All Korean teams fall on the same side of bracket for LoL World Championships

The chance of Korean teams facing each other in the finals of League of Legends World Championships went to ashes Sunday as the quarterfinals draw put all three Korean teams on the same side of the tournament bracket. The eight teams that made the quarterfinals are: Damwon Gaming, DRX and Gen.G Esports of Korea; Top Esports, JD Gaming and Suning of China; and two European teams, G2 Esports and Fnatic. Damwon Gaming, Gen.G Esports, Top Esports and Suning topped their groups in the group stages

Oct. 14, 2020

[Herald Interview] Looking at the future of esports

Gen.G Esports kicked off the 2020 League of Legends World Championships in Shanghai with two victories, besting North America and China over the weekend. As the players bowed to the audience following their victories, the team’s new uniforms caught the attention of many. The new LoL team uniform is just one of the efforts by Gen.G to succeed on all fronts. In July, Gen.G brought onboard designer, artist and DJ Heron Preston as its executive brand adviser. The appointment reflected th

Oct. 6, 2020

LoL Worlds play-ins: A miracle for the underdogs

Leading up to the 2020 League of Legends World Championships, many knew this year would be different. COVID-19 not only put an end to travel across China for the 10th year of LoL esports, but also made it impossible for teams from Vietnam to participate -- they were considered dark horses in the tournament. The South Korean members of PSG Talon would have to join the team later than planned due to quarantine and visa issues. Also, all players aside from the Chinese teams had to go through a m

Oct. 2, 2020

Damwon Gaming No. 2 in ESPN LoL Worlds power rankings

As the 2020 League of Legends World Championship looms closer with the opening ceremony on Sept. 25, ESPN released its annual power rankings for the teams competing this year, Wednesday. Damwon Gaming, the top-seeded team coming out of LoL Champions Korea, placed second out of the 22 teams participating in the event, as ranked by the four ESPN analysts. To no surprise, analysts of ESPN assessed China’s first seed Top Esports as the strongest team coming into the event, as did most other

Sept. 19, 2020

DWG stomps DRX to win LCK, sets their eyes on Worlds

Damwon Gaming hoisted the LCK trophy for the first time in its history, sweeping DRX in three games in the 2020 League of Legends Champions Korea Summer Finals on Saturday. Matches were played online from each team‘s own facility because of COVID-19. Although most analysts and experts had predicted Damwon Gaming’s victory with the team having had an undefeated run in the second half of the regular season, Damwon’s performance Saturday exceeded expectations and was a loud state

Sept. 7, 2020

Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism draws up standard contract for esports

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism released standard contracts for esports on Thursday, addressing last year‘s online petition that requested action for fair contracts between players and organizations. Although South Korea has been hailed as the birthplace of esports with the Starcraft league established in 1999, there has been few mechanisms to protect esports players from unfair contracts.  The case of Kanavi, the current jungler for LPL’s JD Gaming, last year bro

Sept. 4, 2020

ShowMaker sweeps LCK Awards

With only the finals on Saturday remaining for League of Legends Champions Korea Summer before the World Championships, Riot Games announced the winners of the LCK Awards on Thursday. The LCK Awards was launched this spring in order to commend players and coaching staff that showed an outstanding performance during the season. The six awards are All-LCK Team, Young Player, Best Coach, Regular Season MVP, Player Of the Split and Finals MVP. Player Of the Split went to Gen. G’s Bdd

Sept. 4, 2020

Riot Games announces preferred bidders for LCK franchise

Riot Games Korea on Friday announced the 10 preferred bidders for negotiating for LoL Champions Korea franchises next year, along with five teams that have the next priority, should negotiations with any of the 10 teams fail. The 10 preferred bidders included nine current LCK teams and hyFresh Blade in the Challengers Korea league. The nine current LCK teams selected as preferred bidders in the LCK franchise negotiations are Afreeca Freecs, Damwon Gaming, DRX, Gen. G, T1, Team Dynamics, Sandbo

Aug. 30, 2020

T1, Faker victims of first postseason League of Legends upset

The postseason for 2020 League of Legends Champions Korea Summer season kicked off with Afreeca Freecs playing against T1 in a best-of-3 series on Wednesday and resulted in a major upset where Afreeca won 2-1. Many analysts had predicted victory for T1, as it won both rounds against Afreeca in the regular season. T1 was the fourth place team of the regular season and the nine-time LCK Champions while Afreeca Freecs was the fifth place team. There were many key points leading up to the Wednes

Aug. 27, 2020

Korean players in LCS hope to make Worlds

As major regions in League of Legends hold on to their seats with summer playoffs starting, many Korean players can be found in teams outside the LCK, hoping to qualify for the LoL World Championship starting in September at Shanghai. Korean players in North America particularly expressed hopes for LCK teams at Worlds and the determination to face them on the big stage. Of six teams in contention for three spots at Worlds in North America’s LCS, four teams have a Korean player in their

