LCK Summer 2023 preview and favorites

LCK Summer 2023 is about to begin. The competition is scheduled to take place between June 7 – August 22 and features 10 teams.

Everyone is eager to see if T1 and Gen.G Esports can continue to dominate the region or if some of the other strong teams, such as Dplus or KT Rolster, will find a way to beat them.

In LCK Spring, T1 had a very easy group stage and finished with a record of 17 W – 1 L. But in the playoffs, Gen.G proved to be just a bit stronger when it mattered most and won the Grand Final 3-1.

LCK Summer participants and favorites

Here are the 10 teams that will take part in LCK Summer 2023:

• BRION
• Dplus
• DRX
• Freecs
• G Esports
• Hanwha Life Esports
• RT Rolster
• Nongshim RedForce
• SANDBOX Gaming
• T1

The underdogs are Nongshim RedForce, DRX, and BRION. Nobody expects them to cause any serious upsets. But, thanks to some of the roster changes that happened in May, DRX might actually perform a lot better in this split than in the previous one.

Their LCK Spring run ended with a record of 3 W – 15 L, which is extremely disappointing for a team that won Worlds last year. It’s absolutely incredible how much a team’s result can change in this esport from one season to another.

To be fair, DRX changed almost their entire roster at the end of 2022. So they’re not the same team that won Worlds 2022. But it’s still strange to see them going from being the best in the world to being one of the worst teams in the region. Their fans must be going through an emotional rollercoaster.

In the case of teams like Dplus, the name is deceiving but in a good way. For those who took a break from watching LCK matches at the end of 2022 and only came back now, this name might not say anything. But Dplus is actually the former DAMWON Gaming. The organization decided to rebrand itself for the start of the new season.

Teams like Hanwha Esports and SANDBOX Gaming finished LCK Spring right in the middle of the rankings table, so they’re expected to perform reasonably well. But in the most important matches, they will probably end up losing. Their rosters have remained the same and there’s not much that can help them against the likes of T1, Gen.G, and Dplus.

Header: Riot Games