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LCS 2026 Season Returns with New Americas Cup, Road Shows, Fantasy Update, and More
After a one-year-long rebrand, the LCS is back for 2026. This time, though, the North American league is implementing an updated format made up of three streamlined splits, more road shows outside of Los Angeles, a new cross-region Americas Cup, an updated LCS Fantasy app, and more as the LCS looks to return to its previous heights.
Let's go ahead and take a look at everything new coming with the LCS 2026 season.
Three Split-Structure for the LCS 2026 Season
For the first time in years, the LCS and the LEC will adopt near-identical formats for the 2026 season. Will this be enough to take fans back to the glory days of the NA and EU LCS days from 2018 and earlier? Find out by tuning in to the start of the 2026 LCS Lock-In Tournament on Saturday, January 24!
As for the LCS 2026 season format, it will look as follows:
- Split 1: LCS Lock-In Tournament
- January 24-March 1
- Group Stage:
- Swiss Stage, Bo3 matches
- Top 6 teams qualify for playoffs
- Playoffs:
- Double-elimination bracket, Bo5 matches
- Winner qualifies to First Stand 2026 in Brazil
- *Note that when comparing first splits, the 2026 LCS Lock-In Tournament will have 50% more games than in 2025
- Split 2: Spring Split
- April 4-June 14
- Group Stage:
- Round-robin, Bo3 matches
- Top 6 teams qualify for playoffs
- Playoffs:
- Double-elimination bracket, Bo5 matches
- Top 2 teams qualify for MSI 2026 in South Korea
- Split 3: Summer Split
- July 25-October (exact finish date TBD)
- Group Stage:
- Round-robin, Bo3 matches
- Top 6 teams qualify for playoffs
- Playoffs:
- Double-elimination, expanded lower bracket gauntlet (like the 2024 LCS Championship format)
- Top 3 teams qualify for Worlds 2026 in North America
- *More details on the 2026 LCS Championship to come at a later date
Reminder that for 2026, the LCS lineup of teams will be composed of Team Liquid, FlyQuest, Cloud9, Dignitas, Shopify Rebellion, LYON, Disguised, and the newest addition to the league, Sentinels, who will be replacing 100 Thieves.
LCS Road Shows: Reaching Fans Across NA
Like the LEC last year, the LCS is setting out to host more events outside of Los Angeles. The exact cities and dates for LCS road shows in 2026 are yet to be announced, but one thing is for certain: Opening Weeks and Playoffs will remain live in front of audiences in Los Angeles.
In order to redirect resources towards bringing fans these road shows, the LCS will see new match days play out in the FaceOff studio (without live audiences). Don't worry, though, total number of live audience show days is only being reduced by three across the year as a whole.
Stay tuned for more information on the 2026 LCS road show locations.
NA vs BR: New Americas Cup Arrives
The LTA may be behind us, but that doesn't mean that cross-region action exists no more. In 2026, Riot Games will be debuting the Americas Cup, which will see the second and third place teams from the LCS and CBLOL compete to define region supremacy.
The 2026 Americas Cup will take place a week before First Stand 2026 (so, around the second week of March) at the Riot Games Arena in São Paulo, Brazil. The four teams at the tournament will be thrown straight into a double-elimination bracket, where opening matches will be Bo3, and all remaining matches Bo5.
Riot Funded Bootcamp in South Korea
The winner of the Americas Cup will also win a Riot-funded bootcamp to train in South Korea during the course of MSI 2026. But that's not all; in fact, Riot will be sending the third-place LCS team from Spring, the second and third-place CBLOL teams from Spring, and the winner of the Americas Cup to South Korea to participate in this bootcamp.
The goal of this bootcamp is to help teams from the LCS and CBLOL regions grow through experience and top-level practice in order to elevate competition for the final split of the year.
LCS Fantasy App Gets a Big Update
The LTA debuted a Fantasy app in 2025 which turned out to be a big success. Now, the app is being brought back, but split into two for the LCS and CBLOL leagues.
This time around, though, the new LCS Fantasy app will be a fully comprehensive hub for the league featuring LCS schedules, standings and content, as well as Fantasy integration. Make sure to check out the new LCS Fantasy app once it's up and running on January 19!
2026 LCS Lock-In Tickets!
The grand return of the LCS will kick off with the 2026 LCS Lock-In Tournament, bringing top-flight North American League of Legends action back into our screens, and the studio, once more. If you'd like to catch the games live at the Riot Games Arena in Los Angeles, California, then know that LCS Lock-In tickets are already on sale for Opening Week (January 24-25).
Tickets can be purchased online through the official LCS ticket shop for as low as $23. Note that playoffs tickets will become available at a later date.
Make sure to tune in to the LCS Draw Show on January 15 at 8 am PT, where the 2026 LCS Season will officially kick off!
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Featured image credit: Colin Young-Wolff/Riot Games
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