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LCK will extend the new season.

Before the start of the regular season, the LCK Cup, set to take place in a pre-season format, will begin on the 14th and kick off a one-month schedule.

After the LCK was restructured into a single season for the first time last year, the LCK Cup, which initially started as an exhibition event, offered fresh excitement by evolving in a manner distinct from the regular season.

This year, similar to last year, the initial stage will be conducted as a group-based competition. Five teams are part of the Baron Group and the Elder Group, and the group that demonstrates better overall performance by summing up the results of its teams will gain greater advantages in progressing to the next stage.

The team assignment was carried out using a snake-like approach, where two teams, representing the leaders of each group, chose one team, and the chosen teams were grouped together, similar to the process in 2025.

Gen. G., who secured the LCK title in the previous season, joined T1 as part of the same baron group. T1 selected Nongshim Red Force, DN Red Force, and DN Superth chose Brion. It’s intriguing that Gen.G, who dominated major tournaments like LCK, MSI, and EWC last year, and T1, who claimed the LoL World Championship (LoL World Cup) for three straight years, are in the same group.

The older group is also strong. Hanwha Life e-Sports, the first champion of the LCK Cup and the leader of the older group, selected D-plus Kia. D+ Kia picked KT Rollster, KT Rollster chose BNK PeerX, and BNK PeerX selected DRX. Several underdogs are present, including KT, which reached the finals at the LOL World Cup last year, and BNK, which made an impact in the playoffs.

In the anticipated close competition, the first match of the LCK Cup, starting on the 14th, will feature KT versus DN. The spotlight is on how DN, who rebranded and entirely revamped their lineup, will perform against KT, who kept their top, jungle, and mid players from when they finished as runners-up in the LOL World Cup.

One of the key updates in this LCK Cup is the implementation of ‘Super Week’. This phase involves the top-seeded teams from the Baron Group and the Elder Group competing against each other, a format introduced based on fan feedback from the 2025 LCK Cup. The team that wins within this period will earn two points for their group, which will play a crucial role in determining which teams qualify for the playoffs. This change aims to add more excitement to the group stage, enhancing the overall viewing experience for fans. A notable aspect is that all matches during this time will be decided in a best-of-five format.

“Super Week” occurs during the third week. The opening will be interrupted by Bryon and DRX, the fifth seeds from each group. Beginning with the match between the two teams, DN and BNK, Nongshim and KT, T1 and D-Plus, and Gen.G. Hanwha Life will come next.

In the meantime, most teams have formed new lineups for the 2026 season. Gen.G and BNK have kept the same roster as in 2025, while many other teams are beginning to restructure their members, with numerous lower-tier players and coaching personnel undergoing changes.

The most apparent shift among the lower-tier teams is evident. T1, which has claimed the LOL World Cup for three straight years, brought in Kim Soo-hwan, who was active in the LPL (China), following Lee Min-hyung’s departure from the team, who had been named MVP in the final. Hanwha Life Insurance strengthened its lineup by signing Lee Min-hyung after Park Do-hyun moved to China, and replaced the retired Jungler ‘Peanut’ Han Wang-ho with Seo Jin-hyuk from the LPL.

KT’s bottom liner ‘Deokdam’ Seo Dae-gil and supporters ‘Peter’ Jeong Yoon-soo shifted to DN, welcoming ‘Aming’ Kim Haram, who previously played for KT and moved to D-Plus, as their bottom liner, while also signing Jang Yong-joon, a former champion of the 2020 LOL World Cup, and Oh Dong-gyu, who was with Brion last season.

Nongshim, led by top laner ‘Kinggen’ Hwang Sung-hoon, has retained support player ‘Rihenz’ Son Si-woo, and is composed of mid-laner and former LOL World Cup champion ‘Scout’ Lee Ye-chan, jungler ‘Sponge’ Bae Young-joon, and bottom laner ‘Taeyoon’ Kim Tae-yoon. The team has also added young talent Shin Geum-jae, who demonstrated great potential while playing as a bottom laner for T1, and Oh Hyung-seok, who is a supporter of ‘Career’.

Following a significant change in the team roster in 2025, Brion has formed an entirely new lineup, featuring ‘Casting’ Shin Min-je, ‘Guidon’ Kim Min-sung, ‘Fisher’ Jungtae Lee, ‘Teddy’ Park Jin-sung, ‘Namgung’ Park Jin-sung, ‘Willer’ Kim Jung-hyun, and ‘Vincenzo’ Ha Seung-min as Junglers, along with Jung Ji-woo, a bottom lane player from Nongshim.

Besides the bottom liner, many coaching staff have also undergone changes. Gen.G, which had a disappointing performance at the LOL World Cup, hired Yoo Sang-wook, who guided the BNK team to success in 2025, while Hanwha Life Insurance appointed Yoon Sung-young, who previously led the team in the LPL, as their new coach after parting ways with Choi In-kyu. Coach Choi In-kyu has now joined Nongshim.

D-Plus elevated Kim Dae-ho, who previously served as a coach, to the position of head coach, while Brion recruited Kim Sang-soo, a former DRX player, and appointed Lee Ho-sung as a coach. Without Kim Sang-soo, DRX handed over the leadership to Cho Jae-eup, known as “Joker,” and BNK promoted Park Joon-seok, who was coaching the Challengers team, to become the first team’s coach.