The sixth day of the Spring Split of the ‘2023 LoL Champions Korea (LCK) was held at Jonggak Roll Park on April 25. In game one, Nongshim RedForce lost to DePlus Kia, snapping their opening three-game losing streak. Despite playing with a roster made up entirely of rookies, the bar was too high in the LCK.

Heo Young-cheol, the head coach of the Nongshim RedForce, said, “The players did better than I expected in the beginning. I was worried because we really struggled in the beginning against DPLUS KIA in the scrimmage. In the first set, we did well in the pre-line phase, leading to one hit, and we even won one hit. I wish we could have done better in that area.” He summarized today’s game.

When asked about the psychological impact of back-to-back losses, He said, “The players’ mentality is good right now, and they are motivated,” but added, “I think the sooner we get a win, the better. If we can get one win, I think our performance will improve from there. Our next game is against DRX, and we’ll do our best to prepare and win.”

His teammate Jung ‘Peter‘ Yoon-soo said, “When we played against a strong team called DePlus Kia, we had enough to win, but our lack of experience showed. I think we’ll be able to do better as we gain experience,” he said. “However, we lost the bot lane battle. I felt like I needed to talk to ‘Vital’ Hain-sung, and I think it was because we didn’t prepare well.”

With five rookies on the roster, Nongshim Red Force is in desperate need of a leader to center the team both in-game and out. When asked who fills that role, Peter said it’s him. “Losing today didn’t dampen our spirits. It’s a mindset of having fun, but making sure we get something out of it. 카지노사이트 We’ll show it all in the next DRX match,” he said with confidence.

The 2023 LCK Spring kicked off last week, capturing the attention of fans with non-stop action over the Lunar New Year holiday, and is poised to continue its upward trajectory in Week 2 with some of the best big matches on the schedule.

League of Legends Champions Korea (CEO Oh Sang-heon), organizer of the Korean professional league of League of Legends esports, announced that the opening week of the 2023 LCK Spring, held at the LCK Arena located at Roll Park in Jongno-gu, Seoul, from Wednesday, January 18th to Sunday, January 22nd, saw DPLUS Gia and T1 start off on a high note with two undefeated games and will face off in Week 2 on Saturday, January 28th in the Satuday Showdown.

Plus Gia and T1 were as strong as expected
When asked to name the teams they thought would be strong this spring, the 10 teams that participated in the League of Legends Champions Korea (LCK) Spring 2023 media day on Thursday, January 12, cited DePlus Kia and T1. Five teams predicted a strong showing from the former, while four picked T1.

When the lid was lifted, both teams were just as strong. In their Spring opener against DRX on the 18th, DePlus Kia swept both sets with a 10+ kill margin. Against Reef Sandbox on the 20th, DPLUS Kia secured a 2-0 victory before the one-hour mark of the combined first and second set thanks to long-range dealer Kim “Deft” Hyuk-kyu and support Kim “Kellin” Hyung-kyu dominating the bottom lane without dying once in either set.

T1, which hasn’t made any changes to its roster ahead of the 2023 season, also put on a strong showing. Facing Genji, who they met in the Spring and Summer Finals in 2022, with a 1-1 record, T1 showed off the chemistry they’ve had for over two years, winning 2-0. After dropping the first set to carrier opponent KT Rolster on the 20th, T1 dominated the second and third sets to pull off a 2-1 upset.

Saturday’s results will determine the course of 1R
DePlus Gia and T1 go head-to-head in Week 2. This is the second edition of the Saturday Showdown, which was introduced this spring. The two teams will face each other on the 28th, after the former hosted the Nongshim Red Force on the 25th and the latter faced the Guangdong Freecs on the 26th. Barring any major upsets, both teams will enter the match with a three-game lead, so the outcome of the 28th match will likely determine the outcome of the first round of the Spring.

The head-to-head record between the two teams is 9-7, with a slight edge in favor of DePlus Kia. In 2020 and 2021, the team won big games, while in 2022, T1 won all five meetings, including four in the regular season and one in the Summer Playoffs.

Another notable matchup is between the 1996-born Kim “Deft” Hyuk-kyu and T1’s Lee “Faker” Sang-hyuk, who were classmates at Mapo High School. The two have faced each other a whopping 84 times (in sets) in the LCK alone, with Lee “Faker” Sang-hyuk holding a commanding 56 wins and 28 losses. However, Kim “Faker” Hyuk-kyu has been on a good run of results, including losing the 2022 LoL World Championship in three sets to two and losing to Team Deft in the season-opening Specials, so all eyes will be on the 28th.

What’s next for Hanwha Life Esports?
Another team to watch in Week 2 is Hanwha Life Esports. The only team to have three players who have won the LoL World Championship since 2021 on the same team, Hanwha Life suffered a blowout loss to Reef Sandbox in Week 1. Still finding their groove, Hanwha showed a pattern of relying on the individual skills of their players.

