LPL Split 1 Format Announcement: Only Fourteen Teams Participate
Former international tournament winners, FunPlus Phoenix and Royal Never Give Up, have bowed out of the LPL. That leaves fourteen teams for the Chinese competition this year. Yesterday, the LPL announced its format for the first Split of the year. All fourteen teams will compete for the LPL Split 1 title and two places at First Stand 2026 in Brazil.
LPL Split 1 Teams
The fourteen teams participating in Split 1 of the LPL are:
- Anyone’s Legend
- Bilibili Gaming
- EDward Gaming
- Invictus Gaming
- JD Gaming
- LGD Gaming
- LNG Esports
- Ninjas in Pyjamas
- Oh My God
- Team WE
- ThunderTalk Gaming
- Top Esports
- Ultra Prime
- Weibo Gaming
Many of the teams have changed their rosters for the 2026 season. Split 2 2025 champions, Anyone’s Legend, were able to keep their players from last year, but lost their head coach, Wong “Tabe” Pak-kan, to JD Gaming. Bilibili Gaming brought Peng “Xun” Lixun back, alongside Korean AD Carry, Park “Viper” Do-hyeon. Top Esports will be without their famous AD Carry, Yu “JackeyLove” Wenbo, who is taking a break for health concerns. Invictus Gaming will start Split 1 as the Demacia Cup champions. Demacia Cup is the pre-season tournament for the LPL.
LPL Split 1 Format
All matches during Split 1 utilize the Fearless Draft Format. The fourteen LPL teams are divided into three groups based on their performances last year. Group Ascend features the top six teams. The next four are in Group Perseverance, with the final four in Group Nirvana. All matches are Best-of-Three. Each group is a Double Round-Robin bracket. The groups are as follows:
Group Ascend
- Bilibili Gaming
- Anyone’s Legend
- Top Esports
- Invictus Gaming
- JD Gaming
- Weibo Gaming
The top four teams from this group advance to the Knockout Stage, while the bottom two begin in the Knights Rivals Stage.
Group Peserverance
- Ninjas in Pyjamas
- Team WE
- EDward Gaming
- ThunderTalk Gaming
All four teams advance to the Knights Rivals Stage, with placement determining the seeding.
Group Nirvana
- LGD Gaming
- Ultra Prime
- LNG Esports
- Oh My God
The two teams join the rest of the LPL in the Knights Rivals. The final two will see their Split come to an end.
Knights Rivals
Knights Rivals is a double-elimination bracket. The two Ascend teams and the top two Perserverance teams begin in the upper bracket. The rest start in the Lower Bracket. Two teams from each part of the bracket qualify for the knockout stage. All matches are best-of-five.
Knockout Stage
The four Ascend teams and those that qualified from Knights Rivals participate in a double-elimination bracket. The Ascend teams will pick their opponents in the order they finished in the group. All matches are best-of-five. The finalists of the Knockout Stage will qualify for the First Stand. The winner will become the first seed, earning themselves 80 Championship Points.
LPL Split 1 Schedule
The Split starts on January 14th at 1:00 AM PST (10:00 AM CET). Weibo Gaming and Invictus Gaming will kick off the season, followed by Top Esports and JD Gaming. Knights Rivals should begin in February, with the Knockout Stage coming to an end in March.
How To Watch the LPL
The LPL is streamed on local Chinese platforms, Bilibili, Huya, and Tencent. The LPLEnglish channel should cover all the matches. The number of LPL costreamers will dwindle for the first Split of the LPL. With Caedrel and YamatoCannon focusing on Los Ratones and IWillDominate coaching Cloud9, the options are low. Australian co-streamer Kittywy might be the go-to option for an English co-streamer. However, she might not always be available and switches between English and Mandarin during her streams.
Early Predictions
All the roster changes make predicting the LPL a challenging task. Anyone’s Legend should remain near the top, given that they kept their roster. However, the loss of Tabe might impact their performance. Bilibili Gaming should be one of the favorites. The addition of Viper and the return of Xun should give them the stability they need to dominate. Other than that, eyes are on the defending Demacia Cup Champions, Invictus Gaming, Top Esports, without JackeyLove and Tabe’s JD Gaming.
