An all-Korean Worlds semifinals with two League of Legends powerhouses. A rematch of the LCK Summer finals where Damwon Gaming (DWG) took down T1, 3-1. T1, looking to get back to the pinnacle of League, versus DWG aiming to defend their title and become back-to-back World Champions. In an electrifying five-game series, Damwon reigned supreme over T1, punching a ticket to the Worlds finals.
Worlds semifinals: T1 2-3 DWG
Damwon all-business, neutralize Gumayusi to strike first
As expected of the LCK giants, the two sides traded blow for blow at first. Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok tried to shut down Kim “Khan” Dong-ha early by teleporting into top lane for first blood to give Kim “Canna” Chang-dong's Jayce a slight advantage.
On the opposite end of the map, dive from Kim “Canyon” Geon-bu's Lee Sin netted value right away for the Rift Herald, taking the first turret of the game. The bot difference grew large: Jang “Ghost” Yong-jun went up nearly 2k gold over T1 carry Lee “Gumayusi” Min-hyeong just 10 minutes into the match.
Around the 24-minute-mark, Heo “Showmaker” Su's LeBlanc found a crucial opening pick on Canna in the mid lane, bursting the Jayce down easily on LeBlanc. Afterwards, Damwon chased T1 into the top jungle, as Ghost landed the Jhin ult on Ryu “Keria” Min-seok.
DWG then turned on the baron. T1 tried to stop them, but to no avail. They were already too far ahead, taking out the remaining players as Oner tried to jump in for a steal alongside Gumayusi's Miss Fortune ult. T1 soon lost mid and bot inhibitors, while Faker split pushed to get the top second tier turret.
After regrouping, Damwon then pushed into the base, taking out all of T1's players to claim game one in under 30 minutes. Despite the early kills going T1's way, they couldn't push their advantage. The scoreline ended 15 kills to four. ShowMaker and Ghost each dealt around 14k damage and went deathless with 3/0/7 and 4/0/9 KDAs, respectively.
T1 snaps Damwon's undefeated Worlds campaign
The volatile champions on either side—Canna's Yasuo and Ghost's Draven—got to farm away relatively safely for the first 10 minutes. This meant that any big mid game fight could break the game open and swing the momentum heavily to one team.
Both LCK teams continued to be neck-and-neck, until 24 minutes into the game. T1 found a massive fight near the dragon pit with top and bot lane pushing. Ghost strayed too far forward, and a Rakan flash-ult and Yasuo ult punished him swiftly this time around.
Khan and Canyon, meanwhile, tried their hardest to keep the fight close. But Faker flanked on Lissandra, landing a crucial Frozen Tomb on ShowMaker then helped Moon “Oner” Hyeon-joon take down the Graves. The legendary mid laner showed how good he still is, his positioning helping create space in the fights.
Back and forth, both teams tussled around the baron pit. Past 35 minutes, the defending champions began to attack the baron. But 18-year-old jungler Oner flashed in for the massive baron steal, winning the smite battle against arguably the World's best jungler in Canyon. T1 then cleaned up the fight, with Gumayusi grabbing a triple kill. T1's young guns showed up big time, putting a halt to Damwon's 10-game unbeaten streak at Worlds 2021.
Keria's Zilean Chronoshifts T1 to match point
Keria put up a phenomenal performance on Zilean. Revive after revive kept the skirmishes close and kept T1 in the game. By the 20-minute mark, T1 came away with the advantage in an extended fight. It started in the bot lane, trading one-for-one as Faker's Ryze teleported in to root ShowMaker. Canna dove in on Kennen and ended up falling to Syndra's Unleashed Power, but Ryze was able to finish off the kill.
Faker then used the Realm Warp to transport his team to the top-side river, chasing down Ghost. Keria popped his bomb onto the Baron, putting Ghost in no man's land. As Damwon tried to help the ADC, Faker and Oner dealt damage up close combined with Jhin's Curtain Call. Keria again used Chronoshift for Ryze, saving not just Faker's life but keeping the bounty gold away from DWG.
