League of Legends LCK Cup to return with new format, team roster changes

The League of Legends (LoL) Champions Korea (LCK) Cup will return this year with a revised format and extensively reshaped team rosters.

Players of the esports team T1 hold a press conference at a venue in Seoul on Dec. 16, 2025. [NEWS1]

The League of Legends (LoL) Champions Korea (LCK) Cup will return this year with a revised format and extensively reshaped team rosters, especially with the league's star team, T1, replacing star bottom-liner Lee “Gumayusi” Min-hyeong with Kim “Peyz” Su-hwan.

The 2026 edition will run for about a month starting Jan. 14 at the LCK Arena inside LoL Park in Jongno District, central Seoul, Riot Games, which operates the LCK Cup, said on Tuesday. The tournament will again serve as a preseason competition for Korea’s top professional LoL teams.

As with last year’s event, the opening stage will feature a group-versus-group format. Ten teams are split into the Group Baron and the Group Elder, with results combined by group rather than by individual teams. The group with the stronger overall record will receive advantages in the later rounds.

Group assignments were decided through a snake draft led by the previous season’s top teams. Defending LCK champion Gen.G selected T1 for the Group Baron, placing two of the league’s most successful teams in the same bracket. The Group Baron also includes Nongshim RedForce, DN SOOPers and Brion.

Group Elder is led by Hanwha Life Esports, the inaugural LCK Cup champion and rising star. Hanwha Life selected Dplus KIA, followed by KT Rolster, BNK FearX and DRX, creating a group that includes several teams known for postseason upsets.

Fans are seen at a viewing party for the League of Legends 2025 World Championship Finals at LoL Park Stadium, an e-sports venue in Seoul, as the LoL Worlds Championship finals between T1 and KT takes place in Chengdu on Nov. 9, 2025. [AFP/YONHAP]

The tournament opens on Jan. 14 with KT Rolster facing DN SOOPers. The match will mark DN SOOPers’ first appearance under its new team name, changed from DN Freecs, while KT retains much of the core that reached the World Championship final.

Roster changes across the league have been extensive ahead of the 2026 season. Only Gen.G and BNK FearX kept their full 2025 lineups intact. Several teams reshuffled bottom-lane players and coaching staffs during the offseason.

T1, which won the 2025 World Championship, replaced Gumayusi with Peyz, while Hanwha Life Esports added Gumayusi after losing Park “Viper” Do-hyeon to China and signed veteran jungler Seo “Kanavi” Jin-hyeok to replace retired Han “Peanut” Wang-ho.

KT Rolster brought in Kim “Aiming” Ha-ram as its new bottom laner, while Nongshim RedForce rebuilt its mid and jungle positions. Brion and DRX also unveiled largely new rosters.

BY LIM JEONG-WON [lim.jeongwon@joongang.co.kr]