LCK 2026 Season Opening unveils full lineups

Right before the start of the LCK Cup, Korean players will first have some fun during the LCK 2026 Season Opening, which will take place on Friday, January 9. With five teams formed by players based on their in-game roles, here are the lineups that will take part in this year’s edition.

LCK 2026 Season Opening – Who are going to be the captains?

This year’s edition sees an interesting mix of players, but it’s not surprising to see all T1 players take part. In particular, Mun ‘Oner’ Hyeon-jun, Lee ‘Faker’ Sang-hyeok, and Ryu ‘Keria’ Min-seok are going to be the three captains for their respective teams, with Choi ‘Doran’ Hyeon-joon and Kim ‘Peyz’ Su-hwan also in Team Top and Team Bot.

These last two teams will instead be led by Hanwha Life Esports top laner Choi ‘Zeus’ Woo-je and Park ‘Ruler’ Jae-hyuk. Each LCK team must at least field one of its players, although it’s not surprising that the top teams had more representation, with Gen.G and Hanwha Life Esports each adding three of their players, and the remaining seven sending out two each. The five captains explained all their choices through a video posted on the official LCK channels.

Is Team MID the favorite once again?

Among the five lineups, the ones that stand out for this year’s LCK Season Opening are Team Mid, who won the 2025 edition, and Team Bot. Faker will play alongside Heo ‘ShowMaker‘ Su, Lee ‘Scout‘ Ye-chan, Jeong ‘Chovy‘ Ji-hoon, and Son ‘ucal‘ Woo-hyeon in what is one of the most stacked player pools in the league’s history.

The ADC team will have Ruler, Peyz, as well as the BRION’s ADC Park ‘Teddy‘ Jin-seong, Dplus KIA’s Shin ‘Smash‘ Geum-jae, and BNK FearX’s Nam ‘Diable‘ Dae-geun. All these players are known for their carry potential and are expected to be contesting for this year’s victory. The five lineups are as follows:

• Team TOP: Zeus, Kiin, DuDu, Doran, Kingen
• Team JGL: Oner, Kanavi, Willer, Cuzz, GIDEON
• Team MID: Faker, ShowMaker, Scout, Chovy, Ucal
• Team BOT: Ruler, Peyz, Teddy, Smash, Diable
• Team SUP: Keria, Ghost, Kellin, Delight, Life

LCK 2026 Season Opening Format and Where to Watch

The exhibition match will see a single-elimination bracket with best-of-one matches. The bracket, however, will be decided through a series of minigames, where the winner will be able to arrange all five teams, with two teams fighting in the first round and having to play one additional round. In last year’s edition, Team Sup and Team Bot played the extra series, with the latter coming out victorious. ù

The LCK 2026 Season Opening will be streamed on Korean platforms SOOP and CHZZK. With the latter two having exclusive broadcasts over the LCK, it’s unclear whether the event will be streamed on Twitch and YouTube for English viewers.