| 2026 LCK season | |
|---|---|
| League | LCK |
| Sport | League of Legends |
| Duration |
|
| Teams | 10 |
| LCK Cup | |
| Road to MSI | |
| Playoffs | |
The 2026 LCK season is the upcoming 15th season of the League of Legends Champions Korea (LCK), a South Korean professional esports league for the video game League of Legends . It will consist of ten teams participating in three splits, with each split qualifying teams to three international tournaments. The season will begin on 14 January and will end on 13 September.
Unlike the previous year, the third split (Rounds 3–5), which originally follows a triple round-robin format, will be shortened to only a double round-robin format, namely Rounds 3–4. This is to give way for the South Korea national esports team for League of Legends preparations for the 2026 Asian Games in Aichi and Nagoya, Japan. [1]
Two team changes occured heading into the 2026 season. On 22 December 2025, DN Freecs was renamed to DN SOOPers following the rebranding of live-streaming service AfreecaTV to SOOP. [2] Days later on 2 January 2026, OKSavingsBank Brion was renamed to Hanjin Brion after a new sponsorship deal was signed between Brion and the Hanjin Group. [3]
The LCK Cup will feature ten (10) teams divided into two groups of five – Group Baron and Group Elder. A draft to determine the teams in each group was conducted on 7 January 2026, where the finalists from the 2025 LCK season, Gen.G (GEN) and Hanwha Life Esports (HLE), were assigned to Baron and Elder, respectively. As GEN were the defending champions, they had the choice to either have the first or second selection; eventually deciding to pick first. GEN and HLE took turns to make their first selections, with those selections picking the next teams in their respective groups in a snake format until all teams were selected into specific groups. [4] The following were the results of the draft per group:
Group Baron
| Group Elder
|
Each team will play cross matches against the other group in a single round-robin format, where all matches will be played in best-of-threes except for the third week of the tournament, which will be known as a "Super Week" where matches will be best-of-fives. Accumulated results of teams in their respective groups will be used to determine a Winners group and a Losers group. Unlike the inaugural tournament, the top two teams from the winners group and the highest-ranked team in the losers group will directly advance to the playoffs. The third to fifth-ranked teams from the winners group and the second to fourth-ranked teams from the losers group will qualify for the play-in stage, while the bottom-ranked team from the latter group will be eliminated. [1]
The play-in stage will consist of six teams in a semi double-elimination bracket consisting of best-of-three and best-of-five matches, with three teams advancing to the playoffs. The highest-ranked team amongst those qualified for the play-in stage will receive a bye to the second round and will have the chance to choose their opponent. Consisting of six teams, the playoffs will apply a double-elimination bracket where all matches will be best-of-five series, with the top two teams from the winners group receiving a bye to the second round and the highest-ranked team from the losers group also getting a bye for the first round. In addition, the highest-ranked teams from each of the winners and losers group will get the chance to select their opponents in their respective rounds. The winner of the LCK Cup will represent the region as its lone representative at the 2026 First Stand Tournament.
Updated to match(es) played on unknown. Source: LoL Esports |
Updated to match(es) played on unknown. Source: LoL Esports |
Both the first two rounds and the Road to MSI tournament will follow the same format as the previous season. Ten competing teams will participate in a double round-robin tournament, where all matches will be played in best-of-threes and the top six teams from those rounds qualifying for the Road to MSI best-of-five tournament qualifier for the 2026 Mid-Season Invitational, which will be hosted in South Korea.
Road to MSI will consist of the top two teams contesting the region's first seed. The remaining four teams competing in a four-round single-elimination king-of-the hill tournament, with the fifth and sixth-ranked teams beginning in round one; the fourth-ranked team seeded in round two, and the third-ranked team seeded in round three. In round four, the loser of the first-seed playoff will go up against the winner of round three for a spot at MSI 2026 as the region's second seed. If an LCK team wins the 2026 First Stand Tournament, both of its representatives at MSI will have a bye to the bracket stage.
On 27 November 2025, the LCK announced that Road to MSI will be held at the Wonju Gymnasium in Wonju from 12–14 June. [5]
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | PCT | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | BNK FearX | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | MSI Seed 1 Qualification Match |
| 2 | DN SOOPers | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | |
| 3 | Dplus Kia | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | Road to MSI King-of-the-Hill Tournament |
| 4 | DRX | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | |
| 5 | Gen.G | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | |
| 6 | Hanjin Brion | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | |
| 7 | Hanwha Life Esports | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | Eliminated; advance to Rounds 3-4 |
| 8 | KT Rolster | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | |
| 9 | Nongshim RedForce | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | |
| 10 | T1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
Based on the standings from the first two rounds of the season, the ten teams will be ranked and divided into two groups – Legend Group (consisting of the top five teams) and Rise Group (consisting of the bottom five teams), with their first two rounds' records carried over. Unlike in the previous season, each team in their respective groups will play best-of-three matches in a double-round robin format. The top two teams from the legend group will advance to the second round of playoffs, while the next two ranked teams (third and fourth) will qualify for the first round of playoffs. The fifth-ranked team from the legend group and the top three teams from the rise group will be placed in the play-ins, and the bottom two teams of said group will be eliminated.
Four teams will contest a GSL-style bracket, where the fifth-ranked team in the legend group will face the highest-ranked team from the rise group for the fifth seed in the playoffs. The other two teams will go up against each other in an elimination series, with the winner facing the loser of the fifth-seed match to contest the sixth playoff spot.
The six remaining teams will contest the playoffs in a double-elimination format, where all matches will played in best-of-fives. The top three teams from the playoffs will secure qualification for the 2026 League of Legends World Championship, with the winner of the LCK Finals being crowned the Season Champion. If an LCK team finishes as a finalist at the 2026 Mid-Season Invitational, a fourth slot will be unlocked for the league.
Alongside the announcement of the venue for Road to MSI, the LCK subsequently announced that the finals weekend will be held from 12–13 September at the KSPO Dome in Seoul. [5] The venue previously hosted the 2024 LCK Spring Finals.