After finishing the Rise Group in second place, BNK FearX delivered a performance that was night and day compared to their regular season form, storming through the Play-ins to take the top spot. Consequently, both BNK FearX and Dplus KIA have secured their tickets to the playoffs as the 5th and 6th seeds, respectively.

The real surprise of these Play-ins was the sheer transformation of BNK FearX. Having navigated the 3rd to 5th rounds of the regular season within the Rise Group, BNK FearX pulled off back-to-back upsets, taking down Rise Group leaders Dplus KIA and then dispatching the Legend Group's 5th-place finishers, NS RedForce.

Throughout the Play-in schedule, BNK FearX employed draft strategies that kept opponents guessing, with the players executing their coaching staff's vision with clinical precision. Having leveled up their play since the regular season, BNK FearX systematically dismantled teams that had previously outranked them, including NS RedForce and Dplus KIA.

In their opening Play-in match against Dplus KIA, BNK FearX held their nerve throughout a grueling full-set series to clinch the win. Although they crumbled in the first set after conceding major objectives, the team found their footing as Nam Dae-geun, the season's rookie of the year known as 'Diable', showcased why the Kai'Sa pick remains a force to be reckoned with, capitalising on every landing of the mid-lane Morgana’s crowd control.

While Nam Dae-geun's Kai'Sa defined the second set, the third was firmly in the hands of Jeon Eo-jin, known as 'Raptor', whose Naafiri snowballed early and dictated the pace for a one-sided victory. In the fourth set, despite a creative drafting attempt to counter with Vayne, the team was thwarted by Jeon Si-woo's superb defensive play on Gwen. However, in the deciding fifth set, BNK FearX employed flexible macro play centered around Twisted Fate to neutralise the opponent's core Camille pick and seal the series.

By the time the 5th-seed decider against NS RedForce rolled around on Friday the 5th, BNK FearX looked even sharper. After turning around a deficit to take the first set, Jeon Eo-jin’s Xin Zhao led the charge in the second. Though they stumbled in the third against the heroics of NS RedForce support Son Si-woo’s Neeko, BNK FearX successfully stifled the opponent's ambitious mid-lane Smolder pick throughout the fourth set, securing the 5th seed and a direct path to the playoffs.

In the final Play-in match on Sunday the 7th, Dplus KIA triumphed over NS RedForce with a clean 3-0 sweep to grab the final playoff spot. It was a dogfight from the start; Dplus KIA endured a rough patch as Heo Su’s Orianna fell repeatedly, but the mid-laner managed to overcome the early pressure and carry the team to a comeback victory. In the second set, Jeon Si-woo’s Aurora dominated the map, effectively putting an end to NS RedForce’s attempts to mount a counter-attack.

For the third set, Dplus KIA pulled out an aggressive Olaf pick to counter the opponent's top-lane K'Sante. Although Jeon Si-woo’s Olaf struggled to make headway against Hwang Seong-hun’s K'Sante, Dplus KIA capitalised on a series of major objective skirmishes to tighten the noose. The result was a 3-0 victory, ensuring they claimed the last ticket to the playoffs.

Notably, these Play-ins marked a return to the best-of-five Fearless Draft format. Unlike the regular season which capped at three sets, the transition to a best-of-five structure during the Play-ins meant that whenever series extended beyond three games, we were treated to a variety of champions rarely seen during the regular season.

A prime example occurred on Wednesday the 3rd, during the clash between NS RedForce and OKSavingsBank BRION, where Olaf in the jungle and Taric as support hit the rift. Kim Dong-beom, the jungler for OKSavingsBank BRION, turned the tide in their third-set win with Olaf, while Son Si-woo of NS RedForce used Taric to deliver veteran-level utility that proved instrumental in securing key moments.

The list of unexpected picks continued into the BNK FearX and Dplus KIA showdown on Thursday the 4th. BNK FearX’s mid-lane Morgana and bottom-lane Vayne served as a reminder of the unique strengths these champions possess, regardless of the match outcome. Dplus KIA also brought out a mid-lane Viego in the fourth set to demonstrate its inherent dominance and surprised everyone by selecting mid-lane Malzahar in the fifth—a champion that hadn't seen a single pick throughout the entire LCK regular season. Other rare sightings included top-lane Olaf, jungle Sylas and Naafiri, mid-lane LeBlanc, bottom-lane Caitlyn and Viktor, and support Elise and Maokai.

These picks were far more than mere gimmicks; they disrupted opposing draft strategies while allowing teams to execute their own plans. This trend, ignited during the Play-ins, is highly likely to persist as we head into the best-of-five Fearless Draft playoffs.