DragonX have broken their T1 curse, taking down the Spring champions on the opening day of LCK Summer 2020 with some help from breakout star Keria. According to Deft, the scalp will be the first of many as DRX lays the groundwork to qualify for Worlds.
It’s been almost 12 months to the day since DragonX last took down T1 in the LCK. From June 13, 2019, the kings of Korea had their number, winning the last five series. However, on the opening day of LCK Summer 2020, DRX got the last laugh.
The underdog squad got their Summer campaign off to a great start by taking down the reigning champions 2-1 in their intense best-of-three on June 17. It was revenge for their finals bout in Spring, which saw T1 knock DRX out of the running in dominant fashion.
After securing game one with relative ease, DRX slipped up in game two through a comedy of errors that set them behind in the early game. Pyosik was bullied out of smite fights from Cuzz, and the rest of T1 seemingly had DRX’s number.
They dropped the second game, and it was looking like yet another loss against the best in the East was inevitable. It didn’t help that DRX were on a clock in game three, with Canna’s Kayle slowly building up towards the level 16 “Exodia.”
However, the underdogs wound the hands back and dug in to take the fight to T1.
Keria’s Bard was instrumental in kicking off fights for DRX, helping them find picks with Tempered Fate. From there, Chovy and Deft could layer on the global ultimates to instantly kill the T1 carries. While Canna was steamrolling Doran in the top lane, the 4v4 across the other side of the map wasn’t playing out in his team’s favor.
Canna’s stubbornness in the side lane ended up costing T1 the game. A botched Baron call by T1 turned into an overstay in the bot lane from Canna as DRX pushed through the base without the resistance of a level 16 Kayle. One inhib turned into two, and off the back of another pick onto Teddy, the whole base crumbled before T1’s very eyes.
For a player like Kim “Deft” Hyuk-kyu, the win was a long time coming. However, for the rookies surrounding him on the roster, it was a chance to finally topple the kings of Korea.
“We were never able to take down T1 in the Spring split, so I was super happy we were able to make it today,” said Deft in the post-match interview.
“This is my first victory up against T1 after my debut. Doran also has never defeated T1, so if we had lost today, it could have been a huge mental block for us, but we were able to break it down finally,” added Keria.
While the AD carry was the star of the show on the night — even netting an MVP award for himself — it wasn’t without cameos from his teammates, namely Pyosik.
“Recently, Pyosik’s performance has been on point. He has always shown great mechanical play, but now he is also a smart player,” said Deft.
On top of that, the 17-year-old support standing by his side during the interview is slowly rising to become the best player in his role in Korea.
After a year-long stint as a trainee on the DRX sidelines, learning from the likes of Park “Tusin” Jong-ik, Keria has finally had the chance to step out from the shadows.
He’s been a revelation in Korean League of Legends, and become the face of the next generation of talent rising through the ranks on the server. He has his ambitions set higher though — he wants to set a legacy like Faker’s, and he’s going to play like every game is his last.
“If I don’t qualify for Worlds or drop out at regional qualifiers, I would have played my last match of the year. I want to play without regret,” he added at the press conference.
“In the long term, I do want to build a career like Faker’s. Maybe I won’t reach Faker, but I want to become the most decorated support in the history of League.”
The DRX train isn’t stopping with this win though. With the monkey off their back, and a matchup against Spring finalists Gen.G later this week, the squad is confident they’ll be able to keep the wins coming and cement themselves a spot at Worlds.
“We had MSC between the splits, so I believe our form is still really strong, so it’s good to go up against stronger teams back-to-back,” said Deft.
“We already took down the undefeatable opponents of the Spring Split. Now it’s Gen.G’s turn. We have done it before, so we will repeat it again.”
DragonX will take on Gen.G in their next LCK Summer matchup on June 19 at 9pm AEST. You can catch the action live on the LCK Twitch and YouTube channels.
