secured the fifth playoff seed after a grueling five-game match. Despite showing signs of struggle following a six-game losing streak, KT proved the clear gap that exists between the Rise Group and the Legend Group.
is still hungry for a playoff series triumph in the LCK. Having reached their first playoff in 2022 after the league's franchising, they didn’t have any triumph in a Bo5 match.
Despite KT holding a slight edge in commentary predictions, HANJIN BRION surprisingly seized match point first. KT’s strategy began to crumble from the early game, underscored by Cho ‘
’ Woo-Jin picking up a solo kill over Kwak ‘
’ Bo-Seong.
The deciding Game 5 was just as unpredictable. Although KT secured an early dragon advantage, they found themselves on the brink of disaster—conceding both Baron and Elder Dragon as HANJIN BRION pushed all the way to their Nexus towers. However, BRION failed to play flawlessly, ultimately hesitating and losing their footing when the second Elder Dragon spawned.
Having advanced to Round 1 of LCK playoffs, KT Rolster must defeat at least two of the established Legend Group teams to secure their second consecutive Worlds appearance. Meanwhile,
and
lie in wait for the teams advancing from the Play-In stage. Meanwhile, Jiwoo picked up his first victory since debuting with KT, while simultaneously making his career-first entrance into the LCK playoffs.
Since the LCK franchise system took effect in 2021, HANJIN BRION has yet to record a single Bo5 victory. Their only multi-game series triumph came not in an official Riot-sanctioned tournament, but in
KeSPA Cup 2024 finals against Dplus KIA.
Ranked at the very bottom of the power rankings ahead of the LCK season, HANJIN BRION drew widespread praise for their impressive journey and underdog resilience. However, they must win the final showdown to make their return to the playoff stage for the first time in four years. With the match between
and
set to take place tomorrow, the victor will move on to face HANJIN BRION.
