Invictus Gaming, T1 snag League of Legends Worlds playoff berths

Field Level Media
29 Oct 2026, 16:25 GMT+10

(Photo credit: Kelley L Cox)

Invictus Gaming and three-time defending champion T1 booked their spots in the League of Legends World Championship knockout stage by prevailing in fourth-round Swiss stage action on Wednesday in Allen, Texas.

In matchup of teams that entered the day with 2-1 records, Invictus Gaming pulled out a 2-1 victory over LYON, and T1 trounced Movistar KOI 2-0.

The Swiss stage runs through Saturday in Allen, with early-round matches consisting of a single map before advancement and elimination matches will be best-of-three.

Half of the 16 Swiss-stage teams will qualify for the knockout stage, which gets underway on Tuesday and features a single-elimination bracket. The knockout stage, consisting of best-of-five matches, also will be played in Allen except for the grand final, which will be held at Barclays Center in New York on Nov. 14.

The championship team will receive $1 million from the event's $5 million prize pool.

On Wednesday, Invictus Gaming opened with a 27-minute win on red before LYON claimed a 38-minute victory on red. Invictus Gaming sealed the series in 24 minutes on red.

China's Zi 'JiaQi' Jiaqi powered Invictus Gaming with a 14-5-11 kill-death-assist ratio. South Korea's Kim 'Berserker' Min-cheol posted a 7-5-6 K-D-A ratio for LYON.

T1 toppled Movistar KOI in 40 minutes and 26 minutes, both on blue. South Korea's Choi 'Doran' Hyeon-jun paced T1 with a 10-0-18 K-D-A ratio. Spain's David 'Supa' Garcia finished at 6-5-5 for Movistar KOI.

The upcoming schedule:

Thursday

--Round 4 high match (both teams 2-1): Top Esports vs. Bilibili Gaming

--Round 4 low match (both teams 1-2): Karmine Corp vs. CTBC Flying Oyster

Friday

--Round 4 low match (both teams 1-2): Team Liquid vs. LOS

--Round 4 low match (both teams 1-2): Hanwha Life vs. G2 Esports

League of Legends World Championship prize pool

1. $1 million

2. $800,000

3-4. $400,000

5-8. $300,000