League of Legends Champions Korea (LCK) is the primary competition for League of Legendsesports in South Korea. Contested by ten teams, the league runs two seasons per year and serves as a direct route to qualification for the annual League of Legends World Championship. The LCK is administered in cooperation between Riot Games and KeSPA.
The league was formerly named League of LegendsChampions before undergoing a major restructuring in late 2014, which saw a change in the competition's format and a rebranding to its current name. OGN reserved exclusive broadcasting rights of the league until 2016 when rights were split with SPOTV Games.[1][non-primary source needed] In 2019, Riot Games took over the broadcasting of LCK.[2][3] In 2021 the LCK franchised, and Challengers Korea (CK) and the LCK promotion tournament were discontinued.[4]
Teams from the LCK have won the World Championship a record ten times, including five consecutive titles from 2013 to 2017.[5]
History
Pre-LCK era (2012–2014)
KT Rolster Arrows won the final Korea Champions before the implementation of the LCK
Following the launch of South Korea's League of Legends server in December 2011, cable broadcaster OnGameNet launched the country's first major League of Legends tournament in March 2012. Named The Champions Spring 2012, the tournament ran from March to May and was contested by a total of 16 teams. MiG Blaze was crowned the competition's inaugural champion after defeating their organizational sibling team MiG Frost in the finals. The Champions Summer 2012 followed later that year, with a rebranded MiG Frost, now known as Azubu Frost, claiming the title themselves. Azubu Frost, along with NaJin Sword, went on to represent South Korea in their first appearance at the League of Legends World Championship in October.[5]
A tri-tournament annual circuit was soon set as the norm for the league's calendar year, now consisting of three seasons held in the winter, spring, and summer. Azubu Frost and NaJin Sword clashed early in 2013 in the finals of Champions Winter 2012–13, with the latter emerging victorious. Champions Spring 2013 and Champions Summer 2013 later followed, being won by MVP Ozone and SK Telecom T1 K respectively. SK Telecom T1 K went on to win the Season 3 World Championship later that year, becoming the first team from the league to do so.[6]
SK Telecom T1 K became the first team to successfully defend their title the following year, sweeping Samsung Galaxy Ozone in the finals of Champions Winter 2013–14 to cap off an undefeated tournament run. Ozone's sibling team, Samsung Galaxy Blue, went on to win Champions Spring 2014 but were bested in the finals of Champions Summer 2014 by KT Rolster Arrows.[7]
In October 2014, plans were announced for a drastic overhaul of the league's structure.[8]League of Legends Champions was rebranded to League of Legends Champions Korea (LCK), and the winter season was abolished in favor of an annual circuit consisting of the Spring Split and Summer Split. The competition's format, which consisted of a 16-team tournament with a group stage progressing into a knockout stage, was changed to a 10-team league operating on a round-robin basis, with the top 5 teams qualifying for a playoffs bracket. Furthermore, organizations were prohibited from owning more than one team - in particular, this change most heavily affected KeSPA-affiliated teams, all of which operated two squads as part of a sibling team system - forcing numerous organizations to merge or disband rosters.[9]
LCK Spring 2015 marked the debut of the league operating under its new format and identity. A newly minted SK Telecom T1, a product of the prior year's merger between SK Telecom T1 K and SK Telecom T1 S, swept the calendar year by winning both LCK Spring 2015 and LCK Summer 2015.[10][11]
SK Telecom T1 retained their crown in LCK Spring 2016, becoming the first team in competition history to win three consecutive titles. Their streak of dominance was ended in LCK Summer 2016 by ROX Tigers (currently Hanwha Life Esports), who became only the second team to win the league since its restructuring.[12]
SK Telecom T1 won their sixth title as an organization on 22 April 2017, by defeating KT Rolster in the finals of LCK Spring 2017. In LCK Summer 2017 Finals, Longzhu Gaming won their first title on 26 August 2017 after defeating the spring winner SK Telecom T1.[13]
Longzhu Gaming rebranded to Kingzone DragonX following the 2017 World Championship, and they defended their title in LCK 2018 Spring by defeating the Afreeca Freecs. kt Rolster won the LCK Summer 2018 championship, defeating Griffin in the finals.[14]
SK Telecom T1 won the LCK Spring 2019 title after defeating Griffin in the finals with 3–0. This marked the seventh LCK title for SK Telecom T1.[15] On 31 August 2019, SK Telecom T1 once again defeated Griffin in the finals with a score of 3–1. This was their eighth championship title, and also their back-to-back LCK title in 2019.[16]
T1 also won the LCK Spring 2020 title after defeating Gen.G in the finals (3–0), taking the title for the third time in a row. The title also marked the organization's ninth championship title, and their first after rebranding from SK Telecom T1 to T1. In LCK Summer 2020, Damwon Gaming won their first championship title after defeating DRX in the finals.[17]
