League of Legends Champions Korea
Upcoming season or competition:
Current sports event 2024 LCK season
GameLeague of Legends
Founded2012
No. of teams10
CountrySouth Korea
Venue(s)LoL Park, Seoul
Most recent
champion(s)		Gen.G (4th title)
(Summer 2023)
Most titlesT1 (10 titles)
QualificationFranchise partnership
Sponsor(s)HP Omen, Logitech, McDonald's, Secretlab, Woori Bank[1]
International cup(s)Mid-Season Invitational
World Championship

League of Legends Champions Korea (LCK) is the primary competition for League of Legends esports in South Korea. Contested by ten teams, the league runs two seasons per year and serves as a direct route to qualification for the annual League of Legends World Championship. The LCK is administered in cooperation between Riot Games and KeSPA.

The league was formerly named League of Legends Champions before undergoing a major restructuring in late 2014, which saw a change in the competition's format and a rebranding to its current name. OGN reserved exclusive broadcasting rights of the league until 2016 when rights were split with SPOTV Games.[2] In 2019, Riot Games took over the broadcasting of LCK.[3][4] In 2021 the LCK franchised, and Challengers Korea (CK) and the LCK promotion tournament were discontinued.[5]

The LCK is considered one of the strongest League of Legends competitions in the world, with teams from the league winning the World Championship a record eight times, including five consecutive titles from 2013 to 2017.

History

Pre-LCK era (2012–2014)

KT Rolster Arrows won the final Korea Champions before the implementation of the LCK

Following the launch of South Korea's League of Legends server in December 2011, cable broadcaster OnGameNet launched the country's first major League of Legends tournament in March 2012. Named The Champions Spring 2012, the tournament ran from March to May and was contested by a total of 16 teams. MiG Blaze was crowned the competition's inaugural champion after defeating their organizational sibling team MiG Frost in the finals. The Champions Summer 2012 followed later that year, with a rebranded MiG Frost, now known as Azubu Frost, claiming the title themselves. Azubu Frost, along with NaJin Sword, went on to represent South Korea in their first appearance at the League of Legends World Championship in October.

A tri-tournament annual circuit was soon set as the norm for the league's calendar year, now consisting of three seasons held in the winter, spring, and summer. Azubu Frost and NaJin Sword clashed early in 2013 in the finals of Champions Winter 2012–13, with the latter emerging victorious. Champions Spring 2013 and Champions Summer 2013 later followed, being won by MVP Ozone and SK Telecom T1 K respectively. SK Telecom T1 K went on to win the Season 3 World Championship later that year, becoming the first team from the league to do so.

SK Telecom T1 K became the first team to successfully defend their title the following year, sweeping Samsung Galaxy Ozone in the finals of Champions Winter 2013–14 to cap off an undefeated tournament run. Ozone's sibling team, Samsung Galaxy Blue, went on to win Champions Spring 2014 but were bested in the finals of Champions Summer 2014 by kt Rolster Arrows.

In October 2014, plans were announced for a drastic overhaul of the league's structure.[6] League of Legends Champions was rebranded to League of Legends Champions Korea (LCK), and the winter season was abolished in favor of an annual circuit consisting of the Spring Split and Summer Split. The competition's format, which consisted of a 16-team tournament with a group stage progressing into a knockout stage, was changed to a 10-team league operating on a round-robin basis, with the top 5 teams qualifying for a playoffs bracket. Furthermore, organizations were prohibited from owning more than one team - in particular, this change most heavily affected KeSPA-affiliated teams, all of which operated two squads as part of a sibling team system - forcing numerous organizations to merge or disband rosters.

LCK era (since 2015)

T1 is the winningest team in the LCK.

LCK Spring 2015 marked the debut of the league operating under its new format and identity. A newly minted SK Telecom T1, a product of the prior year's merger between SK Telecom T1 K and SK Telecom T1 S, swept the calendar year by winning both LCK Spring 2015 and LCK Summer 2015.

