Furthermore, organizations were prohibited from owning more than one team - in particular, this change most heavily affected KeSPA-affiliated teams, all of which operated two squads as part of a sibling team system - forcing numerous organizations to merge or disband rosters. The competition's format, which consisted of a 16-team tournament with a group stage progressing into a knockout stage, was changed to a 10-team league operating on a round-robin basis, with the top 5 teams qualifying for a playoffs bracket. League of Legends Champions was rebranded to League of Legends Champions Korea ( LCK), and the winter season was abolished in favor of an annual circuit consisting of the Spring Split and Summer Split. In October 2014, plans were announced for a drastic overhaul of the league's structure. Ozone's sibling team, Samsung Galaxy Blue, went on to win Champions Spring 2014 but were bested in the finals of Champions Summer 2014 by kt Rolster Arrows. SK Telecom T1 K became the first team to successfully defend their title the following year, sweeping Samsung Galaxy Ozone in the finals of Champions Winter 2013-14 to cap off an undefeated tournament run. SK Telecom T1 K went on to win the Season 3 World Championship later that year, becoming the first team from the league to do so.
Champions Spring 2013 and Champions Summer 2013 later followed, being won by MVP Ozone and SK Telecom T1 K respectively. Azubu Frost and NaJin Sword clashed early in 2013 in the finals of Champions Winter 2012-13, with the latter emerging victorious. Azubu Frost, along with NaJin Sword, went on to represent South Korea in their first appearance at the League of Legends World Championship in October.Ī tri-tournament annual circuit was soon set as the norm for the league's calendar year, now consisting of three seasons held in the winter, spring, and summer. The Champions Summer 2012 followed later that year, with a rebranded MiG Frost, now known as Azubu Frost, claiming the title themselves. MiG Blaze was crowned the competition's inaugural champion after defeating their organizational sibling team MiG Frost in the finals. Named The Champions Spring 2012, the tournament ran from March to May and was contested by a total of 16 teams. The LCK has been long considered one of the strongest League of Legends leagues in the world, with the game's World Championship having been won by teams from the league from 2013 through 2017 2018 was the first season since 2013 where a team from the LCK did not win the World Championship.įollowing the launch of South Korea's League of Legends server in December 2011, cable broadcaster OnGameNet launched the country's first major League of Legends tournament in March 2012. In 2021 the LCK franchised, and Challengers Korea (CK) and the LCK promotion tournament were discontinued. In 2019, Riot Games took over the broadcasting of LCK. OGN reserved exclusive broadcasting rights of the league until 2016 when rights were split with SPOTV Games. The league was formerly named League of Legends Champions before undergoing a major restructuring in late 2014, which saw a change in the competition's format and a rebranding to its current name.
The LCK is administered in cooperation between Riot Games and KeSPA.
Contested by ten teams, the league runs two seasons per year and serves as a direct route to qualification for the annual League of Legends World Championship. League of Legends Champions Korea ( LCK) is the primary competition for League of Legends esports in South Korea. HP Omen, Logitech, McDonald's, Secretlab, Woori Bank League of Legends Champions Korea Current season, competition or edition: