LoL - LCK: Dplus KIA will face T1 for a spot at Worlds

The LCK campaign comes to an end for BNK FearX on September 17, after an impressive Summer Split. They finished second in the Rising Group and won their play-in matches against Dplus KIA and Nongshim RedForce back-to-back. However, the playoffs proved tougher, with a loss to KT Rolster followed today by a defeat against DK, who now advance to Lower Bracket Round 2 to face T1, where they will play their all-or-nothing match for a Worlds spot.

BNK FearX thus see their dream of the LCK and Worlds come to an end, but their year is far from over. They will now participate in the 2025 League of Legends Asia Invitational, which will feature the 5th to 7th seeds from the LCK and LPL, as well as the 4th and 5th seeds from the LCP. BFX have had a surprising year, and following Joo "Duro" Min-kyu last year, who joined Gen.G at the start of the year, a new star has emerged in the AD Carry role: Nam "Diable" Dae-geun. At just 17, he was named LCK Rookie of the Year.

DK started the series strong. Game 1, the longest of the series at over 42 minutes, was a tense back-and-forth, with Jeon "Raptor" Eo-jin getting his hands on Qiyana—a pick highly valued across the Yellow Sea—but it didn’t pay off for BFX. In Game 2, Kim "Aiming" Ha-ram pulled out Ziggs, a champion that’s been nearly unstoppable when properly drafted. In the LCK, Ziggs currently holds around an 82% winrate with nine wins and just two losses.

BFX fought back in the series, taking Game 3 thanks to a massive performance from Lee "VicLa" Dae-kwang on Azir to keep their hopes alive. But in the final game, Heo "ShowMaker" Su locked in Zoe—only the second Zoe appearance in the LCK this summer after Gwak "Bdd" Bo-seong’s—and delivered a stellar showing, dealing over 24k damage. He was backed up by Choi "Lucid" Yong-hyeok’s Lee Sin, who earned MVP of the series.

On Thursday, September 18, DK and T1 will face off, with only one spot at Worlds remaining. KT Rolster are already qualified after their upset win against Gen.G, Hanwha Life Esports secured their place with a clean sweep over T1, and Gen.G are locked in thanks to their MSI victory. That leaves a single ticket, and tomorrow it will be decided: one team goes to Worlds, the other heads to the mid-table Asian leagues event. Missing DK would be a blow, but the real earthquake would be T1 failing to qualify. The last time Worlds took place without T1 was back in 2020, while Dplus KIA have never missed Worlds since their LCK debut in 2019 under the name DAMWON Gaming.