DAMWON Gaming

DAMWON Gaming – the strongest Korean League of Legends team this year, not only won the LCK but also triumphed in the global LoL tournament “Worlds”. Indeed, 2020 was incredibly successful for this team, and this young but very talented team silenced skeptics and won the most important titles of the year. However, even after winning everything possible, DAMWON team did not escape changes in this offseason – the main team coach Zefa was replaced by the well-known and highly regarded kkOma, who had long been at the helm of the SKT team. Also, the world's best Top lane player Nuguri (who moved to FPX) was replaced by the equally high-level but recently underperforming Khan.

The core of the team remained: Canyon, ShowMaker, Ghost, and BeryL. Just like in the previous season, DAMWON team in this Kespa Cup stands out with exceptional individual mastery and excellent map control. Practically all the smallest mistakes of opponents are exploited, and DAMWON Gaming outplays most of their opponents just on “macro”. Excellent coordination in teamfights, good map control, and high individual mastery are the recipe for this team's success.

Nongshim Red Force

Nongshim Red Force, abbreviated as NS, is the organization that sponsored the Team Dynamics team, which debuted in the LCK last season. Team Dynamics rebranded just before the start of the 2021 season and became Nongshim Red Force. Team Dynamics did not perform miracles last season but had some solid performances against strong LCK teams, which is quite a good result for a team that just joined the main tournament from the LCK academy.

During the offseason, NS team was joined by Peanut, who participated in the Worlds tournament with LDG and is still considered one of the best Jungle position players in the world. After his joining, there is a noticeable change in choosing “teamfights”, using the map, and exploiting the smallest opportunities to punish opponents for their mistakes. Although this team does not match DAMWON Gaming in individual player mastery, the skill gap is not as large as it might seem at first glance. In such tournaments, teams pay a lot of attention to teamwork and testing tactics, so NS can certainly take advantage of DAMWON's attempts to take control and win at least one match in the series.

Prediction

Bookmakers clearly favor DAMWON Gaming in this series. Of course, this is understandable and could not be otherwise, considering the players and history of both teams. However, in this tournament, DAMWON did not look as confident as before, and all this can be explained by ongoing trials and not yet reaching the peak of sports form after a tough last season. Meanwhile, for the NS team, this series is a great chance to gain experience and see what level this team is actually at. The series should be interesting, and although DAMWON Gaming is likely to win it, NS should be able to win at least one match in the series.