Cover-Credits:
AFK Gaming
The semifinals of the League of Legends (LoL): Wild Rift Horizon Cup 2021 saw the Chinese teams defending their undefeated titles in the tournament. One of the unbeatable teams was Da Kun Gaming who dominated and won against the fan-favorite Team Secret after a 3-1 match score.
Da Kun Gaming has been one of the most dominant Wild Rift teams in the region. The team qualified for the Horizon Cup 2021 after winning the championship title in the Wild RIft Spark Invitational 2021. Though they are yet to be part of the Wild Rift Professional League in China, Da Kun Gaming has proven that they are more than capable to earn that title soon.
Da Kun Gaming is composed of the members Yankai "Yk" Hong, Fangjun "Huiba" Li, Muchuang "You" You, Zhenyu "Wind" Qi, Mochen "Emo" Fan, Shiliu, and Au. Similar to the Philippines team, Team Secret, Dakun Gaming is yet to revamp its roster. Instead, the team focused on coming up with impressive strategies and studying their opponents’ weaknesses to outplay them in tournaments.
Being one of the undefeated teams in the Horizon Cup 2021, Da Kun Gaming will be facing its fellow Chinese team, ThunderTalk Gaming in the grand finals. The two teams may be undefeated so far, but eventually, one shall stand and one shall fall. Will Da Kun Gaming be able to assert dominance in the grand finals and snatch the Championship title?
Da Kun Gaming is more than prepared to reach the grand finals
The first-ever international esports event for Wild Rift, the Horizon Cup 2021 features the top-tier teams from around the world competing for the title of World Champions. In a conversation with AFK Gaming, the team’s Mid Laner Muchuang "You" You revealed how the team managed to stay dominant in the tournament.
With high stakes at hand, Da Kun Gaming made sure to come prepared and have formulated strategies and team compositions that can help them take down the best of the best Wild Rift teams.
“To be honest, we really prepared for the Horizon Cup (2021), we played many scrims during the normal days. We also gathered a lot of information about teams from other regions and we did some research on them. Our preparation was totally completed,” stated You
But despite being prepared for the tournament, Da Kun Gaming is far from perfect. According to You, the team did make some mistakes during its semifinals match against Team Secret.
“I’m so happy that we won this game. In the second game, we couldn’t play so well and made many mistakes so we lost. But it’s just a reminder for us that we should focus on ourselves so we can play our best in the next two games,” stated You.
The semifinals match ended with a 3-1 match score, in favor of Da Kun Gaming. Despite Team Secret losing the match, it did put up a good fight against the Chinese team.
Following Da Kun Gaming’s victory in the semifinals, its fellow Chinese team, ThunderTalk Gaming also dominated its match against Rolster Y and will proceed in the grand finals. The climax of the Horizon Cup 2021 will see two Chinese teams battling it out to prove who is the strongest Chinese team.
According to You, the reason why the most dominant teams in the Horizon Cup 2021 are the Chinese team is due to how big the esports scene is in the region. A lot of promising teams and pro players are debuting in local tournaments which further makes local events more competitive.
“I think all of our Chinese teams have played very hard and we practiced more. We also have a lot of teams in our region and the inner competition is too fierce. That’s why we are so strong,” stated You.
The Horizon Cup 2021 is not the only tournament Da Kun Gaming has prepared for
The Horizon Cup 2021 is just one of the main tournaments that Da Kun Gaming intends to dominate. You revealed that his team is also looking to earn the title as one of the official professional Wild Rift League teams in China. According to him “when we come back to China, we also want to play in the national qualification tournament for Wild Rift.”
For now, the league event is yet to have its definitive title. According to Da Kun Gaming, this national event will serve as an opportunity for non-professional Wild Rift teams in China to earn the right to compete alongside the organizations that are part of the LoL Professional League.
“If we can be successful in qualifying for the Wild Rift league, then I think next year we can go abroad and participate in international events again,” stated You.
He added that his team will have to grind harder and be more prepared for the national qualification tournament for Wild Rift in China.
Despite Wild Rift being a national sensation in Southeast Asia and China, You believes that its esports scene still has a long way to go before it can be as big as the LoL PC esports scene. According to him “If there are more international events and other regions can acquire more achievements, I think global esports (for Wild Rift) would be better in the future.”
You ended his statements by thanking his fans for their continued support and stating that DKG could “hopefully we could get the championship title.” It will be interesting to see if Da Kun Gaming will be able to take down its fellow Chinese team, ThunderTalk Gaming and claim the title of world champions in the Horizon Cup 2021.
