Shinhan Gaming finish Season 169 as Division 1 champions at 18–0. Below them, three former top-flight clubs occupy Division 2 promotion places, Gogogo complete an unbeaten campaign of their own, and the Division 3 tables contain both clear leaders and ties that separate promotion, survival and relegation.
The 16 October article covered the final games. This review is about what the whole season means: who won, who is in position to move, and what the next division will ask of them.
How the divisions change
The game's guide and league advisor describe a simple system: the first-placed team goes up one division; places 2–6 stay; places 7–10 go down. Division 1's winner is the overall league champion rather than being promoted again.
The season page gives 17 October as the end date. These are Season 169's displayed standings, checked on that date, and the movements they imply under that rule. Season 170 placements have not yet been verified. Where records are tied, the tables below follow the game's displayed order; equal wins do not mean a shared promotion place.
Division 1: Shinhan leave no tie to discuss
| Place | Team | Record | Season outcome |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Shinhan Gaming
|
18–0 | Champions |
| 2 |
5 Ronin
|
15–3 | Stay in Division 1 |
| 3 |
Powing Cows
|
14–4 | Stay in Division 1 |
| 4 |
Good Game
|
13–5 | Stay in Division 1 |
| 5 |
INT INC
|
9–9 | Stay in Division 1 |
| 6 |
Trust Gaming
|
9–9 | Last safe position |
| 7 | AceGaming | 6–12 | Relegation place: Division 2 |
| 8 | Teviathan | 4–14 | Relegation place: Division 2 |
| 9 |
Waterbear GG [AI]
|
2–16 | Relegation place: Division 2 |
| 10 |
Midlander [AI]
|
0–18 | Relegation place: Division 2 |
Shinhan turned a 16–2 record in Season 168 into a perfect 18–0. Ronin improved from 14–4 to 15–3, Good Game from 12–6 to 13–5, while Powing fell from 16–2 to 14–4. The top four remain the top four, but Shinhan have removed the ambiguity of a tied win total.
Their 29–16 victory over Powing on 12 October was the most substantial resistance among the closing headline fixtures: it lasted 47:45. SHG Minhyuk still finished 12/0/11 on Death Reaper and SHG Rozen 9/2/16 on Grandmaster. Shinhan could concede kills and still finish 8,581 gold ahead. [[game:88641638]]
Ronin's closing run deserves its own credit. They won their final five league games and finished by beating Good Game 26–2, with 5R Naru going 12/0/10 on Void Walker and 5R Zeitnot 8/0/16 on Rocket Girl. That secured second place, one win ahead of Powing. [[game:88641653]]
The promoted four all go back down
AceGaming, Teviathan, Waterbear and Midlander were the four Division 2 league winners in Season 168. They now occupy all four Division 1 relegation places. The six established top-flight clubs all survived.
That is the season's clearest warning about the step up. AceGaming and Teviathan arrived after unbeaten Division 2 campaigns; they finished 6–12 and 4–14 here. Waterbear's two wins both came against Midlander, who finished 0–18. Winning a lower league proved very different from surviving this top division.
Trust's 9–9 was enough for sixth, three wins clear of AceGaming. Their season was not a title challenge, but keeping that gap below them mattered. For the four clubs heading down under the normal rule, the next task is to turn a difficult season into a stronger promotion campaign rather than assuming that returning with the same squad will solve the gap.
Division 2: four promotion places, three returning names
| League | First place: promotion position | Record | Runner-up | Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| D2 #1 |
Sfogliatella
|
18–0 |
Diomedea [AI]
|
15–3 |
| D2 #2 |
мεεт тʜε ѕтαяꜱ
|
18–0 |
Loophole MC [AI]
|
15–3 |
| D2 #3 | Kingpins | 17–1 |
Market King [AI]
|
17–1 |
| D2 #4 |
Gogogo Team [AI]
|
18–0 |
ST Side Lane Club [AI]
|
14–4 |
Sfogliatella, мεεт тʜε ѕтαяꜱ and Kingpins occupied seventh, eighth and ninth in last season's Division 1 table. All three now sit in promotion positions after one season away. Gogogo are the fourth club in line to join them.
