"I’m starting to question if this system even makes sense" — Faker on the LCK Cup format

In a stream following DRX’s victory over HANJIN BRION at the start of the LCK Cup Super Week on Wednesday, January 28, Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok spoke out about the format, saying: “The Baron team looks done for… I’m starting to question if this system even makes sense.”

As a reminder, in the current LCK Cup, the ten teams are split into two groups: Gen.G, T1, Nongshim RedForce, DN SOOPers, and Hanjin BRION on one side in the Baron Group, and Dplus KIA, KT Rolster, DRX, BNK FearX and Hanwha Life Esports on the other, in the Elder Group. For the Group Stage, each team faces all the teams of the other group.

During the first two weeks, each best-of-three counted for one point, followed by a Super Week played in best-of-fives, worth two points. After all the matches, the top two teams from the Winners Group and the top team from the Losers Group advance directly to the Playoffs, while the bottom three teams from the Winners Group and the 2nd to 4th place teams from the Losers Group will play a Play-In. The last Losers Group team will be eliminated.

What bothers Faker about this format is that even though T1 and Gen.G are currently on perfect runs, having both won all four of their series, they could still end up going through the Play-In, as only the first-place team from the losing group advances directly to the playoffs. The Baron group currently has ten points, eight from T1 and Gen.G, one from Nongshim RedForce, and one from DNS.

On the Elder group side, they currently total 14 points, with three from DK and BFX, while the three other teams have each secured two points. The next series will therefore be decisive: if NS fail to beat KT, the Elder group will move up to 16 points, making a Baron group victory impossible, even if T1 and Gen.G defeat Dplus KIA and HLE and finish 5–0.

Currently, if both T1 and Gen.G win all their series but their KT beats NS, Gen.G will go straight to the Playoffs and T1 will have to go through the Play-In, as Gen.G clean-swept all their opponents while T1 went 2–1 in three of their matches.

If Nongshim beats KT Rolster, the World runners-up could very well be eliminated as early as the group stage. They are currently 2–2 and would drop to 2–3 if they lose. In terms of score difference, they would fall behind DRX and would then depend entirely on the results of the other teams in their group against T1 and Gen.G—basically, their chances would be very slim.