EDward Gaming topple reigning champs DWG KIA to win first Worlds championship

After years of struggling at the League of Legends World Championship, EDward Gaming have finally done it -- they are hoisting the Summoner's Cup as world champions. EDward Gaming failed to make it past the quarterfinals for their last five Worlds appearances, but today the day belongs to them. Fans and analysts predicted a one-sided series in favor of DWG KIA, but tenacity and intelligent draft adaptations pushed EDward Gaming to a 3-2 victory over DWG KIA despite their flawless execution.

Today, League of Legends fans witnessed the greatest Worlds final of all time and the culminating result of years of struggle for EDward Gaming.

Setting the tone

Photo credit: Riot Games

EDward Gaming struck first in the series by countering Heo “ShowMaker” Su’s famous LeBlanc, drafting Zilean for support Tian "Meiko" Ye and setting the tone for a long and arduous series. ShowMaker's LeBlanc dominated most of the tournament, but was unable to have a significant impact thanks to Zilean's Chronoshift, which revives whichever target DWG KIA focused down. DWG KIA's team play was still tight, but ultimately, the creative pick neutralized their ability to push any further.

It was unconventional, but DWG KIA answered back in the second game by counterpicking Lee "Scout" Ye-Chan's own Leblanc with ShowMaker's Malzahar. In the same way that EDward Gaming blocked DWG KIA's momentum, DWG KIA returned the favor twice-fold with ShowMaker's Malzahar constantly locking down Scout with his ultimate, Nether Grasp. EDward Gaming shocked fans with a decisive Game 1, but DWG KIA's response encapsulated the entire series as the two teams grappled with each other's strengths.

EDward Gaming were far from favorites to start the series, but made a statement with creative draft choices while DWG KIA proved that they are always ready to match and surpass their opponents. It’s this type of back and forth that set the pace for League of Legends’ greatest final yet.

DWG KIA hold their heads high

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Despite answering back strongly against EDward Gaming in Game 2 and 3, the series eventually resulted in DWG KIA’s defeat. DWG KIA kept up the pressure and pushed EDward Gaming to the limit, but it was a game of inches and EDward Gaming were the ruler.

“I think EDG had really good preparations for today,” ShowMaker said about the series. “And from our side -- Brother Khan played badly today.”

The team exploded with laughter after ShowMaker playfully ribbed his teammate.

It’s been known all tournament that this year’s Worlds would be Kim “Khan” Dong-ha’s final tournament before fulfilling mandatory military service. After ShowMaker playfully flamed his teammate, Khan shed some light on the situation and how he felt to play in this final series.

“We came second place. But it's not like it's a sin,” Khan said. “I don't think we should be feeling sorry or depressed. I asked my teammates to be jolly in the press conferences and have fun. I just wanted to have fun and enjoy my final moments. Please help me with this cause.”

Khan and his team continued to laugh throughout the press conference, but that doesn’t mean the rest of his teammates aren’t serious about coming back even stronger next year.

“Even though we ended up in second-place I'll remember this Worlds for a long time,” ShowMaker said. “The goal for next year -- I'll come back to win it all. Because I'm in second place now. And the natural step after that, of course, is to win it all.”

A long time coming

Photo credit: Riot Games

DWG KIA dominated EDward Gaming in Game 3 to lead the series 2-1, but EDward Gaming managed to pull out Games 4 and 5 with decisive play around Li “Flandre” Xuan-Jun in the top lane. In Flandre's first trip to Worlds over the course of his seven-year-long career, he was able to shine as a key part of EDward Gaming's victory against DWG KIA.

“I really feel like coming to EDG was a new start to me, personally, and in this spring we had so many difficult times,” Flandre said. “Finally, we were able to find the way that we could get the win. It was a very hard journey, but we had a very good result.”

In that same vein, Meiko struggled to find significant results with EDward Gaming at Worlds after winning the first Mid-Season Invitational in 2015. As the longest-tenured player on EDward Gaming, he recounts how surreal it is to finally have this trophy.

“So starting the journey with EDG, starting from 2015, to be honest we had some very good results at the beginning,” Meiko said. “After that, we faced a lot of obstacles in future years and this spring. Now, we were able to overcome all of them for this trophy. Everything is worth it.”

EDward Gaming struggled at Worlds all these years, and the players will never forget the trials and tribulations it took to get there. In the year that EDward Gaming finally broke the curse and made it past the quarterfinals, the players, organization and fans were rewarded with a long-awaited title.

“I want to give our thanks to our CEO and also the operations team” Coach Yang “Maokai” Ji-Song said. “This miracle does not only belong to us, but to the EDG family as a whole.”

Lead photo credit: Riot Games