How the LoL Esports season works

Events on the calendar

Event	Status	Dates	Location	Prize
CBLOL 2026 Split 2	Ongoing	Jul 25 to Oct 10, 2026	São Paulo	$60,000
VCS 2026 Finals	Ongoing	Sep 11 to Oct 11, 2026	Haiphong
EMEA Masters 2026 Summer	Ongoing	Sep 21 to Oct 23, 2026	Europe
2026 Demacia Cup Global Invitational	Ongoing	Oct 3 to Oct 17, 2026	China	¥1,500,000 CNY (≃ $223,729 USD)
LCP 2027 Promotion Wild Card Playoffs	Upcoming	Oct 10 to Oct 13, 2026	Asia	$5,000
LGC 2026 Rising	Upcoming	Oct 11 to Oct 27, 2026	Europe	€3,000 EUR (≃ $3,365 USD)
2026 World Championship	Upcoming	Oct 15 to Nov 14, 2026	Los Angeles Allen New York City	$5,000,000
LCK CL 2026 Season	Completed	Mar 30 to Sep 15, 2026	Seoul Incheon	₩87,500,000 KRW (≃ $64,892 USD)
LCK 2026 Season	Completed	Apr 1 to Sep 13, 2026	Seoul Incheon Hanoi Goyang Seoul
NACL 2026 Summer	Completed	Jul 16 to Sep 11, 2026	North America	$40,000
Circuito Desafiante 2026 Split 2	Completed	Jul 20 to Sep 14, 2026	Brazil
LPL 2026 Split 3	Completed	Jul 22 to Sep 13, 2026	Shenzhen Shanghai Beijing Suzhou Xi'an	¥4,000,000 CNY (≃ $596,281 USD)
LEC 2026 Summer	Completed	Jul 24 to Sep 20, 2026	Berlin Madrid Paris Nice
LCS 2026 Summer	Completed	Jul 25 to Oct 4, 2026	Los Angeles Mexico City Duluth
LPL 2026 Regional Finals	Completed	Sep 17 to Sep 19, 2026	Shanghai
2026 World Star Challengers Invitational	Completed	Sep 20 to Oct 2, 2026	South Korea	$48,000

Formats and key facts

LCK 2026 Season

Starts

2026-04-01

Ends

2026-09-13

Location

Seoul Incheon Hanoi Goyang Seoul

Venue

Expand Collapse LoL PARK INSPIRE Arena (T1 Home Ground) Vietnam Exposition Center (DRX HOMEFRONT) KINTEX (Gen.G Homestand) KSPO Dome (T1 Home Ground, LB Final & Grand Final)

Type

Offline

Teams

10

Organizer

Riot Games

Series

LCK

Tier

S-Tier

• Rounds 1-2 – April 1st – May 31st, 2026
• Double round-robin
• All matches are Bo3 using Fearless Draft
• Top 6 teams qualify for Road to MSI
• Rounds 3-4 – July 29th – August 23rd, 2026
• 10 teams are split into two groups based on Round 1-2 standings
• Top 5 teams from round 1-2 are assigned to Legend Group
• Bottom 5 teams from round 1-2 are assigned to Rise Group
• Double round-robin
• Records from Rounds 1-2 are carried over.
• All matches are Bo3 using Fearless Draft
• Top 2 teams from Legend Group advance to Playoffs Round 2
• 3-4th teams from Legend Group advance to Playoffs Round 1
• Bottom team from Legend Group and top team from Rise Group advance to Play-In Round 1
• 2nd-3rd teams from Rise Group advance to Play-In Round 2
• Bottom two teams from Rise Group are eliminated
• Play-In – August 26th – 28th, 2026
• Double Elimination
• Top two teams advance to Playoffs Round 1
• All matches are Bo5 using Fearless Draft
• Playoffs – August 29th – September 13th, 2026
• Double Elimination
• All matches are Bo5 using Fearless Draft
• Top 3 teams qualify for Worlds
• If Hanwha Life Esports (the MSI Champion) finishes in the top 3, then the 4th place team qualifies for Worlds as the 4th seed of LCK

LPL 2026 Split 3

Starts

2026-07-22

Ends

2026-09-13

Location

Shenzhen Shanghai Beijing Suzhou Xi'an

Venue

Expand Collapse Shenzhen LongGang BuJi Cultural & Sports Center (NIP Home Arena) Shanghai IG-Huya Competition Center (IG Home Arena) Beijing JD Esports Center (JDG Home Arena) Suzhou Yangcheng International Esports Center (LNG Home Arena) Xi'an Qujiang Esports Center (WE Home Arena) Shanghai Oriental Sports Center (LB Final & Grand Final)

Type

Offline

Prize pool

¥4,000,000 CNY (≃ $596,281 USD)

