The '2026 LCK Challengers League Kickoff', the official secondary league for League of Legends, begins on the 12th with a match between Nongshim RedForce and DN Supers.

The LCK Challengers League (LCK CL) is a professional league featuring the secondary squads of LCK teams. This year, the operational format has been partially updated: the Kickoff 'Group Battle', 'Play-ins', and all four rounds of the regular season will be held online, while the Kickoff 'Playoffs' and the regular season's 'Play-ins' and 'Playoffs' will be hosted offline. Additionally, a new 'First Pick' system has been introduced to reduce win rate disparities between sides. This system separates side selection from draft order, allowing teams to strategically decide which element to prioritize.

The LCK CL Kickoff is the first split tournament held before the regular season, consisting of three stages: 'Group Battle', 'Play-ins', and 'Playoffs'. During the 'Group Battle', the 10 LCK CL teams are split into two groups, engaging in a 1-round robin cross-match format against the other group. Notably, a 'Super Week' will be introduced in the third week, where teams with identical seeds face off in a best-of-five series, with 2 points awarded to the winning group.

At the team draft held on the 2nd, 2025 champions BNK FearX chose the first pick and the Herald group, while runners-up KT Rolster were assigned to the Drake group. The final draft results are as follows: the Herald group includes ▲BNK FearX ▲T1 Esports Academy ▲DRX ▲Nongshim RedForce ▲Gen.G Global Academy, while the Drake group includes ▲KT Rolster ▲Dplus KIA ▲DN Supers ▲Hanwha Life Esports ▲BRION.

Match times have also been adjusted. The LCK CL Kickoff begins at 14:00 on the 12th with Nongshim RedForce vs. DN Supers, followed by BNK FearX vs. BRION at 16:00, and T1 Esports Academy vs. KT Rolster at 18:00. On the 13th, Gen.G Global Academy vs. Dplus KIA will take place at 17:00, followed by DRX vs. Hanwha Life Esports at 19:00.

Advancement to the Kickoff 'Play-ins' and 'Playoffs' will be determined based on Group Battle performance. Groups are ranked by total wins; the group with more victories is classified as the 'Winner Group', and the other as the 'Loser Group'. The 1st and 2nd place teams from the Winner Group advance directly to the second round of the playoffs, while the 1st place team from the Loser Group advances directly to the first round. Meanwhile, the 3rd to 5th seeds from the Winner Group and the 2nd to 4th seeds from the Loser Group will compete in the Play-ins for a spot in the playoffs.

The six teams in the Kickoff Play-ins are seeded based on their Group Battle win counts, regardless of their original group. The Play-ins consist of two rounds and a final decider, with the top three teams advancing to the playoffs. A total of six teams will participate in the playoffs, and the double-elimination format, which was applied from the second round last year, will now be applied to the entire bracket starting from the first round. The Kickoff winner will receive a prize of 15 million KRW, and the Finals MVP will receive 1 million KRW.

The live online broadcast can be viewed on SOOP and Chzzk, and further details can be found on the official LCK CL SNS.