Kim “kk0ma” Jeong-gyun is going on vacation — T1 has officially confirmed that the legendary mentor will miss the entire spring split in 2026. He appointed “Tom” Jae-hyeon as the interim head coach. The organization made this announcement immediately for Korean and English-speaking fans, provoking a wave of controversy about the future of the line-up.
For many, the news came as a shock. kk0ma— the architect of the successes of the SKT golden era and the man under whose leadership the roster took Worlds into the modern era twice in a row, suddenly leaves his post. It seems that T1 can float. But don’t rush to bury the champions—Tom has a great background as a “crisis manager.”
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Tom at the head of T1 without kk0ma — experience and chances of a spring LCK split
Tom has experience with emergency reshuffles, and it’s impressive. On July 7, 2023, when Bae “Bengi” Seong-woong left the organization, it was Tom who took over the reins until the official arrival of kk0ma (he joined the foundation only on November 20, 2023). The result of that castling went down in history.
It was under Tom’s leadership that T1 triumphantly won Worlds 2023 — it was the first victory in a long time, marking the beginning of a series of three titles in a row. The team chemistry worked perfectly back then. So underestimating the new helmsman is a huge mistake. He knows this mechanism from the inside.
The Faker Factor and lessons from Summer 2023 for T1 led by Tom
However, there are alarm bells. It is enough to recall the regular season of the summer of 2023 — then T1 was in a fever. The team finished in 5th place with a nondescript 9-9 record. However, the reasons were objective — Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok dropped out due to injury, and Noh “Poby” Sang-won took his place at the foreign Ministry.
By the way, Poby is currently playing for NAVI in the European league LEC, and then the youngster simply did not take out the structure of the game of the great club. The squad is assembled now, Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok is in the ranks, but He still has to jump over his head. The spring split will be a personal test for him — will he be able to repeat the magic of Worlds without insurance in the person of Kim “kk0ma” Jeong-gyun? The chances are high, but there is no room for error in LCK.
However, the difficulties are not limited to personnel alone — the updated LCK 2026 format throws up additional puzzles. The Korean League has finally turned into a single, continuous marathon, where each match affects the seeding in the decisive stages.
LCK 2026 format and T1 path to MSI and Esports World Cup
Rounds 1 and 2 now directly determine who will receive an invite to MSI and go to the World Esports Championship, the same tournament in July. The system is rigid. At the end of the first stage, the top five teams fly into the “Legends” group, and the rest fall into the “Ascension” basket. To keep your chances of winning international trophies, you need to get into the top 6, otherwise you will miss the “Path to MSI” stage.
High seeding is critically important. The “Legends” and “Ascension” groups directly affect how heavy the grid will be in the summer part of Split. And there, not only prestige is at stake, but also the coveted slots in the Worlds finals. The fifth place, which T1 took last time under Tom, will formally allow them to cling to the playoffs, but this is an extremely risky strategy – the chances of a title in such a scenario tend to zero.
T1’s main rivals in LCK are Gen.G and Dplus KIA and the Fight for Worlds
The competition in the league is now prohibitive. The same Gen.G, although they are licking their wounds after a difficult foreign cut from G2 to First Stand, remain the main contenders for the throne — this is the real “final boss” of the region. Nearby, KIA’s Dplus and bold FearX are breathing down your back. It was these two teams that became the authors of the main sensations of the last playoffs, and more recently they also gave T1 a painful slap in the face, knocking them out of the preseason cup.
Hanwha Life should not be written off either. The team has enough internal problems, but with such a stellar roster, they must join the race in the near future. The situation is similar with KT Rolster, the same guys who fought T1 to the last to reach the Worlds finals last year. The composition of the telecoms remained almost identical, which means that the revanchist sentiments there are off the charts. Times are turbulent now — any misfire at the start can cost T1 too much. Right now, it is important for the organization not to crumble, even despite defeats from newcomers at the beginning of the year.
Faker on the future of kk0ma in T1 and the split of fans on social media
Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok has already managed to personally comment on the situation in order to reduce the degree of tension. At Media Day in Seoul, the captain confirmed that kk0ma is going on vacation solely for personal reasons, and this is definitely not the end of his T1 career. The mentor simply needs a break — Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok emphasized this several times, leaving the door open for a return. In fact, he filigreed off any attempts by the haters to launch a hurdy-gurdy about the “end of an era.” The effect has been achieved — the theories that the Faker will not be able to pull without his coach have been put on pause for now. By the way, it was critically important for the media field.
The rest of the T1 roster behaves as restrained as possible in the official field and does not generate unnecessary rumors. But X (ex-Twitter) is on fire — the fan community has split into two large camps. Some fans believe that this is a technical break due to banal burnout, because T1 has been playing non-stop for the last few seasons almost without pauses and weekends. Others suspect that we are facing the beginning of a long process of transformation and preparation for life without an “eternal” architect on the bench. By the way, the fans are not satisfied with the club’s dry posts about “all necessary measures to keep fit.” Hundreds of comments instantly fly in response demanding transparency and exact dates.
In social networks, templates about the “W-dynasty” and “bundle for the ages” instantly became viral, but the players themselves are clearly not nostalgic right now. The community at X rightly notes that the absence of kk0ma during LCK 2026 Spring is, first of all, a powerful blow to the mentality. For fans, he is a sacred link between the old guard of SKT T1 and the current squad. For the first time in a long time, the team lost direct control from its guru right in the midst of the split. Perhaps this is the main nerve of the season — not so much in the results on the scoreboard, but in the club’s ability to survive the first serious pause of its main legend. The path will not be easy.
