Analysis and Opinion

NIGHT VISION: Quarterfinals, DWG vs. DRX

Night Vision is your nightly recap of the 2020 League of Legends World Championships.

Look below for Recaps, Takeaways, and my pick for which player had a Night to Remember.

Recaps

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Game 1: DWG win
DWG Kennen Graves Syndra Jhin Leona
DRX Jayce Kindred Orianna Caitlyn Lulu

Ghost BeryL stomp 2v2 -> DWG wrangle Pyosik. Awkward Heralds slow DWG’s snowball. DRX comp can’t start 5v5s (only receive) so DWG manage ranges well, stifle the game beautifully.

Game 2: DWG win
DRX Jax Nidalee Galio Senna Tahm Kench
DWG Ornn Graves Twisted Fate Aphelios Thresh

DRX winning mid-to-top; DWG winning bot. DRX mid-game ace, decent lead. Beryl caught mid but outplays Chovy before dying, DWG big 5v5 win into Baron and close from there.

Game 3: DWG win win
DRX Vladimir Graves Vel’koz Senna Braum
DWG Ornn Kindred Orianna Ashe Pantheon

Back and forth early, DRX modest lead. Mid-game: DWG grouping effectively, Nuguri Ghost making plays, creating picks. Sloppy DRX chase, DWG punish for Baron and end fast.

Takeaways

Damwon’s Macro

I said at the end of the Damwon episode of Run It that I was impressed by their intelligence around avoiding bad fights and playing the map. This series had some good examples of how well Damwon can recognize not only their own win conditions, but also their opponents’, and play accordingly.

The clearest case was at 17:00 into game 1, when DRX were piloting a team comp that wanted to play from a position of control and invite the opponent to engage into them. DWG had an angle to force an engage, but when BeryL’s Leona ult failed to create a clean lockdown at the start, DWG just backed off and let go of the play.

If DWG can maintain that discipline (and clean up the occasional BeryL undisciplined solo play), it will be a huge factor in their ability to challenge for the Worlds title.

DRX Drafting Degree of Difficulty

For some reason, DRX opted in to team comps with very high execution requirements, built around win conditions that demanded them to be get leads in the early game and play with map control. Damwon had more balanced toolkits, with things like Ornn, Pantheon, Leona, and Twisted Fate that can create plays much more actively, offering more flexibility and opportunities to play from behind.

I’ve heard from LCK experts all year that DRX would do strange things in the draft, and after watching them try out Quinn in the group stage and then put up barriers in front of themselves in every game of this Damwon series, I have a much better idea what they were talking about.

Draft wasn’t the entire story of this series, but it absolutely played a role in holding DRX back.

Night to Remember

Ghost was the primary carry of the series for DWG, putting up 565 DPM and 28.4% DMG% (use the date filter) and +656 GXD10, turning some huge team fights on Aphelios, and landing several big Ashe ults in game 3. He is the least-heralded player on the team, but earned his praise today. When DWG can succeed through Ghost and BeryL’s lane, and with Ghost carrying team fights, it rounds them out so much better and makes it truly impossible to prep against them.