Regular season comes to an end for T1 and Gen.G on Saturday, August 30, concluding with a loss in a crucial BO for the reigning double world champions. Had they won, T1 would have secured second place in the Legend group, allowing them to skip Round 1 of the Playoffs against a Play-In team. After dropping Game 1, Gen.G turned the BO around to claim their 29th win of the split, finishing with 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 finish ahead. Both teams ended 20-10, but HLE won one more game and lost two fewer. In the second BO of the day in the Rise Group, Dplus KIA comfortably defeated DN Freecs, despite a strong performance from Hong "Pyosik" Chang-hyeon on Lee Sin. The Freecs close the season at 4-26, while DK finish at 19-11.

From showdown to blowout

The BO 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, with Choi "Doran" Hyeon-joon’s Renekton as their only advantage. Around the 30-minute mark, T1 staged a comeback: Lee "Gumayusi" Min-hyeong on Corki dealt over 41,000 damage, but the decisive factor was Lee "Faker" Sang-hyeok’s Orianna, a champion he played 14 times this year and used to destroy the enemy Nexus eleven times.

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. 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 Jeong "Chovy" Ji-hoon and his team was overwhelming. Chovy and Duro were both involved in 17 of 18 kills, securing second place in the group for HLE. T1 finish third and will have to go through Round 1.