LCK Cup Finals in Hong Kong 2026
By Barry on Feb 15th, 2026, 06:36
For the first time in its 15-year history, the LCK is leaving South Korea for an official competition. The 2026 LCK Cup Finals will be held at Kai Tak Arena in Hong Kong on 28 February and 1 March.
Let's break down what's happening, what's at stake, and why this matters if you're serious about competitive League of Legends esports.
Every single LCK match since this regional league launched in 2012 has been played on South Korean soil. Domestic roadshows in Busan, Incheon, and Suwon tested the waters, but this is the first time official matches will be contested outside the country.
Hong Kong was chosen for a reason. It sits at the centre of Asia's esports audience, accessible to fans from mainland China, Southeast Asia, and beyond. The venue, Kai Tak Arena, opened in 2025 inside the massive Kai Tak Sports Park complex in Kowloon. It holds around 10,000 spectators and was purpose-built for major events. The Hong Kong government clearly agrees this is a big deal: the event received "M Mark" status from the Major Events Committee, placing it alongside the city's most high-profile sporting occasions.
The full event name is the 2026 LCK Cup Finals in Hong Kong presented by CGA, co-organised with CGA Entertainment and the Hong Kong Tourism Board.
Not the entire playoffs, just the final weekend. Ten LCK teams started the tournament in Korea during the group stage and play-in rounds. Six advanced to the double-elimination playoffs, which are currently being played at LoL Park in Seoul. By the time the action moves to Hong Kong, only three teams will remain.
Here's the Hong Kong schedule:
Doors open at 14:00 HKT. Match starts at 16:00 HKT. The last-chance match. The losing team is eliminated; the winner earns their spot in the Grand Final.
Doors open at 14:00 HKT. Match starts at 16:00 HKT. The LCK Cup champion is crowned. Both series are Best of 5 using Fearless Draft, where any champion picked or banned by either team in a previous game of the series cannot be selected again. If you've ever wanted to see how deep a team's champion pool really goes, Fearless is where it shows.
Venue: Kai Tak Arena, Kai Tak Sports Park, Kowloon, Hong Kong.
The two teams that make the Grand Final, winner and runner-up, will both qualify as the LCK's representatives at First Stand 2026, the season's first international tournament. First Stand takes place in São Paulo, Brazil, from 16 to 22 March, meaning the qualified teams will have barely two weeks to prepare for the global stage.
That's a significant change from 2025, when only the LCK Cup champion earned an international spot. This year, both finalists go. For the teams fighting through the lower bracket in Hong Kong on Saturday, the pressure is enormous: lose and you miss out on both the title and the international tournament.
And there's a further incentive: if an LCK team wins First Stand, both of the region's representatives earn a bye to the bracket stage at MSI 2026.
The six teams that advanced through groups and the play-in stage are Gen.G, T1, BNK FearX, DN SOOPers, Dplus KIA, and DRX. The playoffs are a double-elimination bracket: one loss sends you to the lower bracket, a second loss sends you home.
Gen.G and T1 dominated the group stage, both going 5-0 in their series (Gen.G notably didn't drop a single game). They received byes into the second round of the upper bracket. The remaining four teams are battling through the lower rounds in Seoul this week, with the bracket narrowing before the final three travel to Hong Kong.
By the time we get to Kai Tak Arena, the remaining matchups will carry all the weight of a month-long tournament funnelled into two days.
If you're here because you want to improve at League of Legends, the LCK Cup Finals under Fearless Draft is one of the best learning opportunities of the year. Here's why:
Draft adaptation under pressure. Fearless forces teams to reveal the full depth of their preparation. You won't see the same comfort picks recycled across a series. By Game 4 or 5, teams are pulling out strategies they've kept hidden, and that's where you can spot emerging meta trends before they trickle down to solo queue.
Role-specific champion pools. Pay attention to which players can maintain their impact on secondary or tertiary picks. The gap between a top laner who can play four champions at the highest level and one who can play seven is the kind of thing that decides Fearless series.
Macro under Fearless constraints. When teams lose access to their preferred compositions, their macro decision-making changes. Watch how win conditions shift from game to game within a series — it's a masterclass in game-state adaptation.
Broadcast coverage will be available through the usual LoL Esports channels: LCK's official streams on Twitch, YouTube, and the LoL Esports website. Match start times are 16:00 HKT on both days, so plan accordingly based on your time zone.
Beyond the broadcast, the LCK is setting up a Festival Zone at the venue with sponsor activations, limited-edition merchandise stalls, and team booths. So if you're attending in person, there'll be plenty to do before the games kick off at 4pm.
