FEARX stun T1, Gen.G unstoppable… Recap of Week 1 LCK Cup playoffs

A blazing start to the LCK Cup playoffs unfolded over four days from February 12-15, pitting six teams against each other. The group stage eliminated Hanwha Life Esports, while Play-In booted KT Rolster, HANJIN BRION, and Nongshim RedForce, leaving BNK FEARX, DN SOOPers, Dplus KIA, DRX, T1, and Gen.G for the final phase.

Top seeds T1 and Gen.G waited in playoffs Round 2 after dominating groups, while FEARX clashed with the SOOPers and Dplus KIA took on DRX. No BO5s were elimination matches, yet there were zero clean sweeps across the four days—instead, Silver Scrapes echoed through LoL Park twice.

A fiercely contested in LCK Cup Playoffs Round 1

Thursday kicked off the week with BFX taking on DNS in a hotly contested BO5 that went the full five games. The SOOPers struck first in Game 1 with a pentakill from Worlds runner-up botlaner Seo “deokdam” Dae-gil on Yunara. Jeon “Raptor” Eo-jin leveled it up with a monster Lee Sin outing, and three games later in Game 5—with champion pools already drained—the junglers picked Rammus and Zac, where Raptor’s Secret Weapon, Zac, ultimately sealed the win.

PENTAKILL for deokdam! #LCK pic.twitter.com/4PwK8JupJL

— LCK (@LCK) February 12, 2026

In the second BO5, DRX nearly pulled off the upset. With a dominant Game 1, capped by Jung “Jiwoo” Ji-woo’s Nexus-ending quadra on the AD Carry. The rest ran razor-close, highlighted by Heo “ShowMaker” Su’s mythical Zoe carry performance, before it stretched to five games in a low-kill, low-action slog that DK edged out around the half-hour mark.

FEARX vs. Gen.G for a First Stand spot

The second round of playoffs kicked off over the weekend, with Gen.G picking DK and ShowMaker’s crew over BFX. The 2025 LCK champs struck first in game 1 before Choi “Lucid” Yong-hyeok handed his team an Elder Drake on a razor-thin 50/50 against Kim “Canyon” Geon-bu during the second.

ShowMaker seemed to crack Ryze with Malzahar in Game 3, but it wasn’t enough to hold back Gen.G’s firepower—and in the finale, Jeong “Chovy” Ji-hoon’s Aurora ran wild, racking up 79k damage on the witch to punch their ticket.

To everyone’s shock, Gen.G won’t face their eternal rivals T1, but instead BFX, who pulled off the impossible by toppling the six-time world champion giants. They’re now just one BO5 away from First Stand, but standing in their way is the other LCK behemoth. The English broadcast unanimously voted T1, yet the foxes claimed the upset anyway.

T1 lined up a sturdy peel-heavy setup around Ornn, Azir, and Jinx, but got absolutely dismantled by Orianna-Pantheon’s dive power—Lee “VicLa” Dae-kwang’s crushing ults handed BFX Game 1 on a platter.

VICLA'S SHOCKWAVE comes up MASSIVE! #LCK pic.twitter.com/A1Il7iCvRG

— LCK (@LCK) February 15, 2026

T1 evened things in Game 2 off Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok‘s great Sylas pop-off, yet BFX dominated the rest. Song “Clear” Hyeon-min’s Gnar absolutely demolished in Game 4 to close it out, Jeon “Raptor” Eo-jin received MVP title after a BO5 where he owned the map, punishing mistakes on cue and sparking game-winning plays.

What’s Next?

One elimination BO5 remains in Round 1, pitting the SOOPers against DRX—the two squads already clashed in a group stage BO3 where Hong “Pyosik” Chang-hyeon and DNS eked out the win, their lone victory and point for Baron Group.

Action resumes Thursday, February 19, with the SOOPers-DRX elimination clash, with the match winner going up against Dplus KIA on Friday. Saturday pits Gen.G vs. BFX for a grand final spot and at least a First Stand seed 2 lock-in, while Sunday sends T1 against one of the lower bracket trio.

This lower bracket showdown decides who heads to Hong Kong’s Kai Tak Arena for the Lower Bracket Final on February 28 and the Grand Final on March 1 before thousands—marking the LCK’s first international outing, a hot-button topic among fans and execs alike, like Gen.G CEO Arnold Hur who called out lax Korean fan experiences: “We need better ways to make sure fans can attend matches.”

To live up to their pedigree, T1 needs to snap out of it fast—this year two Korean squads head to First Stand, and with KT and HLE out, it would be a straight-up embarrassment if the reigning world champs skipped the international showcase. Since Kim “Peyz” Su-hwan joined up, he’s had his ups and downs syncing with the squad, but if there’s one thing T1 has drilled into us over recent years, it’s rocky LCK splits that flip into end-of-year dominance on cue.