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LCK and LCP to Trial New "Coach Voice": What this Means for LoL Esports
When it comes to League of Legends remaining at the top of the esports world year after year, change is often the name of the game. Now, LoL Esports will be receiving one of its biggest changes yet, as Riot Games announced it will be introducing "Coach Voice" to the LCK and LCP to start the 2026 season.
Essentially, this will allow for a team's coach to talk to their players and deliver instructions mid-game for a short window of time. But, how exactly does it work? Let's go over this change and its significance.
Coach Voice to Debut in LCK and LCP
Note that while its English name is yet to be officially confirmed, we will continue calling it "Coach Voice" for the remainder of this article.
If you're a fan of American sports or Counter-Strike/VALORANT, then you can think of Coach Voice as a type of time-out, except the game does not stop. The way it works is simple:
- Coaches can call for Coach Voice up to 3 times per game.
- When used, it will give coaches a 45 second window to deliver instructions to their players.
- The game will not be paused. Players continue playing while receiving instructions.
- Only roster-registered coaches, managers, or analysts can participate in Coach Voice.
- No communication with the outside world will be allowed until the end of each game.
- The new feature will be 'trialed' only in the LCK and LCP first, starting January 2026.
- Will only be used for Group Stage matches.
- For now, Coach Voice will not be applied to other leagues or international competitions.
Until now, once players climbed onto the stage for a match, the only time they were allowed to receive instructions from their coaching staff was during champ select (also known as the pick & ban phase). Naturally, being able to receive instructions during a game for the first time is expected to impact LoL esports and its players moving forward.
How Does Coach Voice Affect the Game?
As with any coming feature, all we can do for now is speculate. That said, Coach Voice has the potential to impact the scene meaningfully in the long run.
The Players
For one, being able to receive instructions during a game should, in theory, allow players to focus more on their mechanics and all micro aspects of the game. As for the macro part (map movement, long-term decision making, etc.), players might feel less of a need to worry about that knowing that their coach can come in at any point and give them 45 seconds worth of instructions on what to do next.
A player like Faker, for instance, is often thought to act both as a player and coach for T1 during games thanks to his vast knowledge of the game and his terrific shot-calling and decision-making. While these will still be valuable tools for any player to have, there might not necessarily be a need for a player to be anything more than a mechanical monster now, given that their coaches can help guide them in other aspects more effectively moving forward.
The Coaches
As for the coaches, this change should only mean that the value of a good coaching staff is higher than ever before. The introduction of Coach Voice will push coaches to develop better and more effective communication skills, and refine their decision-making and understanding of League of Legends macro overall.
Can you imagine your coach requesting the use of Coach Voice during a game, only for them to have nothing meaningful to say for a full 45 seconds? A good use of Coach Voice moving forward can mean the difference between winning or losing a game, which sees coaches have more agency in LoL Esports than ever before. In short, this move should only serve to elevate the level of League of Legends coaches everywhere in the long run.
Coach Voice: The Future of LoL Esports?
For now, this new feature is only being introduced in the LCK and LCP leagues. This will allow Riot Games to monitor the use of Coach Voice, receive feedback, make changes as needed, and then finally assess whether it should be introduced throughout the scene as a whole, scrapped altogether, or simply reworked before trying again.
Though nothing is granted, allowing coaches to speak to their players during a game could be the start of a new chapter for League of Legends esports.
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Featured image credit: Yicun Liu/Riot Games
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