LCK Cup 2026 Play-off Schedule and Play-in - Results

After a tense group stage, the teams moved on to the next stages according to their final standings. Three teams - FEARX, Gen.G, and T1 - advanced directly to the play-offs based on the group stage results, while the other six teams proceeded to the play-in series. In this blog, we will break down how the play-in matches went, discuss the main highlights, cover the schedule for the upcoming play-off matches, and, of course, try to analyze who will advance further in the tournament bracket.

Play-Off: LCK Cup 2026 Schedule

Playoff matches will take place from February 12 to March 1. The LCK Cup 2026 Schedule is presented below:

The most important part of the tournament is beginning - the LCK Cup 2026 playoffs. Two and a half weeks of matches and battles for the title await us.

Out of the ten teams that started the tournament, only the six best remain. A total of 10 matches are scheduled. The organizers chose a Double Elimination format, which is great for the audience and fair for the players: one loss does not mean elimination yet. A team simply drops to the lower bracket and retains a chance to break into the grand final if they pull themselves together.

All series will be played in a Best of 5 format (up to three wins), so accidental results are practically excluded. All matches will be played using Fearless Draft, where champions that have already been picked by either team in the series will be banned. This mode was released and began to be fully applied in all tournaments starting last year. In my opinion, this is one of the best decisions for esports. Viewers will stop seeing the same champions in Bo5 encounters, the games become more spectacular and interesting, and teams need to significantly expand their champion pool and strategies.

The top two teams based on the playoff results will receive slots for the first international tournament of this year - First Stand 2026 (FST 2026).

LCK Cup 2026 Play-Off Matches You Shouldn't Miss

Credit: X@LCK

The Play-off stage is the decisive stage of the tournament, so all matches are worth your attention, as these teams are currently the strongest teams in the strongest region in the world. So now let's try to analyze the upcoming matches and identify the winner.

The first match is FEARX vs SOOPers, which will take place on February 12 at 10 AM. FEARX is a team that showed not the most successful results last year, but they were able to win the 2025 Asia Invitational by defeating Dplus KIA in the final. This year, they were placed in the Elder group, where they played with a 3-2 score, taking first place in the group. This allowed the team to advance directly to the first round of the playoffs, avoiding the play-in stage.

SOOPers, formerly known as BNK Freecs, were unable to show any results last year. Their maximum achievement last year was 6th place at the 2025 KeSPA Cup. And their performance in the LCK 2025 Season was completely disastrous; they managed to win only one match out of 18, finishing the championship in last place with a 1-17 score and winning only 8 maps while losing 35. This year, the team has already made a big leap and secured at least 6th place in this tournament. In the group stage, they were in the Elder group and played with a 1-4 score. This gave them the opportunity to enter the play-in. And they handled this part of the tournament very confidently; SOOPers were able to defeat KT Rolster 2:0 and NS RedForce 2:1, who had assembled a decent roster for the season.

And honestly, their game looked very good, so in this confrontation they have every chance to defeat FEARX. Bookmakers favor FEARX, and the odds are around 1.25-1.30, while for SOOPers it is more than 3. But due to the growth of the SOOPers team during the tournament and the presence of experienced players in important positions, they may hold their own in this match.

In the next match of LCK Cup 2026 Round 1, DPlus KIA vs DRX will meet. In my personal opinion, DPlus KIA looks many times stronger in this confrontation. A confident roster with experienced players and accolades. Against DRX, where most of the players have only just broken into the tier-1 scene. Certainly, their advancement to the playoffs is a good result for such a young roster, but I think at the moment it is their maximum. Bookmakers also lean towards DPlus KIA, with odds of 1.18 for them and over 4 for DRX.

And if we talk about the favorites, it will probably come as no surprise to anyone that the favorites for the top 2 are T1 and Gen.G, which is most likely what will happen. And the most intriguing moment of this tournament will be exactly this confrontation. It is also worth noting that we will most likely be able to see this confrontation twice, as these two teams are at a very high level.

LCK Cup 2026 Play-In Results

Credit: X@LCK

Let's move on to the discussion of the Play-In stage. This stage lasted for three days, featuring 6 teams that advanced from the group stage and fought for a spot in the playoffs. Out of these 6 teams, only 3 were able to move forward: Dplus KIA, SOOPers, and DRX.

First and foremost, I would like to highlight the matches played by SOOPers, who had a very confident winning streak by defeating serious opponents. Looking at the match between SOOPers and KT Rolster, SOOPers showed a dominant performance against the Worlds 2025 finalists, leaving them no chance and ending the match with a 2-0 score. In this confrontation, special attention was focused on deokdam, who played two maps with a total score of 15/3/14 and a KDA of 9.7. It is particularly ironic that at Worlds 2025, deokdam helped KT Rolster reach the World Championship finals, but now he has knocked them out of the LCK Cup 2026 without a second thought.

Their next match was against more serious opponents - NS RedForce, against whom the game no longer seemed so easy. The first map was a complete blowout for SOOPers, as they managed to secure only 3 kills and failed to take a single objective. The second map was more competitive; SOOPers had to pull off a slight comeback and managed to snatch victory after a fight at the fourth dragon. The final map turned out to be very close, with the advantage shifting from one side to the other. The turning point of this match was a fight at Baron, where Taeyoon, playing Kai'Sa, was caught significantly out of position, leaving his team without their primary source of damage. This led to a won teamfight for SOOPers and a game that ended with a 2-1 score. Against NS, DuDu - the top laner for SOOPers - shone the brightest, whereas deokdam was practically invisible during the game, recording only 8 kills across the three maps.

DRX had to play three matches. First, in Round 1, they faced BRION, whom they defeated 2-1. The first and third maps were under the absolute control of DRX; on the second map, they were simply unlucky in certain moments, and overall they could have closed it out 2-0, but they fell slightly short. In this match, Jiwoo (ADC) and Ucal (Mid) deserve special mention, as both players demonstrated an incredibly high level of play and insane KDAs. Jiwoo (ADC) finished 22/5/20 (8.4), and Ucal (Mid) finished 18/2/23 (20.5).

However, in the match against Dplus KIA, DRX stood no chance. The match ended 2-0, and Dplus met no resistance, finishing both maps before the 30-minute mark. On a positive note, it can be said that DRX tried to play with variety. In one game, they attempted a slower pace, and in the second, they played more aggressively, trying to force fights and look for kills. This is a good reason to follow a team that is learning to change its playstyle during a match.

Following this match, Dplus KIA advanced to Play-offs Round 1, while DRX had to face NS RedForce in the Play-In Finals in an elimination match. DRX once again showed very strong preparation, sweeping their opponents 3-0. This victory granted them a spot in the playoff series, where their first opponent will be Dplus, so we can look forward to a Bo5 rematch.

LCK Cup 2026 Details

The LCK Cup 2026 tournament runs from January 14 to March 1. The main goal of this season is to decide which two teams will represent the region at the upcoming First Stand (FST) 2026. Only the top two finalists will earn their spots on the international stage.

A key highlight of the competition is the Fearless Draft format, used in every match from the group stage to the grand final. This system challenges teams to demonstrate deep strategic flexibility and a wide champion pool in both Bo3 and Bo5 series.

With the recent roster changes following the off-season, the level of competition in the league has increased noticeably. Fans can look forward to intense matches as teams fight for the chance to represent their region globally. Stay tuned and support your favorite teams as they battle for the LCK Cup 2026 title.