LoL – DetonatioN FocusMe make history by making it to the Worlds main event

After securing a tiebreaker win against North American third seed Cloud9 earlier today, DetonatioN FocusMe are the first ever Japanese League of Legends team to make it past the Play-in Stage of the World Championship.

By the end of the Play-in Group Stage, DFM had a 3-1 scoreline, seemingly the most consistent team in their group, after Beyond Gaming performed somewhat below expectations. Their single loss was against C9, but the LCS squad dropped their last game of the round robin against a then-winless Unicorns of Love. 

With the opportunity created for them by the LCL representatives, and with the momentum given by their win against PCS team Beyond Gaming, the Japanese team put together a cohesive 5v5 team composition with Sett and Orianna. C9 chose a pick-oriented comp with Zoe and Jayce, with an Olaf in the jungle that was supposed to run the early game.

DFM’s task to secure 1st place in the group was not easy, even though they got three easy kills in the first three minutes of the game thanks to support Yang “Gaeng” Gwang-woo and bottom laner Yuta “Yutapon” Sugiura’s excellent laning. An extended skirmish in the top lane granted Robert “Blaber” Huang a huge advantage that he was able to hold on to for a while. In addition, Cloud9 was able to secure the Infernal Soul, which meant that the poke from the solo laners would deal even more damage. 

The LJL representatives showed great tenacity and patience though. They punished Cloud9’s aggression and mistakes decisively, forcing them into bad fights. Shunsuke “Evi” Murase’s Sett engaged on key carries, always making sure they had an advantage in fights. Lee “Aria” Ga-eul consistently outperformed Western superstar Luka “Perkz” Perkovic in the mid lane. 

DetonatioN FocusMe securing first place in their Play-in Group means that they are automatically seeded into the main event’s group stage. They, alongside LNG Esports, will have to wait until the other two teams that make it through Play-ins are confirmed before their groups are decided. 

 

(Header image via Detonation FocusMe)