LCK Playoffs 2025 Bracket Locked In!

After the end of the LCK Season Play-in, Riot Games has unveiled the LCK Playoffs bracket that will decide which four teams will represent the region at the League of Legends World Championship.

LCK Playoffs 2025 – T1 faces DK in Round 1

After falling down in the lower bracket of the LCK Season play-in, Dplus KIA (DK) fought their way back into playoff contention as the last qualified team, alongside BNK FearX (BFX). According to the format, the regular season’s third seed T1 had the power to choose their round 1 opponent and the 2024 world champions went for ShowMaker and his teammates. The two teams will be facing each other on September 10, starting at 10 AM CET, with the other Round 1 series between KT Rolster (KT) and BFX starting at the same time the following day.

The winner of these two matchups will then go on to face Gen.G Esports (Gen.G) and Hanwha Life Esports (HLE), with the former choosing their opponents due to the better seeding. The LCK Playoffs Round 2 series will take place on September 13 and 14, with the winners heading into the upper bracket final (on September 20).

For the first time ever, the 2025 LCK Grand Finals will be broadcast live for the first time ever on a terrestrial TV network on September 28, further signaling the influence of LoL esports in South Korea and the importance of the Korean domestic title.

Which teams in LCK Playoffs 2025 are expected to head to Worlds?

Just like previous years, the LCK has been quite a top-heavy league. Gen.G is already guaranteed a spot at Worlds after winning the Mid-Season Invitational and they are expected to be one of the two finalists in the LCK Season Finals after a dominant season.

HLE, who managed to defend the second place in the regular season despite T1’s better second-half run, will also get at least a Worlds play-in stage qualification due to the playoff format. In fact, the team will finish at worst in fourth place in playoffs, even if they were to lose the match against their opponents.

📍 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟱 𝗟𝗖𝗞 𝗣𝗹𝗮𝘆𝗼𝗳𝗳𝘀 𝗧𝟭 𝗭𝗢𝗡𝗘 𝗜𝗻𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻#TogetherAs1 pic.twitter.com/Co6GE979La

— T1 LoL (@T1LoL) September 4, 2025

T1 is also expected to head to China next month after being consistently the second-best team in the league. They shouldn’t have many issues defeating KT in a best-of-five series and if Gen.G were to choose the weaker team possible to get an easier pathway to the upper bracket, this would mean Faker and company would have to go up against HLE, a series which should still be in their favor.

The fight for the fourth and last seed, however, might be a lot harder than people anticipated. On paper, KT should still be the favorite, considering how impactful Bdd has been all season and with the rest of the team looking more convincing in the final spurt leading to playoffs. That being said, BFX has looked stronger after their play-in stage, led by their star ADC Diable, and you can never count out DK when it comes to crucial matches. Regardless of who makes it, each team has its own story and deserves a chance at the most important tournament of the year.