DK vs Gen.G

In an extremely close and tense game 5 between two LCK champions, an explosive fight in the top lane decided the outcome of the entire series; let's break it down.

The Play

An Awkward Spot

Gen.G begin the fight in a difficult position. They've just taken the Baron, but Sejuani has been chunked pretty low and Gnar has just come out of mega form. They're on the wrong side of the map and are trying to reset, but are being pincered in by DK:

Lucian is able to get some decent chip damage onto Kayn, just as Aphelios moves forward. The Nami ult narrowly misses DK, and Aphelios looks to land a huge multi-man ult onto clumped up members of Gen.G:

Aphelios flashes forward to clean up the fight and win the entire series for his team, but is thwarted by a well timed Zhonya's from Viktor. Lucian and Nami are also able to escape out of vision to the brush with Lucian's E and Nami's summoner heal.

Target Selection

With limited targets to focus, Aphelios is forced to attack the Gnar, who stopwatches to nullify the damage. With Viktor coming out of statis, Kayn flashes forward to knock him up. Though he is able to do so, Chovy replies with a huge amount of burst damage to finish off the low health Kayn:

Syndra then moves forward to finish off the Viktor with her ultimate, but moves into Viktor's ult and Lucian's basic attack range:

She is able to kill the Viktor, but is forced to Zhonya's. An extremely well timed Nami Q stuns Syndra as her statis fades, setting up a free kill for the Lucian:

At this late stage in the game, Aphelios can one-shot the entire team with a Lulu by his side. However, he hasn't been able to get on any targets as Gen.G kited down through the lane away from the Aphelios. When he does get in range of the squishy Lucian and Nami, most of his team is dead and he is popped by Lucian.

From there, Gen.G clean up the Lulu and Renekton to win the fight, and the series.

Summary

This fight was decided by inches. Both teams had a ton of late game power between the Viktor/Lucian for Gen.G and Aphelios/Lulu for DK, but Gen.G never gave deokdam the chance to get close to them.

Deokdam's aggressive flash forward could have won the series for DK, but this was prevented by Chovy's Zhonya's and a smart decision by Ruler and Lehends to move down into the bush. DK had no vision inside this bush, preventing deokdam from following up. He was forced to attack the mini Gnar, who wasn't particularly valuable without his mega form and could just Stopwatch the damage.

The timing on Lehend's Q was also perfect, stunning Syndra just as statis ended. If ShowMaker could have escaped, DK may have won the fight with their numbers advantage and extra carry alive. Alas, it was Gen.G that clutched the fight with some excellent micro plays, allowing them to move onto the semi-finals.