DWG KIA

DWG KIA, formerly known as DAMWON Gaming (Korean: 담원 게이밍), is a South Korean professional esports organization. Its League of Legends team competes in the LCK, the top-level league for the game in South Korea.

DWG KIA
Short nameDK
GameLeague of Legends
Fortnite Battle Royale
PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds
Founded28 May 2017 (2017-05-28)
LeagueLCK
LocationSouth Korea
CEOLee Yu-yeong
Championships1× World Championship (2020)
1× LCK
PartnersDamwon
DouYu
Kia Motors
Logitech G
ViewSonic
Websitedwgkia.gg

DWG won their first LCK title on 5 September 2020 after defeating DRX in the 2020 LCK summer finals.[1][2][3] Eight weeks later on 31 October 2020, Damwon won the 2020 World Championship after a dominant run through the group and knockout stages and a 3–1 victory over Suning in the grand finals.[4]

History
DAMWON Gaming logo
(2017–2020)

2017

DAMWON Gaming was formed on 28 May 2017 by computer manufacturer Damwon after it acquired the Challengers Korea team Mirage Gaming.[5] The team's initial roster consisted of top laner Parang, jungler Crush, mid laner TRY, bot laner BeryL, and support Hoit. Despite a strong start and the addition of mid laner CooN midway through the summer split, DAMWON Gaming finished fifth in the regular season. The roster was subsequently revamped, with Nuguri, Alive, and newcomer ShowMaker replacing Parang, BeryL, and TRY respectively. The new roster did not see much success at the 2017 LoL KeSPA Cup, and so jungler Punch and bot laner Veritas were brought in for the 2018 spring split.

2018

During the spring regular season, BeryL briefly played for DAMWON Gaming as a substitute bot laner before swapping to support. DAMWON Gaming finished second in the regular season but lost to Ever8 Winners in the first round of playoffs. Crush, Alive, and Veritas left the team shortly afterwards, and bot laner Nuclear joined the team to fill in the bot laner position.

DAMWON Gaming dominated the summer regular season, finishing first and losing only a single series to Team BattleComics. DAMWON Gaming later qualified for the LCK after defeating Team BattleComics in the first qualifying match of the 2019 spring promotion tournament.[6]

Rookie jungler Canyon was signed to the team prior to the 2018 LoL KeSPA Cup, which he debuted in. DAMWON Gaming was eliminated in the second round of the tournament by Griffin and ended third to fourth. Top laner Flame joined DAMWON Gaming as a substitute player after he returned to South Korea from the United States, where he competed for two years. Bot laner Aries also joined from BBQ Olivers, which DAMWON Gaming helped relegate in the aforementioned promotion tournament.

2019

DAMWON Gaming finished fifth in the spring regular season and fourth in playoffs after losing the third-place match to Kingzone DragonX. Despite receiving praise for his performance in the regular season, Flame was never subbed in during playoffs, a decision which earned the team considerable criticism from fans.[7]

DAMWON Gaming was one of four LCK teams that participated in Rift Rivals 2019; the LCK won the tournament after defeating China's LPL in the playoff stage. The team retained their entire roster for the summer split and finished second in the regular season and third in playoffs, losing to SKT T1 in the third round. DAMWON Gaming later defeated Kingzone DragonX in the final match of the regional finals to qualify for the play-in stage of the 2019 World Championship.[8] This was the first time where a team qualified for both the LCK and Worlds in the same year.[9]

DAMWON Gaming was drafted into Group D of the play-in stage, along with Turkish team Royal Youth and Brazilian team Flamengo Esports. The team finished top of their group undefeated,[10] and later qualified for the main event after defeating Vietnamese team Lowkey Esports in one of the qualifying matches.

DAMWON Gaming was drafted into Group D of the main event as well, along with China's Invictus Gaming, North America's Team Liquid, and Taiwan's ahq eSports Club. The team once again finished top of their group,[11] but were knocked out of the tournament by Europe's G2 Esports in the quarterfinals.[12]

DRX (formerly Kingzone DragonX), which had introduced several rookies to its roster prior to the 2019 LoL KeSPA Cup, eliminated DAMWON Gaming from the tournament in the quarterfinals.

2020

Despite their performance in the 2019 LoL KeSPA Cup, Damwon's roster was kept in its entirety going into the 2020 spring split. The team finished fifth in the regular season and fourth in playoffs, falling to DRX once again in a close series. DAMWON Gaming was one of three LCK teams that participated in the 2020 Mid-Season Cup; the team did not make it out of the group stage and finished fifth to sixth.

