LCS 2026: Your complete guide to the regional showdown

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The League Championship Series (LCS) will be back in 2026 after the current League Tour Academy (LTA) finishes. Fans can expect a refreshed experience with new features, more thrilling moments, and live on-stage events.

Get ready for the League Championship Series (LCS) to return in 2026! Expect tons of thrilling League of Legends action and exciting new developments. Here’s a complete guide to North America’s biggest regional competition.

LCS Lock-In

The League Championship Series (LCS) 2026 begins on January 24th with the return of the popular LCS Lock-In tournament. This year’s Lock-In features a new format called Fearless. The tournament will start the season with a Swiss Stage consisting entirely of best-of-three matches over the first three weeks. The top six teams from the Swiss Stage will then move on to a double-elimination bracket, playing best-of-five matches to determine the early leaders and set the stage for a competitive year.

  • The 3–0 team will choose their opponent from among the 2–1 teams for the upper bracket.
  • The 0–3 team will be eliminated.
  • Among the 1–2 teams, the one with the best game record will auto-advance as the 5th seed in the lower bracket.
  • The remaining two teams will compete in a last-chance tie-breaker to claim the 6th seed.

The team that wins the Lock-In tournament will represent the LCS region at the First Stand competition, taking place in Brazil. Each region will send only one team to this year’s first international event. Riot Games says these changes will result in over 50% more matches compared to 2025, meaning fans will get to see a lot more gameplay.

Spring and Summer Splits

The LCS will go back to its usual format for the Spring and Summer seasons. This means a regular season where each team plays every other team in a best-of-three series, followed by a playoff bracket featuring the top six teams. The Spring Split will be similar to the Lock-In tournament, but two teams will advance to the Mid-Season Invitational (MSI) instead of just one.

For the Summer Split, Riot Games is using the same format as Summer 2024, which includes a larger lower-bracket playoff. This setup guarantees that the three top teams from North America will qualify for the League of Legends World Championship in 2026, held once again in North America. The specific cities hosting the event haven’t been announced yet.

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2025-11-06 13:11