There was little time between the end of the LCK Summer regular season and the beginning of the LCK Summer playoffs and already the regional event is at the semi-final stage.
| What | LCK Summer Playoffs |
| Where | South Korea |
| When | Saturday 20th August - Sunday 21st August 2022 |
| How to watch | LCK Global Youtube channel / Twitch |
At the end of eight weeks of regular-season action, six teams booked their spots in the LCK Summer playoffs, which started with two quarter-final matches.
Liiv SANDBOX, who finished third in the regular season, firstly overcame DRX 3-1 to progress to the next stage, whilst DWG KIA dumped out KT Rolster.
Neither of those results came as massive surprises with eliminated sides KT Rolster and DRX having finished fifth and sixth respectively in the standings.
Liiv SANDBOX have been rewarded for their victory with a semi-final clash against regular season table-toppers Gen.G Esports, whilst DWG KIA will take on giants T1 in the other match in the last four.
The winners of each of those matches will move on to the LCK Summer playoffs final with the overall champion set to qualify for the League of Legends World Championship as South Korea's top seed.
Gen.G can progress but could face early resistance from SANDBOX
After topping the LCK Summer regular season standings with a 17-1 win-loss record, Gen.G Esports were able to select their opponents in the playoff semi-finals and opted for Liiv SANDBOX over DWG KIA.
That may seem like a strange decision given that SANDBOX finished higher than DWG KIA in the regular standings but they are short on experience of playoff events like this and are outsiders at 7/2 going into this match. Gen.G are 1/6 to come out on top.
That said, SANDBOX have hit their stride at the perfect time in the LCK Summer playoffs, finishing the regular season with a five-match winning streak before their 3-1 victory over DRX in the quarter-finals.
They had to dig deep in that match, winning maps one and two thanks to strong performances from Kim "Croco" Dong-beom and Lee "Prince" Chae-hwan respectively, before DRX hit back in the third.
And the fourth game was a serious battle, becoming the longest game in the entire LCK Summer Split 2022 with a duration of 51 minutes.
It is therefore fair to say that Liiv SANDBOX deserve their spot in the semi-finals but the fact it was such a mammoth effort to overcome DRX suggests they might find it tough against Gen.G, who are sure to win this match.
In terms of a bet, though, it could be worth backing Liiv SANDBOX at +8.5 on the kill handicap on map one.
Even though Gen.G won the July meeting between the sides 2-0, they lost the kill count 18-14 on the first map and the quarter-finals provide further evidence that SANDBOX are perhaps at their best at the start of matches.
T1 could be far too strong for DWG KIA
T1 remain one of the biggest names in the LCK realm but it has not been plain sailing throughout the entire 2022 season.
They of course made history when winning every single match and taking the title at the LCK Spring earlier this year but defeat to Royal Never Give Up in the final of the Mid-Season Invitational knocked their confidence a little bit and prompted a more cautious approach.
By their standards, three defeats in the LCK Summer regular season was a high tally but they still managed to secure second seed with star man Lee "Faker" Sang-hyeok reaching the milestone of 2,600 kills in the process.
The good news for T1 is they beat semi-final opponents DWG KIA 2-0 in their final match of the regular season only last month and they won by that same scoreline when the sides clashed back in June.
They are 2/7 to win when it matters in the playoff semi-finals and they could do so comfortably.
Although their final opponents in the split were tough, DWG KIA finished the regular season with four defeats in six games and could be out of their depth in this one against one of the best teams in the League of Legends world.
Expect T1 to show their class and back them at -1.5 on the match handicap at 8/11.