Without making any roster changes once again, Damwon placed first in the summer regular season with only two series losses, qualifying the team for the summer finals automatically. DAMWON Gaming swept DRX in the finals and won their first LCK title on 5 September.[1][2][3]

On 31 October, DAMWON Gaming defeated Suning 3–1 in the 2020 World Championship finals to become world champions.[4]

DAMWON Gaming announced in late December that it had partnered with Kia Motors and would rebrand as DWG KIA prior to the 2021 LCK season.[13]

Roster
DWG KIA roster
PlayersCoaches
RoleHandleNameNationality
Top Chasy  Kim Dong-hyeon  South Korea 
Top Khan  Kim Dong-ha  South Korea 
Jungle Canyon  Kim Geon-bu  South Korea 
Mid ShowMaker  Heo Su  South Korea 
Bot Ghost  Jang Yong-jun  South Korea 
Support BeryL  Cho Geon-hee  South Korea 
Head coach

Kim "kkOma" Jeong-gyun

Assistant coach(es)

Lee "PoohManDu" Jeong-hyeon
Kim "Ares" Min-kwon

Legend
  • (2W) Two-way player
  • (I) Inactive
  • (S) Suspended
  • Substitute player
  • Injury/Illness

Latest roster transaction: 16 December 2020.

Tournament results
Placement Event Final result (W–L)
5th 2017 CK Summer Split 7–7
9th–12th 2017 KeSPA Cup 0–2 (against Jin Air Green Wings)
2nd 2018 CK Spring Split 11–3
3rd 2018 CK Spring Playoffs 1–3 (against Ever8 Winners)
1st 2018 CK Summer Split 13–1
Qualified 2019 LCK Spring Promotion 3–1 (against Team BattleComics)
3rd–4th 2018 KeSPA Cup 0–3 (against Griffin)
5th 2019 LCK Spring Split 11–7
4th 2019 LCK Spring Playoffs 0–3 (against Kingzone DragonX)
1st Rift Rivals 2019 LCK-LPL-LMS-VCS 3–1 (against LPL)
2nd 2019 LCK Summer Split 13–5
3rd 2019 LCK Summer Playoffs 0–3 (against SKT T1)
1st 2019 LCK Regional Finals 12–4
5th–8th 2019 World Championship 1–3 (against G2 Esports)
5th–8th 2019 KeSPA Cup 0–2 (against DRX)
5th 2020 LCK Spring Split 9–9
4th 2020 LCK Spring Playoffs 2–3 (against DRX)
5th–6th 2020 Mid-Season Cup 1–2 (group stage)
1st 2020 LCK Summer Split 16–2
1st 2020 LCK Summer Playoffs 3–0 (against DRX)
1st 2020 World Championship 3–1 (against Suning)

References
  1. Kay, Megan (5 September 2020). "Damwon Gaming crowned LCK champions, secure first seed at Worlds 2020". Dot Esports. Retrieved 6 September 2020.
  2. Moncav, Melany (5 September 2020). "DAMWON Gaming takes four spots on LCK All-Pro team". WIN.gg. Retrieved 6 September 2020.
  3. Stubbs, Mike (5 September 2020). "Damwon Gaming Win The LCK Summer Split, Will Be Top Seed At Worlds". Forbes. Retrieved 6 September 2020.
  4. Erzberger, Tyler (31 October 2020). "DAMWON Gaming win 2020 League of Legends World Championship". ESPN. Retrieved 31 October 2020.
  5. Kang, Ashley (20 September 2018). "Welcome Damwon Gaming to LCK 2019". Korizon. Retrieved 6 September 2020.
  6. Abbas, Malcolm (20 September 2018). "DAMWON Gaming qualify for the LCK 2019 Spring Split". Dot Esports. Retrieved 11 September 2020.
  7. Heath, Jerome (16 December 2019). "Flame rejoins DAMWON Gaming as the team's top laner". Dot Esports. Retrieved 11 September 2020.
  8. Kim, Kevin (7 September 2019). "DAMWON Gaming qualifies to Worlds, Nuclear wants to beat Fnatic". Korizon. Retrieved 11 September 2020.
  9. Kwon, Daniel (7 September 2019). "League of Legends: DAMWON Gaming Makes History by Becoming the First Team to Qualify into LCK and Worlds in the Same Year". InvenGlobal. Retrieved 11 September 2020.
  10. Geracie, Nick (5 October 2019). "League of Legends: [Worlds 2019] Play-In: DAMWON Gaming qualifies for Knockout Stage". InvenGlobal. Retrieved 11 September 2020.
  11. "DAMWON Gaming secure 1st seed in Group D, iG and Team Liquid to fight for 2nd". VPEsports. Retrieved 11 September 2020.
  12. "Worlds 2019 Knockout Stage: G2 Esports defeat Damwon Gaming 3-1". ONE Esports. 29 October 2019. Retrieved 11 September 2020.
  13. Mukherjee, Sarjyo (22 December 2020). "DAMWON Gaming partners with KIA Motors". TalkEsport. Retrieved 23 December 2020.
Awards and achievements
Preceded by
FunPlus Phoenix		 League of Legends World Championship winner
2020
With: Nuguri, Canyon, Showmaker, Ghost, BeryL and Zefa (coach)		 Succeeded by
incumbent
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