SK Telecom T1 retained their crown in LCK Spring 2016, becoming the first team in competition history to win three consecutive titles. Their streak of dominance was ended in LCK Summer 2016 by ROX Tigers, who became only the second team to win the league since its restructuring.

SK Telecom T1 won their sixth title as an organization on 22 April 2017, by defeating KT Rolster in the finals of LCK Spring 2017. In LCK Summer 2017 Finals, Longzhu Gaming won their first title on 26 August 2017 after defeating the spring winner SK Telecom T1.

Longzhu Gaming rebranded to Kingzone DragonX following the 2017 World Championship, and they defended their title in LCK 2018 Spring by defeating the Afreeca Freecs. kt Rolster won the LCK Summer 2018 championship, defeating Griffin in the finals.

SK Telecom T1 won the LCK Spring 2019 title after defeating Griffin in the finals with 3–0. This marked the seventh LCK title for SK Telecom T1.[7] On 31 August 2019, SK Telecom T1 once again defeated Griffin in the finals with a score of 3–1. This was their eighth championship title, and also their back-to-back LCK title in 2019.[8]

T1 also won the LCK Spring 2020 title after defeating Gen.G in the finals (3–0), taking the title for the third time in a row. The title also marked the organization's ninth championship title, and their first after rebranding from SK Telecom T1 to T1. In LCK Summer 2020, Damwon Gaming won their first championship title after defeating DRX in the finals.[9]

DWG KIA (previously Damwon Gaming) won the title for both LCK Spring and Summer 2021, making them the champions for three consecutive splits. They defeated Gen.G in the Spring,[10] and T1 in the Summer.[11]

On 2 April 2022, T1 won the LCK Spring 2022 title after defeating Gen.G in the finals. This marked their tenth championship title.[12]

Format

Regular season

  • Ten teams participate
  • Double round robin, all matches are best-of-three
  • The best six teams advance to the playoffs
    • The top two teams get byes into the semifinals
  • If two teams have the same record, ties are broken by:
    • Game record (teams get +1 point for a won game and –1 point for a lost game; the team with more points wins the tie)
    • If points are tied, ties are broken by head-to-head record
    • If still tied, teams play a tiebreaker match

Playoffs

  • The top six teams participate in the playoffs
  • Single-elimination, double bracket format
    • All matches are best-of-five
  • The winner and runner-up of the Spring Season qualify for the Mid-Season Invitational
  • The winner of the Summer Season (seed 1), the team with the most championship points (seed 2), and both finalists of the regional qualifier (seed 3 and 4) qualify for the World Championship.

Teams

Team LCK debut[lower-alpha 1] Roster Head
Coach
Top Laner Jungler Mid Laner Bot Laner Support
Dplus KIA 2019 Kingen Lucid ShowMaker Aiming Kellin Zefa
DRX 2012 Rascal Sponge SeTab Teddy Pleata Micro
FearX 2019 Clear Willer
Seobi		 Clozer Hena Execute Ryu
Gen.G 2013 Kiin Canyon Chovy Peyz Lehends Helper
Kim
Mata
Hanwha Life Esports 2015 Doran Peanut Zeka Viper Delight DanDy
KT Rolster 2013 PerfecT Pyosik Bdd Deft BeryL Hirai
Kwangdong Freecs 2015 DuDu Cuzz
YoungJae		 BuLLDoG Taeyoon Andil cvMax
Nongshim RedForce 2020 DnDn Sylvie Callme
Fiesta		 Jiwoo Peter Irean
OKSavingsBank Brion 2012 Morgan Gideon Karis Envyy Effort Edgar
T1 2013 Zeus Oner Faker Gumayusi Keria kkOma
  1. ↑ Including OGN The Champions

