ShowMaker’s DWG KIA and Faker’s T1 clash in a battle for Worlds supremacy

South Korea’s League of Legends Championship Korea (LCK) recently has been pinned down as a “one-team” region with DWG KIA standing among the top teams in the world, but the rest of the league lagging behind. That narrative has been squashed at the League of Legends World Championship with three of the four remaining teams hailing from the LCK.

In one of this weekend’s Worlds semifinals, DWG KIA and T1 will face off as the former looks to form a dynasty with its second straight Worlds title while the latter attempts to rebuild its dynasty of old. DWG KIA came out on top earlier this year in the LCK finals, but both teams will likely deliver a completely different series on the world stage.

Faker looking to lift the Summoner’s Cup again

Photo credit: Riot Games

DWG KIA and T1’s semifinal match is a grapple between two fairly young teams with a key outlier -- the legendary mid laner Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok. Although the semifinal clash itself is not a battle between the old guard and a newly forming dynasty -- T1 is largely made up of players that debuted as early as 2019 -- Faker is in a position to retake his own glory as not only a legacy player, but as a symbol of the game.

After winning the 2013, 2015 and 2016 world championships, Faker lost the 2017 world championship finals to Samsung Galaxy and hasn’t returned to the finals stage since. Faker isn’t the same dominant player he was last decade, but Worlds has always felt a bit empty without the greatest player of all time making a run for the top. His last appearance in the Worlds semifinals ended with a 3-1 loss to G2 Esports, but Faker has steeled himself in preparation for a rematch with DWG KIA.

“I think that my level of focus has dropped due to the outcome of my past failures,” Faker said during a recent postgame press conference at Worlds. “So I worked hard to get that level of focus back up again.”

T1’s success not just contingent on Faker

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Faker is at the helm, but the rest of T1 have been just as instrumental en route to this semifinal matchup. Players have shuffled in and out during the year, but the current unit appears to be the best possible combination to challenge DWG KIA for a shot at the Summoner’s Cup. T1 elicits memories of the old guard, but it’s been the team’s youngest players who have truly allowed the team to shine. Alongside the obvious stardom of Faker, Kim “Canna” Chan-dong has defined himself as one of the best laning top laners at the tournament.

“Based on the level of our individual performances, I think that we’re well on our way to winning the tourney,” Canna said. “I did get nervous in my first game, but I was never nervous after that.”

The nerves may be shaken off, but Canna and T1 face down last year’s champions, DWG KIA, who recently defeated T1 in this year’s LCK finals 3-1. Canna and Lee “Gumayusi” Min-hyeong were able to shine as the team’s young guns the last time they met, but ultimately, DWG KIA are the favorites.

“I think the best team in the world right now is DWG KIA, who beat us in the finals … I want to get my revenge in the semis,” he said.

DWG KIA’s understated dominance

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Across from T1, though, is a DWG KIA team prepared to be the first team since SKT T1 to win consecutive Worlds titles. Revenge is on Canna’s mind, but T1’s former coach and DWG KIA’s current coach, Kim “kkOma” Jeong-gyun, isn’t concerned about narratives or the history books. DWG KIA has a match to win.

“I’m not really thinking too much about any records on the line,” he said. “I think that the players and the coaching staff are doing exceptionally well, so while I’m not expecting a 3-0 stomp, I think that we’ll still win.”

Although KkOma points out that the match likely won’t be a 3-0 stomp, DWG KIA have yet to lose a map at Worlds this year. Every other team has pushed past some sort of resistance to make it this far, but DWG KIA have been nothing short of dominant with a perfect 9-0 record thus far. Even the bot lane of Jang “Ghost” Yong-Jun and Cho “Beryl” Geon-hee, which many criticized for the team’s loss at this year’s Mid-Season Invitational, is performing at a level leaps and bounds ahead of the competition. Despite all that, T1 is a different matter for DWG KIA support Beryl.

“I can definitely see that I’ve grown since then,” Beryl said of his earlier performances. “As for T1, this year's the first time we're meeting them on the international stage. We’ll need to prepare well, because they’re an incredibly good team.”

DWG KIA’s biggest weakness both domestically and internationally often have been the team’s early game. It was arguably the greatest reason that Royal Never Give Up were able to best them at the Mid-Season Invitational and the primary indicator pointing toward a close series against T1. Even when DWG KIA falters, though, mid laner Heo “ShowMaker” Su always makes the difference.

ShowMaker vs. Faker

ShowMaker leads all mid laners at Worlds in KDA (kills, deaths and assists) at 8.36, as well as gold per minute at 428. Some mid laners sport higher CS (creep score) numbers, but ShowMaker’s performances are so dominant that large farm numbers rarely come into the equation. Faker is the greatest of all time, but ShowMaker is without a doubt the greatest mid laner in the world today.

“Faker's a very good player, so it’ll depend on who’s feeling better that day,” Showmaker said.

ShowMaker is also very cautious of getting ahead of himself and being unable to tell the forest from the trees. DWG KIA is dominant and in position to reach yet another Worlds finals, but T1 defeated them as recently as July this year.

“The desire to go to the finals is definitely there,” he said. “Our focus right now, however, is on T1.”

Faker has the opportunity to rise to the top, giving T1 a chance to shine as brightly as the original SKT T1, but DWG KIA have aspirations of their own. Last year, they were DAMWON Gaming. This year, they are DWG KIA with a shiny new sponsor but the same, simple desire to defeat everyone in their way. DWG KIA appear to be in a league of their own, but they never let their guard down, else a team as hungry as T1 will be ready to snap up their burgeoning dynasty. The match will be a classic push and pull between the best teams the world has to offer, with only one earning the chance to fight for the Summoner’s Cup and another year of glory.

Lead photo credit: Riot Games