The DePlus Kia Youth takes the top spot in the '2023 H1 LCK Academy Series'.
The DPLUS Kia Youth won the '2023 LCK AS Academy League' playoff final on Sunday (April 4) at the Daejeon Esports Arena (Daejeon Dream Arena, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon), defeating Brion Academy 3-2 in a full-set thriller.
This year's 'LCK AS Academy League' playoffs were held on Saturday, March 3, and Sunday, March 4, with Brion Academy, Hanwha Life eSports Academy, Deplus Kia Youth, and Nongshim eSports Academy LAS competing for the title. DPLUS Kia Youth entered the playoffs as the third-ranked team in the regular season and swept the second-ranked team in the regular season, Hanwha Life eSports Academy, 3-0 in the quarterfinals to advance to the final. The other spot in the finals went to Brion Academy, who defeated Nongshim Esports Academy LAS in the quarterfinals.
The LCK AS Academy League final was once again a five-set affair, with the final set coming down to the wire, with DPLUS Kia Youth showing a little more focus. While all of their players performed evenly, it was the steady play of Jeon "Xiu" Ji-woo, who was selected as the key player of the final. In the final set, he grew rapidly in the early stages with his horsepower, and then withstood the intense attacks of his opponents, giving Brion Academy no chance to come back.
"My goal is to become a top laner who is better than the top laner Zeus," said Jeon 'Xiu' Jeon in his post-match interview. I will do my best to win not only my LCK debut but also LoL Worlds." Also, 'Ung' "Thanks to the LCK Academy Series League, both the team and players had a good experience. We want to discover and nurture good players like now," he said.
The winning DPLUS Kia Youth Team was awarded the championship trophy and 8 million won in prize money, while the runner-up Brion Academy received 3 million won, and the third-place finishers Hanwha Life eSports Academy and Nongshim eSports Academy LAS received 1 million won each.
The playoffs concluded the first half of the '2023 LCK AS Academy League,' and the second half of the schedule will begin on Monday, May 12, with the application for the 4th Open Tournament.
Meanwhile, the 'LCK Academy Series' is an LCK-affiliated competition where aspiring LoL players and academy teams affiliated with LCK teams compete to showcase their skills to make their professional debut, and is organized by the LCK League Corporation, hosted by the Korea Esports Association, broadcast by Nice Game TV, and sponsored by Woori Bank. Last year, the LCK introduced a tryout and academy league system to strengthen the player development system.