Ever since I started watching professional League of Legends, the LJL has been a fascinating region to watch. But my real love of this region came as the LJL representatives Detionation FocusMe locked their spot for the first time in the Play-In Knockouts in 2018 and then nearly took down reigning World Champions in Damwon KIA this year at MSI. Now, the LJL representatives make their third Worlds appearance where they can show that they’re one of the best in the world.
Here’s why you should focus on DetonatioN FocusMe.
Young, Scrappy, and Hungry
Going back to 2021 MSI, a common trend amongst the regions was either a lack of aggression or an overaggressive from specifically the mid and jungle positions. And then there was the LJL who surprised every team they ran into with their aggressive play-style. Most notably, top laner Shunsuke ‘Evi’ Murase who is able to not only be good on his own but able to pull off a wealth of surprises on a wide variety of champions in the team fight stage.
This all could not be done without the help of superstar jungler Mun ‘Steal’ Geon-yeong who is known to take more aggressive junglers like Nidalee and Xin Zhao but can also take champions like the Trundle and Hecarim and play for the team. At MSI, it was his play that took the upset over Cloud9 and narrow defeats to Damwon.
Of course the trio of superstars would not be complete without the star in the midlane – Lee ‘Aria Ga-eul. Aria put on a stellar show at MSI and is the best mid lane of the LJL, often putting the team behind him at crucial moments.
Finally, I want to highlight one of the quieter parts of the team but the players to watch. AD Carry Yuta ‘Yutapon‘ Sugiura and Support Yang ‘Gaeng‘ Gwang-woo are a stellar duo. Yutapon, who has been with the team since 2013, is a reliable AD Carry and not afraid to make his mark on the rift. Gaeng is personally my player to watch on this team filling in the superteam lineup in the LJL and making an immediate impact throughout the LJL Summer Split and Playoffs.
What Goes Up Must Go Down
Detonation FocusMe is not without flaws, might I add. In fact, it is their high highs that can get them into a bit of trouble. Writing this article, I looked back on the two times DFM faced the Korean superteam in Damwon. DFM had the game in their complete control, but it took one misstep against the World Champions that allowed Damwon to crawl back. Their overaggressive style may prove to be their downfall and could be exploited by other teams especially those like their opponents in the Play-Ins, North America’s Cloud9 and PCS’s Beyond Gaming.
Can They Escape The Groups?
Play-Ins are typically expected to land the way they fall – with the four major regions heavily favored to make it out of groups. However, I would also caution these teams to pay close attention to the LJL superteam. DFM is here to play upset and could be on the course to locking in their first Group Stage appearance.
