came within touching distance of celebrating a rather unfortunate anniversary. On Thursday, the Japanese organization finally ended a 340-day winless drought in the
League of Legends Championship Pacific (LCP) by defeating fellow Japanese side
(SHG) in a best-of-three series (2-1). DFM's previous series victory had come on August 24, 2025 — also against SHG.
Since then, despite picking up the occasional game win, the team coached by Shirou "Paz" Sasaki had lost 19 consecutive matches. It was the longest active losing streak among Tier 1 teams, although it still falls well short of the unfortunate record set by another Japanese organization,
V3 Esports, which suffered 39 consecutive defeats in 2020.
The trajectory of DetonatioN FocusMe has changed dramatically in recent years. From 2014 to 2023, the organization dominated the LJL, Japan's domestic league, collecting title after title. From 2017 onward, that dominance carried even greater significance, as the winner of the LJL Summer Split earned direct qualification to Worlds. It was through those repeated Worlds appearances that DFM became known to the wider international audience, qualifying for every edition between 2018 and 2023 (with the exception of 2020). The team advanced beyond the Play-In Stage only once, in 2021, before being swept 0-6 in the Group Stage.
Struggling in the LCP
Following a trophyless 2024 campaign, 2025 marked a turning point for both DFM and Japanese League of Legends. The creation of the LCP merged the Pacific region into a single Tier 1 league, bringing an end to the LJL and the direct international slot previously allocated to Japan. DFM suddenly found itself competing against the region's strongest Vietnamese and Taiwanese teams — a level it has so far struggled to match.
Across five splits, DetonatioN FocusMe has never finished higher than sixth, a result achieved at the 2025 LCP Season Finals, where the team also claimed what had been its last series victory until Thursday. Unsurprisingly, DFM finished at the bottom of the standings in the first two splits of the 2026 season.
By taking down SHG on Thursday, however, the team finally climbed out of the foot of the table. The LCP is played under a Swiss format, with DetonatioN FocusMe now sitting at 1-1, meaning it can no longer finish in last place. The road to the top-four, which qualifies for the playoffs, remains a long one, however. Reigning back-to-back champions Team Secret Whales, regional powerhouse GAM Esports, and a CTBC Flying Oyster roster that appears to have found its form after a slow start to the year all represent formidable obstacles on DFM's path.
