With MSI 2026 wrapped up, the League of Legends Championship Pacific (LCP) returns on 25 July for its third and final split of the 2026 season, running through 30 August – in the final leg of the season, teams will compete for the LCP championship title and qualification spots for Worlds. LCP 2026 Split 3 will introduce the Swiss Stage format for the first time, replacing the round-robin system adopted across most regional leagues.
LCP 2026 Split 3: Everything You Need To Know
The split starts from Swiss Stage picking up where Stage 2 left off: the top four teams from the Split 2 Knockout Stage have been randomly drawn against the bottom four teams for the opening round, with matchups set as Ground Zero vs MVK Esports, Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks Gaming vs Team Secret Whales, Detonation FocusMe vs GAM Esports, and CTBC Flying Oyster vs Deep Cross Gaming. In later rounds, teams with the same win-loss record are randomly paired into a matchup, with exceptions made to avoid repeat matchups where possible.
Teams play on best-of-three matches until they reach either three wins (qualifying for Playoffs), or three losses (elimination), with qualification and elimination matches played as best-of-five. A round of final seeding matches, also played as best-of-five, determines final standings, including the first seed for Playoffs and any tie-breakers among teams eliminated with the same record. Championship Points are awarded based on Swiss Stage results, ranging from 50 points for a 3-0 record to zero points for a 0-3 record.
The four teams that qualify for Playoffs will compete in a double-elimination format using best-of-five matches to determine two tickets to Worlds and crown the LCP champion. The team with the highest Championship Points at the end of the season will also qualify for Worlds as the third seed, joining the top two Playoffs finishers to compete against other regions including LCK (Korea), LPL (China), LEC (EMEA), LCS (North America), and CBLOL (Brazil & South America).
Tickets for LCP Arena (located in Taipei) matches can be purchased through the KKTIX website or at FamilyMart outlets across Taiwan, with sales opening at 12pm GMT+8 each Wednesday, one week before the relevant match weekend. Matchweek 1 tickets go on sale on 15 July at 12pm GMT+8. Tickets are sold per match day and grant entry to all matches scheduled that day. LCP Finals Weekend Taipei will take place from 29 to 30 August at the Taipei Heping Basketball Gymnasium.
LCP 2027 Promotion Series Set for November
Additionally, the LCP Promotion Series (P&R) returns from 10 to 13 November, during which up to three Guest teams may be required to defend their place in the LCP against top teams from APAC’s domestic / tier 2 leagues. Guest teams – currently including DCG, DFM, GZ, MVK, and TSW – that qualify for Worlds are exempt from promotion and relegation matches.
Remaining Guest teams will be placed into either a Free-for-All slot, determined by the lowest Championship Points regardless of home region, or a Regional Merit slot, based on criteria involving multiple home regions and Championship Point totals. The format for the Promotion Series will be announced once participating teams are confirmed.
LCP matches will be broadcast in English, Vietnamese, Traditional Chinese, Japanese, and Thai across Twitch, YouTube, and TikTok, with further details and schedule updates available at lolesports.com and through LCP’s official social media channels.
Pokdepinion: I expect Vietnamese teams to continue their domination – TSW should have this in the bag barring any surprises.
