In the opening Bo3 of the LCK Cup Play-In, DRX swept a struggling DN Freecs with a commanding 2-0 victory. The second series of the day went in favor of Nongshim RedForce, who secured a clean 2-0 win to eliminate OKSavingsBank BRION.

DRX gain confidence, Freecs bow out

The Freecs' run in the LCK Cup has come to an end, as they were unable to overcome Son "Ucal" Woo-Hyeon and a more dominant DRX, despite having a promising roster that included 2022 World Champion Hong "Pyosik" Chang-Hyeon, rookie Lee "BuLLDoG" Tae-young, and the returning Kim "Berserker" Min-cheol.

However, the group stage was far from smooth for DRX, who were missing their AD Carry Park "Teddy" Jin-seong in the previous round and replaced him with the young 17-year-old Vietnamese player, Trần "LazyFeel" Bảo Minh. The team will face the reigning LCK champions, HLE, on February 8th at 9:30 AM CET for a spot in the playoffs. Should they lose, they will have one last opportunity against the loser of the other match between T1 and NS.

Kingen and Nongshim crush Brion's hopes

Just like during the Group Stage, Nongshim triumphed over OK Brion in two games. NS's impressive offseason is clearly showing. Hwang "Kingen" Seong-hoon made it nearly impossible for the Brion to take him down on the topside with his Camille in game 2, while MSI 2024 MVP Son "Lehends" Si-woo even solo-killed the opposing jungler with his Shen support. The NS now face the challenge of overcoming T1 on February 8th at 7 AM CET to secure a playoff spot, unless they will have to go through the Play-In Finals.