LCK goes 4-0 in Worlds 2026 Swiss Stage opener

The LCK won all four of its opening matches at the 2026 League of Legends World Championship Swiss Stage on October 23, 2026, while all four LPL representatives lost their opening matches, the first time every LPL side went winless in round one of the Swiss format. Eight best-of-one matches took place back-to-back on the opening day, leaving four teams at 1-0 and four teams at 0-1 across the LCK, LEC, LCS, LCP, and Brazil, with Invictus Gaming, Top Esports, Bilibili Gaming, and Anyone’s Legend all falling to opponents from other regions.

Invictus Gaming lost to Gen.G after holding a slight early advantage before Gen.G shut them down, while Hanwha Life Esports stomped Top Esports behind an outstanding game from Kim “Zeka” Geon-woo on Locke. Dplus KIA defeated G2 Esports despite G2’s dominant early game and a strong early performance from Rudy “SkewMond” Semaan on Jarvan IV, keeping the LCK’s perfect record intact. T1 closed out the day with a 24-minute victory over LOS, one of the fastest matches of the entire opening day, with Choi “Doran” Hyeon-jun on Jayce and Mun “Oner” Hyeon-jun on Lee Sin leading the charge. These four wins gave the LCK a perfect 4-0 record across the eight opening matches, making South Korea the only undefeated region after Day 1 of the Worlds 2026 Swiss Stage tournament.

Invictus Gaming’s loss to Gen.G was characterized by Hotspawn as somewhat excusable given the early advantage they held before Gen.G shut them down. Bilibili Gaming, a tournament favorite, fell to Movistar KOI in a close match where the Spanish team maintained favor throughout despite a few strange teamfights. Karmine Corp defeated LPL champions Anyone’s Legend, with the Blue Wall’s jungle-support duo delivering a strong performance that added to China’s winless opening day.

CTBC Flying Oyster defeated Team Liquid in a close LCP match with Zhao “Shad0w” Zhi-Qiang delivering a strong performance on Qiyana. LYON defeated Team Secret Whales in an LCS versus LCP match, with Kim “Berserker” Min-cheol putting on a great performance on Ezreal to even the score for the LCS. LYON Saint said before the Swiss Stage, “I don’t think LEC is better than LCS still.”

The Swiss Stage draw for Saturday, October 24, 2026, paired teams with 1-0 records against each other and teams with 0-1 records against each other, under the Swiss Stage format that pairs teams with the same win-loss record from Round 2 onward. The draw produced two LCK civil wars: Dplus KIA will face T1 and Gen.G will face Hanwha Life Esports, meaning two LCK teams will lose their perfect records on Saturday. Top Esports will face Anyone’s Legend in an LPL war that guarantees one of the two teams falls to 0-2, putting one team in a dangerous position after both lost their opening matches to LCK opponents. G2 Esports will face LOS in a matchup Hotspawn described as arguably the weakest team G2 could have drawn, while Invictus Gaming will face Team Secret Whales and Bilibili Gaming will face Team Liquid in favorable matchups, although neither is a free win.

The Swiss Stage Round 1 draw ceremony took place on October 19, 2026, at the Riot Games Arena in Los Angeles, USA, determining the initial pool-based matchups with same-region teams not permitted to face each other in Round 1. The draw paired Gen.G against Invictus Gaming, Hanwha Life Esports against Top Esports, T1 against LOS, and Dplus KIA against G2 Esports, with Gen.G and Hanwha Life Esports considered the top two contenders and T1 expected to have a smooth start against Brazil’s LOS as the only LCK team paired outside the four major leagues. T1, the reigning League of Legends World Champions, are hoping to retain the Summoner’s Cup for a fourth consecutive time at Worlds 2026, with a chance to sweep all four major regions with a Worlds victory in North America. T1 won the World Championship three years in a row from 2023 through 2025, claiming a record-extending sixth Summoner’s Cup last year, and Worlds 2026 is taking place in North America, which last hosted the World Championship in 2022.