Whether Jiuku can challenge Dashai's position depends on this match, as DRG defeated Wolves 4-2 to advance.

The 2025 KPL Annual Finals knockout stage has started, and the opening game made it clear to everyone that this year's finals will be fierce and thrilling! The second match features Wolves against DRG — can it extend to a full seven-game series like WB and LGD?

DRG’s performance in this year's finals was a classic case of a strong start but a weak finish. They won their first four matches, looking great on paper, but then suddenly lost two consecutive games, dropping to the bottom of the Masters group. In the play-in against EDG, DRG fans were stressed as the series went from 2-3 to 3-3, finally winning 4-3 in a very close battle.

The scenarios like “Jiang Ziya being sealed early by Taiyi Zhenren” and “Menglan Luban No.7’s peak duel turning into a funeral” replayed like a recorded video on the stage. Although these plays didn’t stop DRG from advancing through the play-in, and they even won, maintaining this form in the knockout stage means they won’t go far.

Wolves' performance in this year's finals was also far from outstanding. They were unexpectedly crushed 1-3 by JDG in the final match, ruining their earlier five consecutive big wins. Fortunately, they avoided being caught again by WB in the tiebreaker, which was a small blessing. The only surprise for Wolves this year was the return of Daozai, once hailed as the “future of Wolves.” After a season of growth, he delivered the highest KDA and lowest average deaths on the developmental path during the finals, truly finding himself again.

As for Guiji and Yisheng’s form, it remains largely unchanged from the summer split; combined with Xiaopang’s current 0-3 record on Pei Qinhu, Wolves’ chances in the knockout stage are full of uncertainty.

Wanwan carried the team heavily in the last match against EDG, reminiscent of the latter half of the spring season when Huayuan’s jungle and top roles held up half the team. Wanwan’s individual stats in this finals are also impressive, making her performance crucial if DRG wants to beat Chongqing Wolves tonight.

Of course, Jiuku’s performance will also determine how far DRG can go. Whether Jiuku can challenge Dashai’s status depends on this match!

Xiaopang’s individual stats during the finals stage are also decent. Regarding hero pool, the often-joked-about Xiahou Dun has an undefeated 4-0 record with zero deaths so far; signature heroes Dasi Ming and the new summer split pick Yang Jian maintain stable scores with 4 wins out of 5 and 4 wins out of 4 matches respectively; Jing also has a 3-2 win record. However, Xiaopang’s FMVP hero and the best win-rate jungler Pei Qinhu unfortunately posted a 0-3 losing record with the worst KDA in the finals stage.

Although Wolves seem to have a slight edge in this match, I still believe DRG will win 4-2 and advance!

The Xiao Wang 10th anniversary celebration voting for 37 exclusive skins has been ongoing for three days! As of last night’s results, Xiahou Dun leads by a landslide, while Zhao Yunlong’s limited skin “Battle Encounter” is fiercely competing for sixth place with Hu Xuan. Xiahou Dun’s “Frost North Blade” has nearly 40 million votes, making his first place almost guaranteed. Sixth place Zhao Yun’s “Dragon Rider · Ming Zhongding” has 15.352 million votes, very close to seventh place Diao Chan’s “Encounter Hu Xuan” with 15.346 million votes.

Fifth place is Sun Shangxiang’s “Dragon Rider · Wen Xuanji” with 15.981 million votes, not far behind fourth place Zhao Yun’s limited skin; fourth place is Ma Chao’s “Amber Era” with 20.7279 million votes, significantly ahead of fifth place Sun Shangxiang, which was an unexpected jump to fourth for Ma Chao.

Third place belongs to Angela’s “Dragon Rider · Treasure Ship” with 26.7252 million votes, about 6 million more than fourth place Ma Chao, securing her spot; second place is Doria’s “Heartbeat Record” with 28.5673 million votes; the first place in this rerun voting is unquestionably Xiahou Dun’s “Frost North Blade,” leading by a massive margin of 10.64 million votes over second place. Could it really be “If you have Hou, vote Hou; if not, vote randomly”?