Play-in Matches of the Korean League of Legends Tournament – LCK Cup 2025
The Play-in stage of the LCK Cup 2025 will take place from February 7 to February 9 at LCK Arena, Seoul.
The fourth-week Play-in round of LCK Cup 2025 is set to be held from February 7 to February 9 at LCK Arena, Seoul. After an intense group stage, only six teams remain in contention for a Playoff spot. Meanwhile, the three strongest teams—Dplus KIA, Gen.G, and KT Rolster—have directly advanced to the next stage thanks to the Elder Group's dominant 16-9 victory over the Baron Group.
T1 and Hanwha Life Await Their Opponents, DRX to Face DN Freaks Again
The remaining six teams will compete for the final two Playoff slots. Based on group stage performances, T1 and Hanwha Life Esports secured the first and second seeds, respectively, and have directly advanced to Play-in Round 2. The other four teams—DRX, Nongshim RedForce, OK Savings Bank BRION, and DN Freaks—will start from Round 1 in a BO3 (best-of-three) single-elimination format.
A notable matchup in Round 1 is DRX facing DN Freaks once again. Previously, DRX managed to defeat DN Freaks despite missing their main ADC, "Teddy" Park Jin-sung. Now, with Teddy back in the lineup, he will go head-to-head against "Berserker" Kim Min-chul, DN Freaks' star player. The outcome of this match will significantly impact both teams' journeys in LCK Cup 2025.
The other match between Nongshim RedForce and OK Savings Bank BRION is also unpredictable. Nongshim previously defeated BRION 2-0 in the group stage, but BRION surprised everyone by taking down Gen.G, one of the tournament's strongest teams.
Fearless Draft and Champion Pool Battles
LCK Cup 2025 continues to implement the Fearless Draft system—a unique pick-ban mechanism where champions used in a series cannot be picked again until the series concludes. This results in an increasing number of banned champions:
- A BO3 series can potentially eliminate 30 champions if all three games are played.
- A BO5 series can ban up to 50 champions, nearly one-third of the 170 total champions in the game.
With this special ban rule in place, teams will need a wider champion pool and adaptable strategies. During the group stage, several rarely seen champions such as Udyr, Urgot, Tryndamere, and Anivia made appearances, signaling an unpredictable Play-in stage ahead.