The 2026 League of Legends Champions Korea (LCK) regular season opened with a shake-up at the top of the standings after KT Rolster defeated both T1 and Gen.G during the competition’s first week.

Week one took place from April 1st to April 5th at LoL Park’s LCK Arena in Seoul, South Korea. The opening slate immediately produced several unexpected results, with six teams ending the week on 1-1 and KT Rolster emerging as one of the early talking points of the season.

KT Rolster was the first team to reach two wins after securing back-to-back victories over reigning 2025 League of Legends World Championship winner T1 and 2026 LCK Cup champion Gen.G. The team opened its campaign on April 1st with a 2-0 sweep over T1. The result marked a notable response after KT Rolster’s loss to T1 in the LCK Cup, where it had previously given up a large gold lead, and also offered some early revenge after falling short against the same opponent on the international stage last year.

Top laner Lee Seung-min, better known as ‘Perfect’, played a key role in the win. He helped KT Rolster build control from the laning phase in game one and was voted Player of the Match after drawing 12 of 13 votes. His performances on champions including Jayce and Vayne stood out across the series.

KT Rolster then followed up with another statement result against Gen.G on April 3rd. After a full three-game series, the team secured a 2-1 victory, with mid laner Kwak ‘Bdd’ Bo-seong, known as  producing one of the decisive moments with a Baron steal during a late-game fight.

By defeating two of the league’s most high-profile teams in the opening week, KT Rolster moved into second place and entered week two with momentum.

T1, meanwhile, recovered from its opening defeat by beating Hanwha Life Esports 2-0 on April 4th. The result moved the organisation to 1-1 for the week and handed Hanwha Life Esports the same record after it had opened its season with a win over OKSavingsBank BRION.

T1 looked more settled in the series. It controlled the first game from an early lead, then recovered in game two after conceding early kills in both the top and bottom lanes. The turnaround was led by Moon ‘Oner’ Hyeon-jun, alongside mid laner Lee ‘Faker’ Sang-hyeok.

Oner was central to the win, earning Player of the Match honours after strong performances on Xin Zhao and Lee Sin. The victory also saw him reach 300 career LCK wins, making him the fifth jungler and the 21st player overall to hit the milestone.

The match had also carried additional interest because of a race to 300 LCK wins between Oner and Hanwha Life Esports bot laner Lee 'Gumayusi' Min-hyung. After the series, Oner said: “Although I reached 300 wins first, Gumayusi might reach the next milestone before me. I’m happy we were able to play an enjoyable match against each other.”

Outside of KT Rolster’s 2-0 start, the league table remained tightly packed after the opening week. Nongshim RedForce finished in first place after winning both of its matches 2-0, while KT Rolster sat second.

Gen.G held a slight edge on set differential, with T1, OKSavingsBank BRION, DN Freecs, Dplus KIA and Hanwha Life Esports all ending the week with 1-1 records. With several of those teams set to face one another in the coming days, the standings could change quickly during week two.

The 2026 LCK regular season runs from Wednesday to Sunday each week, with two matches played per day. Matches are broadcast live through streaming platforms including Chzzk and SOOP, while tickets for on-site attendance are made available through NOL Ticket nine days before each match.

Launched in 2012, the LCK is South Korea’s top professional League of Legends competition and remains one of the title’s most successful leagues. Since moving to a single-season format in 2025, the league has featured 10 teams competing from April to September for the domestic title and qualification to international events.