LCK at Worlds 2022: Can Korea return to former Worlds glory?

Just like the LPL, the LCK is among the few privileged League of Legends regions that can send four teams to the 2022 World Championship. 

After winning all Worlds tournaments from 2013 to 2018, the LCK lost its streak to the rising Chinese teams. Since then, DAMWON has been the only team to stop the LPL’s recent dominance in 2020. In 2021, DWG KIA were about to repeat their success, but were later stopped by the Chinese representative EDward Gaming in one of the most hard-fought finals in recent history.

Can Korea and the LCK return to glory, or will the LPL continue asserting its dominance? Here is our analysis of the four LCK teams and their potential chances at Worlds 2022.

Worlds 2022 LCK region breakdown

Compared to the LPL, the LCK has a much larger gap between its four seeds at Worlds 2022. Throughout the regular season, two teams were head and shoulders above everyone else: T1 and Gen.G. DWG KIA maintained their third-place position steadily and essentially became the benchmark for everyone else: if you couldn’t beat DWG KIA, you were bound to be dominated by T1 and Gen.G.

DRX – Last ticket to Worlds

Out of all the competition in the LCK, Liiv SANDBOX was the team to get the closest to the top three in the summer. They had the chance to make it to Worlds through both the playoffs and the regional finals. But they fell to DRX in the regional finals in their most important series of the year, with the latter taking the last LCK spot at Worlds 2022 instead. 

Against all odds, DRX made it to Worlds despite the numerous issues they encountered during the regular split. Lots of mechanical mistakes, questionable shot calling, and an underperforming Pyosik were reasons why DRX was never considered a Worlds-worthy team by fans and experts. Luckily for them, the team fixed the last issue in time by bringing Juhan into the starting lineup in the regional finals.

Even though DRX has had some lows, the LCK team shouldn’t really have problems facing the teams in the play-in stage, aside from RNG. They have strong individual players compared to the competition, which should be enough to advance to the group stage. Expect them to make it out of the play-in Group B as the second seed, but other than that, we don’t see them advancing any further. 

DWG KIA – the dark horse 

This year’s DAMWON may surprise you. They are among the few teams who will benefit from the meta shift of the Worlds patch, with less dependence on the bot lane in favor of mid and top. For a team like DWG KIA, who have struggled with the deokdam-Kellin bot lane duo the whole season, this couldn’t come at a better time.

In the top lane, Nuguri and Burdol have been alternating in the starting spot, depending on what drafts DWG KIA wants to go for. On one hand, Nuguri is the type of player you need to play around with and can demolish the enemy laner. On the other hand, Burdol covers more of a utility role. Starting Nuguri gives DWG KIA higher chances of success, especially considering the team still has the explosive jungle-mid duo of Canyon and Showmaker. They have flown under the radar but were still responsible for carrying DWG KIA to Worlds. 

DWG KIA are in the same group as G2 and JDG, two teams who should put them immediately to the test. DWG KIA’s chances of repeating last year’s results will be slim if they can’t handle them. Otherwise, we might see yet another strong run by them.

T1 – Were expectations too high? 

By looking at T1’s results this year, you could say they had a more than satisfying season. They won the LCK Spring Split with a perfect 18-0 record, finished second at the Mid-Season Invitational, and achieved another second place in summer.

With such strong results in the first half, expectations would undoubtedly be even higher in the summer. And T1 failed to meet those expectations. Yes, they made it to Worlds, but they don’t look like a team that will win it all. The issues raised after MSI about sub-optimal drafts persisted during the Summer Split, and with T1’s bot lane being their weakest link, it became hard for the team to play around with them.

On a positive note, we saw Zeus improve and take up the carry role when needed. Knowing this gives T1 more freedom in who they want to play for, with the hopes that Gumayusi and Keria can recover from a recent lack of form. 

It’s been six years since Faker lifted a Worlds trophy, and many fans would like to see him win it again. Unfortunately, we don’t think this will be the year.

Gen.G – Korea’s biggest hope

Speaking of hopes of winning Worlds, Gen.G is realistically the only LCK team who can go up against the LPL powerhouses. They have put together one of the best rosters the Korean league could make this year, with two formidable carries in Chovy and Ruler. 

Besides them, the team can rely on a solid top laner like Doran, the most consistent jungler in Peanut, and the best LCK support in Lehends. T1’s roster could technically compete with them, but Gen.G’s bot lane proved to be a tier above the rest of the competition throughout the Summer Split with solid laning phases and exquisite teamfighting.

Gen. G seemed so powerful this year because they’re always well-prepared. Not only were their drafts great, but they were also able to find unique counters that worked in the right situations, like Lehends’ Singed or Peanut’s Skarner to name a few.

Given their easy group at this year’s Worlds, Gen.G are expected to advance as the first-place team. Last year, they were stopped in the semifinals when they lost to EDG. Fans will soon find out if this is the year where Gen.G beat the LPL and become world champions.