On February 8, the second day of the Play-in stage of the LCK Cup 2025 took place. Two matches were played — T1 versus Nongshim RedForce and Hanwha Life Esports against DRX. In this material, we summarized these matches.

T1 versus Nongshim RedForce

On the first map, T1 immediately started showing who the favorite in this encounter was. Great team play, and an excellent draft lead them to a confident victory in the first map. We once again highlight T1’s newcomer Smash, who delivers incredible performance in every game. This time his Miss Fortune left no chances for the opponents.

The second map was much more interesting, as evidenced by the scoreline of 34-20. During the game, there were numerous trades, but as often happens with T1, one key fight ended the game. Unfortunately, NS could not avoid this. As always, Smash shone, and we should note the legend Faker on his Corki with a score of 10/4/8. Overall, the whole team played excellently and coherently, leading them to victory in this confrontation and advancing to the playoffs.

Hanwha Life Esports versus DRX

In this encounter, HLE against DRX, the situation was somewhat similar to the first. But this time, the favorites were HLE, who seem to have found their game and started showing results, winning the first map with a score of 21-18. We should highlight DRX's player Teddy, who outplayed his counterpart Viper on the bot lane. On the HLE side, we cannot overlook Zeka on Corki with a score of 9/1/6.

The second map was much more balanced. Although DRX was trailing during the game, they had several good attempts to come back. Again, Teddy performed well, making 10 kills, but unfortunately, it wasn't enough for victory. From Hanwha, Zeka and Viper continued their dominance. In the end, a 2:0 victory for Hanwha Life Esports and an advance to the playoffs.

The LCK Cup 2025 is held in a format of group stage and playoffs with the participation of 10 teams, divided into two groups. Each group consists of 5 teams, seeded based on the results of the 2024 tournaments. A spot in the First Stand 2025 is at stake. All information about the tournament can be found at the link.