Teams

12

Organizer

TJ Sports

Series

LPL

Tier

S-Tier

• Regular Season
• Teams are split into 2 groups based on Split 2 performance
• Top 8 teams from Split 2 are placed into Group Ascend
• Next 4 teams are placed into Group Nirvana
• Teams will play a Double Round Robin within their Groups
• All matches will be Bo3 with Fearless Draft
• In Group Ascend:
• Top 2 advance to Season Playoffs – Upper Bracket Semifinals
• Next 4 advance to Season Playoffs – Upper Bracekt Quarterfinals
• Bottom 2 advance to Knights Rivals
• In Group Nirvana:
• Top 2 advance to Knights Rivals
• Bottom 2 will end their 2026 LPL season immediately
• Tiebreakers:
• Series Wins
• Game Difference
• Head-to-Head Series Wins
• Head-to-Head Game Difference
• Knights Rivals
• 4 teams will play a Double Elimination Bo5 with Fearless Draft based on Regular Season placements
• Winners advance to Season Playoffs
• Season Playoffs
• Double Elimination
• Top 2 teams from Group Ascend get a bye to Upper Bracket Semifinals
• Next 4 teams from Group Ascend start in Upper Bracket Quarterfinals
• 2 winners of Knights Rivals start in Lower Bracket Round 1.
• All matches are Bo5 with Fearless Draft

LEC 2026 Summer

Starts

2026-07-24

Ends

2026-09-20

Location

Berlin Madrid Paris Nice

Venue

Expand Collapse Riot Games Arena Pabellón Multiusos Madrid Arena (LEC Roadtrip) adidas arena (LEC Roadtrip) Palais Nikaïa (Championship Weekend)

Type

Offline

Teams

10

Organizer

Riot Games

Series

LEC

Tier

S-Tier

• Regular Season – July 24th – August 30th, 2026
• Single Round Robin
• Each team plays 9 matches
• All matches are Bo3 using Fearless Draft
• Top 6 teams advance to the Playoffs
• Top 4 teams get seeded into the Upper Bracket
• 5-6th teams get seeded into the Lower Bracket
• Tiebreakers:
• Head-to-head Wins
• Head-to-head Game Win Percentage
• Strength of Victory score
• LEC Spring Standings
• Playoffs – September 5th – 20th, 2026
• Top 6 teams from Regular Season
• Double Elimination Bracket
• All matches are Bo5 using Fearless Draft
• Top 3 teams qualify for World Championship

CBLOL 2026 Split 2

Starts

2026-07-25

Ends

2026-10-10

Location

São Paulo

Venue

Riot Games Arena

Type

Offline

Prize pool

$60,000 USD

Teams

8

Organizer

Riot Games

Series

CBLOL

Tier

S-Tier

• Regular Season
• Single Round Robin Bo3
• 1st and 2nd place advance to the Playoffs and receive a bye to the second round
• 3rd till 6th place advance to the Playoffs and start in round 1
• 7th and 8th place are eliminated
• Playoffs
• Double Elimination Bo5
• Top two teams qualify for World Championship

LCS 2026 Summer

Starts

2026-07-25

Ends

2026-10-04

Location

Los Angeles Mexico City Duluth

Venue

Expand Collapse Riot Games Arena Arena Esports Stadium at Artz Pedregal (LCS Homegrounds) Gas South Arena (Championship Weekend)

Type

Offline

Teams

8

Organizer

Riot Games

Series

LCS

Tier

S-Tier

• Regular Season – July 25 – September 6
• Single Round Robin
• All matches are Bo3
• Top 2 teams advance to the Upper Bracket Semifinals of the playoffs
• Next 4 teams advance to the Upper Bracket Quarterfinals of the playoffs
• Playoffs – September 12 – October 4
• Double Elimination
• All matches are Bo5
• Regular Season winner selects which side of the bracket prior to the start of the Playoffs
• Top three qualify for Worlds
• Next two qualify for the Demacia Cup Global Invitational
• All matches are played under Fearless Draft rules

2026 Demacia Cup Global Invitational

Starts

2026-10-03

Ends

2026-10-17

Location

China

Venue

Beijing JD Esports Center (Knockout Stage)

Type

Online & Offline

Prize pool

¥1,500,000 CNY (≃ $223,729 USD)

Teams

12

Series

DCGI

Tier

S-Tier

• Swiss Stage – October 3rd – 10th
• Twelve teams play in a 4 round Swiss format.
• The unique aspect is that, in the 0-2 bracket, instead of a knockout format, it will be a Round Robin system.
• Teams that reach 2 wins advance to Knockout Stage.
• Teams that reach 3 losses or 2 losses & failing to rank 1st in the Round Robin are eliminated.
• Round 2 onwards matches are Bo3 using Fearless Draft
• Round 1 matches are Bo1.
• Side Selection for Game 1:
• First selection for Game 1 is given to first drawn team.
• Knockout Stage – October 12th – 15th, October 17th – Offline, at Beijing JD Esports Center
• Eight teams play in a single elimination bracket.
• All matches are Bo5 using Fearless Draft.
• Side Selection for Game 1:
• Quaterfinals:
• Team with better match record picks sides
• If both teams have the same match record, the team drawn first picks sides
• Semifinals & Finals:
• The right of side selection will be determined by coin flip
• Coach Comms will be allowed for the Knockout Stage.
• Patch Information
• The tournament will be played on Patch 26.18.

Common questions