The LCK has now marched past the regular season and straight into the playoffs. Week 1 gave us a proper glimpse into the staying power of the old guard, with T1 and KT—both having given fans plenty of heart palpitations with rather wobbly performances lately—strutting straight into the playoff winners' bracket after knocking out BNK FearX and Dplus KIA respectively.

T1 flexed the enduring strength of their bot lane duo alongside some solid mid-to-late game teamfighting, while KT Rolster secured a clean 3-0 sweep as their top-side trio finally woke up. It is almost poetic, playing right into the classic tropes of 'Road to T1' kicking into gear when the stakes are high, and 'Summer KT' turning up the heat as the weather gets warmer.

And just like that, Gen.G, Hanwha Life Esports, T1, and KT—yes, the exact same top four from last year's LCK semi-finals—have all congregated in the winners' bracket. Miraculously, even the opponents and match orders for both the winners' and losers' brackets are a carbon copy of last year. I suppose we will just have to sit back and watch if history fancies repeating itself.