LCK Summer 2025 Season - Rounds 3-5 Viewer Guide

The League of Legends Esports World Cup 2025 has just wrapped up, and the strongest region in the world is already kicking off the next stage of its regional season. Up next are Rounds 3–5 of the LCK Summer 2025, where Korea’s top teams will once again face off. This phase will determine crucial placements in the standings, which will later lead to the Playoffs and serve as a stepping stone toward Worlds 2025. Below, I’ve gathered all the key information about the Summer Split to help you follow the tournament with ease.

LCK Summer 2025 Season Format and Dates

Rounds 3–5 will take place from July 23 to August 31, 2025, continuing the tournament with a new structure based on the results of previous matches.

After the first two rounds, the remaining 10 teams are split into two groups according to their standings: the top 5 teams enter the Legend Group, while the remaining 5 are placed into the Rise Group. Matches will follow a triple round-robin format, and results from Rounds 1–2 will carry over.

All games will be played in a Bo3 format using the Fearless Draft, which prevents teams from picking champions already used in the previous game of the series.

At the end of this phase, the top 2 teams from the Legend Group will advance directly to Playoffs Round 2, while the 3rd and 4th place teams will move on to Playoffs Round 1. The last-place team in the Legend Group will drop to the Play-In, where they’ll face off against the top 3 teams from the Rise Group for a final playoff spot. The bottom 2 teams from the Rise Group will be eliminated from the tournament.

LCK Summer 2025 Season - Rounds 3-5 Teams

A total of 10 of Korea’s strongest teams will compete in the LCK Summer 2025 Season, but only three of them will ultimately qualify for the World Championship.

• Gen.G Esports
• T1
• Hanwha Life Esports
• KT Rolster
• DRX
• Dplus
• BRION
• FEARX
• Freecs
• Nongshim RedForce

Let’s take a look at the results from the previous rounds and the groups that were formed based on those standings.

Legend Group:

Rise Group:

Looking at the tournament format and the path to the playoffs, one clear favorite stands out. Gen.G delivered a flawless performance during Rounds 1–2 of the LCK. Their winning streak extended across both MSI 2025 and the EWC 2025 — where they ultimately claimed the championship title. As of now, the team holds an impressive 26-game win streak without a single loss.

LCK Summer 2025 Week 10 Schedule

Credit: X(Twitter):@LCK

Over the course of six weeks, LCK teams will continue to deliver exciting matches. Each week will feature five match days, with two series played per day.

Here’s the schedule for Week 10 of the LCK Summer 2025:

July 23, 2025

• Dplus (EEST) vs BRION (11:00 EEST)
• Gen.G Esports (EEST) vs Hanwha Life Esports (13:00 EEST)

July 24, 2025

• DRX (EEST) vs FEARX (11:00 EEST)
• KT Rolster (EEST) vs Nongshim RedForce (13:00 EEST)

July 25, 2025

• T1 (EEST) vs Gen.G Esports (10:30 EEST)
• BRION (EEST) vs DRX (13:00 EEST)

July 26, 2025

• Dplus (EEST) vs FEARX (09:00 EEST)
• Hanwha Life Esports (EEST) vs KT Rolster (11:00 EEST)

July 27, 2025

• DRX (EEST) vs Nongshim RedForce (09:00EEST)
• T1 (EEST) vs Nongshim RedForce (10:30 EEST)

It’s the first week of Rounds 3–5, and we’re already in for some incredibly exciting matchups. Gen.G will face Hanwha Life Esports first, followed by a clash against T1 just two days later. It’ll be interesting to see what form and mindset Gen.G bring into the Summer Split — especially considering the short recovery time and the fact that they’ve already secured their ticket to Worlds.

What to Expect from the LCK Summer 2025 Season?

As mentioned above, Gen.G recently won back-to-back international titles — MSI 2025 and the EWC 2025. Before that, they went undefeated throughout the regional tournament, and in many ways, they look like the clear and dominant favorite. But on the other hand, with such a significant lead in championship points after Rounds 1–2, the question is: will Gen.G go all out in these games, or will they choose to rest or experiment ahead of the year’s biggest event — Worlds 2025?

The next strongest contenders for the playoffs are, of course, T1 and Hanwha Life Esports. Comparing the two, T1 seems to be gaining momentum with every tournament, growing stronger each time. HLE, meanwhile, have slightly declined in performance. They missed out on MSI 2025 after losing to T1, and then finished in the 5th–8th place bracket at the EWC 2025. To be fair, though, HLE were dealt a tough bracket at EWC — they faced AG.AL (the eventual silver medalists) in the Quarterfinals. Meanwhile, T1 played against MKOI and advanced to the Semifinals, where they also lost to Anyone’s Legend. But since it was the semifinals, T1 had a chance to fight for third place, while HLE were eliminated.

It’s also worth keeping an eye on KT Rolster, Nongshim RedForce, and Dplus — all three teams have identical 10–8 match records and are separated only by game difference. These three are almost guaranteed to appear in the Play-In stage, and one of them will likely make it into the Playoffs. Out of the three, KT Rolster currently seems to have the best shot at advancing.