Hanwha Life Esports has kicked off its 2025 season with a major accolade, winning the inaugural LCK Cup over the weekend by defeating Gen.G Esports in a five-game series.
As winners of the 2025 LCK Cup, Hanwha Life Esports has qualified for First Stand, the first international competition of the League of Legends season.
Hanwha Life Esports’ top laner Choi ‘Zeus’ Woo-je earned the title of MVP, with the former T1 player showcasing his champion pool and utilisation of League of Legends’ Fearless Draft system. In particular, the player’s selection of Aatrox in game three proved to be pivotal in what was a back-and-forth series, with Zeus recording a 7/0/4 KDA in the game.
Whilst the LCK Cup is not considered a ‘split’ in the same terms as Riot Games’ other leagues, Hanwha Life Esports’ victory sees the organisation pick up its second consecutive LCK trophy following its Summer Split triumph last year.
Hanwha Life Esports’ Journey to the LCK Cup Trophy
The 2025 LCK Cup began in January with 10 teams split into two groups to compete alongside each other in order to secure an advantage in the latter stages of the event.
Despite winning the competition, Hanwha Life Esports’ ‘Group Baron’ failed to topple ‘Group Elder’ meaning that the organisation had to compete in the Play-In stage. Hanwha Life Esports placed second in its group with a 3-2 series record, behind T1 (4-1).
The organisation secured a place in the LCK Cup playoffs following a 2-0 victory against DRX, setting up a major clash in the first round.
In what turned out to be the most popular match-up of the entire competition, Hanwha Life defeated the 2024 World Champions with a 3-2 victory to advance to round two. According to esports data platform Esports Charts, the clash generated a peak viewership of over 1.9m viewers.
Round two of the playoffs would be the first time the organisation faced off against Gen.G Esports. Another 3-2 win secured its place in the upper bracket final against Dplus which ended up being another thrilling five-game series.
As a result, Hanwha Life Esports went through the entire LCK Cup playoffs playing the maximum amount of games possible.
Following the LCK Cup, the next regional event for the 2025 season is the competition’s revamped regular season set to begin in April.