Japan’s number one team for a year and a half, DetonatioN FocusMe returns to the World Championship Play-In stage. They have made every LJL Final since 2014, winning the past three in a row, making DFM one of the most domestically dominant teams of all time. They return to the World Championship with four-fifths of last year’s Worlds roster.
DFM went 17-4 during the Summer Split regular season, before winning playoffs 3-1 over V3 Esports. They also won Spring Split, with a 20-1 regular season record and a 3-0 victory over Unsold Stuff Gaming. DFM went to MSI this year, but failed to make it out of Play-Ins with four wins, two losses.
Yutapon and Ceros return to their fifth major international event together on DFM, while this makes Evi and Steal’s third. Gaeng replaced Vivid as support at the beginning of 2019, and he has been a pro since 2016. He was part of the Pentagram at MSI 2018. The LJL used to be a middle-ground minor region in 2016, but slumped to one of the worst in 2017. They have been slowly growing back to challenge minor regions in 2018 and 2019.
DFM puts Steal and Gaeng on engage champions, like Sejuani, Jarvan, Rakan and Thresh. Ceros and Yutapon generally opt for scaling carries, such as Azir, Kai’Sa and Ezreal. Top laner Evi plays mostly Gnar, but DFM also draft some pocket picks, including Tahm Kench top and Heimerdinger mid. Look for them to force fights and skirmishes.
Overall, DFM has a low chance of qualifying to the Main Event at Worlds. Finishing Play-Ins with a positive win rate should be the baseline goal for the LJL representatives. They are the type of team to catch a cocky opponent off-guard and play spoiler. DFM is unlikely to unseat the VCS and LMS teams, let alone Damwon, Clutch or Splyce.
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