The penultimate week of the LCK postseason delivered a familiar picture. Gen.G, Hanwha Life Esports and T1 — the three teams that occupied the top of the standings for most of the regular season — are the last three alive. Gen.G punched their ticket straight to the Grand Final by beating Hanwha Life Esports 3-1 on Saturday, extending an all-time record in the process, while T1 dispatched 3-1 on Sunday to set up the finals qualifier. Everything now moves to the KSPO Dome.
Gen.G's week was close to flawless. They opened by sweeping a red-hot KT Rolster 3-0, then produced a classic against Hanwha Life Esports in the winners' final. They lost a forty-minute opener to Choi "Zeus" Woo-je's Jayce, answered by winning a 61-kill slugfest in game two — the highest-scoring game of the entire season — before Jeong "Chovy" Ji-hoon's 10-kill Akali flattened game three. Kim "Kiin" Ki-in's Varus finished the job in game four.
The win sends Gen.G to their eighth consecutive LCK final, a league record: six straight split finals from 2022 to 2024, then the 2025 final — which they won in the first single-season format — and now 2026. On September 13, they will defend their crown.
Hanwha Life Esports had reached the winners' final the hard way, reverse sweeping T1 from 0-2 down in Round 2 with a masterclass in lanes and teamfights. T1 thus dropped into the lower bracket under a cloud — exactly where their 2025 season had died, beaten by Gen.G one step short of the finals qualifier.
This time, they cleared the hurdle. Against a Dplus KIA side riding two comeback series of their own, T1 won 3-1 behind a vintage display of drafting: Lee "Faker" Sang-hyeok punished a loose Cassiopeia in game one, answered Heo "ShowMaker" Su's Ryze equalizer with a Locke pick that blew game three open, and watched Kim "Peyz" Su-hwan's Kalista and Ryu "Keria" Min-seok's Renata Glasc invent plays around the Baron pit to close it out.
Dplus KIA's season ends in fourth place — but with their heads high, a Worlds ticket in hand for the first time in two years after their run through the lower bracket.
The finals qualifier between Hanwha Life Esports and T1 takes place on Saturday, September 12 at the KSPO Dome in Seoul's Olympic Park, with the winner facing Gen.G in the Grand Final the next day. Beyond the trophy, the results will settle the LCK's four Worlds seeds — and the draw pools that come with them in Texas.
