LCS 2026 Lock-In Preview - Teams, Format And Schedule

After a one-year hiatus and the transition to the LTA format, the LCS series officially returns for its 16th split. The Lock-In 2026 tournament opens the new season, introducing a revamped regional competition structure and a fresh lineup of participants. The main offseason sensation was the departure of 100 Thieves, whose place in the league was taken by the Sentinels organization. Now, the eight strongest teams will compete for the right to represent the region at the first international tournament of the year - First Stand in Brazil. In this blog, we will break down the tournament schedule and discuss the teams and their chances this season.

LCS 2026 Lock-In Swiss Stage Schedule

A total of 8 teams will participate in the tournament, and on average, we can expect two matches per day. Match schedule:

The LCS 2026 Lock-In Swiss Stage will take place over three weeks: from January 24 to February 15, 2026. The majority of matches in this phase will be played in a Bo3 (Best of 3) format, which minimizes the randomness factor and allows teams to better adapt to the tournament and new patches. The only exception is the decisive "last chance" match between teams with a 1-2 score, which will be held in a Bo1 format.

Playoff seeding directly depends on the final results in the group. A team finishing the stage with a perfect 3-0 score gains an advantage: they can independently choose their opponent from the pool of teams with a 2-1 score for the upper bracket match. At the same time, a team suffering three consecutive losses (0-3) leaves the competition.

For teams ending up at the bottom of the table with a 1-2 score, their fate is decided through tie-breakers. The club with the best game record automatically advances to the lower playoff bracket as the 5th seed. The remaining two teams with the same result will face off in a tie-breaker for the final 6th playoff slot.

LCS 2026 Lock-In Teams to Watch

Personally, one of the most interesting teams to watch is Sentinels. The team has effectively assembled a roster of 4 Korean players. Under the rules, this shouldn't be possible, but since huhi has played in the LCS for almost his entire career, he is officially considered an LCS resident and a North American player. It will be very interesting to see if a team with such a composition can achieve great heights this season. They currently have highly experienced players who have victories at major international tournaments and LCK titles under their belts, which is a high standard. They also have young players who will push the scene veterans with their energy.

The next team whose fate will be interesting to follow this season is FlyQuest. FlyQuest had a strong showing last season, managing to qualify for 3 international tournaments where they secured decent 5th-8th place finishes and winning 3 LTA splits. However, this season the team is competing with an almost entirely new roster. They lost 3 players from the previous lineup. And these weren't just mediocre players; they could even be called some of the strongest in their positions in the region. So, this season could turn out to be extremely difficult for the team, or we might see unexpected success from the squad.

LYON also looks very promising with their new roster; the team picked up a former FlyQuest player - Inspired. This is a very good reinforcement in the form of one of the region's strongest junglers, who can provide shotcalling and set the tempo on the map. And the new ADC - Berserker, who played for Freecs last year. Despite the team's rather disappointing results last season, he performed quite consistently. It is worth noting that for most of his S-Tier career, the player competed for Cloud9, with whom he qualified for Worlds several times and won multiple regional LCS tournaments. While these aren't the absolute highest stats, in combination with the new jungler, this might work.

LCS 2026 Lock-In Prize Pool

Beyond fighting for the championship title, the LCS 2026 Lock-In serves as a crucial qualifying stage for the international arena. The winner of the tournament will receive a direct slot to the First Stand Tournament (FST), which will take place in March 2026 in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Teams finishing in second and third place will qualify for the new interregional tournament - the Americas Cup. There, they will face off against the best teams from the Brazilian league CBLOL, and the winner of this confrontation will receive a fully paid bootcamp in South Korea during MSI 2026. Thus, even without taking first place, teams retain high chances for international practice and development in the current season.

LCS 2026 Lock-In Conclusion

The LCS 2026 Lock-In kicks off the competitive year against the backdrop of a massive seasonal update. A huge number of balance adjustments and system changes are radically shifting the meta, forcing teams to rebuild their strategies from scratch. Since the Fearless Draft format is already familiar to the participants, the speed of adaptation to the new patch will be the key success factor. With significant roster changes, the tournament starts on January 24 and will immediately show who has figured out the current game realities best for a chance at the First Stand ticket.