Gen.G Causes Trouble for LCK and Especially for LCP
As the top contender for the First Stand 2026 championship, Gen.G’s loss will undoubtedly leave a huge impact and make their fans feel frustrated. However, due to their immense influence and Riot’s regulations, the defeat of the reigning LCK Cup 2026 champion also puts LCK teams and weaker regions in a tough spot, particularly LCP.
Accordingly, the format of MSI 2026 will be slightly altered based on the recent First Stand. First, there will be 7 seed 1 teams going directly to the Bracket Stage. However, the remaining teams will have to compete for a single spot to advance. Only 2 teams from the two regions that won the First Stand 2026, namely LPL and LEC, will have all 4 teams directly in the group stage. In short, the runners-up from other regions after the mid-season will have to compete with LCK for that one spot.
Notably, LCK always gathers very strong top teams, and MSI has long been considered a playground exclusive to LCK and LPL. Therefore, TSW (the team from LCP) has only one option: to win Split 2 if they want to avoid going to MSI and being eliminated right from the Play-in stage.
However, this goal is quite difficult. In Stage 1, TSW won the championship due to better performance, but there was also a factor that the competing teams had visibly weakened. Therefore, there’s no guarantee that TSW will continue to advance through Split 2 as the champion. In fact, compared to LCK, representatives from LEC, even if they are G2, are much “easier” to face.
But Gen.G Must Also Be Cautious
The loss to G2 has exposed certain weaknesses of a team that seemed “invincible”. In the Regular Seasons 2026, things will be very different from the LCK Cup, and Gen.G certainly cannot be complacent, as LCK could only have one representative in the MSI 2026 after the Play-in concludes.