League of Legends LCK Cup Group: Overview and Playoffs Predictions

LCK Cup is a South Korean pre-season tournament in which teams play for 2 spots at First Stand 2026. The competition has 3 stages and ten participating teams in total. The tournament is held in South Korea, while the Lower Bracket Final and Grand Final will be played in Hong Kong.

This overview looks back at the group stage and Play-In and then moves to predictions for the playoffs.

On January 14, the League of Legends LCK Cup group stage began, after which Hanwha Life Esports, the winner of the 2025 LCK Cup, was eliminated.

The playoffs started on February 12 and 13. In Upper Bracket Round 1 Dplus beat DRX 3:2 and FEARX won 3:2 against SOOPers.

Upper Bracket Round 2 was played on February 14 and 15, where Gen.G Esports beat Dplus 3:1 and FEARX defeated T1 3:1, producing the biggest surprise of the tournament so far. Gen.G and FEARX qualified for the Upper Bracket Final, which will be played on February 21.

On February 19 Lower Bracket Round 1 will be played between SOOPers and DRX. The winner will face Dplus in Lower Bracket Round 2 on February 20. The esport team that loses in Lower Bracket Round 2 is eliminated from the tournament and the winner advances to Round 3, where T1 is waiting.

The winner of Lower Bracket Round 3 will qualify for the Lower Bracket Final and face the loser of Gen.G Esports vs FEARX.

After the unexpected T1 loss against FEARX, T1 is now the clear favourite in the lower bracket. The expectation is that T1 will reach the Lower Bracket Final, where a potential rematch against FEARX could be waiting.

After Hanwha Life Esports failed and did not even make it out of the group stage, attention naturally shifted to Gen.G Esports and T1 as the leading contenders. T1 already lost against FEARX in the playoffs, which means they can meet Gen.G Esports only once more, either in the Grand Final or in the Lower Bracket Final.

In League of Legends LCK Cup the most important thing is to reach the final, because both finalists secure a spot at First Stand 2026. For Gen.G Esports the path is very clear. A win against FEARX is enough to reach the final and Gen.G is seen as a clear favourite in this matchup. Sports bookmakers price Gen.G Esports at odds of 1.09 to win.

For T1 to reach the Lower Bracket Final they must beat SOOPers, DRX or Dplus. In this tournament T1 already beat DRX 2:1 and has not yet played against the other two teams. If FEARX fails to produce another upset and cannot beat Gen.G Esports, it is hard to see FEARX defeating T1 for a second time in a row.

The LCK Cup Grand Final will be played in Hong Kong, and the crowd expects nothing less than a Gen.G vs T1 matchup. For both sides a place in the Grand Final would guarantee a ticket to First Stand 2026, so in that case the pressure would be off, and the final would be played mainly for prestige.

Gen.G Esports is seen as the favourite in a potential final. T1 still has Lee “Faker“ Sang-hyok, but the roster has changed. Lee “Gumayusi“ Min hyung has left and was replaced by Kim “Peyz“ Su-hwan.

So far Gen.G Esports has not only won all six of its LCK Cup matches, but has done so convincingly. In the group stage they went 11:0 in maps and in the playoffs, they beat Dplus 3:1. Gen.G Esports enters the LCK Cup playoffs in excellent form and is expected to lift the trophy in the Grand Final.

League of Legends LCK Cup 2026 started on January 14, and the final will be played on March 1. The full remaining playoff schedule:

Even though this is only the beginning of the South Korean League of Legends season, the teams are already playing with the clear goal of qualifying for First Stand 2026. Gen.G Esports is one step away from the final and is considered the main favourite to win the tournament.

T1 lost to FEARX in the playoffs, but the team remains the clear favourite in the lower bracket and has a strong chance to reach the final. Dplus can cause an upset and pose a serious challenge to T1, yet the chances of T1 suffering another defeat before the final are small.

All tournament matches except the Lower Bracket Final and the Grand Final are played in a LAN studio in South Korea, while the last two matches of the tournament will be held in front of a live audience at Kai Tak Arena in Hong Kong.