Sfogliatella and мεεт тʜε ѕтαяꜱ allowed no league defeats. Diomedea and Loophole both produced strong 15–3 seasons, but second place does not promote them. MobaManager GG's 14–4 in D2 #1 likewise means staying in Division 2, alongside the Bot at 13–5. Those clubs need to win their league, not merely establish themselves near its top.
Kingpins and Market King: one place for two 17–1 teams
The tightest Division 2 race ended with identical records. Kingpins and Market King split their meetings, then both won their final five games. Kingpins are first in the displayed table; Market King are second. That puts Kingpins in the promotion position at this check, with Market King staying under the published rule. Their eventual placement should be checked again when the new season is created.
Market King lost only once and still do not occupy the promotion place. That is a much narrower disappointment than being several wins off the pace, and it makes them an obvious team to follow next season. Young Money finished behind the pair at 14–4: a strong third, but three wins short of either leader.
Gogogo's 18–0 gives them a different question. Their nearest challenger, ST Side Lane Club, finished four wins back. Can that control survive the jump to Division 1? The fate of this season's promoted clubs makes it a real test, not a formality.
Who falls from Division 2?
| League | Last safe team, sixth | Seventh through tenth: relegation places |
|---|---|---|
| D2 #1 | Second Wind [AI] — 8–10 | Turtle Club [AI] 7–11; [[team:9068145]] 3–15; [[team:9068021]] 2–16; [[team:9067995]] 1–17 |
| D2 #2 |
Farmers Inc [AI]
— 9–9 |
Lunch Break [AI]
7–11;
Scooters [AI]
3–15;
TDK - The Dragon Knights
3–15; [[team:9068013]] 1–17 |
| D2 #3 |
—-•Çörrö§ïøN•-—
— 9–9 |
[[team:9068121]] 4–14; [[team:9067991]] 3–15; [[team:9068027]] 3–15; [[team:9067956]] 2–16 |
| D2 #4 | Open Market [AI] — 10–8 |
DOFPK2
6–12;
Enter the tainment [AI]
6–12; [[team:9013319]] 2–16; [[team:9013298]] 1–17 |
Second Wind's survival margin over Turtle was just one win. Farmers finished two wins ahead of Lunch Break. Corrosion and Open Market had larger cushions. These are distinct seasons even though all four finished sixth: Second Wind were much closer to going down than Open Market.
For Scooters and Enter the tainment, relegation positions mean the next competitive target is Division 3. It is also worth distinguishing relegation from inactivity: this table lists the clubs currently occupying those places, including clubs whose directories no longer count them as active.
Division 3: four leagues with active teams
| League | Current first place | Record | Second place | Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| D3 #1 |
ST Keep Carry Safe [AI]
|
18–0 |
ST Catch One [AI]
|
15–3 |
| D3 #2 | [[team:9122787]] | 14–4 | YungLeanSquad | 11–7 |
| D3 #3 | Caramujos | 14–4 | [[team:9122941]] | 12–6 |
| D3 #4 | [[team:9123385]] | 10–8 | Duckies | 10–8 |
These four first-place clubs occupy Division 2 promotion positions under the normal rule. The other twelve Division 3 leagues show zero active teams in the directory and have Bot Team leaders.
ST Keep Carry Safe have the strongest record of these four leaders: 18–0, three wins ahead of Catch One and four ahead of Roaming Together. The Wakko's finished fourth at 13–5. That was a clear winner above a competitive chasing group.
Howdy lead D3 #2 by three wins. Behind them, YungLeanSquad, V Esports and Undefeated Legends all show 11–7. Further down, Expendables, Bramble and Los Mamuts all show 9–9, but only the first two occupy safe places. Bramble are sixth; Los Mamuts are seventh. The order matters as much as the shared record.
