LCK's Gen.G will be looking to reach the finals for the first time at this year's LOL World Cup. Photo courtesy of Riot Games

LCK's T1 is attempting to win the LOL World Cup for the fifth time this year. Photo courtesy of Riot Games

'6. Meeting of fate. Will it be again this time?'

Korea's arch enemy in many sports is by far Japan. However, things look different in e-sports. It can be said that China is Korea's biggest rival.

In terms of overall size, investment and interest in the e-sports industry, China has already overtaken Korea, but Korea is still superior, at least in terms of capabilities. In any case, it goes without saying that the two countries continue to have a heated competitive structure and create synergies due to the presence of competitors.

On the 26th, regardless of the results of the semifinals, the final structure between Korea (LCK) and China (LPL) has already been completed, with the “2024 League of Legends World Cup” (Lold Cup) only having one game left, reaching the In China No. 1 seed Billy Gaming, who won both the LPL spring and summer seasons this year, will reach the LOL World Cup final for the first time in history, while Korea will play the semifinals on the 27th (Korean time). , with LCK Yanggang Gen.G and T1 to determine Billy's opponent in the finals.

In the first competition in 2011, both Korea and China were still in the early days of League of Legends, and considering that even professional teams had not yet been properly formed, there had never been a Korean or Chinese team in the finals since 13 years since 2012, the first year of the LOL World Championship.

Among them, South Korea has won eight times and came second six times, while China has won three times and came second four times, sharing the LOL World Championship. In the past, the two countries have faced each other in five finals, showing South Korea's absolute dominance with four wins and one defeat. This is the sixth in-person meeting this year.

Firstly, Billy's rise is not easy, so it should be an easy game. Bilibili was on the verge of elimination when it lost in the Swiss phase (round of 16) to LNG and T1 in the same region, but later survived with wins against PSG and G2. In the quarterfinals, Billibilli swept the tournament with a 3-1 victory over Hanwha Life e-Sports, number 1 in the LCK, to win the tournament. In the semifinals, he defeated Weibo Gaming 3-0 in the same region and advanced to the final. With the world's best topliner Bin'Cheon Zevin fully revived, he has fully regained the power of the LPL's strongest team this year.

LCK Fate rivals Gen.G and T1 met again on the way to the LOL World Cup finals. T1 is the defending champion and top player in a recognized international competition, aiming to win its fifth LOL World Cup ever. He only took part in the LOL World Cup as the fourth seed LCK, but still maintains the “crazy mode” in international games. In LCK, Gen.G recently showed a particularly weak performance, which represents a more difficult crisis for T1 than the final. Gen.G's momentum has dropped to the point where they reached the semi-finals with a 3-2 win after struggling with Flyquest, considered a weak player in the quarter-finals. So it's a great opportunity to make up for the disappointment at LCK.

Gen.G won its first-ever championship by defeating Billy Billy in back-to-back international competitions at MSI in May and is therefore confident of making it to the finals. However, Samsung Galaxy, a full-fledged team, has won two LOL World Championships, but since taking over the team in 2017 and changing its name to Gen.G, it has only reached the semifinals twice and has yet to overcome the curse that was never at the final stage of the LOL World Championship before meeting Billy. The final between South Korea and China will be played on November 2nd at the O2 Arena in London, England.