The LCK Kespa Cup began on December 6th, with the first matchday seeing all teams except T1 and JPN taking the stage. HLE comfortably beat C9 and BFX to claim two victories. Scout’s NS squad was overwhelmed early against TL, falling behind by 7k gold, but forced the game into a prolonged late phase lasting over 50 minutes, eventually clawing back to win through teamfights. Both sides performed in a very abnormal manner.

Among the 12 teams, only GEN, TL, KT, and BRO failed to get their first win. GEN’s performance was the most surprising: losing first to Vietnam’s MVKE, then to North America’s C9, starting 0-2 and bottom of Group A. Although Daehyun and Chidi didn’t participate, the top, jungle, and support trio were all starters. Losing to C9 might be understandable, but being dominated by the Vietnamese team like bots is really hard to accept.

Let’s briefly review how GEN lost these two matches. In the first game against MVKE, Sanshu secured the first blood on the enemy AD early on. However, at 8 minutes during the Rift Scuttler fight, Kiin ran into trouble—playing Rumble, he was solo-killed by Vietnam’s Quasanti diving under tower. The 3v3 mid-jungle-support fight ended with the jungle and support dying, leaving GEN down 1:3 kills before 9 minutes. Sanshu made some picks later but gained no resources.

MVKE secured all Rift Scuttlers and Dragon objectives, and by 25 minutes had taken the Dragon Soul. Teamfights were one-sided in favor of MVKE, who just needed to engage to win. GEN was completely powerless, retreating step by step. The game ended at 28 minutes with GEN scoring only 4 kills while MVKE racked up 28 kills. This was an absolute bot-like performance. Without their main dual carries, GEN’s top, jungle, and support seem to have revealed their true form.

In the second game against C9, both teams played cautiously early on, with the first blood only at 8 minutes. GEN’s bot lane managed some kills, but their mid lane soon got caught and died. Many small skirmishes followed, with C9 winning each decisively. By 20 minutes, GEN’s kill score was 6:12 and they were behind by 7.3k gold. Just like the previous match, GEN couldn’t win teamfights. After a 0-for-5 exchange at 24 minutes, the game was effectively decided.

The match ended at 26 minutes with GEN’s kill count at 6:24, again dominated like bots. Across both games, GEN only managed 10 kills. Their strength has clearly dropped without the dual carries, but the top-mid-support trio can’t seem to carry two rookies, which feels a bit abstract. Looking closely, GEN’s AD lane actually performed decently, but mid lane was a clear weak point, losing to anyone and frequently giving the enemy opportunities by getting caught.

Kiin’s form in these two games was really poor. As LCK’s top laner number one, his Rumble play was even worse than 369’s, and he was solo-killed by the Vietnamese top laner. This is hard to stomach. Starting the group stage 0-2 makes advancing very difficult. Even if GEN wins all remaining matches, they can only reach two wins at best. C9 or MVKE just need one more win to eliminate GEN based on tiebreakers. Of course, there’s also a chance GEN might not win any further games.

After facing MVKE and C9, GEN’s remaining opponents are only BFX and HLE. HLE is definitely unbeatable—they are running their full starting roster and are dominant in Group A. BFX likely can’t beat them either; they crushed MVKE except for one loss against HLE. Boldly predicting, GEN will finish the Kespa Cup 0-4 and be eliminated in the group stage, since there are no weak teams left in the group.

Conclusion:

Next up in Group C is T1, about to make their debut. Old Lee will face the Japanese team JPN, a match that should be an easy win. Although it’s more of an exhibition with an entertainment focus, GEN’s inability to even beat Vietnam is quite puzzling. Kiin seems completely out of form, whether due to underestimating the opponent or other reasons, but his performance has been very poor.

So, what do you think—can GEN get their first win?

Feel free to leave your thoughts and discuss!