The 2026 LCK Season Playoffs are underway, and the bracket is starting to crystallize into something genuinely compelling. Gen.G and Hanwha Life Esports, the two teams that dominated the regular season, now have their Round 2 opponents locked in: GEN will face KT Rolster, while HLE draws T1.
Both top seeds earned byes directly into the upper bracket’s second round, a reward for finishing atop the Legend Group standings. The real intrigue lies in the matchups they’ve inherited, and in the case of Gen.G, the matchup they chose.
Opening weekend delivered drama and dominance
The playoffs kicked off on August 29 at CHZZK LoL Park in Seoul with a best-of-five between T1 and BNK FearX. That series went the distance, with T1 scraping through 3-2.
The following day, KT Rolster made their series look like a formality. KT swept Dplus KIA 3-0.
