Image credit: LoL Esports
DRX's miracle run is not stopping.
After a nerve-wracking five-game thriller that went all the way, DRX came out on top by reverse-sweeping EDward Gaming in the quarterfinals of Worlds 2022. With that win, DRX has cemented itself into Worlds history by being only the second team to accomplish a reverse sweep at the world championship. But what happened after made that victory all the more special.
That win puts DRX in the semifinals, a first for the organisation after a quarterfinal exit in 2020. It also just so happened to be DRX's AD carry, Kim "Deft" Hyuk-kyu's birthday on the day of their best-of-five against EDG. After overcoming the reigning champions, Deft was presented with a birthday cake before his winner's interview with his teammate, Hong "Pyosik" Chang-hyeon.
After being asked what it must feel like to be back in the semifinals after eight years, Deft broke down in tears. This will be his first semifinal appearance since Worlds 2014 when he was with Samsung Blue. Having been to Worlds six times, Deft has been eliminated in the quarterfinals the last five times, two of which came during his time with EDG in 2015 and 2016.
With his future in professional LoL still up in the air, this could very well be his last world championship. Deft is seen by many across the LCK as one of the greatest of all time, despite never winning a world championship. While his record at Worlds has never been pretty, this year is proving to be one of his biggest yet. After a decent 2020 season during his first stint with DRX, Deft left for Hanwha Life Esports last year. But even after swapping colours, he still ended up finishing in the quarterfinals of Worlds 2021.
This season was seen as a redemption story arc for Deft, hoping to prove doubters wrong when he joined DRX once again. Despite the team's failings during the season (DRX finished fifth and sixth respectively during the Spring and Summer Splits), they still managed to scrape by in the LCK Regional Finals. With it being the second year in a row that he has had to start from the Play-In Stage, there was nothing left to lose for both Deft and DRX.
And not only did DRX go undefeated in the Play-In Stage, but they also topped their respective group by defeating the LEC's number one seed, Rogue in the tie-breaker. To top it all off with a reverse sweep against the defending champions, DRX's Cinderella story run at Worlds this year doesn't seem to be stopping anytime soon. But they will have another tricky encounter in the semifinals, which will be another all-LCK affair for Deft like it was back in 2014.
Their next opponent is another LCK team, Gen.G Esports. Currently, the LCK's number-one seed, Gen.G has had the upper hand against DRX over the last couple of years. However, most of those matches have been a best-of-three. The last time both teams faced one another in a best-of-five was during the LCK Summer Split in 2020 where DRX won 3-2 in the semifinals.
The remaining four teams will now break for a few days before the start of the semifinals, which will be held at the State Farm Arena, Atlanta on October 29 and 30. From there, the final two teams will head across the country to the Chase Center in San Francisco for the grand finals of Worlds 2022 on November 5.
