2024 LCK season

2024 LCK season
LeagueLCK
SportLeague of Legends
Duration
  • 17 January – 14 April (Spring)
  • 12 June – 14 September
    (Summer)
Number of teams10
Spring
Season championsGen.G
  Runners-upT1
Season MVPChovy (Gen.G)
Summer
Season championsHanwha Life Esports
  Runners-upGen.G
Season MVPChovy (Gen.G)
LCK seasons
2025 →

The 2024 LCK season was the 13th season of the League of Legends Champions Korea (LCK), a professional South Korean esports league for the MOBA PC game League of Legends. The season is divided into two splits: Spring and Summer. The Spring Split began on 17 January 2024 and culminated with the playoff finals on 14 April. The Summer Split began on 12 June and ended with the Summer Grand Final on 14 September.

League changes

[edit]

Teams

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Liiv Sandbox rebranded its esports team FearX heading into the 2024 season,[1] which became BNK FearX on 23 May in time for the Summer Split.

Salary cap

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In response to financial challenges faced by LCK organizations, such as Gen.G's CEO Arnold Hur revealing that his team had "never turned a profit" despite leading in sponsorship revenue, the LCK implemented a hard salary cap for starting rosters and a luxury tax system for the 2024 season. The salary cap will be calculated based on the total salary paid to the starting roster, excluding substitutes or benched players. It consists of a minimum level, set at 70% of a team's revenue earned in 2022, and an upper limit. Teams exceeding the maximum cap will incur a luxury tax, which will be redistributed to teams that stayed within the limit. However, to be eligible for a share of the luxury tax, teams must reach the minimum level of the salary cap. There is no individual cap on a player's salary, only for the entire team, and there are exceptions and bonuses based on player achievements.[2]

Spring

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The Spring Split regular season ran from 17 January to 24 March 2024. The 10 teams played a total of 90 games, and all regular season games were played in a best-of-three format. The top six teams from the regular season advanced to the playoffs, which took place from 30 March to 14 April 2024.[1] The top two teams from the playoffs advanced to the 2024 Mid-Season Invitational.[3]

Regular season

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Pos Team Pld W L PCT Qualification
1 Gen.G 18 17 1 .944 Advance to upper semifinals
2 T1 18 15 3 .833
3 Hanwha Life Esports 18 15 3 .833 Advance to upper quarterfinals
4 KT Rolster 18 11 7 .611
5 Dplus Kia 18 9 9 .500
6 Kwangdong Freecs 18 7 11 .389
7 FearX 18 6 12 .333
8 Nongshim RedForce 18 4 14 .222
9 DRX 18 3 15 .167
10 OKSavingsBank Brion 18 3 15 .167
Source: LoL Esports

Playoffs

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Upper quarterfinalsUpper semifinalsUpper finalFinal
1Gen.G3
3Hanwha Life Esports35Dplus KIA2
6Kwangdong Freecs01Gen.G3
Top seed selects opponent
3Hanwha Life Esports1
2T10
4KT Rolster23Hanwha Life Esports3
5Dplus Kia3
1Gen.G3
2T12
Lower semifinalsLower final
3Hanwha Life Esports1
5Dplus KIA02T13
2T13

Source: LoL Esports

Summer

[edit]

Regular season

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Pos Team Pld W L PCT Qualification
1 Gen.G 18 17 1 .944 Advance to upper semifinals
2 Hanwha Life Esports 18 14 4 .778
3 Dplus Kia 18 13 5 .722 Advance to upper quarterfinals
4 T1 18 11 7 .611
5 KT Rolster 18 9 9 .500
6 BNK FearX 18 8 10 .444
7 Kwangdong Freecs 18 7 11 .389
8 Nongshim RedForce 18 5 13 .278
9 DRX 18 4 14 .222
10 Ok SavingBank Brion 18 2 16 .111
Source: LoL Esports

