2023 LCK season

2023 LCK season
LeagueLCK
SportLeague of Legends
Duration
  • 18 January – 9 April (Spring)
  • 7 June – 20 August (Summer)
Number of teams10
Spring
Season championsGen.G
  Runners-upT1
Season MVPRyu "Keria" Min-seok
Summer
Season championsGen.G
  Runners-upT1
Season MVPSon "Lehends" Si-woo
LCK seasons

The 2023 LCK season was the twelfth season of South Korea's LCK, a professional esports league for the MOBA PC game League of Legends. The season was divided into two splits: Spring and Summer. The Spring Split began on 18 January and culminated with the playoff finals on 9 April 2023. The Summer Split began on 7 June and culminated with the Summer Split finals on 20 August 2023.

The Spring Split winners, Gen.G, and runners-up, T1, qualified for the 2023 Mid-Season Invitational. Gen.G also won the Summer Split, directly qualifying them for the 2023 World Championship. T1 qualified for the 2023 World Championship via Championship Points, while both KT Rolster and Dplus Kia also qualified for the 2023 World Championship through the regional qualifier.

Format

The regular season format was double round-robin. The games were played five days per week for both round robins.[1]

Starting from the 2023 season, LCK introduced new format for the playoffs, where double elimination would be applied starting from the semifinals.[2][3] LCK also eliminated the rules for call-up and send-down between LCK and LCK Challengers League from this season.[4]

Spring

The Spring Split regular season ran from 18 January to on 19 March 2023. The top six teams from the regular season advanced to the playoffs, which took place from 22 March to 9 April 2023.[5][6] The finals took place at the Jamsil Indoor Stadium in Seoul.[7] The top two teams from the playoffs qualified for the 2023 Mid-Season Invitational.[8]

Regular season

Pos Team Pld W L PCT Qualification
1 T1 18 17 1 .944 Advance to upper semifinals
2 Gen.G 18 13 5 .722
3 KT Rolster 18 13 5 .722 Advance to upper quarterfinals
4 Dplus Kia 18 12 6 .667
5 Hanwha Life Esports 18 10 8 .556
6 Liiv Sandbox 18 10 8 .556
7 Kwangdong Freecs 18 6 12 .333
8 Fredit Brion 18 4 14 .222
9 DRX 18 3 15 .167
10 Nongshim RedForce 18 2 16 .111
Source: LoL Esports

Playoffs

Gen.G and T1 played in the Spring Finals match.
Upper quarterfinalsUpper semifinalsUpper finalFinal
1T13
3KT Rolster33KT Rolster2
6Liiv Sandbox11T13
2Gen.G1
2Gen.G3
4Dplus Kia15Hanwha Life Esports1
5Hanwha Life Esports3
1T11
2Gen.G3
Lower semifinalsLower final
2Gen.G3
3KT Rolster33KT Rolster1
5Hanwha Life Esports1

Summer

The Summer Split regular season began on 7 June. The top six teams from the regular season advanced to the playoffs, which took place from 22 March to 9 April 2023. The top six teams from the regular season advanced to the playoffs, which took place from 8 to 20 August 2023. The finals took place at the Daejeon Convention Center in Yuseong-gu, Daejeon.[7]

Regular season

Pos Team Pld W L PCT Qualification
1 KT Rolster 18 17 1 .944 Advance to upper semifinals
2 Gen.G 18 16 2 .889
3 Hanwha Life Esports 18 12 6 .667 Advance to upper quarterfinals
4 Dplus Kia 18 11 7 .611
5 T1 18 9 9 .500
6 DRX 18 6 12 .333
7 Liiv Sandbox 18 5 13 .278
8 Fredit Brion 18 5 13 .278
9 Nongshim RedForce 18 5 13 .278
10 Kwangdong Freecs 18 4 14 .222
Source: LoL Esports

Playoffs

Upper quarterfinalsUpper semifinalsUpper finalFinal
1KT Rolster2
3Hanwha Life Esports35T13
6DRX02Gen.G3
5T12
2Gen.G3
4Dplus Kia13Hanwha Life Esports0
5T13
2Gen.G3
5T10
Lower semifinalsLower final
5T13
1KT Rolster31KT Rolster2
3Hanwha Life Esports0

World Championship qualification

Championship points

Pos Team Spr Sum Total Qualification
1 Gen.G 90 AQ AQ 2023 World Championship
2 T1 70 100 170
3 KT Rolster 50 80 130 Advance to regional qualifier upper final
4 Hanwha Life Esports 30 50 80
5 Dplus Kia 20 30 50 Advance to regional qualifier lower semifinal
6 DRX 0 10 10
7 Liiv Sandbox 10 0 10
8 Kwangdong Freecs 0 0 0
9 Nongshim RedForce 0 0 0
10 Fredit Brion 0 0 0
Source: 2023 LCK Rulebook

Regional qualifier

The regional qualifier was a tournament consisting of the top four teams in the LCK based on championship points that had not directly qualified for the 2023 World Championship. The top two teams faced off, and the winner earned a spot in the World Championship. Simultaneously, the bottom two teams played against each other, with the losing team being eliminated. The remaining two teams then competed for the last LCK spot in the 2023 World Championship.[9]

Upper finalAdvance to World Championship
3KT Rolster3
KT Rolster
4Hanwha Life Esports1
Lower semifinalLower finalAdvance to World Championship
4Hanwha Life Esports1
Dplus Kia
5Dplus Kia35Dplus Kia3
6DRX0

