LoL - LCK: Gen.G beats T1, handing Hanwha Life Esports the second spot

Regular season came to an end for T1 and Gen.G with a head-to-head rematch. On Satuday, Aug 30, GEN took the win in the LCK's most storied matchup, handing the reigning — back-to-back — world champions a crucial loss. If they'd won, T1 would have secured second place in the Legend group, allowing them to skip Round 1 of Playoffs against a Play-In team. After dropping Game 1, Gen.G turned the series around, claimed their 29th win of the split, and finally ended their lengthy season at a 29-1 record.

The big winners in this situation are Hanwha Life Esports, who, despite losing all three of their Summer BO3s against T1, still finished ahead of them in the standings. Both teams ended 20-10 in series score, so it came down to game count — this year, HLE won one more game and lost two fewer than T1.

In the second series of the day, this time in the Rise Group, Dplus KIA comfortably defeated DN Freecs, despite a strong performance from Hong "Pyosik" Chang-hyeon on Lee Sin. The Freecs rounded out their season at 4-26, while DK finished at 19-11.

The fated matchup between Gen.G and T1 started explosively. Game 1 was the longest, lasting nearly 40 minutes, largely dominated by the MSI champions, who built a lead of over 3,600 gold. T1 held on, waiting for their opportunity to find a way back into the game with Choi "Doran" Hyeon-joon’s Renekton — their only gold lead on the map. Around the 30-minute mark, T1 staged a comeback and clinched the win. In the end, Lee "Gumayusi" Min-hyeong on Corki dealt over 41,000 damage, Lee "Faker" Sang-hyeok’s Orianna was the key to the win; it's a champion he's played 14 times this year, winning 11 of those games.

Game 2 was a massive stomp by Gen.G. Park "Ruler" Jae-hyuk delivered a stratospheric performance on Zeri, securing a pentakill, while Joo "Duro" Min-kyu, despite being ill, showed no signs of weakness. His engages on Rell were perfect, making the victory in this game indisputable — and brutally dominant. Game 3 was slightly longer but equally one-sided for Gen.G. T1 drafted for the late game with Yunara and Viktor, but the lead built by GEN around Jeong "Chovy" Ji-hoon's Annie was too much to overcome. Chovy and Duro were both involved in 17 of 18 kills, securing second place in the group for HLE. T1 finished third and will have to advance through through Round 1.