The Korea e-Sports Association (KeSPA) announced on September 10 that the second-half Academy League of the '2026 LCK Academy Series (LCK AS)' will kick off on September 12, featuring top-performing teams from the School League.
The 'LCK AS Academy League' is the official third-tier league in which academy teams affiliated with LCK franchises compete. It aims to discover prospects and provide them with structured match experience and competitive opportunities. In the previous first-half league, Dplus KIA Youth won the championship, and designated LCK AS players Han "Valiant" Kang-hyeon and Park "Navid" Min-woo are currently challenging for appearances in the LCK CL.
Starting in the second half, top teams from the School League are also granted eligibility to participate. Eunpyeong Meditech High School Gaming and Korea Game Science High School's "Gamgwago" earned eligibility, with Eunpyeong Meditech High School Gaming—the 2026 School League Preseason champion—confirming its participation. Korea Game Science High School's Gamgwago decided to remain in the School League after considering internal team circumstances.
A total of 10 teams will compete: Dplus KIA Youth, DN SOOPers Academy, Gen.G Global Academy, Hanwha Life Esports, KT Rolster Academy, Hanjin BRION Academy, Nongshim Esports Academy, T1 Esports Academy Rookies, Kiwoom DRX, and Eunpyeong Meditech High School Gaming.
The full league stage will take place every weekend from September 12 to October 25 in a best-of-three (Bo3) format. The playoffs will run from October 31 to November 8 in a double-elimination, best-of-five (Bo5) format. The champions will receive a trophy and 2.5 million won in prize money, while the second and third-place teams will be awarded 1.5 million won and 1 million won, respectively.
All matches will be held online. The playoff matches will be broadcast live every Saturday and Sunday at 2:00 PM KST on the official LCK CL SOOP and CHZZK channels.
The LCK AS is hosted by Riot Games, co-organized by Riot Games and KeSPA, and sponsored by Woori Bank.
