Riot Games has revealed its match schedule for the opening rounds of the LCK Cup 2026, set to take place from January 14th to March 1st.
The event will feature all 10 LCK organisations competing for the title, as well as two spots at First Stand 2026.
One of the top clashes of the Group Stage will see the 2025 LCK Cup winner Hanwha Life Esports going up against the 2025 World Champion T1, with HLE’s line-up consisting of former T1 stars Choi ‘Zeus’ Woo-je and Lee ‘Gumayusi’ Min-hyung. The match will take place on January 16th.
Gumayusi, the 2025 Worlds Finals MVP, played a major role in T1’s victory before departing for Hanwha Life Esports. Zeus, on the other hand, earned the Finals MVP award at Worlds 2023 under T1’s banner.
On January 15th, the most consistent LCK team of 2025, Gen.G Esports, will kick off its campaign against DRX. The former will be looking to add the LCK Cup trophy to its collection after winning the Mid-Season Invitational, Esports World Cup, and the LCK Season last year.
Here is the complete schedule for the LCK Cup 2026, along with the details about the tournament format.
LCK Cup 2026 Format and Match Schedule
The 10 partnered organisations have been divided into two groups of five – Elder and Baron. The teams will have to battle in a single round-robin format against teams from the opposite group. Check out the opening matches for the event below:
- January 14th: KT Rolster vs DN SOOPers
- January 14th: Dplus KIA vs BRION
- January 15th: Gen.G Esports vs DRX
- January 15th: BNK FEARX vs Nongshim RedForce
- January 16th: DN SOOPers vs Dplus KIA
- January 16th: Hanwha Life Esports vs T1
- January 17th: BRION vs BNK FEARX
- January 17th: Gen.G Esports vs KT Rolster
- January 18th: Nongshim RedForce vs Hanwha Life Esports
- January 18th: DRX vs T1
- January 21st: Dplus KIA vs Nongshim RedForce
- January 21st: DRX vs DN SOOPers
- January 22nd: BRION vs Hanwha Life Esports
- January 22nd: BNK FEARX vs Gen.G Esports
- January 23rd: KT Rolster vs T1
- January 23rd: Nongshim RedForce vs DRX
- January 24th: Hanwha Life Esports vs DN SOOPers
- January 24th: Dplus KIA vs Gen.G Esports
- January 25th: T1 vs BNK FEARX
- January 25th: KT Rolster vs BRION
- January 28th: BRION vs DRX
- January 29th: DN SOOPers vs BNK FEARX
- January 30th: Nongshim RedForce vs KT Rolster
- January 31st: T1 vs Dplus KIA
- February 1st: Hanwha Life Esports vs Gen.G Esports
Following the Group Stage, the top two teams from the Winner group, along with the top-ranked team from the Loser group, will advance directly to the Playoffs. Meanwhile, the bottom three squads from the Winner group and the squads ranked second to fourth in the Loser Group will move on to Play-Ins.
The double-elimination Play-Ins, running from February 6th to 8th, will send the top three teams to the Playoffs, scheduled from February 12th to March 1st. The final stage of the tournament will also feature a double-elimination bracket.
In the end, the top two teams will represent the region at The First Stand Tournament, taking place from March 16th to 22nd.
The post Hanwha Life Esports vs T1 headlines LCK Cup 2026 schedule appeared first on Esports Insider.
