LCK Summer Split Survival Guide

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The LCK Summer Split will take place from this week onwards until September.

The third major regional league is set to start with the LCK Summer Split, which features the 10 best teams in South Korea as they battle it out to see who will lift the title. As it stands, Gen.G Esports has been the most consistent team to date having won the last four LCK regional splits while T1 came in second. It's also worth noting that Gen.G recently won the Mid-Season Invitational, which will now put them on course to try and secure the first-ever ‘Golden Road’.

They are the first and only Korean to have won four regional titles in a row, a feat many have tried but could not achieve over the nine-year history of the LCK. All eyes will be on Gen.G when the LCK Summer Split starts to determine if they can go for five titles in a row with no response. Of course, nine other teams are looking to end their streak with a select few that could cause Gen.G some headaches.

LCK Summer Split - Format & Schedule

• Group Stage: June 12th - August 18th
• Playoffs: August 23rd - September 8

As always, we start with the group stage portion of the LCK Summer Split at LoL Park with all 10 teams grouped together in a double round-robin format. Each team will play 18 matches in total during the group stage with every series being a best-of-three. There will be two games daily for the group stage from Wednesday to Sunday for five weeks straight.

Teams will battle for the top-six spots in the group stage to qualify for the playoffs. The top two teams will receive an automatic bye to the upper bracket semifinals, which will provide some breathing room. As for the other four teams, they will first have to scrap in the quarter-finals of the upper bracket before they can move on.

The team that finished first during the group stage will get to decide on which team from the quarter-finals he will want to face, provided said team wins its match-up first. For the team that came second, they will face whoever is left. The playoffs will be a double-elimination bracket with all games being a best-of-five series. The lower bracket will only come into play during the semifinals so the teams that lose during the quarters will be going home.

Given the group stage schedule, it coincides with the Esports World Cup where T1 and Gen.G are invited to compete. While the schedule for that is expected to take place from July 4th - 7th, both teams will also have to account for travel time as well as jetlag, seeing as the EWC will be held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. 

LCK Summer Split - Prize Pool

The LCK Summer Split will have a total prize pool of ₩375,000,000 although it hasn't been disclosed how much the winner will receive. Based on how the LCK Spring Split winnings were split, this is how it could look like. Of course, not only will the victor receive a lion's share of the total prize pool but also an automatic qualification to Worlds 2024.

As Gen.G won MSI just a few months ago, they will only need to qualify for the LCK Summer Split playoffs to ensure their spot for Worlds 2024. With the LCK and LPL being the best-performing regions during MSI, both regions would receive an additional slot at the world championship. The Championship Points will also come in handy once the LCK Regional Finals roll around.

LCK Summer Split - Teams

For obvious reasons, Gen.G will be the favourite once more as they look to secure a fifth consecutive LCK title. As for the other Korean titans like T1, who have been plagued by constant DDoS attacks at its headquarters that have prevented the players from scrimming, streaming, and practising, they will be hoping to have a better performance during the LCK Summer Split in hopes of making it to Worlds yet again. Despite not being at its best, T1 on the international stage is always capable of writing a captivating storyline.

Teams like Hanwha Life Esports and Dplus KIA will also be looking to make their mark on the LCK again after coming in third and fourth respectively during the Spring Split. HLE is seen as one of the region's latest ‘superteams’ after some big investments during the off-season and it has shown it can stand alongside the top two, but for how long? As for Dplus, its last regional split came during the Summer of 2021 and it has since been going through various roster shuffles.

• Dplus KIA
• DRX
• FearX
• Gen.G
• Hanwha Life Esports
• Kwangdong Freecs
• KT Rolster
• Nongshim RedForce
• OKSavingsBank BRION
• T1

LCK Summer Split - Where to Watch

The LCK Summer Split will be aired live every week, starting from every Wednesday to Sunday for the group stage. You can check out the official LCK Twitch channel for all the live games as well as its YouTube channel.