LPL 2026 Split 1 Viewer Guide: Dates, Schedule, Format, Participants

The 2026 season is crucial for the further development and overall preservation of the LPL. The LPL has long been one of the strongest regions in League of Legends, but this year it has faced significant losses, including the departure of several teams and other changes affecting rosters and players. In this blog, we will discuss LPL 2026 Split 1, its tournament format, the teams and their lineups, and attempt to provide an analysis of what to expect this split and the future of the league as a whole.

LCK Cup 2026 Format and Dates

As of now, the exact dates for the tournament have not been officially announced. The only confirmed information is that regional tournaments across all regions are scheduled to begin on January 14 and conclude by March 2. Therefore, LPL 2026 Split 1 will take place within this specific timeframe.

Regular Season

A total of 14 teams will participate this year, down from 16 in previous years. All 14 teams are divided into three tiers (groups) based on their performance in 2025. Within each group, teams play a double round-robin in a Bo3 format.

• Group Ascend (6 teams)This group features the strongest contenders.Bonus: The top 4 teams from this group directly secure their spots in the playoffs.Penalty: The bottom 2 teams are not eliminated but are sent to prove themselves in the preliminary stage - Knights Rivals.
• Group Perseverance (4 teams)This is a battle for survival and a chance at the playoffs.The top 2 teams advance to the first round of Knights Rivals.The bottom 2 teams drop even further into the second round of Knights Rivals, where they will have less room for error.
• Group Nirvana (4 teams)This group is for those who struggled in the previous year.The top 2 teams are given a final chance and advance to the second round of Knights Rivals.The bottom 2 teams are eliminated from the split immediately; their season ends there.

After this stage, another phase awaits us - Knights Rivals.

Knights Rivals

This is an intermediate stage (a "last chance" bracket) between the regular season and the playoffs. It features teams that did not qualify for the Knockout Stage directly, as well as those who advanced from the lower groups.

Round 1: This round includes the bottom teams from the elite group and the top teams from the middle group. Round 2: In this round, the losers from Round 1 are joined by the bottom teams from the middle group and the top teams from the bottom group.

If teams are tied in points, their standings are determined in the following order:

• Series wins.
• Game difference (for example, a 2:0 score is better than 2:1).
• Head-to-head results.
• Game difference specifically in head-to-head matches.
• Tiebreaker Match: If tournament elimination or a critical seeding position is at stake, the teams will play a full Bo3 match.

Such a system eliminates "meaningless" matches: leaders must maintain their positions in the elite, while underdogs must fight for every chance to avoid being eliminated in the very first month. The LPL system is quite complex, but it appears to be reasonably fair.

Knockout Stage

The playoff stage, or Knockout Stage, follows a double-elimination format, which grants teams the right to one mistake before final elimination. A unique feature of this stage is that the four teams that qualified directly from Group Ascend have the right to personally select their opponents for the Upper Bracket Quarterfinals. This selection occurs in order, starting with the team that finished first in the group.

All playoff matches are played in a best-of-five format. Furthermore, the Fearless Draft system remains in effect throughout the entire stage. This means teams are restricted in their character selections: if a champion has already been used in one of the games in a series, they cannot be picked again in subsequent matches of that matchup. The primary goal for the participants is to reach the finals, as only the top two teams of the split will secure slots for the first international tournament of the season - First Stand 2026. The total prize pool for the tournament will be ¥1,600,000 CNY, which is approximately $229,450 USD.

LPL 2026 Split 1 Teams

As mentioned above, the number of participants in the league has decreased this year. A total of 14 teams will take part in the tournament. In 2026, two renowned clubs left the LPL roster at once. The FunPlus Phoenix organization officially withdrew from the league on January 1st, and the Royal Never Give Up team, after being absent from the tournament announcement, confirmed its complete exit from the discipline on January 8th.

Participating teams:

• Anyone's Legend
• Bilibili Gaming
• EDward Gaming
• Invictus Gaming
• JD Gaming
• LGD Gaming
• LNG Esports
• Ninjas in Pyjamas
• Oh My God
• Team WE
• ThunderTalk Gaming
• Top Esports
• Ultra Prime
• Weibo Gaming

Let’s take a closer look at the teams and their rosters for this tournament. Almost every team has made roster changes, and each lineup now looks even more interesting.

What to Expect from the LPL 2026 Split 1?

This year, LPL 2026 Split 1 will feature a battle for two slots representing the Chinese region at First Stand 2026. This decision was made even before the departure of several teams from the league, but securing more international slots has become particularly vital for the LPL this year. Although Chinese teams had a decent run last year, they unfortunately failed to secure any victories at international tournaments.

The second reason for the importance of success lies in the financial restructuring of the league, specifically regarding player salaries. The league has decided to reduce player budgets to ensure that salaries are aligned with actual performance. According to the organizers, this move is intended to motivate players to work harder and eliminate instances where a player simply "collects a paycheck" without any professional growth.

Now, let's move on to the expectations for the upcoming LPL 2026 Split 1. Naturally, the first team to discuss is Anyone’s Legend. Throughout the 2025 season, the team showed very strong results both domestically and on the international stage. For this season, they have completely retained their roster, which eliminates the need for any adjustment period or the struggle to establish synergy with new members. At the moment, I believe they are one of the primary contenders for the title.

Bilibili Gaming is also worth mentioning. Last year, the team’s results were not the best, leading them to make roster changes. The biggest surprise for everyone was the replacement of their ADC with Viper, the former Hanwha Life Esports star. It will be very interesting to see how Viper handles the language barrier and whether the team can find their rhythm this season or if this experiment will prove unsuccessful.

JD Gaming also looks like strong contenders for this split. The team has made interesting roster adjustments, changing their Jungle and Mid lane. They have been joined by JunJia and hongQ, former players of CTBC Flying Oyster. These are highly capable players who have already demonstrated solid performance at the Demacia Cup 2025. Upon joining the team, they immediately secured second place in a tournament against strong league competition. Even though most teams do not treat this tournament with full seriousness, it already showcases the mindset of JD Gaming and the impact of the JunJia and hongQ duo.