Cover-Credits:
After a grueling week in the League of Legends: Wild Rift Horizon Cup 2021, the Chinese team Da Kun Gaming won the championship title after defeating ThunderTalk Gaming in the grand finals. The tournament saw Da Kun Gaming cruising through the group stage into the grand finals without a single loss. The crowned champions will be going home with the $100,000 USD prize money along with the title of the first world champions of Wild Rift esports. Riot Games will also be releasing exclusive in-game collectibles to honor the champions of the Horizon Cup 2021. On the other side, the runner-ups, ThunderTalk Gaming will be heading home with the $80,000 USD prize money.
Da Kun Gaming was undefeated throughout the Horizon Cup 2021
The grand finals saw two Chinese teams fighting for the championship title. While both teams smoothly cruised through the tournament with no losses, the grand finals was far from being a one-sided match. It was a match between both undefeated teams and the grand finals would decide which team would lose.
Da Kun Gaming secured two consecutive wins in their BO7 series. However, ThunderTalk Gaming countered and managed to even the odds by taking two wins of their own. Despite desperate attempts from Zhou "Z" Tianjian to carry his team, they were no match for the relentless fortitude of Da Kun Gaming. The grand finals ended with a 4-2 match score, in favor of Da Kun Gaming.
In a post-match conference, Da Kun Gaming’s support player Mochen "Emo" Fan revealed that the two final rounds of the tournament were very difficult. The pro player said that their Jungler Fangjun "Huiba" Li had a rough time during those matches.
“I was really excited about the outcome of the event but the most difficult ones (matches) were the third and fourth rounds,” stated Emo. “I think our (jungle) player Huiba did not perform well.”
The team’s Mid Laner Muchuang "You" You revealed that he and ThunderTalk Gaming’s Mid Laner Z had a similar champion pool and it was all about who could perform better between them.
“Actually, we (Z) got a pretty similar champion pool so we take the same bans and picks since we have the same abilities with each other,” stated You.
After taking the championship title in the Horizon Cup 2021, Da Kun Gaming now has its eyes set on next year’s Wild Rift Professional League. They stand a chance to qualify as an official Wild Rift pro team in China.
It will be interesting to see if Da Kun Gaming can keep its momentum going and qualify for next year’s Wild Rift world championship.
