BNK FEARX forces Game 3 against Hanjin Brion with series tied 1-1 in LCK

BNK FEARX has taken down HANJIN BRION in their Rise Group rematch, preventing BRO from locking down first place in one of the LCK’s most competitive group stages this split. The result flips the script on their earlier meeting and throws the Rise Group standings into chaos heading into the final stretch of play.

For a team that got swept 2-0 by BRO just weeks ago, BNK FEARX picked a perfect time to find their form. The victory came in a best-of-three series that went the full distance, with the two squads splitting the first two games before BFX closed it out in a decisive Game 3.

A rivalry taking shape at LoL PARK

These two teams have been on a collision course all split. When they first met on August 7 at LoL PARK in Jongno, Seoul, it was all HANJIN BRION. BRO took that series 2-0 in convincing fashion, a result that gave them sole possession of first place in the Rise Group.

That loss could have sent BNK FEARX spiraling. Instead, BFX regrouped and rattled off a clean 2-0 win over Kiwoom DRX on August 13, climbing back up the Rise Group standings and setting the stage for a rematch with real stakes attached.

The LCK’s current format splits teams into the Legend Group and Rise Group, with positioning in each group carrying significant weight for playoff seeding.

This time around, the series played out very differently. Rather than the one-sided affair of their first meeting, the rematch was a back-and-forth slugfest. The 1-1 scoreline heading into Game 3 meant everything was on the line, and BNK FEARX delivered when it mattered most.

Rise Group implications going forward

The standings are now tighter than BRO would like. BNK FEARX’s victory doesn’t just deny HANJIN BRION first place. It potentially reshuffles the entire group’s pecking order depending on how the remaining matches play out.

With both teams now holding wins over each other this split, the head-to-head tiebreaker between them is essentially neutralized. That means overall match record, game differential, and potentially additional tiebreaker scenarios could all come into play when final Rise Group seedings are determined.

For BNK FEARX, the path forward is straightforward: keep winning and let the standings sort themselves out. Their trajectory over the past two weeks, from a 2-0 loss to BRO, to a 2-0 win over DRX, to a clutch Game 3 victory in the rematch, is exactly the kind of upward momentum that teams want heading into the business end of a split.

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