An unfortunate debut: 2023 LCK Summer Week 5, Day 1 recap

Dplus KIA won 2-0 against Kwangdong Freecs, and DRX upset T1 2-0 on July 5, the first match day of Week 5 of the 2023 League of Legends Champions Korea (LCK) Summer Split at LOL Park in Seoul, South Korea.

T1 mid laner Faker missed the day's games with an arm injury.

Kwangdong Freecs vs. Dplus KIA

Game 1: DK wins

Dplus KIA (5-4 in series/12-9 in games, fourth) won 17-7 in the 30:06-long Game 1 of their series against Kwangdong Freecs (4-5/8-10, sixth). DK top laner Kim "Canna" Chang-dong's Jax finished 3/2/5; jungler Kim "Canyon" Geon-bu was 4/1/10 on Nautilus and earned Player of the Game honors; mid laner ShowMaker picked Tristana and went 5/1/6; and bot laner Kim "Deft" Hyuk-kyu and support Kim "Kellin" Hyeong-gyu went 5/2/7 as Aphelios and 0/1/12 as Braum. DK took 11 towers, five inhibitors, two Baron Nashors, four drakes, and two Rift Heralds, while KDF only secured three towers; their mid laner Lee "BuLLDoG" Tae-young was 2/0/3 as LeBlanc. LCK Player of the Game: DK Canyon, 600 points

Game 2: DK wins

Dplus KIA won Game 2 against Kwangdong Freecs in 30:01 by a 24-11 kill score. DK ShowMaker went 15/1/3 as Tristana and scored a pentakill; Deft's Ashe notched a 5/2/16 score; and Kellin added a 1/2/21 KDA as Milio. DK took eight towers, one inhib, Baron, four drakes, and a Herald. KDF only managed two towers and a Herald. LCK Player of the Game: DK ShowMaker, 400 points

Jame's Player of the Series: DK ShowMaker (20/2/9), 3rd

DRX vs. T1

Game 1: DRX wins

DRX (3-6/8-14, seventh)​ upset T1 (6-3/13-8, third) by a 19-2 score in their 31:20-long Game 1. DRX top laner Kim "Rascal" Kwang-hee led in kills on his 7/1/2 Jax and was the POTG; jungler Lee "Juhan" Ju-han controlled the game on his 3/0/12 Sejuani; mid laner Yoo "FATE" Su-hyeok​ picked Azir and went 5/0/4; and bot laner Park "Paduck" Seok-hyeon​ finished 3/0/4 as Xayah with the support of Cho "BeryL" Geon-hee​'s 1/1/8 Rell. DRX found 11 towers, three inhibs, two Barons, three drakes, and a Herald. T1 secured three towers, one drake, and one Herald, while debuting substitute mid laner Yoon "Poby" Sung-won​ had his team's only kills in a 2/4/0 Jayce performance​. LCK Player of the Game: DRX Rascal, 300 points

Game 2: DRX wins

DRX finished their sweep of T1 with an 18-6 Game 2 win that lasted 32:30. DRX Rascal finished 5/2/6 as Jax; FATE again went unkilled on his 6/0/7 LeBlanc; and Paduck and BeryL were 5/1/7 and 0/1/13 as Varus and Heimerdinger, respectively. While DRX found nine towers, one inhib, three drakes and a Herald; T1 found a tower, a Baron, a drake, and a Herald. LCK Player of the Game: DRX FATE, 300 points

Jame's Player of the Series: DRX FATE (11/0/11), 2nd

Featured photos courtesy of the LCK/Riot Games.