The scenario in this first round of the Swiss stage was completely unpredictable. On Thursday, Karmine Corp Blue upset Vitality.Bee 2-1, while Ici Japon Corp crushed Joblife 2-0. In short, every lower-seeded team defeated its higher-seeded opponent. This LFL Spring Split continues to defy expectations, with the balance of power flipping once again as the league transitions to best-of-three (BO3) matches.

IJC made short work of Joblife, leaving no room for doubt. This BO3 was a dominant performance that looked nothing like their BO1 encounter the previous week. IJC closed out both games in under 30 minutes, clearly better prepared in the draft phase to counter their opponents. The result: two quadrakills for Lee "Hans SamD" Jae-hoon and a razor-sharp Theo "Theocacs" Sauda, who helped set the tone early on.

Yukino's awakening

The other match of the day was even more surprising: regular-season frontrunners VIT.B lost to a KCB squad still finding its footing since changing junglers. Much like during the Flash In, the Bees find themselves in a tough spot in the Swiss standings. Despite an impressive 11-2 record in BO1s this year, they have yet to win a single BO3. Vincent "Vetheo" Berrié spoke on X about the team's struggles adapting to the fearless draft format. In a system that punishes missteps quickly, they’ll need to find new ways to adjust next week if they hope to bounce back.

Meanwhile, KCB looks revitalized—especially Johnny "Yukino" Dang, who bounced back in this series after a somewhat shaky start to the split. In his last interview, he shared: “I’m looking forward to facing Los Ratones because, honestly, before I joined KC, I was watching Caedrel’s streams all the time. I just liked how they can be competitive but also entertaining at the same time. So yeah, if there was a team I was looking forward to facing, it would probably be them.” Now, with a shot at qualifying for EMEA Masters, Yukino can start dreaming of a potential showdown with them—if he wins his next BO3.

Direct Qualification to EMEA on the line

Next Wednesday’s matches carry major stakes: both winners will lock in a top 3 finish, meaning direct qualification for the Spring EMEA Masters. Just a week ago, Galions, Gentle Mates, and KCB were all battling to avoid the bottom 2 of the league. Today, each is on the verge of qualifying for EMEA. KCB and Galions kick things off at 6 PM, while M8 take on IJC—a team that looks like the clear favorite on paper. But in a split full of surprises, even the underdogs can dominate. M8 might show a completely different side and take down IJC convincingly.

On Thursday, all the losing teams will face off to avoid being the first to join GameWard and Team BDS Academy in the Last Chance Qualifier. In other words, the losers of BKR vs. Joblife and Solary vs. VIT.B will already find themselves with their backs against the wall despite being considered top-four contenders just 48 hours ago.