Gen.G, T1 and BNK FearX through to the Playoffs, Hanwha Life Esports out of the LCK Cup

The LCK Cup group stage comes to an end this Sunday, February 1st, with the final BO5 of Super Week between Gen.G and Hanwha Life Esports. The 2025 LCK champions secured a clean sweep, eliminating HLE in the group stage and sealing qualification for the teams in their group. Gen.G didn’t drop a single game in the group stage.

The teams qualified for the Playoffs of this LCK Cup are therefore T1 and Gen.G from Group Baron, both after a perfect 5–0 regular season, with Gen.G edging ahead by not dropping a single game. For this edition of the LCK Cup, the top team from the losing group also qualifies for the Playoffs, and in a major surprise, it is not HLE, KT Rolster, or Dplus KIA, but BNK FearX.

It’s only the LCK Cup, a near pre-season competition that doesn’t really count toward the rest of the LCK year. The only thing on the line is qualification for First Stand, and they’ll have plenty of time to bounce back when it truly matters. Still, it’s a big disappointment for this HLE super roster. Losing to T1 and Gen.G isn’t shocking, but it was their Week 1 defeat against Nongshim RedForce that ultimately cost them.

Choi “Zeus” Woo-je was retained in the toplane, and rightly so, as he is one of the best toplaners in the world, if not the best. Seo “Kanavi” Jin-hyeok joined the team in the jungle as a proven and reliable pickup after a long and successful career in China. Kim “Zeka” Geon-woo and Yoo “Delight” Hwan-joong were also kept, and HLE even pulled off one of the biggest moves of the offseason with the signing of the three-time World Champion and Worlds 2025 MVP, Lee “Gumayusi” Min-hyeong.

Yet, the pieces just didn’t come together. They finished 2–3, tied with KT and DRX, but were eliminated on game differential: five wins to nine losses, while the other two teams had the same number of losses but more wins — six for KT, seven for DRX. HLE needed to win at least one game against Gen.G in under 34 minutes and 35 seconds. They came very close in Game 2, but Gen.G’s teamfighting mastery proved simply unstoppable.

Gen.G and T1 have thus qualified directly for Round 2 of the Playoffs, with Gen.G likely getting the choice of opponent as they finished first. BNK FearX are also in the Playoffs but will start in Round 1. In the Play-Ins, we find Nongshim RedForce, DN SOOPers, and notably HANJIN BRION, who didn’t win a single BO in their run.

Three other teams from the Loser Group—Dplus KIA, KT Rolster, and DRX—are also in the Play-Ins, while HLE are eliminated. For the Play-Ins, the teams are seeded as follows: the two with the most wins, DK and NS, are placed in Round 2, with DK getting the choice of opponent. The remaining teams must start in Round 1.