LCK Cup 2025 Preview: Groups, Format and More

With a brand new Worlds trophy for the region, the LCK is set to return in full force in the new year with the inaugural LCK Cup. Set to take off on Wednesday, January 15th, the new LCK Cup will feature a fresh new format, as well as interesting additions such as the use of Fearless Draft throughout.

The two groups that will make out the LCK Cup have now been drafted, giving full form to the return of LCK action to the stage. After a tumultuous offseason, the return of South Korean League of Legends will offer the chance to witness events like Zeus' debut on Hanwha Life or the return of Ruler to Gen.G.

South Korean League of Legends returns to the stage with the LCK Cup 2025. (Credit: LCK)

LCK Cup Groups

To begin the cup, teams will be split into two groups: Group Baron and Group Elder. The top two teams from the past year in the LCK, Hanwha Life Esports and Gen.G, lead a group each. Both of these teams then took turns picking the other LCK teams that would make up their groups.

Now that the draft is over with, this is what the LCK Cup 2025 groups will look like.

Group Baron

• Hanwha Life Esports
• T1
• BNK FearX
• DN Freecs
• OK SavingsBank BRION

Group Elder

• Gen.G
• Dplus KIA
• KT Rolster 
• Nongshim RedForce
• DRX

LCK Cup Format

The 2025 LCK Cup will feature the use of Fearless Draft for the entire tournament. This means that once a champion has been picked once, it can no longer be picked again by either team for the remainder of the series.

Moreover, the cup will feature a brand new format in which members from the same group will be rooting for each other, rather than facing one another.

Visual explainer for LCK Cup Format. (Credit: LCK)

Group Stage

During the Group Stage of the LCK Cup, teams will face all teams from the opposing group once in best-of-three matches. Once all games have been played, the group with the most wins will be named Winners Group, while the remaining group will be the Losers Group.

The top three teams from the Winners Group will advance to the playoffs. Meanwhile, the bottom two teams from the Winners Group will face off against the top four teams from the Losers Group during the Play-In Stage for a chance to make it into playoffs.

The last place team from the Losers Group will be eliminated then and there.

Playoffs

Teams in the Play-In Stage will battle it out for the remaining three playoff spots. The Playoffs themselves will be played across a double elimination bracket where all matches played will be best-of-five series for the most amount of action.

That means that six LCK teams will compete through the playoffs for the chance at becoming the first LCK Cup Champions. What's more, however, whichever team wins the cup will also be the LCK's representative at the first international tournament of the year, First Stand.

Where to watch the 2025 LCK Cup?

Make sure you don't miss out on the return of LCK action by tuning into the official LCK channels on Twitch and YouTube.

While the remainder of the schedule is yet to be revealed, the LCK Cup is set to debut on January 15th, so mark your calendars!

Follow Strafe Esports for all the latest League news and our X account for the latest content and coverages. Also, stay tuned to Strafe YouTube for exclusive interviews, press conferences, and more.

For more League of Legends rostermania news, check out our LEC, LCK, LPL and LTA North/South rostermanias for all the latest shuffles. To check when your favorite league will kick off again in 2025, check out our schedule here.

Image source: LCK

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