T1 took down Hanwha Life Esports to win the 2025 KeSPA Cup! KeSPA Cup is an invitational tournament, featuring all ten LCK teams, as well as other, guest teams. The tournament took place last week in Seoul, and was the opportunity for teams to offer their updated rosters some much-needed stage time.
What better way to conclude the 2025 season than with a showdown between T1 and the team that welcomes all of its former players?
KeSPA cup is an off-season invitational tournament that takes place in December, after Worlds and well before the 2026 season. The tournament features teams from the LCK as well as some lower-tier seeds, such as competitors from the Challenger league. KeSPA cup started in 2015 and stopped after 2021, before being reintroduced in 2024 and continuing this year.
In 2025, the participating teams were:
Team Vietnam was made up of four players from Viking Esports joined by the marksman of Team Flash. Team Japan, on the other hand, was composed mostly of retired players. It was the first time Western teams competed in this tournament.
Gumayusi hoisting the Summoner’s Cup, shortly before leaving T1. Image Credits: Colin Young-Wolff / Riot Games
The 2025 KeSPA Cup started with the Group Stage. Teams were separated into three groups of 5 and 4, where they played a single round robin. The first team of each group moved on to the playoffs. The second teams faced off in another round robin to claim the last playoff spot.
Afterwards, the four qualified teams played in a double-elimination playoffs bracket. Group Stage matches are Best of 1. Knockout matches are Best of 3 in round 1 and Best of 5 afterwards.
Some of the results were unusual, to say the least.
| Placement | Team | Prize reward | Last Knockout match | Group Stage result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | T1 | ₩60,000,000 | Finals, 3-2 against HLE | 3-0 |
| 2 | Hanwha Life Esports | ₩25,000,000 | Finals, 2-3 against T1 | 4-0 |
| 3 | Dplus KIA | ₩10,000,000 | Losers’ finals, 2-3 against T1 | 4-0 |
| 4 | Nongshim RedForce | ₩5,000,000 | Losers’ semifinals, 0-2 against T1 | 4-1 |
| 5 | Cloud9 | None | N/A | 4-2 |
| 6 | DN Freecs | None | N/A | 2-4 |
| 7-9 | BNK FEARX | None | N/A | 2-2 |
| 7-9 | DRX | None | N/A | 2-2 |
| 7-9 | Team Liquid | None | N/A | 1-3 |
| 10-12 | Team Vietnam | None | N/A | 1-3 |
| 10-12 | KT Rolster | None | N/A | 1-3 |
| 10-12 | Team Japan | None | N/A | 0-3 |
| 13-14 | Gen.G | None | N/A | 0-4 |
| 13-14 | OK BRION | None | N/A | 1-3 |
To start with the elephant in the room: Gen.G grabbing the last place with a winless tournament. This performance warrants an asterisk, though. The LCK’s kings were playing with two to three substitutes. Gen.G played their games against C9 and Vietnam with Loid and Harusary subbing in for Chovy (who won the 2025 Esports Athlete of the Year award) and Ruler. For their games against BNK and HLE, they also had Juny replacing Canyon. These three players are part of Gen.G’s trainee team, so this wasn’t Gen.G being in a slump.
On the other hand, Cloud9 did better than expected. The North American team couldn’t even reach Worlds, and they went 3-1 in Groups, then narrowly missed the playoffs. This was despite playing with APA, a brand new mid laner who only joined the team last month. Of course, their competition was also weakened. Their only world-class opponent was HLE, who beat them handily.
Aside from them, the other three guest teams performed as foreseen. Each of them finished last or second-to-last in their group, giving a reminder of South Korea’s dominance.
T1’s new marksman Peyz, back in 2024 when he was playing for Gen.G. Image Credits: Colin Young-Wolff / Riot Games
In recent years, the LCK has been all about three teams – Gen.G, T1, and HLE. KT Rolster did come out of nowhere to reach the 2025 Worlds finals. However, that was an exception, and it’s Gen.G, T1, and HLE that consistently make up the top three.
Additionally, this is now the second year that a player from T1 moves to HLE in the offseason. Zeus made that move in 2024, and Guma followed him last month. Many players are joking about the fact that it’ll eventually be Faker against his former four teammates.
These were Gumayusi’s first matches against his former teammates. T1 took the crown, which is unexpected for a team that always becomes better at internationals. However, while T1 got the trophy, these two teams walked out of the tournament with a 4-4 head-to-head.
These are few matches to go off of, but this is promising for T1. Their new ADC Peyz also looked amazing over these couple of games, even claiming his 12th pentakill during the tournament. This makes him the pro player with the most pentakills (ahead of GALA and Ruler at 11).
The KeSPA Cup might not be the tournament with the highest stakes or level of play. However, this is T1’s and Faker’s first win in the tournament!
Featured Image Source: Colin Young-Wolff / Riot Games
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