Day two of Worlds 2022 play-ins had a stacked schedule of matches, and for the wildcard teams of group A, every match counts in the lead up to playing the major regions. The two wildcards facing up against each other in grand style were DetonatioN FocusMe (Japan) vs Chiefs (Australia), two teams whose regions had placed one above the other at MSI 2022 with the then LCO representative ORDER beating DFM to 8th position.
What was on the line for both teams?
For the Japanese representative DFM, who we have seen at several of the last international events (including MSI 2021 and 2022)–this was a chance to show that their loss to LOUD (CBLoL representative) would not set the presentence for the rest of play-ins.
While for the Australian team the Chiefs Esports Club, the pressure was on to demonstrate that they could follow in the footsteps of 2021 MSI representatives Pentanet.GG who had been the first LCO/OPL team to progress from the play-ins stage in any international event. Especially after the loss to Fnatic.
The battle to make it out of the play-ins and enter the group stage was further amplified by the need for both wildcards to secure the win here to put them on a better footing heading into the rest of the play-ins stage, ahead of competing against the major region teams of Fnatic, EG, MAD Lions, RNG and DRX.
DFM kept tight control of the game
The match kicked off in true wildcard scrappy game-play style with all eyes focused onto the returning Japanese top laner of Evi and the danger jungler of Arthur. Evi’s comfort of Kennen was immediately picked up during the ban stage, and his previous Kennen match against Wunder – where Evi pushed the European top laner hard, was enough to warn the Chiefs’ that the LJL were here to play and wouldn’t lose a third time in a row.
Image via DFM on Twitter
By Worlds standards the first blood was a slow one, being taken at six minutes into the game by the Chiefs, following an earlier bot lane scuffle 3v3 where no one had died. But DFM wouldn’t let the Chiefs take such an easy kill and made sure to even the score, taking a kill for themselves and created an early gold lead which they then proceeded to continue throughout the game.
The beginning bot lane fiestas continued throughout the matchup, with Yutapon securing a double kill at seven minutes on his Kai’sa before the next team fight kicked off. Where DFM cleaned up the Chiefs securing four kills and a drake, followed up with the herald and several sets of turret plates.
Despite how close the match appeared at many points, wherein the Chiefs pulled off some excellent jungle picks and executed team fights well to stop the drake stack, ultimately it wasn’t enough. DFM cleaned up the match just after the thirty minute mark, having widened the gold gap to over seven thousand in gold, as well aced the Chiefs before quickly ending the game to secure their first win of the play-ins stage.
What now for both teams?
The win for DFM now makes their upcoming matches that much easier, as they go up against the PCS second seed representative of Mega Beyond Gaming and the LCS representative of Evil Geniuses.
For the Chiefs there is still a chance at redemption as this was only their second match, and their upcoming matches are Evil Geniuses, Mega Beyond Gaming and LOUD. Plenty of opportunity for them to rise to the footsteps left by Pentanet.GG
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