Introduction: The S16 season has officially started, and most players have been paying attention to the recent clashes. The LCK matches are highly competitive, and so far, T1 and Gen.G stand out as the leading teams this season. Recently, Gen.G's jungler Canyon pulled off a legendary Baron steal, arguably the most absurd one this season — Baron at 164 HP was taken with a flag from the Prince, and Chovy's Azir was solo killed under tower by the opponent's Akali. It seems like HLE might be falling from grace this season. It turns out Kanavi was not to blame earlier; he still showcases many spectacular plays in LCK and wasn't just targeting LPL teams before.

LCK delivers the most unbelievable Baron steal play

Most players are quite familiar with the LCK region. As a widely recognized top-tier league globally, LCK has developed rapidly in recent years, reclaiming its dominant position worldwide, especially T1, who have won the World Championship three years in a row with no team able to withstand their pressure. As the first split progresses, the overall landscape of LCK is becoming clearer: Gen.G and T1 remain the strongest kings, closely followed by DK, all maintaining undefeated records. On the other hand, last season’s hot team HLE is facing some issues.

In recent matches, Gen.G has been relatively relaxed, beating BFX 2-0. The most exciting moment was the comeback in the first game. Early on, BFX had a significant lead, with kills steadily increasing, even solo killing Chovy’s Azir under tower with their Akali. However, the gold gap was not too large. At 24 minutes, BFX boldly started Baron to close the game quickly, but at this critical moment, Gen.G’s jungler Canyon used Prince’s E skill and his flag to steal Baron from 164 HP, turning the tide and helping Gen.G complete the comeback. It was definitely luck favoring Gen.G.

In the second game, a fully powered Gen.G dominated, with top, jungle, mid, and AD all performing brilliantly, especially Chovy’s Ryze finishing 7-0. It feels like the LCK is experiencing serious division now. The top-ranked teams are very strong overall, while mid-to-lower tier teams have almost no chance for comebacks. The most unfortunate seems to be HLE, who were last season’s first split world champions and considered the whip of the LPL region by fans, but this season they have seemingly turned into spinning tops. Jungler Kanavi has become the focus of all Korean discussions.

The match against BRO was extremely tough, especially the first game’s chaotic team fights where everything went wrong. Despite leading by 6000 gold, Baron was stolen and BRO nearly completed a comeback. The second game was even worse: bottom lane’s Little Lu Bu and top lane’s Zeus kept feeding kills one after another, and Kanavi was constantly invading the enemy jungle, leaving only mid lane’s Zeka to struggle alone. Honestly, after watching these two games, calling HLE the bottom team in the LCK league seems justified. The current HLE looks very much like an LPL team, playing chaotic fights without proper game management even when ahead.

Farewell thoughts

Currently, the kings of LCK remain Gen.G and T1, and these two teams will likely compete in the upcoming global Rift Rivals event. HLE’s biggest mistake in the transfer period was probably signing Kanavi; everyone thought he was loyal to LPL, but no one expected him to keep showing spectacular plays after returning to LCK. Of course, DK might also rise up. If nothing unexpected happens, the first split world champion will most likely come from LCK again.

What do all of you viewers think about this situation?