In the first split of the LCK, the Super Week matches have officially started. On the last match day, the two lowest-ranked teams from the Ancient Dragon Group and Dragon Group, DRX and BRO, competed in a BO5 series. Despite being a clash of underdogs, DRX’s general skill level was a bit higher than BRO’s. The teams battled intensely through five games, with the final one lasting 43 minutes, where DRX emerged victorious, earning the Ancient Dragon Group a positive kickoff for Super Week.

As the only AD player who has played for T1 but never received a champion skin, Teddy truly underperformed in this BO5. From laning to team fights, except for a slight showing with Rell in the second game, he was ineffective in the other four matches. In the decider, playing Tristana, he didn’t dare to aggressively use W for kills, only moving around defensively. It’s no surprise he set a record for losing with Senna’s 300 passive stacks—Teddy’s performance was just terrible.

Roamer, praised as an AI-like mid laner, was arguably the hardest working player on the team, but his in-game performance was average at best. Comparing his play to solo queue, it was like two different people. Being outmatched by Ucal in the BO5 clearly shows the mid-lane gap. After this loss, BRO finished the regular season with a 0-5 record, and since the LCK Cup rankings are based on group results, T1 and GEN suffered heavily due to BRO’s poor performance.

After DRX’s victory, the Ancient Dragon Group’s points surpassed those of the Dragon Group. The upcoming two matches will be crucial in deciding the outcome. If DNS loses to BFX and NS falls to KT, the Ancient Dragon Group will finish with three wins and directly claim the winner’s bracket. At that point, regardless of the result in the last match between T1 and GEN, one team will have to play in the qualifiers. Based on current tiebreakers, T1 is the most likely candidate.

Both GEN and T1 hold a 4-0 record, but GEN has fewer map losses, giving them a three-point lead over T1. For T1 to claim first place in the group, GEN must lose to HLE. Even if T1 sweeps DK 3-0 for their fifth win, their maximum map score would be 8 points, which GEN already has. Even if GEN takes five games to beat HLE, they would still have one more map point than T1, so GEN remains top of the group.

The LCK Cup format advances the top three teams from the winner’s bracket and the first-place team from the loser’s bracket directly to the playoffs. Now, T1 can only pin their hopes on NS, since DNS is as weak as BRO, making a BFX win highly unlikely. NS has some potential and could possibly upset KT if they perform well. If either of these two matches results in a win, T1 will most likely advance directly to the playoffs.

The LCK Cup format is indeed brutal; even a 5-0 record might not guarantee advancement. BRO’s failure to win any games severely drags the group down. During a live stream, Faker couldn’t help but complain that the Dragon Group seems doomed under this system, which feels somewhat unfair. Even the caster DaWang DaO calculated live that if other teams lose on the 29th and 30th, they would be completely finished.

If what Oner said is true—that DNS and NS both lose—then T1 can only rely on GEN. However, GEN lost their BO5 to HLE, though that seems unlikely since HLE’s recent form is poor and they were swept by NS. The team’s synergy clearly has major issues. It might be better to hope the younger players can outplay BDD. The fate of the Dragon Group depends on these two matches and whether the teams can step up.

Conclusion:

Even a perfect 5-0 record doesn’t guarantee qualifying for the playoffs in the LCK Cup. The format is truly harsh. Although the last two matches haven’t started yet and the results are uncertain, every loss by the Dragon Group brings T1 closer to the qualifiers. This much is clear. Faker now can only place his hopes on the younger players; if they don’t perform, T1 is truly doomed.

So, what do you think? Is the LCK format fair?

Feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments!