Two down, seven to go: LCK Week 2, Day 5 recap
Gen.G won 2-1 against Hanwha Life Esports and DRX found a 2-0 series victory against Kwangdong Freecs, their first of the year, during the 2023 League of Legends Champions Korea (LCK) Spring Split on Jan. 29 at LOL Park in Seoul, South Korea.
Hanwha Life Esports vs. Gen.G
Game 1: GEN wins
Gen.G won 20-10 against Hanwha Life Esports in 36:41 in Game 1. Even though HLE botlaner Park "Viper" Do-hyeon led the game in damage with 37.9k on his 6/2/2 Varus, GEN botlaner Kim "Peyz" Su-hwan's 4/1/12 Jhin and toplaner Choi "Doran" Hyeon-joon's 7/2/4 K'Sante were too much for the 1-3 HLE to deal with. In supportive roles, GEN jungler Han "Peanut" Wang-ho was 3/2/12 on Maokai and support Yoo "Delight" Hwan-joong went 3/1/11 on Heimerdinger. LCK Player of the Game: GEN Peyz, 3rd
Game 2: HLE wins
Hanwha Life Esports tied up their series against Gen.G 1-1 with a 17-11 Game 2 win in 37:44. HLE Viper led in damage once again with 36.7k in a 6/3/10 Zeri performance, and HLE midlaner Kim "ZEKA" Geon-woo went 4/1/8 on Taliyah. With the help of GEN Peyz's 4/3/4 Lucian and midlaner Jeong "Chovy" Ji-hoon's 4/3/5 Azir, GEN stayed competitive until HLE ZEKA and his toplaner Hwang "Kingen" Seong-hoon backdoored the Nexus with a double teleport and a Taliyah ultimate. LCK Player of the Game: HLE Zeka, 3rd
Game 3: GEN wins
Gen.G picked up their third series victory of the year with a 13-3 win in Game 3 in 33:45. GEN Peanut found a 4/0/5 score on Wukong, while Chovy played Azir to even better effect than Game 2, going 3/0/4. In the botlane, GEN's Peyz and Delight went 4/1/4 on Lucian and 1/0/10 on Nami. LCK Player of the Game: GEN Peanut, 2nd
Strafe Player of the Series: GEN Peyz (12-5-20), 2nd
Kwangdong Freecs vs. DRX
Game 1: DRX wins
DRX won Game 1 vs. Kwangdong Freecs in 42:28, leading 14-11 in kills. Even though KDF jungler Ko "YoungJae" Yeong-jae went 4/2/4 on Wukong and botlaner Kim "Taeyoon" Tae-yoon's Varus finished 5/2/0, only DRX's support Cho "BeryL" Geon-hee fell behind, going 1/5/8 on Caitlyn. His lane partner, DRX botlaner Seo "deokdam" Dae-gil, notched a 4/1/5 score on Sivir, while toplaner Kim "Rascal" Kwang-hee was 4/0/5 on K'Sante and midlaner Yoo "FATE" Su-hyeok picked up a 5/3/2 killscore on Akali. LCK Player of the Game: DRX Rascal, 1st
Game 2: DRX wins
The 2022 world champion team found their first series win of 2023 with a 20-4 win against Kwangdong Freecs that lasted 29:28. DRX BeryL made up for a poor Game 1 showing with a 2/1/10 Caitlyn performance with DRX deokdam playing a more supportive game on his 1/1/13 Varus. While DRX Rascal and DRX jungler Kim "Croco" Dong-beom went 4/1/9 on K'Sante and 4/1/10 on Wukong respectively, DRX FATE was the star of the game, going 9/0/6 on Sylas. LCK Player of the Game: DRX FATE, 1st
Strafe Player of the Series: DRX FATE (14-3-8), 1st
Featured photos courtesy of the LCK/Riot Games.