Caramujos lead D3 #3 at 14–4, ahead of League Gods at 12–6 and Pebble at 11–7. Star Chaser sit fourth at 9–9. Arsenal, Boom Squad, Wolfpack and NAVYxULS all show 8–10, yet the line falls through that group: Arsenal and Boom occupy fifth and sixth, Wolfpack and NAVYxULS seventh and eighth.
A caution about the newest league
Espada, Duckies and Legacy 21 all show 10–8 in D3 #4, with Espada first. However, Espada's public profile shows only three days of experience, while this league's schedule begins on 3 October and contains earlier fixtures involving deleted teams. The displayed 18-game record should therefore not be presented as eighteen matches played by Espada's current club and roster.
Espada occupy the promotion position now. That is worth reporting, but it is different from calling this a complete three-week campaign by a three-day-old club. The same care is needed when discussing late entrants elsewhere in Division 3. Espada profile | D3 #4 schedule
The Division 3 survival line
| League | Last safe team, sixth | Seventh through tenth: Division 4 places under the normal rule |
|---|---|---|
| D3 #1 |
ST Hard to Kill [AI]
— 8–10 |
[[team:9122781]] 6–12; [[team:9068136]] 3–15; [[team:9122774]] 3–15; [[team:9068104]] 0–18 |
| D3 #2 | Bramble Club [AI] — 9–9 | [[team:9122939]] 9–9; [[team:9122917]] 7–11; Jetewtiy Ltd 5–13; [[team:9122812]] 4–14 |
| D3 #3 | [[team:9123088]] — 8–10 | [[team:9123099]] 8–10; [[team:9122957]] 8–10; BÖRÜ eSports 7–11; Eternal 5–13 |
| D3 #4 | [[team:9123356]] — 9–9 | [[team:9068236]] 9–9; Yellow Lions 8–10; [[team:9123520]] 8–10; [[team:9123557]] 8–10 |
Actual new-season allocation still needs confirmation, particularly for late entrants and the currently empty lower tiers. This is the relegation line in the present tables, not a claim that those moves have already happened.
Divisions 4–7: checked, but no active title races to describe
The complete division-directory check covered 5,461 leagues, including every page of Divisions 4–7.
| Division | League listings | Leagues reporting active teams | Reported active teams |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | 1 | 10 |
| 2 | 4 | 4 | 32 |
| 3 | 16 | 4 | 37 |
| 4 | 64 | 0 | 0 |
| 5 | 256 | 0 | 0 |
| 6 | 1,024 | 0 | 0 |
| 7 | 4,096 | 0 | 0 |
“Active” here is the directory's own count. The lower tiers have league listings and Bot Team leaders, but no active clubs reported in this check. There is no active Division 4, 5, 6 or 7 championship contest to turn into a match story. Their next story will be whether the new-season allocation brings active clubs into those divisions.
What to watch in Season 170
The returning top-flight clubs: Sfogliatella and мεεт тʜε ѕтαяꜱ have unbeaten lower-division records, while Kingpins occupy their promotion place after a much tighter race. Their previous Division 1 finishes show how much harder the next step can be.
Gogogo against established opposition: an 18–0 campaign earns the opportunity; it does not answer how their squad will fare against Shinhan, Ronin or Powing.
The clubs left just short: Market King's 17–1, Diomedea's and Loophole's 15–3, and Catch One's 15–3 are strong foundations, but none currently occupies first place. Their next target is clear.
The relegated four from Division 1: AceGaming, Teviathan, Waterbear and Midlander need to use what they learned against stronger teams. Returning immediately and becoming capable of staying up are two separate challenges.
Shinhan supplied the season's clearest answer: eighteen games, eighteen wins. The next season's interest lies in who can close that gap, who can survive the climb, and which of the close lower-division races turns into a promotion.
Standings and public profiles checked on 17 October 2026. Promotion and relegation descriptions apply the published league rule to the displayed Season 169 tables. Tied positions use the game's ordering; Season 170 placements remain to be checked after rollover.