Preface: The S15 season matches have officially begun. Most players have been paying attention to the recent confrontations. As tournaments in various regions approach their conclusions, the LCK region remains with just one final showdown. The HLE team and GEN team are set to battle for the top seed in LCK. The second encounter between GEN and KT sparked widespread discussion online, but no one expected the match to be so one-sided. GEN swept KT 3-0 to advance to the finals. Afterwards, many players joked that GEN was rigging the games, directly disadvantaging the LPL’s fourth seed. Otherwise, KT and DK would likely be the fourth seed, not T1.

The most cunning team in LCK

Most players are quite familiar with the LCK region. Recognized as the world’s top league, it enjoys immense popularity and has won multiple world championships consecutively. This season, the LCK underwent many adjustments. After the format change, the play-in stage was removed, and the top four teams from playoffs directly qualify for Worlds. This made previous points less relevant. Under the old system, DK would likely have been LCK’s fourth seed. After KT advanced, it sparked widespread debate online, but they were quickly put in their place with two BO5 sweeps, losing 0-6 without any chance of competition.

The match against GEN was highly anticipated by fans since KT had secured their Worlds spot by defeating GEN in the previous encounter. In the first game, KT got first blood within five minutes. Both teams played safe early to farm and exchange gold. At 26 minutes, GEN executed a top-tier dragon fight, exchanging zero deaths for three kills and opening a gold lead. BDD’s Annie flashing into the wall was captured on video. Eventually, GEN comfortably won the first game at 33 minutes. The second game followed LCK’s usual farming style, with first blood only appearing at nine minutes. Subsequent team fights felt like playing against bots, as GEN repeatedly secured zero deaths for two or four kills. Akali, with ultimate ready, dove tower to kill a low-health Taliyah but missed her abilities badly, allowing Taliyah to counter-kill under the tower. The second game ended quickly at 28 minutes.

In the final game, KT seemed completely demoralized, with players’ performance deteriorating. The match lasted only 30 minutes before GEN secured victory. Sweeping KT 3-0, GEN advanced to the finals to face HLE for the championship. After the match, many criticized GEN’s play as outrageous, blaming their loss to KT for preventing Xu Ge from attending Worlds, causing T1 to be the 14th seed, and forcing LPL’s IG team to compete against T1 for a spot.

KT has now truly revealed their true colors, getting swept 0-3 by both HLE and GEN. Their previous win against GEN might have just been luck. The LCK format does have issues; KT dominated all year but after one upset, they became the third seed. GEN finished the regular season 29-1, almost becoming the fourth seed. If the play-in stage still existed, IG would likely have faced DK, increasing our chances of winning. Many players joke that this might be LCK’s biggest conspiracy yet.

Farewell Thoughts

It can only be said that GEN’s move was extremely clever, maximizing the strength of LCK’s fourth seed. Everyone knows T1’s consistent form at Worlds each year, making it very difficult to defeat them in a first-round BO5. However, IG’s results have also been impressive — back in 1557, they fought T1 hard. It now depends on how they adjust in the next two weeks.

What do you all think about this situation?