Dplus KIA: The Challenger Team That Became World Champion in Three Years
Founded in 2017, promoted in 2019 and world champions in 2020, DAMWON Gaming had the fastest rise in LCK history. Here is the story of the team now called Dplus KIA, and its strong 2026.
In 2018, DAMWON Gaming was playing in Korea's second division. Two years later, in Shanghai, it was lifting the Summoner's Cup. No team in the LCK era has gone from the minor leagues to the top of the world faster, and the club that did it, now called Dplus KIA, still has the mid laner who led that run.
In 2026, DK went to Worlds as Korea's fourth seed, won all three of its Swiss stage matches and reached the quarterfinals, where Bilibili Gaming finally stopped it. Here is the story.
From Mirage to the LCK
The team was formed on May 28, 2017, when computer manufacturer Damwon bought a Challengers Korea team called Mirage Gaming. For its first season and a half, it played in the second tier, building a young team. The core that would go on to win the world title included jungler Canyon, mid laner Heo "ShowMaker" Su and support BeryL.
DAMWON earned promotion to the LCK for 2019 and, in its very first top-flight season, qualified for Worlds and reached the quarterfinals. It was an announcement, not a fluke.
The 2020 title
The breakthrough season was 2020. DAMWON won the LCK Summer split and went to Worlds as Korea's first seed. In Shanghai, in a tournament played inside a COVID-19 bubble, it beat China's Suning 3-1 in the final, and Canyon was named MVP.
It was Korea's first world title since 2017, ending two years of Chinese wins by Invictus Gaming and FunPlus Phoenix, and ShowMaker became one of the faces of the game.
DWG KIA and the 2021 finals
In 2021 a partnership with Kia Motors turned the team into DWG KIA. It won the LCK Spring and Summer splits, but lost both international finals in five games: 2-3 to Royal Never Give Up at MSI, and 2-3 to EDward Gaming at Worlds in Reykjavik, a final watched by a recorded peak of 73.86 million viewers.
The following years were less kind. DK finished third and fourth in the 2022 splits and lost to Gen.G in the Worlds quarterfinals. In the 2023 off-season it signed Deft, fresh from DRX's world title, as part of a rebuilt team. Under its current name, Dplus KIA, it has kept competing near the top, but it has not won the LCK since 2021.
A strong 2026
DK's 2026 roster is a mix of old and new: Siwoo in top, Lucid in the jungle, ShowMaker in mid, and a new bot lane of Smash and Career, under head coach cvMax. The season started well. In the LCK Cup playoffs, DK beat T1 3-2, keeping T1 out of the First Stand tournament.
DK finished the first half at 11-7, then went 17-9 overall to place fourth in the Legend group and earn Korea's fourth Worlds seed. The season awards rewarded the rebuild: Smash was Rookie of the Year and cvMax was Coach of the Year, while Lucid made the All-LCK second team and Siwoo, ShowMaker and Career the third team.
At Worlds 2026, DK was one of only two teams to go 3-0 in the Swiss stage, beating G2 Esports and Movistar KOI on the way. In the quarterfinals on November 5, Bilibili Gaming swept DK 3-0, taking 14 of the 15 dragons in the series.
Why it matters
DAMWON's rise is the template every Challengers team dreams of: young players, a coherent style and a fast route to the top. Dplus KIA's 2026 shows the club can still build that way, with a Rookie of the Year and a Coach of the Year in the same season. If Smash and Career keep growing, DK could be a real threat in 2027. For how the 2026 season unfolded, see our LCK 2026 season review.