LCK's first split concludes, Ruler secures a pentakill championship, Chovy remains undefeated—this year truly feels different.

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

The LCK's first split culminated yesterday in the finals held in Hong Kong, where GEN and BFX battled fiercely for the championship.

In the end, GEN swept BFX with a clean 3-0 victory, claiming the title of the first split champions.

Ruler achieves a pentakill championship, while Chovy doesn't die a single time.

This year, the overall landscape of the LCK region has shifted significantly compared to previous years. Based on pre-season predictions of team strength, few would have ranked DK and BFX within the top three. Most viewers considered GEN, T1, and HLE as representing the highest level of LCK.

However, unexpected developments arose this year, with the biggest surprise being HLE's early elimination after stumbling in the group stage's 10-team scramble.

The anticipated clash of titans in the upper bracket also failed to materialize. T1 suffered consecutive losses against BFX and DK, dimming the star power of the Hong Kong finals and causing ticket values to plummet. Ultimately, the final matchup presented by the two qualifying teams lacked excitement.

GEN decisively swept BFX 3-0. Against the league-dominant GEN, the young BFX squad simply couldn't mount an effective resistance.

In the matches, GEN's bot laner Ruler calmly handled pressure against BFX's star player Diable. In the third game, he secured a pentakill on Samira. Mid laner Chovy remained deathless across all three games. However, the Finals MVP award went to their jungler Canyon, who drove the team's sweeping victory with near-perfect tempo.

BFX's strategy falters, Diable makes critical errors.

It's well known that BFX is a team centered around its bot lane. Their previous victory over T1 was attributed to their dominant bot lane laning and teamfighting, coupled with exceptional jungle control by Raptor. While every opponent knows BFX's focus is the bottom lane, stopping it has proven difficult.

Yet, GEN managed to counter BFX's tactics effectively. In the second game, they deployed an Ashe-Seraphine combo to pressure the lane. Although BFX's jungler managed a flank to kill Ruler, GEN's overall position didn't collapse. Their bot lane maintained its laning advantage, and after the gank, BFX failed to snowball their lead, even losing a drake to Ruler's Ashe Volley.

Diable's Kalista, combined with a smite coordination error, led to an early dragon loss, causing their composition to fall apart. Meanwhile, GEN consistently executed engages with their top-mid-jungle dive comp, often quickly eliminating Diable's Kalista in teamfights.

In the third game, GEN unleashed a devastating Wukong-Sejuani combo for unstoppable engages. Diable's Lucian pick failed to deliver and he became a repeated target, even making a critical misplay with a backwards Flash.

Ultimately, Diable ended the series at 0-5, thoroughly outclassed in his first career finals appearance.

GEN claims another championship—is this year truly different?

Canyon's performance was exceptional across all three games, perfectly suppressing the enemy jungle. Game 1 featured his Jarvan IV dominating the map, Game 2 saw his Warwick making crucial dives to lock down carries, and Game 3 had his Wukong appearing unpredictably to initiate fight-ending engages. Compared to his form during GEN's weaker period last year, this year's "Three-Star" Canyon is clearly in superior shape.

BFX's defeat somewhat recalls the struggles of Royal Club with Uzi in the past, highlighting a sense of helplessness against multi-threat compositions. Diable, in his first finals, clearly has areas to improve and must continue striving. He will soon face his first international test, and it remains to be seen what results he can achieve.

Finally, we must mention the amusing meme surrounding Chovy. After GEN's win, everyone is saying "Chovy is different this year," with even live audience members holding signs reading "Chovy, this year is really different." Everyone knows Chovy is immensely skilled, yet also knows his history of underperforming at Worlds. A similar narrative repeats, leaving many fans wondering whether to believe in Chovy this new year.

Personally, I believe Chovy and GEN undoubtedly possess the skill to win a World Championship. However, factors like mentality might cause them to falter at the most critical moments. Whether they can succeed this year remains uncertain, but in non-Worlds tournaments, GEN appears consistently strong.