The first week of the 2026 LCK regular season's third round kicks off on the 29th and runs through August 2nd, spanning across the LCK Arena at LoL Park in Jongno, Seoul, and Hall 5 at KINTEX in Goyang, Gyeonggi-do. The high-stakes scramble for the regular season title and the coveted ticket to the World Championship is about to intensify.

The opening day on the 29th features a classic showdown between historic rivals T1 and KT Rolster. On the 30th, all eyes will be on the clash between Hanwha Life Esports, the victors of the Mid-Season Invitational (MSI) held in Daejeon on the 12th, and Dplus KIA, who recently claimed the summit at the Esports World Cup (EWC) in Paris on the 19th.

On July 31st and August 1st, Gen.G will host their 'Homestand' event at KINTEX in Goyang. Gen.G is set to face both T1 and Dplus KIA on their own turf. Having stumbled against T1 in both the regular league and the MSI qualifiers this season, and suffering recent losses to Dplus KIA in April and the EWC semifinals, the question remains whether Gen.G can find redemption in front of the home crowd.

The third and fourth rounds divide the field into the 'Legend Group'—the top five teams—and the 'Rise Group' consisting of the bottom five. The Legend Group features Hanwha Life Esports, T1, Gen.G, KT Rolster, and Dplus KIA. Meanwhile, the Rise Group sees Hanjin Brion, BNK FearX, Kiwoom DRX, Nongshim RedForce, and DN Supers fighting for survival.

Every match will follow a best-of-three format using the Fearless Draft system, with all records from the first and second rounds carried over. The top two teams from the Legend Group earn a direct ticket to the second round of the playoffs, while third and fourth place head to the first round. The fifth-place team from the Legend Group and the top three from the Rise Group must navigate the play-in stage. Given the scheduling constraints for the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, this phase will be a compact four-week sprint ending on August 23rd.