Faker's do-or-die opponent confirmed! Xu Ge advances to the semifinals, Time Fox makes a difference, DNS gets eliminated

Hello to all LPL viewers and League of Legends summoners, this is Tianxia Game Hub.

Tonight, the LCK region conducted the first stage five-to-four phase match between DK and DNS. DK demonstrated better competitive form, finishing the series in four games and successfully knocking out their opponents to advance.

Therefore, the LCK losers' bracket final matchup is confirmed: it will be T1 against DK.

DNS is off their game, DK quickly secures match point

This round’s excitement level wasn’t particularly high. It was clear from the first game that DNS was not in good shape, while DK took the lead early. The bottom lane initiated with a 0-for-2 kill exchange, and in a crucial team fight, Lucid’s Xin Zhao was focused and delayed heavily, allowing Smash to output massive damage and help DK secure a 1-for-4 team fight, gaining a significant advantage.

In this game, DNS’s jungle and support performed poorly; Pyosik’s Vi and Peter’s Nautilus repeatedly misused their ultimates, making team fights very difficult from the start.

Ultimately, Pyosik’s reckless ultimate led to deaths and losing the game. In the second game, DNS improved but still fell short. Pyosik successfully counter-ganked the bottom lane and gained some advantage, also controlling dragon pace ahead of DK. Clozer managed a solo kill on Smash in a 1v2 scenario. Although Smash was off early, ShowMaker’s Ryze helped stabilize the team. In late fights, Smash’s Aphelios began to shine, often targeted first but surviving with low health to deal huge damage, helping secure team fights.

Previously strong DNS top laner Dudu underperformed on Rumble this game, was targeted, and had an average showing in late team fights.

Time Fox is unstoppable, ShowMaker advances to semifinals

In the third game, DNS finally dominated, using the Wukong and Galio combo to control tempo. ShowMaker picked LeBlanc but had very little impact due to early disadvantages and lack of kills, resulting in low damage and some funny poke attempts. The match then moved to the fourth game, where ShowMaker chose mid-lane Ahri with an interesting build of Riftmaker plus Zhonya’s Hourglass, trading off damage for high durability.

Early on, DNS gained kill leads and both sides played slowly. Dudu’s Kennen showed good performance at times, but in a key dragon fight, DNS’s positioning was poor. Kennen’s ultimate was ineffective, and the team couldn’t burst down ShowMaker, who survived and DK counterattacked to get a 0-for-3 team fight win and take the dragon.

During the Baron push, DK made some mistakes, but in a subsequent bottom lane attack, they gave DNS no chances, picking them off one by one and winning the team fight to close out the match.

In summary, DNS, as a young team, showed some promise but is not yet top-tier. DK, although considered a second-tier LCK team, has solid foundation and roster strength, making them stronger overall. Next up, ShowMaker will face Faker.

The do-or-die battle is about to begin, who will head to Hong Kong?

Honestly, as a viewer, it’s hard to imagine how DK can beat T1 in this BO5. Although T1 struggled against BFX last round, they always seem stable against DK, with no apparent chance of losing. I personally think if T1 adjusts their form slightly and puts in some effort, they can comfortably defeat DK. Of course, this is just my opinion; the outcome will depend on both teams’ performance on the day.

T1’s biggest issue last round was their BP design and lineup choices. Fixing these problems, players adjusting their form, and correcting in-game mistakes after reviewing previous matches will greatly increase their chances against DK.

On the other hand, DK needs to show better form than before. Several players have been inconsistent, and ShowMaker sometimes brings a comedic element with unpredictable issues each game. Smash looks relatively stable, but top laner Siwoo is likely to be at a disadvantage against Doran. Overall, it’s a close matchup, roughly 60-40 or 70-30. The match will take place on the 22nd, so everyone can look forward to it.