The first ever LCK Cup has crowned its victor. After a back-and-forth five game series, Hanwha Life Esports has emerged over Gen.G to claim the LCK Cup 2025 trophy. Additionally, they will be the sole LCK representatives at First Stand, the brand new international League of Legends event in early March.
The Summer Rematch Goes The Distance Once More
Just like how HLE and Gen.G went to all five games at the end of last year’s LCK season, they did the same at the start of this year’s. Side select was of heavy importance once more, as the Blue side team won every game this series.
Throughout HLE’s wins in games one, three, and five, Choi “Zeus” Woo-je looked like he could have been an incarnation of his namesake. Specifically, his Aatrox and Gwen completely took over the game for Hanwha’s second and third wins. Zeus was eventually crowned the Finals MVP, proving that no matter where he goes, he’s the best top laner in the LCK.
Another big storyline from this match is surrounding mid laner Kim “Zeka” Geon-woo. The 2022 world champion has solidified his standing as a true clutch player, having won his 10th game five in a row. If a series goes the distance, Zeka always performs when it matters most.
And of course, this win means that HLE has successfully defended their LCK crown. The Summer Champions had some doubt cast over them when they were eliminated prior to both T1 and Gen.G at Worlds. They’ve proven that they are a force to be reckoned with, no flukes here.
A Hyper Competitive LCK
One of the main takeaways from the LCK Cup 2025 is just how close many of the playoff series were. While it may seem like a matter of course that we got a rematch of the Summer 2024 Finals once again with HLE vs Gen.G, plenty of matches could have flipped on the way there.
Just looking at this bracket, five of the eight matches ended with a 3-2 scoreline. Even as early as round one, the entire course of the event would have changed if T1 took the tiebreaker game over HLE, eliminating our eventual champions.
I also can’t forget the fact that Nongshim RedForce could have EASILY had a 3-1 series victory over Gen.G in losers’, and who knows what would have happened from there. Realistically, five different teams could have made the finals of the LCK Cup. That is a crazy amount of volatility and competitiveness that the LCK doesn’t usually see.
Maybe it was a side-effect of Fearless, but hopefully we’ll continue to see the top four of HLE, Gen.G, DK, and T1 all go blow-for-blow for the rest of the year. And if teams like Nongshim and KT continue to provide real upset threat, this could be one of the most exciting years of LCK we’ve ever seen.
