D+, Hanwha Life Insurance, and LCK Cup will continue to strengthen
Feb 16, 2025
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With D-plus Kia being the first to reach the third round of the playoffs after winning the group stage, Hanwha Life e-Sports also reached the third round winner's group. On the other hand, Gen.G and Nongshim will meet in the second round loser group and aim to advance to the third round again. Nongshim's succession of the traditional powerhouse T1 was eliminated is a different semifinal structure from last year.
D-Plus, the only team out of the 10 teams to win all five games in the group stage, beat Nongshim 3-1 in the second round of the playoffs on the 15th and was the first to be named in the third round winner's group. This is due to the clear dominance of `Lucid' Choi Yong-hyuk and franchise star"Showmaker" Huh Soo in the jungle and mid-position fight. In addition to Kim Ha-ram, who was in charge of the team last year, five players, including 'Beril'Kon Hyun-hee, who returned to his former team after four years, and a scary 18-year-old rookie 'Siu' Jeon Si-woo, who grew up directly from the academy, are showing off their perfect teamwork, so expectations are high on whether they will be able to enjoy the heyday of D-Plus again in four years since 2021.
Hanwha Life Insurance also met T1 and Gen.G. in the first round of the playoffs on the 13th and the second round on the 16th, respectively, and won 3-2 after a great battle to reach the fifth set in both games, and was decided as D+'s opponent. Hanwha Life Insurance, which won the summer season last year and ended the second-round heyday of Gen.G and T1, continued this momentum in its first tournament of this season. In addition, he won two consecutive games with Kang's team up to five sets, completing his best practical experience with the newly introduced 'Pierris Draft' at the LCK Cup.
Nongshim lost to D-Plus and went down to the second round loser group to meet Gen.G, but unlike last year, she showed off that she is capable of playing a high-ranking match in the regular league this season, producing an extraordinary 3-0 victory over KT Rolster in the first round. Gen.G's new returning players 'Ruler'Park Jae-hyuk and 'Duro'Jo Min-kyu, who joined ahead of this season, have not yet been in perfect harmony with the existing three players.
D+ and Hanwha Life Insurance will determine the final team through the best-of-five series on the 19th. The team that lost the match will meet the winner of the Nongshim and Gen.G match on the 20th and advance to the final round of the loser group in the third round. The final will be held on the 23rd. The first LCK Cup winners will participate as LCK representatives in this year's newly established international competition 'First Stand' at Roll Park in Seoul from March 10-16.
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