Playoffs

[edit]
Upper quarterfinalsUpper semifinalsUpper finalFinal
1Gen.G3
3Dplus Kia33Dplus Kia0
6BNK FearX11Gen.G3
Top seed selects opponent
2Hanwha Life Esports1
2Hanwha Life Esports3
4T134T10
5KT Rolster1
1Gen.G2
2Hanwha Life Esports3
Lower semifinalsLower final
2Hanwha Life Esports3
3Dplus Kia14T11
4T13

Source: LoL Esports

World Championship qualification

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Championship points

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Pos Team Spr Sum Total Qualification
1 Hanwha Life Esports 50 AQ AQ 2024 World Championship
2 Gen.G 90 100 190
3 T1 70 80 150 Advance to regional qualifier upper Round 1
4 Dplus Kia 30 50 80
5 KT Rolster 20 30 50 Advance to regional qualifier lower Round 1
6 BNK FearX 0 10 10
7 Kwangdong Freecs 10 0 10
8 Nongshim RedForce 0 0 0
9 DRX 0 0 0
10 Ok SavingBank Brion 0 0 0

Regional qualifier

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The regional qualifier is a tournament consisting of the top four teams in the LCK based on championship points that had not directly qualified for the 2024 World Championship. The top two teams face off, and the winner earns 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 compete for the last LCK spot in the 2024 World Championship.

Round 1Round 2Advance to Worlds
3T12
Dplus Kia
4Dplus Kia3
3T13
T1
5KT Rolster2
5KT Rolster3
6FearX0

Source: LoL Esports

Awards

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Spring
  • 1st Team All-Pro:[4]
    • T Kiin, Gen.G
    • J Canyon, Gen.G
    • M Chovy, Gen.G
    • B Peyz, Gen.G
    • S Keria, T1
  • 2nd Team All-Pro:[4]
    • T Zeus, T1
    • J Oner, T1
    • M Faker, T1
    • B Viper, Hanwha Life Esports
    • S Lehends, Gen.G
  • 3rd Team All-Pro:[4]
    • T Doran, Hanwha Life Esports
    • J Peanut, Hanwha Life Esports
    • M Zeka, Hanwha Life Esports
    • B Gumayusi, T1
    • S Delight, Hanwha Life Esports


Summer
  • Most Valuable Player: Peyz, Gen.G
  • Player of the Split: Chovy, Gen.G
  • Rookie of the Year: Lucid, Dplus Kia
  • 1st Team All-Pro:
    • T Kiin, Gen.G
    • J Canyon, Gen.G
    • M Chovy, Gen.G
    • B Peyz, Gen.G
    • S Lehends, Gen.G
  • 2nd Team All-Pro:
    • T Doran, Hanwha Life Esports
    • J Peanut, Hanwha Life Esports
    • M Zeka, Hanwha Life Esports
    • B Viper, Hanwha Life Esports
    • S Delight, Hanwha Life Esports
  • 3rd Team All-Pro:
    • T Kingen, Dplus Kia
    • J Oner, T1
    • M Bdd, KT Rolster
    • B Aiming, Dplus Kia
    • S Keria, T1

References

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  1. ^ a b Cha, Jong-kwan (January 4, 2024). "2024 LCK 스프링 1월 17일 개막…젠지-T1 맞대결" [2024 LCK Spring opens on January 17th... Gen.G-T1 showdown]. Kukmin Ilbo (in Korean). Retrieved January 4, 2024.
  2. ^ Taifalos, Nicholas (July 19, 2023). "LCK brings in salary cap for LoL teams, will punish offenders with 'luxury tax'". Dot Esports. Retrieved January 4, 2024.
  3. ^ Jang, David (April 14, 2024). "All teams qualified for MSI 2024". InvenGlobal. Retrieved April 14, 2024.
  4. ^ a b c d e Lee, Yong-jun (March 26, 2024). "'쵸비' 정지훈, 스프링 정규 리그 MVP...어워드 '싹쓸이 3관왕'" ['Chovy' Jeong Ji-hoon, spring regular league MVP... won three awards in a 'sweep']. The Korea Daily (in Korean). Retrieved March 30, 2024.