In Week 2, Hanwha will face KT Rolster and Genji. KT Rolster is made up of players who have been through the wringer, but it will be interesting to see how Hanwha will find a solution with players who have won on the big stage of the World Championship.

It will also be interesting to see if Hwang “KingGen” Sung-hoon and Kim “Zeca” Gun-woo, who are playing in Hanwha’s uniform this year, can take down Genji again, as they played a huge role in the team’s victory over Genji in the quarterfinals of the 2022 LoL World Championship.

Week 2 of the 2023 LCK Spring 한국야동 will be streamed live on online platforms such as Africa TV and NAVER Esports & Games.

Challengers Korea, the first step toward the international league, the upper echelon of the Valorant Champions Tour, kicks off on Thursday, January 26.

Riot Games, the developer and distributor of the 5v5 character-based tactical shooter “VALORANT,” today announced that Stage 1 of the 2023 WCG VALORANT Challengers Korea will kick off on Thursday, January 26 with a matchup between DePlus Gia and Nongshim Red Force.

In 2023, Riot Games will launch a new international league to expand the Valorant esports ecosystem, with sub-leagues, the Challengers League, taking place in 21 regions around the world. The Stage 2 winner of each regional Challengers will advance to the Ascension (promotion) of their region, with Korea’s Pacific Ascension featuring the 10 winning teams from the 10 regional Challengers Leagues in the Pacific.

The winners of each region’s Ascension are eligible to compete in their region’s International League for two years starting the following year. After two years, these teams return to the Regional Challengers to compete in the Regional League and Ascension.

The 2023 WCG Valorant Challengers Korea Stage 1, which kicks off on January 26, is co-presented by Riot Games and Big Picture Interactive, and is the first event to test the mettle of Korean teams that will compete at Ascension.

Six teams, including DPLUS Kia, Nongshim Red Force, Daejeon Hana CNJ, Maru Gaming, WGS X, and OP.GG, will participate as invited teams. Shadow Corp. and Rio qualified for the Open Qualifier on Saturday, January 14 and Sunday, January 15 by surviving to the end.

Shadow Corporation defeated On Slayers 2-0 in the Group 3 final on Day 1 to advance to the Day 2 playoffs, where they took down Turning Mecard and Team Indigo on Day 2 to finish in first place. Rio advanced to Day 2 with a 2-0 victory over Tartarus and Blatter, both of whom participated in Stage 2 of last year’s Valorant Challengers Korea, on Day 1. They lost to Team Indigo in the first game of Day 2, but swept Turning Mecard and Team Indigo in the loser’s bracket and final, respectively, to finish in second place.

The 2023 WCG Ballantine Challengers Korea Stage 1 has a total prize pool of 75 million won and will kick off on January 26 and conclude with the Grand Finals on February 25. The regular league will be played in a single-round robin format (best-of-three) with each team facing off once.

The playoffs for the first through sixth-place finishers in the regular season will begin with Week 1 on Thursday, Feb. 16 through Saturday, Feb. 18, followed by Week 2 on Wednesday, Feb. 22, culminating in the finals on Saturday, Feb. 25. The playoffs will be a best-of-three, best-of-two series, with only the loser’s bracket and final being a best-of-five, best-of-three series. The regular league will be played online, while the playoffs and finals will be played offline, with more details to be announced at a later date.

WCG Ballantine Challengers Korea 2023 will be streamed live on Twitch, WCG Twitch, Ballantine Challengers Tour YouTube, 토토사이트 Challengers Korea YouTube, WCG YouTube, Africa TV channel and Naver Sports.

Logitech Korea, a global leader in personal peripherals, today announced that it has extended its official partnership agreement with esports team DRX.

Logitech has been an official sponsor of DRX every year since the partnership began in February 2020, and the extension marks the fourth consecutive year of support for the team. Logitech will continue to support DRX in a number of ways this year, including sponsorship of Logitech G gaming gear and support for various events for fans.

DRX had a banner year last year, winning the 2022 League of Legends World Championship (Roled Cup). DRX is ready for the 2023 season with the return of veteran DRX Rascal and the appointment of new head coach Kim Mok-kyung, who has coaching experience with multiple LCK teams, as the new head coach, in addition to the return of DRX Beryl, one of the winning members of the Rold Cup in Stavrig last December.

“We sincerely wish DRX the best of luck this year after their cinematic victory at last year’s Rold Cup,” said Joong-hoon Choi, Country Manager of Logitech Korea. “Logitech will continue to support DRX players to achieve outstanding results.”

“We are very excited to continue our great journey with Logitech this year,” said DRX CEO Choi Sang-in.

Meanwhile, Logitech has been developing gaming gear for esports fans and anyone who enjoys gaming as a hobby. In the past year, the company has launched a diverse lineup of gaming gear, 고스톱 including the Logitech G Aurora Collection of gaming gear and the G 502 X series of gaming mice.