The LCK Final Has Room for a Team That Already Lost

Win on the 12th, play again on the 13th

On September 12 at KSPO Dome in Seoul's Olympic Park, Hanwha Life Esports beat T1 3-1. That was the final qualifier, a best of five where the first team to take three games moves on. The win sends Hanwha back to the same arena the next day, September 13 at 2pm, to face Gen.G for the 2026 LCK title.

Hanwha is the only team playing on both days. Gen.G locked in its place in the final earlier and plays a single match on the 13th. According to Newsis, all three teams said at media day that stamina was not a problem.

A loss in the upper bracket was not the end

Hanwha did not go straight to the final. On September 5 it met Gen.G in the upper bracket final and lost 1-3. Gen.G booked its place in the final right there, and Hanwha had to win one more series in the final qualifier.

T1, the opponent in that qualifier, had already lost once too. In the second round of the playoffs on September 2, T1 won the first two games against Hanwha and then lost the next three in a row. From there T1 went down to the lower bracket, beat Dplus KIA 3-1, and made it to the qualifier.

Not every loss comes with another chance. Dplus KIA, beaten by T1 in the lower bracket, finished fourth with that result, and T1 was knocked out when it lost on the 12th.

A team in its eighth straight final

Gen.G, waiting on the 13th, has reached every LCK final since Spring 2022 without missing one. This makes eight tournaments in a row, and ZDNet Korea reported it as a first in LCK history.

Hanwha has a serious record of its own. It won the Mid-Season Invitational (MSI) this year. And Spring 2022, where Gen.G's streak begins, is also the last time T1 won the LCK.

The champion is only settled once the match on the 13th ends. That is why this piece sticks to what was confirmed before then.

On DoYouBox, one loss and you are out

Brackets on DoYouBox run the opposite way from the LCK playoffs. In Snack Bracket: Sweet 16, sixteen convenience store and street snacks face off two at a time, and the one you do not pick is gone on the spot. There is no lower bracket anywhere from the round of 16 to the final, so if tteokbokki and malatang meet in the first match, one of them ends right there. The draw gets shuffled every time you start, so who goes out early changes from run to run.

If you want to warm up your fingers between games, DoYou Reaction and DoYou Aim are right there. Reaction times your tap the instant a carton turns green, five rounds, and gives you the average. Aim is a 30-second run of tapping cartons as they pop up. Tap empty space and you lose points on the spot.