Results

By season

† Background shading indicates that the team won the World Championship.
Year Split 1st 2nd 3rd 4th Qualified for World Championship
Seed 1 Seed 2 Seed 3 Seed 4
2012 Spring MiG Blaze MiG Frost Xenics Storm Team OP Azubu Frost Najin Sword — —
Summer Azubu Frost CLG Europe Najin Sword Azubu Blaze
2013 Winter Najin Sword Azubu Frost KT Rolster B Azubu Blaze Najin Black Sword Samsung Galaxy Ozone[lower-alpha 1] SK Telecom T1 2 † —
Spring MVP Ozone CJ Entus Blaze SK Telecom T1 2 CJ Entus Frost
Summer ⁠SK Telecom T1 2 KT Rolster Bullets MVP Ozone CJ Entus Frost
2014 Winter SK Telecom T1 K Samsung Galaxy Ozone KT Rolster Bullets Najin White Shield Samsung Galaxy Blue Samsung Galaxy White † Najin White Shield —
Spring Samsung Galaxy Blue Najin White Shield Samsung Galaxy Ozone CJ Entus Blaze
Summer KT Rolster Arrows Samsung Galaxy Blue Samsung Galaxy White ⁠SK Telecom T1 S
2015 Spring SK Telecom T1 GE Tigers CJ Entus Jin Air Green Wings SK Telecom T1 † KOO Tigers KT Rolster —
Summer SK Telecom T1 KT Rolster KOO Tigers CJ Entus
2016 Spring SK Telecom T1 ROX Tigers KT Rolster Jin Air Green Wings ROX Tigers SK Telecom T1 † Samsung Galaxy —
Summer ROX Tigers KT Rolster SK Telecom T1 Samsung Galaxy
2017 Spring SK Telecom T1 KT Rolster Samsung Galaxy Team MVP Longzhu Gaming SK Telecom T1 Samsung Galaxy † —
Summer Longzhu Gaming SK Telecom T1 KT Rolster Samsung Galaxy
2018 Spring Kingzone DragonX Afreeca Freecs KT Rolster SK Telecom T1 KT Rolster Afreeca Freecs Gen.G —
Summer KT Rolster Griffin Afreeca Freecs Kingzone DragonX
2019 Spring SK Telecom T1 Griffin Kingzone DragonX Damwon Gaming SK Telecom T1 Griffin Damwon Gaming —
Summer SK Telecom T1 Griffin Damwon Gaming Sandbox Gaming
2020 Spring T1 Gen.G DragonX Damwon Gaming Damwon Gaming † DRX Gen.G —
Summer Damwon Gaming DRX Gen.G Afreeca Freecs
2021 Spring DWG KIA Gen.G Hanwha Life Esports T1 DWG KIA Gen.G T1 Hanwha Life Esports
Summer DWG KIA T1 Gen.G Nongshim RedForce
2022 Spring T1 Gen.G DWG KIA Kwangdong Freecs Gen.G T1 DWG KIA DRX †
Summer Gen.G T1 Liiv Sandbox DWG KIA
2023 Spring Gen.G T1 KT Rolster Hanwha Life Esports Gen.G T1 † KT Rolster Dplus KIA
Summer Gen.G T1 KT Rolster Hanwha Life Esports
2024 Spring
Summer

By team

Teams in italics indicate teams that have been disbanded or no longer participates in the league.

Performances in League of Legends Champions Korea by team
Team Title(s) Runners-up Seasons won Seasons runner-up
T1[lower-alpha 2] 10 5 2013 Summer, 2013–14 Winter, 2015 Spring, 2015 Summer, 2016 Spring, 2017 Spring, 2019 Spring, 2019 Summer, 2020 Spring, 2022 Spring 2017 Summer, 2021 Summer, 2022 Summer, 2023 Spring, 2023 Summer
Gen.G[lower-alpha 3] 4 5 2014 Spring, 2022 Summer, 2023 Spring, 2023 Summer 2013–14 Winter, 2014 Summer, 2020 Spring, 2021 Spring, 2022 Spring
Dplus KIA[lower-alpha 4] 3 0 2020 Summer, 2021 Spring, 2021 Summer
KT Rolster[lower-alpha 5] 2 4 2014 Summer, 2018 Summer 2013 Summer, 2015 Summer, 2016 Summer, 2017 Spring
CJ Entus[lower-alpha 6] 2 3 2012 Spring, 2012 Summer 2012 Spring, 2012–13 Winter, 2013 Spring
DRX[lower-alpha 7] 2 1 2017 Summer, 2018 Spring 2020 Summer
Hanwha Life Esports[lower-alpha 8] 1 2 2016 Summer 2015 Spring, 2016 Spring
OKSavingsBank Brion[lower-alpha 9] 1 1 2012–13 Winter 2014 Spring
MVP 1 0 2013 Spring
Griffin 0 3 2018 Summer, 2019 Spring, 2019 Summer
NRG Esports[lower-alpha 10] 0 1 2012 Summer
Kwangdong Freecs[lower-alpha 11] 0 1 2018 Spring

