Gen.G kicked off the eighth week of the 2022 LCK Spring Split with a 2-1 victory over DWG KIA today. And they got this win without their standout mid laner Chovy, who tested positive for COVID-19 and was replaced by rookie Baek “Ophelia” Jin-seong from the org’s Academy team.
Ophelia showed promise in today’s League of Legends series against DWG KIA. He didn’t crumble under the pressure, rather pulling off clean laning phases and following his teammates’ shot calls afterward.
Still, this series was extremely close. While Gen.G won the first game at the 41-minute mark, DWG KIA bounced back and steamrolled through the second game, spearheaded by bot laner Seo “deokdam” Dae-gil on Ezreal.
Related: T1’s Faker collects his 2,500th kill with decisive win against Gen.G in 2022 LCK Spring Split
The third game was the closest of the series. Things looked grim for Gen.G since DWG KIA seemingly had the edge thanks to their versatile draft.
Gen.G took a risky composition including Renata Glasc as support, even though they only practiced with her one time in scrims, according to Peanut.
Both teams were even in terms of gold for most of the game, but Gen.G took the advantage due to two crucial teamfights around Baron and then the Elder Drake.
In those tense situations, Gen.G’s players showed flawless execution of patient engages, avoiding ShowMaker’s abilities on Ahri and circling around DWG KIA to pick them off and get the objective.
In the final fight, Gen.G waited for the right moment to engage and won the teamfight, which led to their hard-fought victory. Gen.G are now 12-3 in the 2022 LCK Spring Split, while DWG KIA fall to 9-6.
Gen.G fans could see the return of Chovy in their next series against Hanwha Life Esports on Saturday, March 12 at 5am CT. DWG KIA, on the other hand, will go against NongShim RedForce on Friday, March 11 at 5am CT.
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