The long 2025 LCK regular season concluded on Sunday, August 31, after five months of competition spanning Round 1-2, the Road to MSI, and Rounds 3-5. Four teams qualified directly to playoffs from the Legend group — Gen.G, Hanwha Life Esports, T1, and KT Rolster — with the remaining two teams decided by Play-In matches. The four Play-In teams come from both groups: Nongshim RedForce, who finished Rounds 3-5 winless in the Legend group after losing to KT today; Dplus KIA, the Rise group leaders; BNK FearX; and OKSavingsBank BRION, who secured their spot by defeating DRX.

The Play-In phase begins on September 3: NS will face BRO first, then DK will face off against BFX. All matches in this phase are best-of-five. The Play-In uses a double-elimination bracket, with only two teams advancing to the playoffs. In the playoffs, T1, as the third seed, will choose their Round 1 opponent, and KT will face the remaining team.

Gen.G will then pick one of the two Round 1 winners, with the other team set to face HLE. This LCK split concludes on September 28, crowning South Korea’s sole 2025 champion and determining the four LCK representatives at Worlds. Gen.G have already secured their Worlds spot after winning MSI and reaching the playoffs after just one day of the Summer regular season.

A brutal series to close the year

The final series of 2025 between BRO and DRX was fierce. In Game 1, the shortest of the three, BRO dominated the Rift. Kim "Croco" Dong-beom’s Jarvan IV was everywhere, making decisive plays across the map, while, as usual, Corki’s scaling proved crucial. Park "Morgan" Ru-han absorbed massive side-lane pressure and delivered standout plays on Ambessa. Game 2, on the other hand, was a DRX stomp, with Park "Teddy" Jin-seong hitting 2,500 LCK kills and playing his 700th match in the league.

In Game 3, DRX amassed over 6,000 gold advantage, taking all of BRO’s T2 towers, but a final Elder Drake fight at 44 minutes swung in BRO’s favor. In a chaotic team fight involving all ten players, DRX fell, allowing BRO to finish the game despite being over 3,000 gold behind at the moment DRX's exploded. The win secured BRO’s Play-In spot, ending their season at 11-19. They ended two wins ahead of DRX, whose year ended here alongside DN Freecs. Both teams were eliminated in the regular season.