The inaugural LCK Cup 2025 is approaching its climax, as only four matches remain in the 2025 season’s first event. We just witnessed a banger of a series between the Summer Split finalists Gen.G and Hanwha Life Esports. In the end, HLE took it 3-2 and advanced to meet Dplus KIA for a spot in the Grand Finals.
HLE Makes Their Mark
The defending LCK Champions have been a bit shaky at the start of this new season. With an identical roster sans the surprise addition of Choi “Zeus” Woo-je from T1, they should still have the ability to perform at title contender level. In Groups, they dropped two matches to Gen.G and DK, the former not even being that close of a match.
Yet in the rematch against Gen.G for a spot in winners’ finals on the line, HLE turned things around quite quickly. The match was incredibly back and forth, with both teams winning alternating games. HLE’s blue side advantage ended up being a huge difference maker as they clutched out the series.
This match was also one of the coolest showcases of Fearless Draft that we’ve seen so far. When the Support pool gets down to Shen, Camille, Pantheon, and Poppy in the final two games, you know that stuff is gonna go down.
Speaking of Support, HLE’s Yoo “Delight” Hwan-joong made his case for being the best one in the LCK right now. He played amazingly all series and hard gapped his opposition in HLE’s wins. For Gen.G, this new Park “Ruler” Jae-hyuk plus budget support option Joo “Duro” Min-kyu bot lane has not panned out so far.
Importantly, we also got to see Zeus unchained at points during this series. Despite losing in game four, his Fiora nearly took over the game enough to bring HLE a win. ADC Park “Viper” Do-hyeon looks as deadly as ever, carrying with confidence in games one, three, and five. If HLE can get him leads, he will be a menace in team fights.
Now in the winners’ finals, HLE will be facing their toughest challenge of the year so far.
DK Look to Go Undefeated
The best team of the LCK Cup up to this point has been Dplus KIA. Their path to the winners’ finals includes a perfect 5-0 record in the Group Stage with wins over T1 and HLE. After their first round playoff bye, they easily dispelled underdogs Nongshin RedForce in four games, which would have been three if they didn’t actively draft and play game three like it was a showmatch.
This team has been revitalized by a combination of rookie talent and trusted veteran calling. Last year, they promoted Jungler Choi “Lucid” Yong-hyeok, and now he looks like one of the best in the league. Now, Top Laner Jeon “Siwoo” Si-woo is following that same path.
The other big off-season move made was the re-acquisition of two-time world champion Cho “BeryL” Geon-hee at Support. Brother Genshin himself seems to be in need of some top-ups, as he’s back to playing like the god tier shotcaller he is (except on Camille, we don’t talk about that one).
And of course, we’re getting some prime Heo “ShowMaker” Su action in the mid lane. Fearless Draft seems to suit him to a T, there’s no amount of bans that can neutralize ShowMaker when he can go from Pantheon, to Zilean, to LeBlanc.
It’s been a hot minute since the DAMWON glory days of 2020-2021, but the ShowMaker BeryL duo was at one point a world beating combo. With Lucid and Siwoo’s development coming along, this team has the potential to make a mark on the world stage.
It is still early days and anything can happen in these chaotic Fearless BO5’s, but DK has the potential to really set themselves apart as the team to beat. HLE is no easy task, but if anyone is up for it, it’s these guys.
The LCK Cup 2025 Winners’ Finals between Dplus KIA and Hanwha Life Esports begins on February 19 at 3:00 AM ET / 12:00 AM PT.
