South Korea's LCK has returned and the first split of the season - the LCK Spring 2023 - is in full swing.

The region's top ten teams are competing in a double round robin format with the top six set to advance to the playoffs and compete for the first major honour of the season.

The eventual champions will go on to play in the worldwide Mid-Season Invitational and put themselves in a stronger position ahead of the end-of-year World Championship, which this year takes place in South Korea.

The first two weeks of action in the LCK Spring 2023 have concluded but week three continues on Thursday with two matches.

An improving BRION firstly take on reigning world champions DRX before strong starters T1 lock horns with new-look Hanwha Life Esports.

BRION can cause DRX problems

What	BRION vs DRX, LCK Spring
Where	South Korea
When	08.00, Thursday 2nd February 2023
How to watch	LCK YouTube / Twitch channels, bet365 Sports Live Streaming
Odds	BRION 13/8, DRX 4/9

Last year was pretty underwhelming from BRION's perspective with the team having finished ninth in the LCK Summer with 15 defeats from their 18 matches and they responded with sweeping changes to their roster.

They parted ways with four players in December as they began a rebuild and it is fair to say their roster did not look the best-equipped heading into the 2023 season.

But fans of the organisation cannot have too many complaints after the first four games with BRION having picked up two wins and two defeats.

Both of their wins came in week one against NS RedForce and Kwangdong Freecs, whereas their losses came against Gen.G Esports and Liiv SANDBOX - both teams one would expect them to lose to.

They seem to be in pretty high spirits and should fancy their chances against defending world champions DRX, whose roster was pulled apart in the offseason.

It is clear they are not the team they were at the end-of-season Worlds last year, having posted three defeats from four matches, including a disappointing 2-1 defeat to NS RedForce in week two.

They have work to do to rebuild their reputation and put themselves in contention for the playoffs but this has the makings of a competitive encounter.

Both teams could win this match on their day so the wisest betting approach could be to back it to go the distance and opt for over 2.5 maps at 1/1.

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Highflyers T1 should ease to a fifth straight win in the LCK Spring

What	T1 vs Hanwha Life Esports
Where	South Korea
When	10.30, Thursday 2nd February 2023
How to watch	LCK YouTube / Twitch channels, bet365 Sports Live Streaming
Odds	T1 2/9, Hanwha Life Esports 3/1

They may be only two weeks and four matches into the first split of the season but T1 already look like a force to be reckoned with in the LCK Spring.

Already the super-team have a 4-0 win-loss record in the LCK Spring 2023, having dropped only two games in the process with Gen.G Esports, KT Rolster, Kwangdong Freecs and Dplus KIA their early scalps.

Wins over Gen.G and Dplus KIA are particularly striking, showing T1 can steamroll any LCK team on their day and they are still on course to match last year's ridiculous 18-0 win-loss record in the LCK Spring.

They went on to reach the final of every tournament last year, including the World Championship in which they were unfortunate to lose to DRX.

This year anything less than being crowned world champions would be considered a failure and it is perhaps no surprise they were the only team in the LCK to make no changes to their roster during the offseason.

All of the pieces are in place for another superb season and they look about right at 2/9 to make it five wins on the spin when they face Hanwha Life Esports.

With three former world champions added to their roster prior to the LCK Spring 2023, big things were expected of new superteam Hanwha Life Esports this year but they have made a miserable start with three defeats from their first four matches.

The decision-making of their jungler Kim "Clid" Tae-min has been particularly disappointing and there is still expected to be a gulf in class between them and established winners T1, who are a solid bet at 5/6 to win this match 2-0.