Welcome to EGamersWorld.
We continue to look at what's happening on the League of Legends professional scene. One of the centres of The International Heresa is LCK Summer 2024, where they are preparing for the Long Cog play-offs of the summer split.
Opening the LCK Summer 2024 play-offs will be DPlus KIA and FearX. The teams will play in a bo5 format.
We are trying to find out who will be stronger in the DPlus KIA - FearX confrontation and who will qualify for the next stage, and who will have to settle for the Top 6 stage.
Let's go.
DPlus KIA Form
Let's open the match analysis with an analysis of DPlus KIA's form. In this match they will play as favourites with odds to win at around 1.12.
In the season before last, Dplus were still DAMWON, but it does not change the essence of the matter. Back then, Korea's top team finished top 3 at LCK Spring 2022 and top 4 at LCK Summer 2022.
Thanks to a win at LCK Regional Finals 2022, the team went to Worls 2022. The World Championships ended with a play-offs loss in a colourful match against Gen.G with a score of 2-3.
After rebranding, Dplus put together a new roster. There was an attempt to make some sort of "super" team, but that story doesn't work too well in LCK.
- Dplus roster: Kingen, Lucid, ShowMaker, Aiming, Kellin.
Reigning world champion Deft didn't help Dplus much at the first tournament after the rebranding. At LCK Spring 2023, Dplus finished in the top 5, which is not good.
At LCK Summer 2023, Dplus made it to the play-offs in 4th place, 11-7. That's better than T1.
However, LCK Summer 2023 Dplus KIA did not stay in the play-offs for long. In the first round of LCK Summer 2023 Playoffs Dplus Ledge and T1 with the score 1-3, leaving the main stage of the prestigious championship early.
The team made it to Worlds 2023 thanks to a second place finish at the South Korean regional finals. To do so, they first outplayed DRX (3-0) and then HLE (3-1).
Dplus opened up Worlds 2023 with a match against G2 Esports. The titular Koreans were weaker than the best team in Europe and went into the set 0-1.
There, Dplus played their fellow countrymen from KT Rolster. And again Worlds 2022 champion Deft and their distinguished colleagues lost: now Dplus had 0-2.
After falling into the relegation zone, Dplus finally got their act together and showed their game. They knocked BDS out of the tournament and now continue the arduous march to the play-offs. They later outplayed GAM Esports and came out on top 2-2, but in the final match Ledge or KT Rolster, thus forfeiting a chance at the play-offs.
After a slightly dismal Worlds 2024, DPlus KIA took the top 5, closing out the LCK Spring 2024 regular season with a score of 9-9.
In the first play-offs match, DPlus pulled off a mini-sensation. They defeated their more title contender KT Rolster in a very difficult bo5. Next was a match against Gen.G, which Dplus almost won, but still fell short on the fifth map and as a result lost 2-3. Dplus KIA finished in the top 4, which is pretty good.
DPlus KIA made it to the LCK Summer 2024 play-offs with a 13-5 main season score.
Most Popular DPlus Champions
On the top line the team picks KSante (4 matches, 50% wins), Renekton (3 games, 33% wins), Gnar (3 matches, 66% wins).
In the forest all the same, more or less standard: VI (7 games, 57% wins), Maokai (3 games, 66% wins), Poppy and Sejuani 2 matches and 0 wins each.
On the centre line with no deviations. There are Azir (4 matches, 50% wins), Ryze (4 games, 50% wins), Syndra (2 games, 50% wins), Cassiopeia (2 matches, 50% wins).
The championship among shooters is held by Lucian. Champion appeared 5 times, but won only 2 matches. Tried to Zeri, but failed: 0-3 in three appearances.
Among the supporting champions, Nami was a success. She was picked up 5 times, and her winrate was 40%. Yummi (3 games, 0% wins) and Ashe (3 games, 66% wins) were also picked.
FearX Form.
We continue our analysis of the match DPlus KIA - FearX with an analysis of FearX's form. In this match they are playing as a number two with win odds in the region of 5.
FearX is a relatively new name in LCK. The team shone on the competitive scene back in 2018, but got to LCK 2024 through the merger of Liiv Sandbox and SANDBOX Gaming, which is what we will rely on when analysing FearX.
Having been on the competitive scene since 2018, they started playing on LCK in 2019. First it was Top 5 at LCK Spring 2019, followed by Top 4 at LCK Summer 2019 and Top 3 at Regional Finals 2019, which wasn't enough to attend Worlds 2019.
What followed was a string of failed performances and playing at TIR tournaments. Things started to turn around in 2021 when FearX, while still Liiv Sandbox placed Top 4 at Regional Finals.
It wasn't going badly in 2022 when SANDBOX were one step away from Worlds. First they finished top 3 at LCK Summer 2022 and then top 3 at Regional Finals, Ledgeiv DRX at 2-3, failing to make it to Worlds. By the way, DRX won Worlds that year, so there you go.
2023, on the other hand, was a flop, after a pretty good showing the previous season. LCK Spring 2023 was top 6, and LCK Summer 2023 was top 7.
- FearX lineup: Clear, Willer, Clozer, Hena, Execute.
FearX changed their roster significantly during the November 2023 transfer window. Clear, Clozer, Hena and Execute joined the team, while jungler Willer remained the only player from the previous roster.
At LCK Spring 2024, FearX finished in the top 7, failing to make it to the championship play-offs. However, they managed to make it to the main stage of LCK Summer 2024, finishing in the borderline 6th place with a score of 8-10.
Most Chosen FearX Champions
The most popular character on the top line remains KSante (7 games, 42% wins). Gnar (6 games, 83% wins), Fiora (5 games, 60% wins) are also taken.
On foresters there is nothing fundamentally new: Sejuani (7 matches, 57% wins), Wukong (6 matches, 66% wins), Maokai (4 games, 100% wins).
In the centre, the favourite patch champion is Azir (7 matches, 85% wins). Beside him are Akali (4 games, 25% wins), Sylas (4 games, 75% wins).
The most favoured ADC is Varus (6 matches, 66% wins). Lucian (4 games, 100% wins) and Ashe with Caitlyn (3 games and 66% wins each) are also popular.
Among support players Heimerdinger (5 games, 60% wins), Karma (4 games, 50% wins), Ashe (3 games, 66% wins), Nami (3 games, 100% wins) stand out.
History of head-to-head meetings FearX - DPlus KIA
Previously the teams have played each other 4 times in 2024 and all games were won by DPlus KIA.
Predicted result of DPlus KIA vs FearX at LCK Summer 2024
I expect DPlus KIA to win this match. In my opinion, they are a few goals above their opponent and will win in their debut play-offs match. Especially, they beat FearX in all head-to-head matches.
Bottom line: 3-0 win for DPlus KIA.
