After these last days during which the suspense was finally present after two one-sided matches, the teams forming the last four were revealed. Some of the quarter-finals could even go down in history, and it's not impossible that one of them will end up being considered the best match of the tournament, much like the KT/Invictus Gaming of 2018. T1 , JD Gaming, Gen G and DRX are the teams that managed to reach the penultimate stage of the tournament, but only two of them will reach the Grand Finals.
But although all the teams made their respective history in these semi-finals, there is one specific club that stands out from the rest after several years of unsuccessful attempts: DRX . The South Koreans finally managed to reach the Top 4 and even if it does not look like it, their presence in the semi-finals means much more than it seems as certain statistics prove.
DRX breaks a historic curse
The main fact to highlight about this ranking is that it is the first time in the history of the World Championships that a fourth seed from a region has managed to reach the semi-finals . The previous record in this area was held by RNG, which fell in the quarter-finals. What's more, their star player, Kim 'Deft' Hyuk-kyu, has broken a curse that has haunted him since his first World Cup appearance: reaching the semi-finals hasn't happened to him since his Wolrds debut in 2014.
It took 8 years for it to happen again , and the player's emotion was more than palpable during his post-match interview. Deft probably gave themselves the greatest birthday present by winning this series.
A broken dream of 2020 reborn in 2022
One of the most memorable moments of the competition in 2020 was one of Keria's statements : " Since last year I kept saying I would take Deft to Worlds, almost promising it. He always said that if he went to Worlds he could finally show his true level of play. It means a lot to him and his career." Unfortunately, their adventure in 2020 ended in the quarter, against the eventual winners of the tournament. Last year, Keria knocked out Deft again in the quarter-finals, in the T1 match against Hanwha Life. The two former teammates will only be able to meet in the final, but there is no doubt that this match would be loaded with emotions.
Another interesting fact is that all the players of this DRX 2020 team are still in the competition, a bit as if the missed date with their destiny that year was to take place in 2022:
- Doran toplaner of Gen.G
- Pyosik jungler of the DRX
- Gen.G mid laner Chovy
- Defense ADC of the DRXs
- Kéria T1 support
-
Museong Gen.G coach
Finally this story worthy of a shonen will only be valid if JDG does not come to play the spoilsports.
Hoyoverse has been hit hard by a new wave of leaks. These leaks allowed dataminers to draw more precisely the roadmap of the banners to come as well as the next characters of patches 3.3, 3.4, 3.5 and even 3.6!
