League of Legends Worlds 2022: Gen.G outlast DWG KIA 3-2 to make it to semifinals

Two South Korean behemoths faced off at the 2022 League of Legends World Championship Quarterfinals.

Gen.G came out on top, eliminating DAMWON Gaming KIA after an intense 3-2 series on Sunday (23 October), to move forward to the semifinals.

Both teams have fostered a rivalry throughout the year. League of Legends Korea Championship caster Maurits "Chronicler" Jan Meeusen said that both teams always extended their matchups to five games, with each team always trying to find ways to survive another round.

However, Gen.G always edged out DWG KIA, allowing them to defeat T1 in a historic 3-0 upset at the LCK Summer Finals to take their first-ever regional title and become the LCK’s first seed.

All eyes were on Jeong “Chovy” Ji-hoon, who was considered one of LoL’s greatest mid-laners. He’s never reached a semifinals at Worlds before their match against DWG KIA this year. The Gen.G mid laner said he’s watching out because “any player is a threat.”

The LCK Champions initially dropped a game to Royal Never Give Up in the Group Stage but quickly made a comeback, dominating the rest of their matches against Group D and winning against RNG in the tiebreaker to be Group D’s first seed.

On the other hand, 2020 World Champions DWG KIA came in as the LCK’s third seed. Jang "Nuguri" Ha-gwon have reunited with former champions Heo “Showmaker” Su and Kim “Canyon” Geon-bu in a bid to take back the Worlds title.

However, Showmaker mentioned before the match that he feels threatened by the Gen.G mid-laner, whose playmaking in the mid lane is “perfect” and “like a robot”.

Quickly becoming a crowd favourite in the competition, the team took second seed in the Group Stage, only falling to JD Gaming once in Group B. DWG KIA then lost the tiebreaker against the League of Legends Pro League (LPL) Summer Champions to become Group B’s second seed.

The first game stirred the crowd immediately, with both teams locking in unexpected picks, with Chovy going for an off-meta Ryze, Park "Ruler" Jae-hyuk locking in a winless Miss Fortune at Worlds, and Canyon debuting Kayn on Worlds this year.

Both teams aggressively invaded jungle camps, engaged each other in early-game team fights, and went for scrappy plays. Although both teams were evenly matched in taking objectives across the map, Gen.G took the upper hand in team fights.

Chovy surprised the fans with the strength of Ryze, getting consecutive Triple Kills. The Miss Fortune pick for Ruler synced well with Son "Lehends" Si-woo’s Yuumi, making the bot lane a huge problem for the LCK third seed later in the game.

And after 25 minutes and a 17-10 kill lead, Gen.G destroyed the DWG KIA base and won the first game.

The pace of the second game was a bit slower, with small trades made across the map and plenty of failed ganks and skirmishes. However, Gen. G had the upper hand in a fight at the Baron pit and pushed the bottom lane. Unable to play the side lanes, DWG KIA grouped up mid and found an opportunity to take down Gen.G’s mid inhibitor turret.

A chaotic team fight erupted again in the river, where Gen.G initially had the upper hand, but Showmaker turned the fight around and allowed his team to take three out of his opponents. After more brawls down mid, Gen.G found an opening again in the bot lane.

Both teams clashed in the Baron pit once again, nearly decimating members from both teams and resetting the Baron, with Gen.G gaining the upper hand, despite DWG KIA’s valiant efforts. Both teams tried to take the Baron again, with DWG KIA getting immediately punished with an ace after overstepping in the team fight.

This allowed Gen.G to secure the Baron, march down the enemy base and destroy the Nexus in 42 minutes with a 17-11 kill lead and take their team to matchpoint.

Backs against the wall, DWG KIA went off-meta in the third game, picking Swain in the mid lane for Showmaker. The LCK third seed stacked up Hextech Drakes and dominated the laning phase despite Gen.G’s attempts to set back Canyon, who was unable to defend against Seo "deokdam" Dae-gil’s Aphelios siege.

However, Showmaker skillfully landed all his skills and combinations to take down members of Gen.G in teamfights, allowing his team to nearly wipe the LCK champions off the map.

DWG KIA dominated the entire map and allowed no comeback for their opponents. And in just 26 minutes, DWG KIA destroyed Gen.G’s Nexus and won the third game to extend the series.

DWG KIA switched it up in the fourth game, going for an all-in team composition by putting Showmaker on Le Blanc. The 2020 World Champions were aggressive in the laning phase, taking four kills in just 10 minutes. Gen.G tried to make trades but failed and continued to fall further behind, with DWG KIA taking every objective off the map.

In a fight at the Dragon pit, DWG KIA wiped Gen.G off the map, allowing them to take the Nexus in just 24 minutes with a 13-2 kill lead.

In the last game of the series, DWG KIA again went off-meta, with Showmaker taking his signature Syndra pick and Canyon returning to Kayn. Meanwhile, Gen.G stuck to what they knew best, taking comfort in meta picks like Gnar, Sejuani, Viktor, Lucian and Nami.

Gen.G focused on maintaining control of the map, despite knowing that their opponents were starting to gain a gold lead. This allowed them to stack drakes and whittle down the health of enemy turrets.

DWG KIA did not back down, distracting Gen.G and allowing Canyon to prevent their opponents from taking soul point.

However, Gen.G continued to win team fights until Canyon found an opportunity for a flank in the mid lane, allowing his team to shut down Chovy, Peanut and Ruler and take the Baron.

DWG KIA continued to fight tooth-and-nail, taking down Peanut once again in the jungle which allowed them to take a second drake and third drake to extend the game yet again.

However, in a final fight at the Baron pit, Peanut secured the Baron, and it was Gen.G’s turn to wipe DWG KIA off the map, with Ruler taking a quadra kill.

And after a 44-minute slugfest, Gen.G barrelled down DWG KIA’s base and destroyed the Nexus to win the fifth game and the entire series.

Hearts broken, DWG KIA bow out of the competition in 5th-8th place, taking home US$100,125 in consolation.

Gen.G is moving on to the semifinals, where they will face the winner in the quarterfinals match between DRX and EDward Gaming.

Anna is a freelance writer and photographer. She is a gamer who loves RPGs and platformers, and is a League of Legends geek. She's also a food enthusiast who loves a good cup of black coffee.

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