LoL - LCK: Hanwha Life Esports clean sweep KT Rolster, Dplus KIA fall to FearX

Second win in a row and a perfect week for Hanwha Life Esports, who followed up their victory over Nongshim RedForce last Wednesday with a clean sweep against KT Rolster—now on a four-game losing streak. HLE have taken down every team in their group except T1 and Gen.G, a clear indication of the power dynamics in the LCK this Summer Split. Earlier in the day, Dplus KIA suffered their second loss of the split, this time against BNK FearX, who now sit comfortably in second place of the Rise Group right behind DK.

Dplus KIA are clearly struggling this year in the LCK. Missing out on the Legend Group was already a major blow for the storied organization, but now dropping matches to Rise Group teams is well below expectations for a squad usually competing at the top of the LCK and on the Worlds stage. FearX dominated Game 1 with a textbook snowball, but Game 2 was pure drama. Kim "Kellin" Hyeong-gyu reached 4,000 career assists in the LCK—becoming the 11th player to hit that milestone—but despite DK holding a 5.5k gold lead at 20 minutes, FearX staged a massive comeback to clean sweep the series.

When Hanwha Life win, it's often through their botlane—and especially Park "Viper" Do-hyeon. HLE have won four series during LCK Rounds 3 to 5, twice each against KT and NS, and Viper was named MVP in all four of those matches. In Game 1, Viper played Yunara and completely took over, participating in 20 of his team’s 22 kills and outclassing Seo "deokdam" Dae-gil’s Aphelios—a champion Viper himself described as a good counter to Yunara in the post-game interview. The second game was a masterclass from the world champion AD Carry on Kai’Sa: a 12/2/8 statline and a clean quadrakill right after a four-man Pop Blossom from Yoo "Delight" Hwan-joong’s Neeko.

KT Rolster fall once again in the LCK, despite a support change that saw Han "Way" Gil return to the starting lineup in place of Jeong "Peter" Yoon-su. Tomorrow in the LCK, both DRX and OKSavingsBank BRION will look to bounce back from recent losses, while after their defeat against Gen.G, T1 should have an easier time against Nongshim—who have yet to win a single game in Rounds 3 to 5.