T1's support put his team on his back another game-changing teamfight later. Keria flashed in to double-bomb the Maokai, allowing T1 to get rid of Damwon's frontline right away. The defending champions fell one by one, with Faker's Ryze even ulting past the mid outer turret and flashing to kill off ShowMaker. T1 secured the baron and began charging towards DWG's base.
By 35 minutes into the game, Faker already hit level 18, while Gumayusi had five items on Jhin. In another messy, but eventually T1-favored fight in the mid lane, Jhin ensured crucial kills while sped up by Zilean, leading to the baron and the game-winning push. Keria capped off his fantastic—deathless—Zilean showing with a 1/0/19 scoreline, showcasing a brilliant pick from T1.
ShowMaker shows up, shuts down Faker to force do-or-die
Damwon struck first in the fourth game. ShowMaker, back on power pick LeBlanc, killed off Faker's Ryze with help from Canyon. Oner was nearby, though, avenging his mid laner by flagging and dragging to take down DWG's jungler.
The defending champions continued to make proactive plays and set Faker down 0-3 not even 15 minutes into the match. Not only did it get LeBlanc ahead, but it also converted into an Ocean drake. T1 were able to defend their mid outer turret, though, while Canna took down Damwon's top outer. When the mid turret finally fell, T1 also grabbed their opponents' bot tower.
Backs against the wall, DWG's rising star ShowMaker showed just why fans ought to pay him as much attention as Faker. About 20 minutes into the game, Gumayusi opened up with Lucian's culling, but Damwon returned fire and LeBlanc dealt the death blow to T1's bot duo. Chasing down the mid lane, ShowMaker landed his distortion-chains combo to burst down Canna, securing a triple kill. He later also solo killed Faker in the top brush—there was nothing the legend could do against the fed LeBlanc.
Damwon's mid prodigy had an over 5000 gold lead over League of Legends‘ undisputed best player of all time. He capped off his monstrous performance with yet another triple kill in T1's base. The LeBlanc ended with a spectacular 11/0/3 KDA in the 30-minute domination. Like a well-oiled machine, DWG gave T1 no chance, racking up 18 kills and four drakes—forcing the series to a game five.
Damwon stamp out T1's Worlds hopes
As the two squads traded blows, DWG's long-range poke from the likes of Zoe and Ziggs chunked out their opponents and forced key ult and flash cooldowns. This gave the defending champions micro-advantages that they converted into drakes and control around the map.
Past 20 minutes, T1 found a good fight in the bot jungle to mid lane. Canna flanked with Slicing Maelstrom to delete Cho “BeryL” Geon-hee. Khan teleported in, but Faker was ready with the Azir ult to take down Damwon's top laner. Just as T1 looked to head to baron, ShowMaker landed crucial Zoe poke on his counterpart, dissuading them from taking the nashor.
When DWG importantly claimed the mountain soul, T1 fought back to grab the baron. But the defending champions chased them down, securing an ace and pushed into the base. Even though T1's carries respawned in time to keep the series alive, their opponents found the final game-winning fight around the Elder Dragon just a few moments later.
They started out by chunking out Faker from ShowMaker's Zoe bubble and Ghost's Ziggs ult. Pushed to the very edge, Damwon emphatically killed all of T1 and their hopes for Worlds this year. Faker and co came close but ultimately fell short.
The T1-DWG semifinals played out exactly like our predictions. The two LCK teams gave fans an absolute entertaining—and historic—series to witness. Now just one series away from claiming the Worlds trophy, DWG now have to wait for the results of the other semifinal, with EDward Gaming and Gen.G going head-to-head tomorrow.
Damwon also now have the opportunity to become back-to-back World Champions, a feat that only one other organization—T1—has ever done before. Faker and T1, meanwhile, will miss out on the Worlds finals for the sixth year in a row.
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