This year's LCK Summer Split regular season reaches the midway point this week as the battle for a place in the playoffs resumes.
The first batch of matches in week five, starting on Wednesday, features a key clash between division pacesetters Gen.G Esports and Liiv SANDBOX, who are currently in third, before struggling Hanwha Life Esports lock horns with highflying T1.
Gulf in class clear to see between Hanwha and T1
What | Hanwha Life Esports v T1, LCK Summer Split 2022 |
| Where | South Korea |
| When | 09.00 BST, Wednesday 13th July 2022 |
How to watch | LCK Global Youtube channel / Twitch |
| Odds | Hanwha Life Esports 15/2, T1 1/20 |
Week four in the LCK Summer Split was special for T1 for a couple of reasons.
First and foremost, they won both of their matches to keep the pressure on at the top of the table but one of those victories also came against their biggest rivals Gen.G Esports, who they took down 2-1.
Gen.G had started aggressively in that match to take the lead but T1 showed character to fight back with Lee "Faker" Sang-hyeok stealing a baron in the second game to change the complexion of the match.
In that match, "Faker" also made history by becoming the first ever player to make 500 appearances in the LCK and he and T1 can take great confidence from the latest match week.
They also recorded a 2-0 win over Fredit BRION in week four and should feel confident going into their next match with Hanwha Life Esports, who they have beaten in each of their last four meetings, including at the quarter-finals of the League of Legends World Championship 2021.
T1 have a 7-1 win-loss record this season, having won five of their seven matches by a 2-0 margin, and they are worth backing at -1.5 on the match handicap at 1/3.
Hanwha are having a season to forget with seven defeats from eight matches to their name but they have responded to their dire start with some key roster changes.
Jo "Cheoni" Seung-mo has replaced Lee "SamD" Jae-hoon as their bot laner for this week of matches and "Cheoni" at least has experience of having faced T1 before, playing against them as a substitute in an LCK Spring Split contest.
The playoffs look out of reach but it is still not a completely impossible task and they will need to start brightly against T1 to stand any chance of ruffling their feathers.
They can take confidence from the fact Fredit BRION were the better team in the early phases of their match with T1 last week, having scored first blood and established a 1k goal lead only five minutes into the contest.
T1's quality naturally shone through in the end but it could be worth looking at Hanwha to claim first blood on map one at 4/1.
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Liiv SANDBOX can put up a fight against pacesetters Gen.G
What | Gen.G Esports v Liiv SANDBOX, LCK Summer Split 2022 |
| Where | South Korea |
| When | 12.00 BST, Wednesday 13th July 2022 |
How to watch | LCK Global Youtube channel / Twitch |
| Odds | Gen G 1/7, Liiv SANDBOX 4/1 |
Liiv SANDBOX have been in the news this week after drafting in former pro Ryu "Ryu" Sang-woo as their new Challengers coach and it is also a key week for the first team, who start week five against LCK Summer leaders Gen.G Esports.
Gen.G got the better of DRX 2-0 in their final match of week four, bouncing back from defeat to T1 and taking their overall record to 7-1 in the LCK Summer this season.
In that match they fell behind in terms of kills but had established a lead in gold thanks to their tower control and bot laner Park "Ruler" Jae-hyuk was particularly influential, causing problems for DRX on Lucian with six kills recorded in the first 20 minutes of game two.
They are a top side and that is only emphasised by the fact they are 1/7 to beat a Liiv SANDBOX side who have lost only twice in the LCK Summer.
But Liiv should not be rolled over completely and, given that three of their last four meetings with Gen.G Esports have been settled by 2-1 scorelines, they can at least win a map in this contest and over 2.5 maps is a decent bet at 6/4.
SANDBOX avoided some potential banana skins in week four with wins against Nongshim RedForce and Hanwha Life Esports and have won maps in each of their last five contests in the LCK Summer.