Aug. 22, 2020

LCK announces transition to online for remainder of season

Riot Games Korea announced that the rest of the matches for the summer season will be held online, starting Friday, in response to the growing number of COVID-19 cases in the capital area. LoL Champions Korea had been holding matches in LoL Park Arena in Jongno, Seoul, without an audience since the start of the season before the resurgence of COVID-19. “As the spread of COVID-19 has recently worsened around Seoul, we believe stronger preemptive measures are necessary to ensure the safet

Aug. 21, 2020

Four teams qualify for LCK playoffs while AFS likely to take last spot

T1 secured their playoff spot with a 2-0 victory over Team Dynamics on Sunday, leaving only one final ticket left for the taking. Four teams -- Damwon Gaming, DRX, Gen.G and T1 -- have secured playoff positions already and will battle in the playoffs over the next two weeks. Three teams technically have a chance to clench the final ticket to the playoffs, but all odds are in favor of Afreeca Freecs. Afreeca Freecs is far ahead of its competitors, KT Rolster and Sandbox Gaming, with an 8-6 r

Aug. 10, 2020

DWG reigns atop LCK after defeating Gen.G

Damwon Gaming continues the team’s undefeated second round win streak in the League of Legends Champions Korea, defeating Gen.G in the opening match of the week Thursday to sit at first in the standings. Damwon Gaming, which recently placed second in global power rankings by ESPN after Invictus Gaming of China triumphed over Gen.G 2-1, finally beat them for the first time this year after losing both games in the spring and losing the first round of the summer. With a 12-2 record and an o

Aug. 7, 2020

First-ever gaming audition program features new talent, legendary mentors

The first-ever gaming audition program in South Korea, “LoL the Next,” aired the first of seven episodes Sunday, introducing new talent to fans. This is the first program in the country that auditions nonprofessional League of Legends players. Sunday’s episode featured 40 contestants, who included trainees of LCK teams and former pro Hojin of the ROX Tigers. T1 Burdol, the current No. 1 in the Korean solo queue, was also shown. The contenders, all aged 16-29, are expected to

Aug. 2, 2020

First round recap for LCK as World Championship remains uncertain with ongoing pandemic

League of Legends Champions Korea has crossed the halfway point of the summer season, finishing the initial round-robin pairings and starting the first week of the second round last week. For the 10 teams in the LCK, the ultimate goal of the summer season is to emerge from the playoffs and qualify for the World Championships. However, how the World Championships will play out remains to be seen as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to cause disruptions. With the second biggest tournament in LoL,

July 20, 2020

First foreign head coach of LCK continues his magic

Jakob Mebdi, the first non-Korean head coach in the League of Legends Champions Korea, is proving that importing foreign talent can work in the Korean esports scene game after game. Mebdi is also known by his game name “YamatoCannon,” which he started using as a League of Legends esports player.  When Sandbox Gaming announced the hiring of Mebdi as head coach before the summer season, many were surprised at the organization’s bold decision. Although some game indust

July 13, 2020

S. Korea to host pre-qualifying event for 2022 Olympic women's hockey

South Korea will host a pre-qualification round for the 2022 Winter Olympic women's hockey tournament, the sport's national governing body announced Wednesday. The Korea Ice Hockey Association (KIHA) said the second pre-qualifying round will run from Feb. 11 to 14 in 2021 in Gangneung, some 230 kilometers east of Seoul. Gangneung hosted all men's and women's hockey games during the 2018 Winter Olympics. The second pre-qualifying round will feature three groups of four teams. South Korea will

June 24, 2020

LCK Summer Split kicks off with a pentakill

League of Legends Champions Korea’s 2020 summer season kicked off Wednesday, to the joy of many fans watching from home. Although the seats were empty in the LoL Park Arena in Jongno, Seoul, to prevent the spread of COVID-19, thousands of fans watched the opening games online. Although they felt bad about having no audience, players expressed joy at being able to play at the LoL Park Arena again after COVID-19 forced them to play in team facilities for the second half of the spring seas

June 20, 2020

Postponed int'l Olympic meeting in Seoul rescheduled for Oct. 2021

A meeting of national Olympic organizations set to take place in Seoul this year has been rescheduled for October 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic. The Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC) and the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee (KSOC) jointly announced on Tuesday that the 2020 ANOC General Assembly, originally scheduled to be held Nov. 25-26 this year in Seoul, will instead take place from Oct. 26-27 next year at COEX Convention Center in the South Korean capital. The t

June 16, 2020

LoL Champions Korea to kick off summer season

The 2020 League of Legends Champions Korea Summer season will start Wednesday with its opening match. 　 CGV, South Korea’s largest multiplex chain, will screen the competition on 22 screens across the country at its ScreenX theaters. ScreenX theaters have multiple screens, allowing the main screen to show the match while side screens show game data and analysis. Fans watching at CGV will get vouchers that can be used to purchase in-game items such as emotes and character skins. “

June 16, 2020