After an already eventful couple of days, week four of LCK 2025 rounds 1-2 will see Dplus KIA vs Hanwha Life Esports. While HLE is the favorite to win the upcoming match, DK’s performance against T1 suggests things may not be so easy for the opposition.
The ongoing LCK split has seen one of the most surprising shifts amid the strongest Korean League of Legends teams. While names like Gen.G, HLE, and T1 were formerly brought up in every conversation of the best teams, Dplus KIA chose this tournament to cement itself as a name in the fray for those who forgot.
Dplus KIA has shown some of the most surprising performances to fans, but things aren’t over yet. The next team DK is slated to go up against is Hanwha Life Esports, the winner of First Stand 2025, and it promises to be an eventful match.
Hanwha Life Esports has been looking pretty good in the current split. The team may have seen one loss to Gen.G, but it came back stronger and even took down T1 with a score of 2-0 to make a statement. With extremely strong members like Zeus and Zeka on its roster, the team’s biggest strength is the fact that every player is individually skilled. Every member of the team has shown up in almost every match.
Another strength for the team is its tactics. After the loss to Gen.G to kick off the entire tournament, Hanwha Life Esports has gone into every match with an improved game plan. While unexpected bumps are unavoidable, most of HLE’s members tend to stick to the general plan of playing safe at the start and trying to single out the enemy team’s player to individually punish them.
As for Dplus KIA, the team has showcased excellent gameplay and earned a spot in the top three of the standings for rounds 1-2. The team may have lost to Gen.G and T1, but both matches were fairly close and could have gone either way. In particular, the team’s bot-laner and jungler are stand-out performers and likely have the biggest potential to positively affect the upcoming match for their team.
Below are the rosters for both teams in the match between Dplus KIA and HLE.
Dplus KIA:
Hanwha Life Esports:
It’s usually hard to predict which champion picks Hanwha Life Esports will go for. While the team tends to experiment against weaker teams, as it did against DRX, that may not be the case against DK. Considering how strong Dplus KIA’s performance has been, it would be safe to assume HLE will take common picks like Jayce, Xin Zhao, Sylas, and Renata Glasc.
On the other hand, Dplus KIA usually sticks to a handful of champions. These include Rumble, Jayce, Naafiri, Ahri, Miss Fortune, Ezreal, Kai’Sa, Leona, and Poppy. While not common, DK saw success with Viego and Gwen against T1, so seeing them return to those picks wouldn’t be surprising.
Dplus KIA and Hanwha Life Esports have gone head-to-head 25 times before, out of which DK won 19 times. With only six wins under its belt, Hanwha Life Esports may have the odds stacked against it.
Despite the positive match record against HLE, Dplus Kia is the underdog going into the match with a line of 2.40. In contrast, Hanwha Life Esports has a betting line of 1.55.
It’s already established that Dplus KIA is a force to be reckoned with. However, the team is yet to defeat any of the stronger teams in the tournament. DK lost to both Gen.G and T1, even if the team showed excellent skills, and Hanwha Life Esports will likely bring more aggression than the other two teams combined.
Siwoo may be an excellent top-laner, but Zeus has frequently displayed why so many consider him the best top-laner in the region. Since Zeus is a relatively new addition to HLE, he wasn’t present in most matches between the two teams, though he’s sure to make his presence known this time around.
The bottom lane and jungle will likely determine the course of the match. In particular, Aiming has been playing extremely well recently, and taking advantage of HLE’s habit of aggressively roaming could do well for DK. But HLE is an extremely tough opponent on a consistent winning streak and won’t go down without a fight.
Do you think you know which of the two will win? Then place your bet now!
21+ and present in VA. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER.
