This win holds special significance for Team Korea, with it coming four years after a near-miss at the same tournament.

The PUBG Nations Cup is a premier Esports event that draws 16 top-tier teams to compete in Player Unknown��s Battlegrounds (PUBG).

In this high-stakes player-versus-player shooter game, up to 100 participants vie for survival in an intense battle, after being dropped out of a plane.

Kicking off the event on Friday, Team Korea set the stage alight from the get-go, consistently delivering strong performances. The team, comprising of players Cho Gi-yeol, Park Jung-young, Na Hee-joo, and Kim Tae-sung and guided by coach Shin Myong-gwan, notched up 49 points on the inaugural day, placing them in fourth spot. They further upped their game the following day, amassing 58 points and claiming the top position.

The nail-biting finale witnessed Team Korea maintaining their position. In the 14th match, they stood out by ensuring all four of their players remained until the end. In a defining moment, they eliminated all four players from Team Thailand.

With an impressive tally of 172 points, Team Korea clinched the prestigious Nations Cup title. Cho Gi-yeol’s outstanding performance, boasting 34 kills and a staggering 7,208 damage, earned him the MVP accolade for the tournament.

Defending champs, Team United Kingdom, had to settle for the second spot with 140 points, narrowly followed by Vietnam with 139 points. Argentina secured the fourth position with a total of 133 points.

This victory has provided Team Korea with a moment of redemption. In the 2019 edition, they faltered on the final day, relinquishing their leading position and allowing Russia to be crowned champions.

This latest triumph marks a significant achievement for Korean PUBG, as it’s the first international title clinched by a Korean team since 2019 �C the previous honor being the 2019 PUBG Global Championship, bagged by Gen. G.

The PUBG Nations Cup victory came with a hefty cash prize, with Team Korea pocketing $100,000 from the event’s total prize pool of $300,000.

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The team had a successful run at the 2022 Valorant Champions tournament, placing third behind OpTic Gaming and LOUD, who finished in second and first place, respectively. Going by their success, the franchise will be retaining all players who were a part of that campaign.

The organization were one of the franchises selected by Riot Games for a spot in the organizer��s franchising list, along with 9 other teams in the region.

Unlike most Valorant partner teams, DRX will not be letting go of any of their players in the Valorant offseason and only added Jung “Foxy9” Jae-sung from Reignite. The 17-year-old will take the position of the sixth player in the lineup.

The South Korean team will go into the 2023 VCT season with Foxy9, Kim “stax” Gu-taek, Kim “MaKo” Myeong-Kwan, Goo “Rb” Sang-mi, Yu “BuZz” Byung-Chul and Kim “Zest” Gi-Seok.

Foxy9 may be the team��s sniper due to his impressive talent in the role. The player will likely be paired up with Jett or Chamber during matches to utilize his sniping abilities fully.

The lineup will continue to be coached by Pyeon “termi” Seon-ho as DRX��s head coach and the other coaches, Kwon “Argency” Soon-woo and Kim “glow” Min-soo. The trio were brought along with the players when DRX bought Vision Strikers�� entire roster in January 2022.

DRX did not make mention of the new in-game leader of the squad or whether stax would carry on his previous role for the team. The players will likely maintain their prior roles as there have been no significant changes by DRX.

Besides the main team, the Yang “Can” Sun-il-led franchise announced that they had put together a youth division. At the moment, newly signed trainee miKa and Kang “BeYN” Ha-bin are DRX��s only prospects.

The members of the team��s academy project would have Ye “Anaks” Sang-jun as the team��s head coach. Anaks was signed on to DRX from Maru Gaming at the start of September.

DRX are the only tier-one Valorant squad to hold on to all their players after Riot Games announced the partnership. The South Korean organization will begin their VCT 2023 run with a roster rivaling not only teams in the Pacific League but worldwide.

Other organizations in the VCT 2023 Pacific league include Team Secret, Rex Regum Qeon, DetonatioN Gaming, Global Esports, ZETA DIVISION, Talon Esports, T1, Paper Rex, and Gen.G.

Come February, DRX will face all nine squads as well as the 20 other teams from the EMEAs and Americas VCT leagues in the Kick-off tournament in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

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Attaining the 500th win mark has proven Faker��s consistency and why he’s arguably the best player in the history of the game. Despite a few sloppy plays early on in the split, T1 has over time been performing at the highest level.