Source: LoL Esports

Awards

Spring
  • 2nd Team All-Pro:[11]
    • T Kiin, KT Rolster
    • J Peanut, Gen.G
    • M Chovy, Gen.G
    • B Deft, Dplus KIA
    • S Kellin, Dplus KIA
  • 3rd Team All-Pro:[11]
    • T Doran, Gen.G
    • J Canyon, Dplus KIA
    • M Bdd, KT Rolster
    • B Peyz, Gen.G
    • S Lehends, KT Rolster
Summer
  • Most Valuable Player: Lehends, KT Rolster[12]
  • 1st Team All-Pro:[12]
    • T Kiin, KT Rolster
    • J Cuzz, KT Rolster
    • M Bdd, KT Rolster
    • B Aiming, KT Rolster
    • S Lehends, KT Rolster
  • 2nd Team All-Pro:[12]
    • T Doran, Gen.G
    • J Peanut, Gen.G
    • M Chovy, Gen.G
    • B Peyz, Gen.G
    • S Delight, Gen.G
  • 3rd Team All-Pro:[12]
    • T Zeus, T1
    • J Canyon, Dplus KIA
    • M Zeka, Hanwha Life Esports
    • B Viper, Hanwha Life Esports
    • S Life, Hanwha Life Esports
Season
  • Player of the Year: Faker, T1[13]
  • Positional Players of the Year:[14]
  • Sponsorship Awards:[15]
    • Secret Lab Assist King Award: Delight, Gen.G
    • Best Monster Slayer Award: Peanut, Gen.G
    • Logitech G Best Power Play Award: Deft, Dplus
    • JW Pharmaceutical Vision Award: Kael, Liiv Sandbox
    • OP.GG Search King Award: Faker, T1
    • LG Ultragear Objective Steal Award: Cuzz, KT Rolster
    • LCK Global Marketing Award: Morgan, Fredit Brion
    • HP Omen Best KDA Award: Aiming, KT Rolster
    • BBQ First Blood Award: Oner, T1
    • Woori WON Banking Gold King Award: Gumayusi, T1
  • LCK 10th Anniversary Award: Seong Seung-heon and CloudTemplar[16]
  • Best Showmanship Award: Kwangdong Freecs[16]
  • Meme of the Year: CloudTemplar[16]

Broadcast

The LCK was broadcast at the following platforms:[17][18]

  • Korean: Naver, Afreeca TV, YouTube
  • English: Twitch, YouTube
  • Chinese: HuyaTV
  • French: OTP
  • Vietnam: YouTube, Facebook
  • Japan: Twitch

References

  1. ^ "2023 LCK 18일 개막, 4월 9일 결승... PO 더블 엘리 도입". sports.news.naver.com (in Korean). Retrieved 9 February 2023.
  2. ^ "LCK implements double-elimination in PO, 2023 LCK Spring Split to start Jan. 18". InvenGlobal. 5 January 2023. Retrieved 9 February 2023.
  3. ^ "LCK 플레이오프 방식 변경…2023 LCK PO에 '더블 엘리' 도입". sports.news.naver.com (in Korean). Retrieved 28 February 2023.
  4. ^ 안, 희찬. "LCK, 내년도 플레이오프 방식 더블 엘리미네이션 방식으로 바뀐다". n.news.naver.com (in Korean). Retrieved 28 February 2023.
  5. ^ "'새터데이 쇼다운' 함께 특별해진 LCK 2023...18일 개막". sports.news.naver.com (in Korean). Retrieved 28 February 2023.
  6. ^ Martinello, Eva (5 January 2023). "2023 LCK Spring Split: full schedule and format". Dot Esports. Retrieved 4 January 2024.
  7. ^ a b Kim, Hong-je (23 May 2023). "LCK 서머, KT VS HLE 경기로 6월 7일 개막". Naver (in Korean). Retrieved 4 January 2024.
  8. ^ Datuin, Sage (19 April 2023). "MSI 2023: Schedule, Format, teams, and How to watch". Esports Illustrated. Retrieved 4 January 2024.
  9. ^ Paik, Ji-hwan (28 August 2023). "Dplus KIA, KT Rolster top LCK regionals to earn ticket to Worlds". Korea JoongAng Daily. Retrieved 4 January 2024.
  10. ^ Jang, David (22 March 2023). "All five T1 players voted to the All-LCK First Team". Inven Global. Retrieved 27 March 2023.
  11. ^ a b c Beom, Park (22 March 2023). "[LCK 스프링] T1, 사상 첫 5명 모두 올 LCK 퍼스트 팀 선정". Naver (in Korean). Inven. Retrieved 2 January 2024.
  12. ^ a b c d Jang, David (7 August 2023). "LCK Announces 2023 Summer Season Awards, KT Rolster Named All-LCK First Team". InvenGlobal. Retrieved 2 January 2024.
  13. ^ Jang, David; Kim, Soojin (13 December 2023). "[2023 LCK Awards] "All Roads Lead to Me", Faker Claims Player of the Year". InvenGlobal. Retrieved 2 January 2024.
  14. ^ Jang, David; Kim, Soojin (13 December 2023). "[2023 LCK Awards] T1 Sweeps Positional Player of the Year Awards". InvenGlobal. Retrieved 2 January 2024.
  15. ^ Jang, David; Kim, Soojin (13 December 2023). "[2023 LCK Awards] Recipients of the Sponsor Special Awards". InvenGlobal. Retrieved 2 January 2024.
  16. ^ a b c Jang, David (13 December 2023). "[2023 LCK Awards] A Decade of Dedication: LCK Veterans CloudTemplar and Caster Seong Shine". InvenGlobal. Retrieved 2 January 2024.
  17. ^ "LCK Platform". Twitter. Retrieved 9 February 2023.
  18. ^ 장, 진욱. "중계권 계약 불발, 트위치 LCK 한국어 중계 멈춘다". n.news.naver.com (in Korean). Retrieved 28 February 2023.