DWG KIA (previously Damwon Gaming) won the title for both LCK Spring and Summer 2021, making them the champions for three consecutive splits. They defeated Gen.G in the Spring,[18] and T1 in the Summer.[19]
On 2 April 2022, T1 won the LCK Spring 2022 title after defeating Gen.G in the finals. This marked their tenth championship title.[20] Gen.G would go on to win the LCK title for four consecutive splits (Summer 2022 to Spring 2024), before Hanwha Life Esports defeated them in the Summer 2024 final. It was Hanwha's first title under their current name and second if counting ROX Tigers' title in the Summer 2016.[21]
On 29 October 2024, the LCK announced a new format to align itself with the rest of global League of Legends in 2025. To accommodate a new international tournament in March known as the First Stand, the league announced the LCK Cup, a "pre-season" tournament that sends the winner to the competition, as well as a merger of the two splits into one single season, with mid-season playoffs being held to determine Korea's MSI representatives and the end of season playoffs determining the LCK champion and Worlds representatives.[22]
The LCK Cup precedes the regular season. The top two teams from the previous season are assigned to two groups (Group Baron and Group Elder), with each group taking turns drafting teams into their group until all teams are divided into two groups of five.
In the group stage, teams play five matches, one against all teams from the opposing group. All matches are best-of-three and award one point to the winning team's group. The last week of the group stage, known as Super Week, features best-of-five matches with two points awarded to the winning team's group.
The results of the group stage are be used to determine qualification for the play-ins and playoffs. As of the 2026 season:
The top two teams from the winning group qualify for the playoffs and start at the upper bracket semifinals.
The top team from the losing group qualify for the playoffs and start at the upper bracket quarterfinals.
The third through fifth-placed teams from the winning group and the second through fourth-placed team from the losing group qualify for play-ins.
The top two teams among play-in teams start in the second round while the rest start in the first round.
The fifth-placed team from the losing group is eliminated.
Play-ins
Six teams compete in a hybrid-elimination play-in bracket, with all matches being best-of-five. The first round is single-elimination between the third to sixth seeds, with the winners advancing to a double-elimination bracket with the top two seeds. The winners of the second round qualify for the first round of the playoffs, while the losers compete in a final match for the final playoff berth.
Playoffs
Six teams compete in a double-elimination playoff bracket, featuring an extended lower bracket with all matches being best-of-five. The top two teams qualify for the First Stand Tournament as the LCK's representatives.
All series during the LCK Cup utilize Fearless Draft, where champions selected during a game cannot be selected again for the remainder of the series.[23]
Regular season
Since the 2025 season, the LCK hosts a single regular season unlike other leagues that are divided into multiple "splits", each with a different champion. However, the regular season is still split into two, with a mid-season tournament taking place in between.
First half
In the first half, all ten teams play in a double round-robin tournament, playing two best-of-three matches against all other teams for a total of 18 matches. The top six teams in the first half compete in the Road to MSI tournament.
The Road to MSI features an all-best-of-five stepladder-style bracket. Teams from third to sixth place compete in the stepladder, while the top two teams compete in a single match for the first seed of the Mid-Season Invitational (MSI). The loser of the first seed match and the last remaining team of the stepladder compete in a final match for the second seed.
Second half
Results from the first half also determine the groupings for the second half. The top five teams are assigned to the Legend Group, while the bottom five are put into the Rise Group. They then play in a triple round-robin, playing three matches against all other teams from their group for a total of 12 additional matches. By the end of the regular season, all teams would have played 30 games. The second half is a double round-robin, with teams playing eight matches for an overall total of 26.
At the end of the regular season:
The top two teams from the Legend Group qualify for the playoffs and start in the second round.
The third and fourth-placed teams from the Legend Group qualify for the playoffs and start in the first round.
The fifth-placed team from the Legend Group and the top three teams from the Rise Group qualify for the play-ins.
Play-ins
Four teams compete in a double-eliminationGSL-style format, with all matches being best-of-five. The top two teams qualify for the playoffs.
Playoffs
Six teams compete in a double-elimination playoff bracket, featuring an extended lower bracket with all matches being best-of-five, mirroring the LCK Cup's playoff format. The top three teams qualify for the World Championship, with the fourth-placed team also qualifying should the LCK earn an additional slot via MSI.
Teams
The following ten organizations compete in the league:
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2026 LCK season 
