In recent years, we can see that the performance of the LPL region in international tournaments has been superior to that of the LCK. Since MSI 2018, LCK has only claimed one international title, which is the 2020 World Championship won by DAMWON Gaming. Meanwhile, the LPL region has continuously secured major titles, leaving Korean League of Legends fans worried.
Therefore, since T1’s defeat at MSI 2022, a hot topic has emerged in Korea regarding how to help LCK catch up with LPL in terms of strength. Questions on this topic frequently arise during post-match interviews, often with players who have competed in both regions mentioned above. For example, after the victory over DRX, Gen.G’s Peanut was also asked about this topic, and he believes that LCK needs to change its format by adding more Bo5 matches to catch up with LPL.
Question: Do you feel that the number of Bo5 matches in the LCK tournament is too low? Compared to LPL, for instance?
Gen.G Peanut: I played in the LPL two years ago, and during the playoffs of the Summer Split, I went through 5 Bo5 matches in just 9 days. Considering that, it’s clear that LCK currently lacks Bo5 matches. Meanwhile, in international tournaments, Bo5 matches are decisive. Therefore, I believe that the reason LPL teams are performing better than LCK is due to the significant difference in the number of important matches like that.
If you didn’t know, as of now, the LCK tournament still applies a knockout format in its decisive stage. For example, in the LCK Spring 2022, the champion T1 only had to play 2 Bo5 matches to claim this prestigious title. The same happened with the second-place team, Gen.G, who only had to play in the Semifinals and Finals.
Meanwhile, in the LPL Spring 2022, the champion RNG, despite dominating the winners’ bracket, had to play at least 3 Bo5 matches. The second-place team, TES, had to “climb the tower” from Round 2, playing a total of 6 Bo5 matches on their journey. Being able to play many intense matches like that has made TES extremely formidable, capable of defeating even powerful teams like V5 or LNG.
This shows that it is time for LCK to change to improve its results if it doesn’t want to be left behind by LPL as it has been in recent years. While organizing fewer matches and creating more content around players may help LCK grow in terms of media and promotion of the tournament, it is inadvertently causing the competitiveness of LCK teams to decline.