The regular season of the LCK just ended for Rounds 1-2, the LCK equivalent of Spring Split. Who’s left now? What is the Road to MSI for the LCK? What should we expect for the playoffs? Whether you’re looking to understand how the LCK works or get a precise look at the match-ups, you’re at the right place.
Image Credits: Christina Oh / Riot Games
The LCK works differently from the other League of Legends regions in 2025. Instead of having a Winter, Spring, and Summer split, the LCK instead had the “LCK Cup” to start the year, followed by 5 rounds of Round Robin between March and August.
“Spring” (Rounds 1 and 2) and “Summer” (Rounds 3 to 5) are separated in two ways:
So what’s the difference then? Why not just call them Spring and Summer? This is because the records carry over instead of resetting. Gen.G is still 18-0, and with 12 matches left in the season and 7 wins over 3rd place T1, they’re already nearly locked into top 2 for Summer before MSI’s even started.
But right now, Rounds 1-2 have just concluded, meaning that it’s time for Road to MSI, the bracket that will decide which two teams will represent the LCK at MSI.
Note: The LCK still has to play one BO3 tiebreaker match on Wednesday, June 4th, at 8 AM GMT, and this match isn’t shown in the schedule of the LoLEsports official website. This match is a tiebreaker for 5th place between Dplus KIA and KT Rolster, and while it matters little for Road to MSI (only which team gets side selection for game 1), it will determine which group each team will play in.
Image Credits: Riot Games
Road to MSI is the equivalent of the LCK Spring Playoffs, held over the weekends between the 7th and the 15th of June.
It is a mix between a King of the Hill gauntlet, and a double-elimination match for the top 2 teams. It doesn’t crown a winner for the split, it only qualifies two teams for MSI.
First, Gen.G and HLE face off. The winner of this match is qualified for MSI, and that’s it for them, they no longer have to play.
As for the other teams:
The first two matches of the gauntlet will be played on the first weekend. Gen.G vs HLE will be held on Friday the 13th, followed by T1’s match on the 14th, and the last match on the 15th.
Now, what can we expect from this tournament? Who will qualify to represent the LCK?
To start off, I believe that the first two matches are as unpredictable as they are, most likely, meaningless.
DK, KT, and NS are dead even, by all metrics. Including against each other.
That being said, KT has been on an upward trajectory in the recent weeks, and maybe the poor start they had to the season isn’t indicative of their current form. They’ve won their last 7 matches if we exclude the unbeatable Gen.G (that they came really close to defeating last week – until one of their fans got excited, most likely). And that includes taking out both DK and NS.
So it’s very likely that KT is stronger than their 5th place tie indicates, and I’ll pick them as my most likely team to go up to face T1. But DK’s potential could top that. Having players who have shown how high their peak can be with two World champions on the roster, they can absolutely show up in the playoffs and pull off the wins that they fell short of in the regular season. And Showmaker, DK’s cornerstone player, has a number of tricks up his sleeve, and a bottomless champion ocean that will favor him over other mid laners in fearless draft BO5s.
Image Credits: Colin Young-Wolff / Riot Games
But I called the first two rounds meaningless for the fact that there is a very clear gap between the top 3 teams and the next 3. It’s not obviously reflected in the scoreboard, but most of T1’s losses come from Gen.G and HLE. Or from the games they traditionally drop to dark horse bottom teams.
They have looked less coordinated in their recent losses, and generally speaking, the T1 that we’re seeing this year isn’t the one that won Worlds last November. The fights are not pristine, and team play is nowhere near what it’s been before. But 13 years of watching esports taught me to not sell out on them until they’re definitely out, even in their worse splits.
The main taint there is the terrible week 9 they’ve played. If they stay at that level, then whichever team advanced there has more than a fair chance. But seeing the rest of their season, it was more realistically a fluke, and T1 should be heads and shoulders above the lower 3 teams.
Last come the two qualification matches. If I think T1 will most likely beat their adversary and join Gen.G and HLE for qualification matches, I will not bet anything on any team other than Gen.G and HLE being the representatives for MSI.
Gen.G vs HLE should go in Gen.G’s favor this time around. HLE was able to take it during the LCK Cup, and twice, even. But the Gen.G that we’re seeing today is another kind of beast, and on a level of dominance that we’ve rarely seen before in the LCK – if ever.
Gen.G are looking like the strongest team in the world without much of a doubt, and Chovy, is well in consideration for being the best LoL player right now, and he wants to cement his name up there.
No team has been able to find any weakness to exploit in current Gen.G, at least none major enough to be able to defeat them, and I don’t think HLE will be able to replicate their exploits from their LCK Cup marathon. I expect them to take one game off of Gen.G, and only one.
As for the second qualification match – that I expect to be T1 vs HLE – I don’t have much of a doubt there either. I’m confident that T1 will advance to that stage, but on top of their potential current poor form, they’ve not found the formula to win against better teams this year. They’ve not even taken a game off HLE.
So I’m certain that HLE will be the second LCK representative at MSI 2025 – likely with a 3-1 victory.
After MSI comes the Esports World Cup, where both LCK representatives will be invited as well as T1 as the 2024 EWC champions. And if T1 does qualify for MSI, the loser of the second qualification match will then also be invited to EWC.
Image Credits: Moon Suwon / Riot Games
To watch it all unfold, tune in to the official channels on Saturday the 7th, 8AM GMT!
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