Seoul: The inaugural cup tournament of League of Legends Champions Korea (LCK) was set to kick off Wednesday to select a team to participate in a newly created international competition for the globally popular online game, its organizer announced.
According to Yonhap News Agency, ten South Korean teams, including the defending world champion T1, will compete in the LCK Cup, which will run through February 23, as stated by Riot Games. The victor of this tournament will represent the LCK at the First Stand Tournament, the new international competition of League of Legends (LoL), set to commence in the 2025 season.
South Korea has been chosen to host the inaugural First Stand Tournament in Seoul in March. The LCK Cup will introduce the "fearless draft" rule for the first time in the Korean league of LoL, aiming to encourage more diversity in team compositions and gameplay. Under this system, teams are prohibited from using the same set of champions consecutively.
This year's event will feature a group stage format, with teams divided into two groups for competition. The top three teams from each group will advance directly to the playoffs, while the remaining teams will compete for three more spots in the next round through a play-in stage.