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After a three-year absence, the Korean eSports Association (KeSPA) Cup will happen this year. KeSPA 2024 will have a new format that features a 12-team tournament featuring the 10 League of Legends Champions Korea (LCK) organizations as well as Vietnam and Chinese Taipei all-star rosters.
According to a translated press release, the tournament will take place from November 30th to December 8th and will feature both online and offline play.
What is the Format of the KeSPA Cup 2024?
An opening group stage will see the 12 teams split into two groups, both completing a best-of-one single round-robin. The top four from each then form an eight-team, Swiss-style group to determine the four bracket stage participants.
The single-elimination bracket’s semifinals will be played through best-of-three series while the grand final will be a best-of-five. The bracket stage will be held at the 400-capacity V.SPACE esports arena in Seoul, South Korea.
The group stage will be a four-day event from November 30 to December 3. Meanwhile, the quarterfinals where the brackets have been finalized will happen the following day, and the semifinals and finals on December 7-8.
Moreover, the KeSPA Cup will host an English broadcast on the the Korea e-Sports Association YouTube channel and Naver CHZZK, a live-streaming platform launched earlier this year following Twitch’s closure in South Korea. The tournament will include a prize pool of ₩80m (~£44,300).
Which Teams WIll Participate in the KeSPA Cup 2024?
Given that the KeSPA Cup will take place in Korea, the whole LCK teams will compete. Along with the 10-LCK team roster, all-star teams from the VCS and Chinese Taipei will also participate.
The four LCK teams that won during the previous Worlds 2024 Swiss Stage will also participate. This includes T1, the current LoL Worlds 2024 Champions, Gen.G, Hanwha Life Esports, and Dplus KIA.
That said, the KeSPA Cup team rosters will be compiled and announced ‘as late as possible’ as the tournament takes place during the League of Legends free-agency period. As has been the case in previous KeSPA cups, this will likely lead to some teams fielding weakened rosters featuring academy players.
The following teams will participate in this year’s KeSPA Cup:
Korea (LCK)
T1
Gen.G
Hanwha Life Esports
Dplus KIA
DRX
KT Rolster
Kwangdong Freecs
NS RedForce
OK BRION
BNK FearX
Vietnam (VCS All-Stars)
TBD
Chinese-Taipei All-Stars
TBD
This year’s KeSPA Cup, organized by the Korea e-Sports Association (KeSPA), will be the first KeSPA cup held since 2021. Previous iterations of the tournament saw a range of teams competing from the LCK, LCK Challengers League (Korea’s tier-two academy league), and the amateur KeSPA-run KeG Championship.
According to the press release, the KeSPA Cup aims to ‘transform from a pro-am tournament to a national team selection criteria review tournament’. This event is also seen as a scouting opportunity for teams in selecting national team rosters.