Notes

  1. ↑ Named MVP Ozone before September 2013
  2. ↑ Previously known as SK Telecom T1
  3. ↑ Previously known as Samsung Galaxy Ozone, Samsung Galaxy Blue & White, and Samsung Galaxy
  4. ↑ Previously known as Damwon Gaming and DWG KIA
  5. ↑ Previously known as KT Rolster Bullets and KT Rolster Arrows
  6. ↑ Previously known as MiG Blaze & MiG Frost, Azubu Frost & Azubu Blaze, and CJ Entus Blaze
  7. ↑ Previously known as Incredible Miracle, Longzhu Gaming, Kingzone DragonX, and DragonX
  8. ↑ Previously known as GE Tigers, KOO Tigers, and ROX Tigers
  9. ↑ Previously known as Najin Sword, Najin Black Sword & Najin White Shield, Brion Blade, hyFresh Blade, and Fredit Brion
  10. ↑ Previously known as Counter Logic Gaming
  11. ↑ Previously known as Afreeca Freecs

References

  1. ↑ Hitt, Kevin (5 January 2021). "League of Legends Champions Korea Making Big Changes for 2021". The Esports Observer. Retrieved 14 January 2021.
  2. ↑ "리그 오브 레전드". leagueoflegends.co.kr (in Korean). 16 December 2015. Retrieved 28 November 2020.
  3. ↑ Fogel, Stefanie (11 January 2019). "Riot Games to Independently Broadcast 'LoL' Champions Korea This Year". Variety. Retrieved 4 September 2019.
  4. ↑ Leslie, Callum (13 November 2017). "Riot plans to take over LCK production in 2019, open LoL Park studio". Dot Esports. Retrieved 4 September 2019.
  5. ↑ Daniels, Tom (2 November 2020). "Riot Games reveals LCK's 10 franchised teams". Esports Insider. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
  6. ↑ Deesing, Jonathan (28 October 2014). "Korean Professional League Getting Overhauled". redbull.com. Retrieved 28 November 2020.
  7. ↑ "[롤챔스] '제왕의 귀환' SK텔레콤, 그리핀 꺾고 LCK 첫 'V7' 축배(종합)". sports.news.naver.com (in Korean). 13 April 2019. Retrieved 10 July 2019.
  8. ↑ David "Viion" Jang (31 August 2019). "League of Legends: [2019 LCK Summer Finals] SK Telecom T1 Wins their 8th LCK Championship". Inven Global. Retrieved 31 August 2019.
  9. ↑ "DAMWON sweep DRX for LCK Summer Playoffs title". Reuters. 5 September 2020. Retrieved 23 April 2022.
  10. ↑ "DK Khan named Finals MVP of the 2021 LCK Spring split". InvenGlobal. 10 April 2021. Retrieved 23 April 2022.
  11. ↑ "DK ShowMaker:"I was actually hoping that Khan would receive it. I'll make sure that Khan gets MVP at Worlds by babysitting top lane."". InvenGlobal. 28 August 2021. Retrieved 23 April 2022.
  12. ↑ "T1 defeat Gen.G 3-1 and becomes 2022 LCK Spring Champions, will represent the LCK at MSI 2022". InvenGlobal. 2 April 2022. Retrieved 23 April 2022.
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