It was a thrilling conclusion to the first iteration of the LCK Cup, congratulations to Hanwha Life Esports who will join Team Liquid as the first team to qualify for the first international event of the year, First Stand. Fearless Draft was on full display throughout the LCK Cup 2025, providing excellent entertainment that has left the fans wanting the Fearless Draft to become a main feature in League of Legends. Let's do a quick wrap-up of the LCK Cup 2025 playoffs. 

Hanwha Life runs the LCK Cup gauntlet to win 

If you were a fan of Hanwha Life, you got to experience the most amount of games possible as the LCK side went to five games in all of their best-of-fives to win the LCK Cup 2025. This is an incredible feat in itself because that meant when it was time to come clutch, the Hanwha Life players stood up and rose to the challenge. Zeka is now on an impressive game-five winning streak that dates back many games ago. When the going gets tough, Zeka and the rest of Hanwha Life steps up to the plate. And while the LCK Cup doesn't count these games towards official LCK statistics, this win for Hanwha Life does mean they have won back-to-back titles, albeit in different formats.

A surprising performance from Dplus KIA

A team that no one really had punching into the top three this season was Dplus KIA. It's been a long road for the former world champions, failing multiple times on the international stage and not doing the region justice when LCK is known for having elite teams at international competitions. DK, however, rose to the occasion and showcased a level that many did not predict they would show. DK started the LCK Cup by putting down a marker, going 5-0 in the group stage with wins over T1 and Hanwha Life. This was then followed by another intense best-of-five between Hanwha Life in the playoffs, taking the eventual champion to five games and proving their strong performances were not bound only to the regular season, but they could perform when the pressure is at its highest.

An early exit for T1

T1 may have been the most talked about team in the LCK and they were eliminated in the first round of the LCK Playoffs. While they didn't deserve to win the best-of-five against Hanwha Life, T1 probably felt they were a little hard done by. T1 finished first in their group with a 4-1 record, only losing to DK. But because their group performed significantly worse, T1 had to start their life in the first round of the playoffs. The problem with that is the first round is not a double-elimination ruling, meaning whoever lost between T1 and Hanwha Life was eliminated.  It will be interesting to see how T1 deals with their ADC situation going forward. Although he didn't have his best series against HLE, Smash is looking like a superstar already and should definitely be keeping his spot for the start of the 2025 Spring Split.