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LCK Summer 2020 Playoffs Preview: Can T1 Win?

LCK Summer 2020 has entered its Playoffs Stage. The first match will be played today, between T1 and Afreeca... Radu M. | 26. August 2020

LCK Summer 2020 has entered its Playoffs Stage. The first match will be played today, between T1 and Afreeca Freecs. In this article, I will take a close look at these teams, as well as the other that managed to advance from the Group Stage.

LCK Summer 2020 Playoffs Participants

The Playoffs Stage of LCK Summer 2020 features 5 teams. This is a small number compared to the other top regions, such as Europe and North America, but it’s customary in South Korea to do things this way. And because of the small number of participants, the competitive format is also quite unusual: single-elimination with each bracket being seeded with a team, based on their Group Stage rank. This basically means that the winner, DAMWON Gaming, is already waiting in the Finals. The 2nd place team, DragonX, is waiting in the Semifinal. And so on. The first match takes place between the 4th and 5th place teams.

These are the 5 participants:

Afreeca Freecs

Afreeca Freecs finished the Group Stage of LCK Summer 2020 in 5th place. And unfortunately for their fans, they lost both games against every single opponent that participants in this tournament. This will likely prove fatal in their first match against T1.

T1

T1 finished 4th but they’re stronger than that in my opinion. In fact, this team is so good that it might actually go all the way to the Finals. I doubt their chances at that point, because they lost to DAMWON Gaming twice in the Group Stage. T1 is considerably stronger than Afreeca Freecs and is on par with DragonX and Gen.G Esports. So it’s going to come down to form and preparation.

Gen.G Esports

Gen.G finished 3rd and is the only team in this tournament that could realistically beat DAMWON. In the Group Stage, they both lost against them (1 – 2) and won (2 – 1). But in order to reach the Finals, they will have to win two matches. The first will most likely take place against T1, a team that’s roughly their equal. The second one would be played against DragonX, a competitor that defeated them twice in the Group Stage.

DragonX

DragonX finished 2nd, so it only needs to win one match to reach the Finals. It’s hard to say against whom, but I’d put the odds at 50/50 between T1 and Gen.G Esports. They’re clear favorites against Gen.G but would most likely struggle against T1.

DAMWON Gaming

DAMWON Gaming is already waiting in the Grand Final. Their only potential nemesis is Gen.G. It’s hard to give anyone else a chance, because all the other competitors got crushed by them in the Group Stage.

Wildcard Match

Unlike all the other LCK Summer 2020 Playoffs matches, this one will be Bo3. So practically, it will be identical to the two Group Stage matches that T1 already won against Afreeca. Can they do it a 3rd time? As I said before, I think they’re heavy favorites.

 

Photo credit: Riot Games