Faker stands as the sole survivor! The LCK unfolds a brutal storyline where all five champion players have been eliminated.

Hello to all LPL fans and League of Legends summoners, welcome to Tianxia Game Hub.

The first stage of the LPL has reached the Knights' Path elimination round, and next door, the LCK region finished its final play-in match last night, after which all playoff teams have been confirmed.

Editor

Interestingly, Faker has become the only surviving S-series FMVP player in this LCK cup.

DRX's brute force dominance crushes NS, eliminating them from the tournament.

Yesterday marked the final match deciding the playoff spots between DRX and NS, a BO5 series that turned into a one-sided affair. DRX comfortably suppressed NS in three straight games, ultimately knocking them out and advancing to the playoffs.

Editor

In the match, DRX led in nearly every position, with a notable gap at the dual carry roles. It’s worth mentioning that NS’s two carry players, Scout and Taeyoon, previously played in the LPL, but both performed poorly yesterday.

DRX showcased a powerful muscle-heavy playstyle, overwhelming NS with superior mechanics, leaving NS seemingly helpless.

Fans who had some hope for NS were thoroughly disappointed. After the match, viewers began their sharp critiques, bluntly questioning if NS’s purpose was just to stomp HLE once and then bow out.

This refers to NS “throwing” the group stage match against HLE, beating HLE 3-2, but then losing 2-3 to DRX and KT, who are direct rivals of HLE. After those wins, DRX and KT surpassed HLE in points, causing HLE to finish last in the group and be eliminated.

Faker remains the survivor as the five major champions get eliminated.

It should be noted that NS’s top laner Kingen and mid laner Scout are both S-series champions and were awarded FMVP titles in finals, yet they were eliminated. Meanwhile, Rich, who formerly played in the LPL, performed well and helped DRX secure a playoff spot.

Even more interesting is that the four LCK teams already eliminated had players of very high caliber on their rosters.

HLE boasts three major champions — Zeus, Zeka, and Gumayusi — with Zeus and Gumayusi also being FMVP winners. Thus, among players who have won FMVP titles in the past five years of the S-series, Faker is the only one to advance to the playoffs; the other four have been knocked out.

Another unfortunate team is KT, who topped HLE in the group stage to advance to the play-in, but were ultimately defeated by DNS and eliminated. Remember, KT was the world runner-up last year, but after roster changes this year, they ended up near the bottom.

From this perspective, this year’s LCK cup has been fiercely competitive. Despite only having 10 teams, some dark horse teams emerged, reshaping the cup’s landscape.

The playoffs are about to begin, with GEN and T1 holding the throne positions.

The six teams that secured playoff spots are T1, GEN, BFX, DNS, DK, and DRX. Among them, BFX and DNS are considered dark horses. The playoffs will use a double-elimination BO5 format, with GEN and T1 occupying the throne seats, awaiting challengers.

The first matches will see BFX face DNS starting February 12, followed by DK versus DRX. After these matches, GEN and T1 will choose their opponents.

In my opinion, the strongest two teams in this LCK cup remain GEN and T1, largely because teams like HLE and KT have fallen, making the competition below these two more balanced.

These two teams failed to perform as expected, especially HLE, which opened opportunities for dark horse teams.

These dark horse teams bring many fresh highlights to the LCK league and significantly raise the competition’s intensity and excitement. By contrast, the LPL matches seem more like a chaotic brawl among gods. Frankly, except for the bottom-ranked BRO team, the other nine LCK teams have peak-tier strength and could likely dominate top LPL teams. This only shows that the gap between the two regions is growing wider.