They looked unbeatable, untouchable—but Gen.G finally fell this Friday. Just after securing the all-time win streak record with 27 consecutive best-of-threes, capped off with a victory over Hanwha Life Esports to open LCK Round 3–5, they locked in an early playoff spot and, more importantly, a ticket to Worlds 2025 in China, running from October 14 to November 9. Gen.G were defeated by the very team they beat in the MSI final just a few weeks ago: T1.

They won 21 best-of-threes and six best-of-fives in a row, their last loss dating back over five months ago in the LCK Cup final against HLE. Gen.G swept every series they played in LCK Rounds 1-2, the Mid-Season Invitational, the Esports World Cup, and the opening best-of-three of LCK Round 3–5. Today, T1 came out on top in front of their home crowd at the Homeground, as T1 hosts a three-day event in Incheon Inspire Arena featuring LCK, LCK CL, VCT Pacific matches, plus several musical performances.

Fierce draft battles

All three games of the series were played at an incredibly high level—exactly what you’d expect from the two best teams in the world right now. In Game 1, Gen.G delivered a convincing win. Even a Baron steal by Lee "Gumayusi" Min-hyeong—who’s made a habit of it—wasn’t enough to stop them. Kim "Canyon" Geon-bu was especially dominant, finishing 12/1/8 in a standout jungle performance on Wukong.

In Game 2, T1 bounced back with a rock-solid draft featuring comfort picks across the board: Jayce, Sejuani, and Azir for the topside, with Xayah and Rakan in the botlane. It was near-perfect execution and a clear outdraft that allowed them to tie the series. Then in Game 3, Gumayusi and Ryu "Keria" Min-seok brought out the very first botlane they ever played together competitively—Aphelios and Thresh—and it worked to perfection. Gumayusi topped the damage charts, while Keria landed key engages to shut Gen.G down and end their historic win streak.

On Saturday, July 26, Hanwha Life Esports will look to bounce back against KT Rolster, who started their split with a win. In the Rise group, Dplus KIA will aim for their first victory of the split against BNK FearX, who opened with a win over DN Freecs. The LCK weekend continues into Sunday, with T1 looking to build momentum against Nongshim RedForce, while DN Freecs will try to secure just their second win of the year in the LCK (excluding the LCK Cup) as they face off against DRX.