As expected, the Aug 29 LCK Rounds 3-5 match day delivered pivotal clashes. In the Rise Group, BNK FearX managed to overcome DRX, but not without difficulty. Despite the setback, the 2022 World Champions remain alive in the race for playoffs; everything will come down to their decisive series next next Sunday against direct rivals OKSavingsBank BRION. That best-of-three will determine who secures the final Play-In spot from the group.

The second series of the day held major implications for the Legend Group. Hanwha Life Esports cleanly dispatched Nongshim RedForce 2-0, fueling their hopes of overtaking T1 for second place. While T1 are still ahead, the reigning back-to-back World Champions face their biggest test in the closing match against Gen.G. Should T1 falter there, they would drop to third place, giving HLE the chance to seize the second seed — a dramatic potential shift as the regular season nears its conclusion.

A coveted second place

This win is crucial for HLE, who must now hope for a Gen.G to defeat T1 — a result many expect. Securing second place would allow them to skip the first round of the playoffs, where the third seed has to face one of the two Play-In teams. HLE put everything into this BO3, finding a comeback in a highly volatile first game where NS had a slight upper hand. Park "Viper" Do-hyeon managed to reverse the game's momentum, securing his 2,000th kill and 300th LCK win at the same time — an impressive performance from the Korean legend. His years in the LPL seem to have only bolstered his overall level.

The second game was a decisive stomp, with Syun "Calix" Hyun-bin delivering an incredible Akali performance that wasn’t enough to save NS, who once again ended the LCK day without a victory. NS now have only one series left, and although they are already guaranteed fifth place and a Play-In spot, a win against KT Rolster next Sunday could give them the momentum they need as they look towards the knockout stages.