His journey in the esports scene has been nothing short of inspirational and worthy of emulation, as he continues to rise above challenges. With three worlds, two Mid-Season Invitationals, and ten LCK titles, Faker is LoL royalty.

Faker��s milestone holds more value considering that the LCK prides itself as one of the most competitive esports leagues in the world. But he has managed to stand out and remain relevant amongst the rest.

He has over time remained true to his style of play and has constantly grown and developed within the esports community. While he has always been that skilled midlaner, who would triumph over his opponent using sheer skill. He has since become a leader who creates pathways for his teammates, giving youngsters room to follow.

Faker’s amazing gameplay was witnessed in the game against Gen.G, giving himself the best chances of going one win more. During the game, Faker��s Lissandra dominated the game, becoming the reason why his team claimed the win.

He bested Chovy in the midlane and made some clutch plays to give his team the advantage, such as roaming the map continuously in a bid to foster pressure and the smiting of the baron just in time. His high level of awareness has been an edge over his peers. While this milestone is one to celebrate, he surely will be more massive achievements in his legacy.

T1 triumphs over Gen.G, giving them their first loss

In a best-of-three display, T1 defeats Gen.G after seeing its winning streak ended by Freecs at the end of June. The win was another first for the 26-year old and his team as they gave Gen.G its first loss of the summer split.

Prior to their outing against T1, Gen.G had won all six games played against KT Rolster, Hanwha Life Esports, Damwon, Brion Blade, NS Redforce, and Freecs. The win added an extra twist to the LCK standings, leaving both teams tied at the top spot with a 6-1 record.

Despite T1 having the advantage over Gen.G in all head-to-head matches engaged in this year. Gen.G was the favorite to win with a $1.72 moneyline odds against T1’s $2.00 with the top esport betting sites, owing to their winning streak.

Gen.G got the better of T1 in the first map with 9 kills, and 4 Dragons recovered as opposed to T1’s 3 kills. Gen.G also collected about 12,000 gold more than T1. The second map took a different turn as T1 forced the third map by securing the win with 13 kills against Gen.G��s 8 kills.

T1 closed out the game in the third map, giving Gen.G a dose of their own medicine. Having handed Gen.G its first defeat in the tournament, T1’s win got the franchise to share the top spot with the next outings, becoming a defining moment for both teams. T1 will be taking on bottom-placed Brion Blade in the next outing, while Gen.G will go up against fourth-placed DRX.
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The day kicks of with KSV Esports clashing with Kingzone DragonX and it promises to be a bumper battle with the World Champs clashing with the LCK champs.

Our LOL LCK Korea expert Kosta has cast his eye and given predictions for Saturday’s matches.

KSV ESPORTS vs. KINGZONE DRAGONX

The world champions meet the LCK champions in a rematch of their first games this split. And while KSV won the first duel, things are looking much different now.
Kingzone have clear win conditions in their strong early game, which KSV is notoriously inept at, and their aggressive jungler who could run rings around Ambition, who still prefers to play more of a herbivore style. Khan is also in much better shape than his bitter rival CuVee, and winning both top lane and the ganking game could mean a very early end for KSV. The world champs will likely, as usual, focus on getting bot lane ahead, but against Pray and Gorilla it will be a very difficult job. KSV are known to pop off in hard games and they absolutely have a chance of beating KZ again, but Kingzone are probably too hard to beat right now.

Best bet: Kingzone to win, paying $1.25 at GG Bet.

ROX TIGERS vs. JIN AIR GREEN WINGS

At the start of this match, we will likely know if it has any competitive meaning, or if Jin Air are out and ROX are in playoffs. If both teams still have a chance, this might be the biggest bloodbath of all.
Jin Air��s strategy of getting Teddy fed might work in this matchup, because however good the synergy between Sangyoon and Key is, they were never a proficient laning duo. Youngsters Lava and Grace will have a very interesting battle of talent in the mid lane, which could go either way. ROX��s good drafts might be an important factor in this matchup, as well as in the jungle, where SeongHwan has recently been showing much more than UmTi.
Both teams have a very real chance of winning here. If I had to name a favourite, I��d say ROX, purely because their synergy and teamplay seem much more refined.

Best bet: Rox Tigers to win, paying $1.65 at GG Bet.