The Tigers’ reign in South Korea continues, as
Gen.G defeated Hanwha Life Esports 3-1 in the
League of Legends Champions Korea (LCK) Grand Final to secure back-to-back titles after also winning last year’s edition. Their victory also sees them lock the No. 1 seed for Worlds 2026, while HLE will qualify as the No. 2 seed, followed by T1 as the No. 3 seed and Dplus KIA as the No. 4 seed.
This is Gen.G’s sixth domestic title, and all six trophies have one thing in common: Jeong "
" Ji-hoon, who now has the same number of LCK titles to his name. Kim "
" Gi-in, meanwhile, secures his third LCK title of his career, Kim "
" Geon-bu his sixth, Park "
" Jae-hyuk his third, and Joo "
" Min-kyu his second.
Six-Time Champions in the Last Seven LCK Splits
The consistency and dominance of Gen.G have been remarkable. Since the 2022 Summer Split, seven LCK splits have been played, and they have won six of them, an impressive level of domestic dominance in the most competitive league in the world. They were crowned champions in Summer 2022, won both splits in 2023, and took the Spring 2024 title. The only split that eluded them was Summer 2024, when they fell 3-2 to HLE in the final.
In 2025, the LCK decided to reduce the number of domestic titles to just one per year, with the championship being decided at the end of the year. Gen.G have won both editions since then, defeating HLE 3-1 in the final on each occasion. A true dynasty. Today, the Most Valuable Player (MVP) award was given to the team’s ADC, Ruler, who, at 27 years old, continues to be one of the best players in the world in his role.
The Year to Conquer Worlds for Gen.G
While Gen.G’s domestic dominance has been almost unmatched, things have been more complicated for Chovy and his teammates on the international stage, particularly at Worlds. Two-time MSI champions after winning the tournament in both 2024 and 2025, the Worlds trophy remains the one piece of silverware that has continued to elude the Korean organization.
This year will mark their eighth appearance at Worlds, a long journey that began in 2018 with a group-stage exit. Since then, they have reached the quarterfinals twice, losing to G2 Esports in 2020 and Bilibili Gaming in 2023, as well as the semifinals four times, falling to EDward Gaming in 2021, DRX in 2022, T1 in 2024, and KT Rolster in 2025.
As LCK champions, they will naturally enter this year’s tournament as one of the favorites to lift the trophy. However, after falling short at Worlds year after year, expectations around Gen.G may be slightly lower this time around, with fewer people expecting them to finally go all the way. That could take some of the pressure off Chovy and his teammates as they look to finally break through at the biggest tournament of the year.
Worlds is therefore the next challenge for Korea’s representatives. The tournament will begin on October 15 in the United States with the Play-In stage, while the Main Event will get underway on October 23. The 19 participating teams will battle it out until November 14, all hoping to end T1’s current reign. The Korean organization has won the last three editions and will be back to defend its title.
