DRX 2022: the Deft miracle

The team that shouldn’t be here

DRX entered Worlds 2022 through play-ins, Korea’s fourth seed, with a roster that felt like a nostalgia tribute: Kingen, Pyosik, Zeka, Deft and BeryL. Nobody had them past quarters.

And then Zeka started playing the best LoL of his life, Pyosik mixed genius and madness, and Deft, ten years chasing the cup against his friend Faker, found his last chance.

The impossible road

DRX knocked out defending champions EDG with a 0-2 reverse sweep in quarters — the first ever at the tournament — then swept 3-1 past Gen.G, the best team of the year. Every series felt like the end of the fairy tale. None was.

The final: Deft vs Faker

In San Francisco, the dream final: Deft versus Faker, friends since school, ten years of history, one without a title and one with three. T1 — Zeus, Oner, Faker, Gumayusi, Keria — were favourites and the better team on paper.

What followed was five legendary maps: Kingen’s Aatrox in game five, Zeka’s Akali, Deft’s Varus surviving the unsurvivable. The 3-2 for DRX was sealed at a one-hit Nexus that stopped half the world’s heart.

Tears at the Chase Center

Deft, ten years after debuting, cried with the cup. Pyosik, from meme to champion. Kingen, from substitute to finals MVP. It is the most improbable run ever: play-ins to title, beating the three favourites in a row.

“If I lose, I retire. So I couldn’t lose.” — Deft before the final.

Why watch it

Because sport rarely gifts scripts like this. Find all five maps in the matches section: each deserves your vote.