Faker and Chovy unite again as LCK 2026 season opening invitational teams set

Darragh Harbinson, Senior Editor

Last Updated: 05/01/2026

The teams have been set for the LCK 2026 Season Opening invitational, with Lee ‘Faker’ Sang-hyeok and Jeong ‘Chovy’ Ji-hoon once again teaming up for the event.

The event sees Top Laners, Junglers, Mid Laners, Bot Laners, and Supports separated into five teams to duke it out for the best role in the LCK.

The preseason event will occur on January 9, prior to the kickoff of the LCK Cup the following week.

As usual, the teams were chosen by their respective role captains in a draft format, which prevents captains from kicking from the same team repeatedly.

This time, the captains were Choi ‘Zeus’ Woo-je for Team Top, Mun ‘Oner’ Hyeon-jun for Team Jungle, Faker for Team Mid, Park ‘Ruler’ Jae-hyuk for Team Bot, and Ryu ‘Keria’ Min-seok.

The draft resulted in the following rosters being picked for the invitation event:

T1 is, unsurprisingly, the best-represented roster at the event, with their full roster available for the invitation event.

Gen.G have three of their LCK-dominating team present, as do HLE, who will be amongst the favourites for the LCK title after their ambitious transfers in the offseason.

DN SOOPers, Dplus KIA, DRX, Hanjin Brion, KT Rolster, and NS Redforce only feature two players each, with Heo ‘ShowMaker’ Su being Faker’s first pick after dominating the competition in 2025.

The event will mark the official return of former Gen.G ADC Peyz to the LCK, albeit not in a competitive setting.

Notable absentees from the event include T1 departee, Lee ‘Gumayusi’ Min-hyeong and LCK 2025 Player of the Year Gwak ‘Bdd’ Bo-seong.

Regardless of BDD’s absence, Mid will be strong favourites to retain their title after their 2025 victory.

Darragh Harbinson, Senior Editor

Darragh Harbinson is an esports writer specialising in Counter-Strike. He has written for Esports News UK, Esports Insider, UKCSGO, Dexerto, and Rush B Media.

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