The inspirational LCK underdog has been knocked out.

Regular viewers of LCK are well aware that the region traditionally enforces a strict hierarchy, where regular season standings often dictate outcomes. Yet, the 2026 playoffs saw two dark horses emerge. First, BFX caused an upset by defeating the world champions T1. Then, DNS, who finished second to last in the regular season, kept pulling off upsets in the playoffs, beating the world runner-up team KT, the champion-laden NS squad, and the world champion DRX team. Many fans were hoping DNS could make history by meeting the other underdog BFX in the finals.

Unfortunately, many fans were disappointed when DNS faced DK in a best-of-five playoff series and lost 1-3. This defeat exposed DNS’s current weaknesses. Early in matches, DNS often plays aggressively and secures kill leads, but their poor macro play prevents them from converting those kills into a real gold advantage. As the game progresses into mid-phase, DNS tends to falter against DK’s more seasoned strategic pacing, eventually leading to their defeat.

After DK advanced to the next round of the LCK playoffs, many T1 fans popped champagne to celebrate, especially since DK’s mid laner ShowMaker is jokingly called Faker’s “exclusive power bank” by viewers. Whenever T1 faces DK, T1 players tend to perform at their peak. Looking back over the past four years, ShowMaker has only beaten Faker once in a best-of-five series, while T1 has dominated the rest. Because of this, many fans believe T1 players might as well start packing their bags to head to Hong Kong for the LCK losers’ bracket finals.

The player discarded by T1 issues a message to his former team.

Although most outside observers doubted DK’s chances against T1, DK’s coach Maige and AD carry Smash boldly challenged T1 in post-match interviews. The coach admitted that DK’s loss in the previous best-of-five was due to flawed draft strategy, as he failed to predict the meta shift. Now that he and the DK players have fully adapted, Maige is confident that DK will defeat T1 in the upcoming playoffs and advance further. (In the last BO5, DK was swept by T1.)

Besides coach Maige’s confidence, Smash, once discarded by T1, also spoke up during interviews, addressing T1’s management: “Although T1 is my former team, I will do everything possible to beat them.” This statement caught the attention of many T1 fans. After T1’s loss to BFX, many questioned pezy’s individual skill, believing Smash to be the stronger AD carry. Thus, this best-of-five became a showdown between T1’s new and former AD carries. If Smash dominates pezy, T1’s management will surely face criticism.

In the post-match interview, DK coach Maige not only predicted DK’s victory over T1 but also gave his outlook on the BFX vs. GEN matchup. Maige believes the current meta heavily favors BFX, as it emphasizes strong bottom lane ADCs, and the team with the stronger ADC is more likely to win. Given BFX’s AD player is in excellent form, Maige thinks BFX has a good chance to defeat GEN. However, most LCK commentators currently favor GEN to win, noting GEN’s mid laner Chovy’s dominant league performance, while BFX’s mid laner VicLa remains the team’s biggest weakness.