DRX’s mental fortitude was on display once more at Champions 2022 as they overcame 100Thieves to secure their spot in the Playoffs.
DRX beat 100Thieves 2 - 0 in the Group D Winners match at Champions 2022 in Istanbul. With this win DRX have managed to secure their spot in the Champions 2022 Playoffs by finishing at the top of Group D.
After their sensational victory against Furia in their previous match of groups, which saw them overturn a 12 - 4 round deficit in the first map, it looked like the DRX of last season had finally begun to turn up this season; and it could not have come at a better time for the Korean powerhouse.
They were squaring off against an equally impressive young guns of 100Thieves, who had shown some mental toughness of their own in their three-map thriller against Fnatic. It was a match that promised plenty of thrills, and it certainly delivered.
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DRX survive another OT thriller at Champions
If there is one thing we have learned from the group stages thus far it is that DRX are never truly out of a map. Even with the tide of the game has shifted in their opponents favor they always find a way to claw back in to proceedings. And that is certainly what we got on Breeze in the first map of the series.
Despite having a much better start to proceedings this time around, they really had their work cut out for them against a 100Thieves squad that seemed to grow from strength to strength the longer the game went on. It looked like they were about to pull away from DRX at one point.
But the mental toughness of the Korean side was on came to the forefront once more at Champions as they managed to not only tie the map at 12 - 12, but would eventually enable them to go on and win the map after five sets of Overtime rounds.
Fracture saw a much more dominant display from DRX, with the duo of Goo "Rb" Sang-min and Yu "BuZz" Byung-chul having their way with their opponents in the first half; allowing them to amass a 9 - 3 lead going into the second half. But after trading blows in the first few rounds of the second half it looked as though 100Thieves were staging a comeback of their own; with DRX's lead reduced to 11 - 9.
But once again DRX's managed to hold their nerve when they needed to the most as they eventually took Fracture 13 - 11. Sending them to the top of Group D and into the Champions 2022 playoffs.
DRX's "physical endurance" a mixture of practice and confidence
Despite being in placed in a group that contained 100Thieves and Fnatic, DRX have once again managed to carve a path straight into the Playoffs of another LAN event. And their composure in the face immense late-game pressure is second to none has truly made them a team to be feared at Champions. When asked about how his team have managed to hold their nerve in these tense situations, DRX's BuZz gave the following response in his post-match interview.
"We practice these situations a lot so our physical endurance is there. So we are always so confident about winning those OTs. Regardless of the OTs, on every single map, in every single scenario we're just confident that we are able to close out these matches and get the win."
Having overcome both Furia and now 100Thieves, DRX are looking like a team that could make a very deep run at Champs this time around. But as the Group stage begins to wind down and we get a sense of the strengths of the remaining teams at Istanbul, only time will tell if this new found mental toughness will be enough to allow DRX to overcome their playoff miseries of the past.
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