Team Liquid & Cloud9 in LoL KeSPA Cup 2025

The KeSPA Cup 2025, a Korean League of Legends competition scheduled in the off-season and organised by South Korea’s esports association (KeSPA), will involve two LCS teams, marking a first for the event.

North American esports brands Team Liquid and Cloud9 will participate in the tournament, planned from December 6th through December 14th.

In addition to Team Liquid and Cloud9, the KeSPA Cup will include all 10 teams from the LCK, along with two all-star teams representing Japan and Vietnam. These teams will vie for a prize pool of 100m KRW (approximately £51,900), an increase of 20m compared to the 2024 tournament.

Notably, the competition will be broadcast solely on Disney+, and is sponsored by peripheral company Logitech G. Details in the announcement did not specify if the broadcast exclusivity extends globally or is limited to Korea.

With the addition of two teams, the 14 teams will be divided into three distinct groups, each participating in single round-robin matches. All matches will be contested as best-of-one.

The top-performing team from each group will automatically proceed to the semi-finals, whereas the second-place teams will enter the Breakout Stage. These teams will compete in a best-of-three series within a round-robin structure to decide which team progresses to the Knockout phase.

The leading four teams will be organised into a double-elimination bracket, with the first two rounds consisting of best-of-three series and the grand final determined by a best-of-five. The Group and Breakout stages will be held online from December 6th to December 9th, and the Knockout stage will take place offline at the Sangam Forest Colosseum from December 11th to December 14th.

While Team Liquid and Cloud9 have yet to reveal their finalized rosters for the 2026 season, both teams have implemented adjustments to their lineups during the off-season.

Korean mid-laner Lee ‘Loki’ Sang-min has moved on from C9 due to personal circumstances, and Team Liquid has officially said goodbye to both Eain ‘APA’ Stearns and Jeong ‘Impact’ Eon-young. As seen in past KeSPA Cups, teams may deploy less experienced or finalised teams because the event occurs amid the free agency transfer period.

Following KeSPA’s official announcement, Cloud9 General Manager David Han shared a post on X, explaining the circumstances of both organisations joining the tournament.

“Last year, while watching the KeSPA Cup, I considered the prospect of attending and giving our fans content to enjoy during the off-season,” he stated.

“Historically, Western teams were unable to secure an invitation or manage the logistical complexities, but I wanted to explore changing that. I wasn’t certain about our participation until last month, but thankfully… we’re in!”