On January 19, Nongshim RedForce defeated DWG KIA 2-1 in Week 2 of the LCK Spring Split 2022, with Lee “Dread” Jin-hyeok securing the Player of the Game (POG, or MVP) award.

While the new Nongshim RedForce roster is comprised of star mid laner Gwak “Bdd” Bo-seong and Worlds 2020 winner Jang “Ghost” Yong-jun, it wasn’t immediately clear if the overhauled squad would find success in 2022.

This result however, will definitely change opinions about that.

Dread secures Player of the Game in Nongshim RedForce’s 2-1 win over DWG KIA in LCK Spring Split 2022

Even though the series went to three games, NS was ahead in all of them, largely due to the top side combo of Kim “Canna” Chang-dong and Dread, who played Xin Zhao and Poppy.

It’s fair to say that both Yoon “Hoya” Yong-ho in game one, and Noh “Burdol” Tae-yoon in games two and three didn’t have the easiest time in the top lane thanks to Dread’s top lane focus.

Dread helped Canna get ahead and contributed heavily to the team’s success by notching a 66% kill participation (KP) in game three. Support Jeong “Peter” Yoon-su’s Yuumi was also heavily involved, as he attached to Canna frequently.

Evidently, the reworked Teleport did not stop the former T1 top laner from getting involved around the map. His plays were not flashy, but rather, he put on a consistent throughout, which made the difference between victory and defeat.

Dread too, showed that Poppy is fast becoming DK’s boogeyman, for the defending LCK champions lost all three games when Poppy was picked into them.

In game three, Dread displayed the rarely seen potential of Poppy in competitive play, diving bot at three minutes to secure first blood for NS.

Throughout, Dread, Canna, and Peter worked as a three man unit to take fights around the map and dictate tempo. Although Dread was voted the Player of the Game, the award could’ve easily gone to Peter or Canna too.

The future looks bright for Nongshim RedForce’s revamped roster, and if they can put on more stellar performances as they did against DWG KIA, we may see them challenging the LCK title this Spring.

READ MORE: LCK Spring Split 2022: Schedule, results, format, where to watch