SKL Week 1 Key Takeaways: LAVEGA Esports upset DPlus, SANDBOX Gaming start off on the right foot

This week's games in the South Korea League introduced us to the second stage, which will last until the conclusion of the BLAST R6 Major Atlanta. Now, it's up for the teams to qualify for the second Six Major of the year.

Following the conclusion of the first stage of the South Korea League, various teams decided to rebuild their rosters. The former APAC North organization Spear Gaming parted ways with their Rainbow Six Siege roster, whose spot was taken over by WEBL. They were not the only ones to leave, as PANTHERA's position was filled by Before & After.

With all of the teams, excluding DPlus, SANDBOX Gaming, and Talon Esports, making roster changes, the league looks different compared to the first stage.

Here's everything that happened on the first game day of the South Korea League Stage 2!

LAVEGA Esports upset DPlus

^{You can check out the full stats of the LAVEGA Esports vs. DPlus match here.}

LAVEGA Esports' first game after their short performance in the BLAST R6 Major Copenhagen has been successful, as the South Korean roster upset the Stage 1 winners of DPlus.

DPlus seemed to be in charge of the situation after leading their opponents by 5-1 following a fantastic defensive display on Skyscraper.

Eventually, Round 7 was crucial for LAVEGA Esports as Jang "dmaly" Hyun-jun clutched a 1v3 situation.

Two rounds later, the Six Sweden Major semi-finalists put the match point on the scoreboard, putting their opponents between a rock and a hard place. Despite the South Korean roster being in a difficult spot, LAVEGA Esports won the remaining five rounds and earned two valuable points.

First win for WEBL

^{You can check out the full stats for the WEBL vs. Beyond Stratos Gaming match here.}

Fortunately for WEBL, the team has started its trajectory in Rainbow Six Siege with a maximum overtime win against Beyond Stratos Gaming. With this result, the team momentarily holds the second place in Group A, sending DPlus to the bottom of the standings.

Jeong "Napz" Tae-yeon was the best player in the game with a SiegeGG rating of 1.45, doubling Seok "INNO" Dae-won's 0.77, who was the second-best-rated player in the team.

Napz's 17 kills in 15 rounds and his three clutches during regulation time were pivotal in WEBL's win. It's also worth noting that Napz got four kills under BlossoM during the South Korea League 2023 Stage 1 group stage; he has already quadrupled that number.

Solid start for SANDBOX Gaming

_{You can check out the full stats of the SANDBOX Gaming vs. TALON Esports match here.}

In a day full of close-sided matches, SANDBOX Gaming only needed ten rounds to get the victory against TALON Esports.

Although TALON Esports kicked off the game with two round wins, Hwang "Arukaze" Hyeon-jin shut down the South Koreans with an ace in round three. After the player's five kills, SANDBOX Gaming won six of the seven rounds of the match.

Arukaze was back in the spotlight after completing a 1v3 clutch in the final round of the game while playing with Zero. The South Korean player was the best-rated on the server with a SiegeGG rating of 1.62, closely followed by Jiheon "GoodBoy" Lee, who got a SiegeGG rating of 1.47 and a KOST of 90%.

Before & After debut with victory

^{You can check out the full stats of the Before & After vs. BlossoM match here.}

Before & After kicked things off with a win against BlossoM, who are yet to win a game in the South Korea League 2023.

Initially, it looked like BlossoM could finally do so as they won the first two rounds. However, Jaewon's perfect clutch in round three of the match was the first piece of the team's comeback. The South Korean player covered the plant by shooting the C4 thrown by Mute, which was followed by two stun grenades to reload and one stun grenade to flash the Kaid.

Eventually, Before & After won the match by 7-5 after going 5-1 in the second half of the game.