin’s ability to teamfight around Lissandra, Ezreal, and Lux was too much for the core three of Damwon to handle. Damwon were forced to group unfavorably and Griffin took full advantage of the situation.

Griffin grouped as five and took down both side laners multiple times before taking the Baron and pushing through the bot lane. ShowMaker’s Camille was able to get a top side inhibitor for Damwon, but there wasn’t much else the LCK sophomores could do as Griffin finished the game at 33 minutes with a decisive engage from Chovy and Tarzan.

The slow starts in both games were uncharacteristic of Griffin, but they still managed to funnel leads to where it mattered on the map. Damwon’s macro couldn’t stand up to Griffin’s and there was never a level playing field for Damwon to try and get back into the games.

Damwon will next face off against KT Rolster on June 14, while Griffin take on rising stars Sandbox in what’s set to be a closely-fought affair on June 12.