LCK 2022 Summer regular season is over, with Gen.G leading the league as the best-performing team. Although they couldn’t repeat T1’s unbelievable 18-0 run last season, Gen.G’s 17-1 performance was just as impressive. Some say that it was even more impressive and Gen.G was even more dominant.
As a surprising addition to the playoffs, Liiv SANDBOX followed T1 and Gen.G, finishing 13-5. DWG KIA and DRX were the two biggest disappointments of the season definitely, and kt Rolster is back in LCK playoffs after a long hiatus. One thing is for sure: this was one of the most entertaining LCK seasons recently.
Gen.G’s story to the top
Gen.G gathered a “super” team at the start of the year. Built around the long-standing member and superstar ADC Ruler, the team consisted of LCK’s most remarkable production in recent years, Chovy, superstar jungler Peanut, aggressive support Lehends and the weak side king Doran. Although the spring season was owned by T1, Gen.G showed their true potential in the summer season.
T1 was the runner-up of MSI 2022, while Gen.G was using that time to build upon the base that they had constructed in the spring season. The hard work paid off: Gen.G’s first loss of the season came against T1 in the fourth week with a 2-1. Considering the spring season disappointments where Covid 19 affected the team heavily, it was a major improvement for the team.
After their loss against T1, Gen.G started the streak that led to us showcasing one of the most dominant teams in LCK history. Eight 2-0 wins in a row, meaning the most consecutive set wins, which equalled an earlier record by SKT T1 in LCK 2015 Summer. That streak included the second series against T1, where they crushed their nemesis.
T1 was absolutely outdrafted and outclassed in every possible way. Although they had some advantages in the early game, Gen.G played confidently to take down T1. Their first loss came against DWG KIA, where they eventually won the series against a ShowMaker with Covid-19. However, Gen.G’s dominating performance continued and secured first place with 17-1.
Looking back to the spring season, even though T1 was 18-0, Gen.G won more games 2-0: While T1 were dropping games in series, Gen.G did not. That may have delayed their eventual improvement, but Gen.G probably won’t be thinking about it: they looked stronger than T1 and they are the number one favourite for LCK 2022 Summer Playoffs, the one that matters, the one that gets you to Worlds 2022 as the first seed of South Korea.
LCK will continue with the tight playoffs schedule; let’s take a look at Gen.G’s opponents now. Make sure to watch the LCK playoffs as it will conclude this beautiful season with lots of memorable stories. You can find live streams to watch LCK on Luckbox. Sign up now to grab your 100% bonus before placing your bets.
2022 LCK Summer Playoffs will kick off
It obviously isn’t over for T1. Three losses might even help them, they might be too arrogant or they might have missed some of their mistakes earlier. This is T1’s chance to fix those before facing Gen.G in the playoffs. It is clear that they would prefer to witness those mistakes during the regular season instead of the playoffs.
13-5 third place Liiv SANDBOX, the team that lost one more game than T1 in total, is one of the biggest surprises of the season. Although they were able to defeat T1 2-0 during the last week, their chances of taking down GEN or T1 in the playoffs are very low. However, their incredible performance all season long makes LSB a great candidate for representing South Korea in Worlds 2022.
Let’s move on with another surprise: kt Rolster is back. Changing Aria with VicLa once again, kt Rolster managed to take down playoffs favourites like DRX and NS twice. They even finished higher than DRX in the end. They will be facing a Covid-19 free DWG KIA in the quarter-finals, but KT fans will still hope that they could pull the upset.
With the addition of Nuguri, DWG KIA should have been third place or finished even higher. However, we saw a 10-8 vulnerable DK, an “ordinary” team. DK will still be a problem during the playoffs, as ShowMaker won’t have to play the games with a deadly cough in a remote room.
DRX was even more of a disappointment: after their strong showings in the spring season, we were expecting a more competitive DRX. However, during some points in the season, LCK fans were even considering DRX getting left out of the playoffs. Although they made it, they deserve the sixth place as they looked weaker than LSB, DK and KT. If DRX can’t improve in the few days they have before the playoffs, they will be left out of something more critical than LCK playoffs, Worlds 2022.
Obviously, Kwangdong Freecs and Nongshim RedForce were even bigger disappointments for their fans. While Fredit BRION and Hanwha Life already had weaker rosters, KDF and NS had superstars like Kiin, Teddy, Bdd and Ghost. They will spend the offseason thinking about what went wrong.
LCK 2022 Summer Playoffs will start quickly, with the first match Liiv SANDBOX vs DRX being played on August 17. Make sure to keep up with this fierce competition and visit Luckbox to watch the matches.
