DAMWON Gaming vs Lowkey Esports

For our first Play-In Stage Best of 5 we have a pretty interesting clash between DAMWON Gaming, and Vietnam's second seed Lowkey Esports. Now, this isn't exactly the most hype match-up possible, but it should give us a closer look at the inner workings of LCK's third seed.

So far we've only seen them clash in the Best of 1 format (at Worlds, at least), and they didn't look so hot, especially when compared to what people expected from them coming into the tournament. They were by no means bad, but the fact that they didn't dominate as much as they should has people worried. Are they the real deal? Will the weight and pressure of performing on the Worlds' stage overwhelm them? Are they up to snuff? They certainly wouldn't be the first (or the last) team to crumble under the pressure, which is only empowered by the fact that they come from such a legendary, ever-present and potent region.

Some of their players had immense amounts of momentum coming into the tournament and we still want to see them play against the best teams the world of competitive League has to offer. While they did always find the right avenue towards success, they were nowhere near as commanding or clean in their execution to actually warrant our full benefit of the doubt going forward. And yes, they upped the tempo when they realized it was necessary, but their early game leaves a lot to be desired and could seriously be punished by the many teams competing in the Group Stage.

By the same token, Lowkey isn't exactly turning heads with their play. They're good, that's a fact, but nowhere near as good as they have to be in order to compete at Damwon's level. They might bring the fight in certain elements of the game and make things somewhat competitive, but they should succumb to Damwon's strength sooner rather than later.

One thing is for certain: even though Damwon won all of their previous games, they don't look like an LCK giant. In fact, they didn't look good at all, considering whom they were up against. Many expected fireworks from the Korean line-up, and yet all we got was a small twinkling in the sky. Is this truly the third-best team Korea has to offer?

Now, DAMWON members said that they're not playing at their full potential because they're still struggling to overcome the pressure of performing on an international stage. And while that's a perfectly valid explanation, it raises a key question: will they be ready in time to actually leave a mark in the Group Stage? Will they adapt when it matters the most? Only time will tell, but for now, we're fairly certain that they'll get the job done against Lowkey Esports.

This is the moment when they need to make a statement, and they know it.