Launched in 2015, the League of Legends KeSPA Cup is now celebrating its 10th year as a historic competition. But this year specifically, the KeSPA Cup carries more weight than ever. Results from the tournament will be used to assess players for potential selection to represent Korea at the 2026 Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan. Only players who compete in this event will be eligible for national team selection.

As a result, nine of the twelve LCK and LCS teams competing are fielding the rosters they’ll use together in 2026, giving fans an early look at next season. Only Gen.G, DN Freecs, and KT Rolster are not fielding their full lineups, opting instead to use their LCK Challengers or Academy players.

The 2025 KeSPA Cup features 14 teams — all ten LCK squads, two overseas all-star teams (Japan and Vietnam), and two invited LCS teams (Cloud9 and Team Liquid). The event begins with a single round-robin group stage where every match is best-of-one; group winners move directly to the knockout stage, while runners-up enter a last-chance qualifier. In the case of a tie, the team with the faster average win time earns the higher seed. The last-chance qualifier and knockout rounds 1–2 are best-of-three, and the finals conclude with a best-of-five series.

Day 1 Results - Single Round

At the end of the first day of best‑of‑one matches in the group stage, Hanwha Life Esports emerged as the big winner, topping Group A with two victories over Cloud9 and BNK FEARX, for the first time with Lee “Gumayusi” Min-hyeong as their botlaner and Seo "Kanavi" Jin-hyeok in the jungle.

The biggest surprise came from Gen.G’s struggles. With Jeong "Chovy" Ji-hoon and Park "Ruler" Jae-hyuk absent due to mandatory military training, Gen.G fielded Kim "Loid" Seong-woo and KIm "Harusary" Hyun) from its academy lineup—but suffered shocking back‑to‑back defeats against Cloud9 and the Vietnam All‑Stars, leaving them at the bottom of the group A.

This day also marked Lee “Scout” Ye‑chan’s first official match in South Korea since leaving SK Telecom T1 nine years ago — a triumphant return capped by a win over Team Liquid. In an interview with Daily Esports, he said, “Next year, I want to win everything.”