The 2026 LCK Academy Series (LCK AS) first-half league, a gateway for aspiring professional players, kicked off on March 21. This tournament serves as a third-tier regular league for LCK academy squads, providing LCK prospects with essential competitive experience. The full league runs for seven weeks from March 21 to May 3, with the playoffs scheduled to take place over two weeks from May 9 to May 17.

A total of eight teams are participating in this first-half season: Hanjin Brion Academy, Dplus KIA Youth, Gen.G Global Academy, Hanwha Life Esports, KT Rolster Academy, DN Super Academy, Nongshim Esports Academy, and T1 Esports Academy Rookies. The growth of these next-generation prospects, who are aiming for spots in the LCK or LCK CL, is a key point of interest. Notable players to watch include BRO Non-Nane Kim Byeong-woo, DK Navid Park Min-woo, GGA Lancelot Kwak Min-yeop, HLE Hailstone Park Jae-woo, KTA Flow Oh Chi-hoon, DNS Soft Heo Chan, NSA Crow Kim Seung-woo, and T1A Ether Hwang Hwi-sang.

The tournament follows a full league and playoff format. The full league is played as a triple round-robin with all matches being best-of-three, and the top six teams advance to the playoffs. The playoffs will be held in a best-of-five, semi-double elimination format to determine the final winner. The total prize pool is 6,000,000 KRW, with 2,500,000 KRW and a trophy awarded to the winning team. The runner-up will receive 1,500,000 KRW, while the third and fourth-place teams will each receive 1,000,000 KRW.

Playoff matches will be broadcast live every weekend at 2 PM via SOOP, Chzzk, and Naver Esports. The tournament focuses on fostering the next generation of LCK prospects by strengthening their practical skills and creating a sustainable competitive environment, with plans to expand the player development base in connection with school esports in the second half of the year. In the second half of last year, T1 Esports Academy Rookies won the championship, while Dplus KIA Youth finished as the runner-up.