Damwon Gaming continues the team’s undefeated second round win streak in the League of Legends Champions Korea, defeating Gen.G in the opening match of the week Thursday to sit at first in the standings.

Damwon Gaming, which recently placed second in global power rankings by ESPN after Invictus Gaming of China triumphed over Gen.G 2-1, finally beat them for the first time this year after losing both games in the spring and losing the first round of the summer. With a 12-2 record and an overwhelming advantage of 21 in the set score after Thursday’s win, DWG finally toppled the previous No. 1 DRX to take the top spot. DRX stands at second with the same 12-2 record but an advantage of 15 in the set score.

Thursday’s match delivered the aggressiveness that Damwon fans had been waiting for.

The first set was heavily one-sided in favor of Damwon, as Damwon’s “Canyon” landed spear after spear with Nidalee and dominated the top side of the map. Although Gen.G’s bottom lane, “Ruler” and “Life,” scored a double-kill, it was not enough to stop Canyon along with “Nuguri” on Jayce in the top lane and “ShowMaker” as Sett in the mid lane. Damwon once again shut down the game in 26 minutes and 8 seconds, much to everyone’s shock.

In the second set, Gen.G fought back with “Rascal” in the top lane grabbing Renekton. Also, “Ruler” was able to front-line as Ashe with a shield from “Life” as Lulu and “Bdd” as Karma, countering all attempts by Damwon.

With the match even at one apiece, Damwon decided to rotate Sejuani to support at the last minute in the pick-and-ban phase and picked Karthus for Canyon in the third set. Damwon also banned out Ashe and Renekton, forcing Rascal on Irelia. Irelia took two quick kills in the beginning, as Gen.G put on global pressure with Galio in the mid lane and Nocturne in the jungle. However, Damwon aced Gen.G in front of the Rift Herald at around 10 minutes and continued to dominate until finishing the game before 26 minutes. Damwon did not concede a single objective to Gen.G.

Canyon was named player of the game for both sets No. 1 and 3 with his Nidalee and Karthus.

With a match against SeolHaeOne Prince and Team Dynamics left in the season, Damwon is expected to head straight to the finals as the top team in the league, barring any upsets.

Meanwhile, the fight for third place continues, with Gen.G and T1 tied at a 10-4 record with Gen.G’s loss and T1’s win against SeolHaeOne Prince on Thursday. T1 has been on a four-game winning streak, stemming from 16-year-old rookie “Clozer” replacing legendary player “Faker” in the mid lane.

How much the rumored scrimmage powerhouse of 2019 World Championships can contend this year against international teams, especially those in the Tencent League of Legends Pro League, is something all fans of the LCK are looking forward to. Damwon first has to win the LCK Summer, which they are most likely to do in their current form.

By Lim Jang-won (ljw@heraldcorp.com)