The quarter-finals are over, and we are headed to the semi-finals at LCK 2022 Summer Playoffs. While it was important to get to the semi-finals, the winners will have to stand up against the titans of South Korea, Gen.G and T1. Let’s see what they can bring to the table against such good teams.
While Liiv SANDBOX crushed DRX as we expected, DWG KIA struggled against kt Rolster and worried their fans with their performance. It would be tough for them to face T1 no matter what, but after such a woeful performance, DK’s chances dropped even lower. Liiv SANDBOX isn’t one of the favourites of LCK however, and they will play without pressure.
2022 LCK Summer Playoffs quarter-finals
The quarter-finals action started with Liiv SANDBOX vs DRX. It took four matches for LSB to get the win, but they were able to continue their good form from the regular season. With this loss, DRX will have to try to get to Worlds 2022 through the LCK Regional Qualifier.
The first game of the series was a complete disaster for DRX, with Croco’s Trundle leading the team to victory with a 6-0-7 Trundle performance. Croco proved that he is one of the promising Korean junglers for the future by keeping his form during the playoffs. Following that, Prince showed up strong with Aphelios and kept leading his team to the win.
While DRX managed to take the victory in the third game by counter-picking Gwen with Jax, LSB closed the series in a very close fourth game. It took 51 minutes, but Liiv SANDBOX proved that they are the better team with such a long and great game.
Considering spring season performances, we were expecting Liiv SANDBOX to perform well. While DRX was one of the favourite teams at the start of the season for the Worlds 2022 tickets, with Zeka’s performance dropping near the middle of the season, the team was practically over, and if they were unfortunate enough, they could even miss playoffs.
Overall, it was a shameful season for DRX and Deft, as it was his last professional season before joining the army. Deft was the best part of DRX throughout the year no matter what, and he definitely didn’t deserve such a poor ending. On the other hand, with Prince leading the team, Liiv SANDBOX was the best of the rest, even outperforming DWG KIA. I would love to see them try to challenge the best at Worlds 2022.
The second quarter-final series was DWG KIA vs kt Rolster. While it was a poor season for DK, for kt Rolster, it was the opposite. After years of disappointment, KT finally found the perfect roster and managed to make it to the playoffs. While we were expecting a DWG KIA victory, KT proved that they would be a challenger at the Regional Finals with their performance.
DWG KIA benched the poor-performing Nuguri for this series. After we saw Burdol’s choices and performance, we understood why: they wanted to play something else and Nuguri was slowing the team down. DK didn’t want the Nuguri Sejuani against KT; they wanted Burdol Renekton and Yone, starting the series with a 2-0.
After some questionable referee decisions, kt Rolster got back up during the following games, showing their strong side. Aiming and VicLa carried the team hard against such a strong rival, taking it to 2-2. However, one moment of bad decision-making led DWG KIA to win the fifth game, sending kt Rolster to the Regional Finals.
DWG KIA changing Nuguri with Burdol proved to be a good call. However, we will see if they can be so brave against T1, their semi-finals opponent. Benching Kellin seemed to have worked great because he was definitely the best player of DWG KIA during the series. DK should have won this one without much struggle, but that didn’t look like DK’s fault. I choose to praise kt Rolster’s performance instead; they were terrific.
LCK 2022 Summer Semi-finals
First, check out the schedule below:
Saturday, August 20
Gen.G vs Liiv SANDBOX - 10:00 CEST
Sunday, August 21
T1 (1.28) vs DWG KIA (3.40) - 10:00 CEST
While it was great to see Liiv SANDBOX come from the bottom to the semi-finals this season, there is virtually nothing they can do against Gen.G. GEN looks like an unstoppable force this season, and they will probably crush LSB to continue their excellent form. However, Liiv SANDBOX will still be one of my favourites for the Regional Finals action that will follow the playoffs.
T1 vs DWG KIA is definitely a closer matchup, but T1 still has a significant advantage over their rivals. DWG KIA looks like they can make lots of mistakes, and while T1 sometimes struggle too, they have an undeniably better roster and decision-making. DWG KIA should make it to Worlds 2022 through the Regional Finals anyway, but the grand final will be T1 vs Gen.G.
