Biannual esports league “League of Legends” Champions Korea’s 2019 spring split season opened Wednesday, with SK Telecom T1 and Jin Air Green Wings going head-to-head in the first match at LoL Park in Jongno, Seoul.

The 10 teams competing in this split, which will continue through March, are the Afreeca Freecs, Damwon Gaming, Gen.G, Griffin, Hanwha Life, Jin Air Green Wings, Kingzone DragonX, KT Rolster, Sandbox Gaming and SK Telecom T1.

SK Telecom T1 and KT Rolster have garnered much attention, with fans wondering whether the former will reclaim its past glory or if the latter can defend its crown.

SK Telecom T1 seized consecutive wins between 2015 and 2017 with consistently high-performing stars such as midlaner Lee Sang-heyok, better known as“Faker.”

In the 2018 summer split, however, the team tumbled in the rankings. Not finishing among the top five teams in the full LCK league, SKT T1 for the first time failed to make the postseason tournament.

KT Rolster is the defending champion from last season, beating Griffin in the final.

The full league is a round-robin competition in which they each meet twice. SKT T1 and KT Rolster will play each other on Feb. 20. The best five teams will go on to an extended postseason tournament.

The best team from the spring split will be rewarded 100 million won ($89,300). The total prize pool for the 10 teams amounts to 295 million won.

LCK spring 2019 is hosted by Riot Games and the Korea e-Sports Association and is sponsored by Woori Bank, computer hardware company Asus, chair company Sidiz and computer peripherals provider Logitech.

By Lim Jeong-yeo (kaylalim@heraldcorp.com)photo">kaylalim@heraldcorp.com)