At roughly 15 minutes, Top Esports caught Meiko’s Nautilus and Rookie’s Syndra in the jungle. Then TheShy teleported in on Gnar. Invictus Gaming turned the fight into an ace, with JiaQi’s Kai’Sa joining the rout, and never looked back in Game 1.
IG won it 27-12 in about 31 minutes, building a gold advantage of more than 10,000. By the end of Tuesday’s quarterfinal in Allen, Texas, they had beaten Top Esports 3-1 and reached their first Worlds semifinal since 2019.
Jungler Wei took series MVP honors. The bottom line: IG’s fourth-seeded Chinese roster knocked out the LPL’s third seed and guaranteed itself at least US$400,000.
TES lands one answer
Game 2 stretched to 47 minutes, the longest of the series. TES won it 20-17 in kills after stand-in top laner 369 rescued a late fight on Renekton, eliminating both JiaQi and TheShy. TES then took the deciding fight and leveled the series.
That was its last game.
Wei chose Jayce in Game 3 and found early advantages with ganks in the middle and bottom lanes. He drove IG’s sieges and teamfights in a 16-9 victory. On Naafiri in Game 4, he went top early and punished 369’s Aatrox for two deaths.
IG secured Baron and the dragon soul, then closed the series 16-10.
A September result reversed
The teams arrived at the Credit Union of Texas Event Center with recent history. IG beat TES 3-2 in the LPL Split 3 playoffs on September 5. TES answered with a 3-1 victory in the Regional Finals on September 17, taking China’s third Worlds seed and pushing IG into the lower bracket.
Both recovered from a dreadful opening to the tournament. China’s four representatives went 0-4 on the first day of the Swiss Stage, with IG losing to Gen.G and TES falling to Hanwha Life Esports.
IG subsequently defeated Team Secret Whales, Hanwha Life and LYON to reach the bracket. TES upset Anyone’s Legend, beat G2 Esports and came from behind to defeat Bilibili Gaming 2-1 in Round 4.
TES managed that run without starting top laner Cheng “ZUIAN” Zihao, who missed Worlds because of visa problems. Bai “369” Jia-Hao played as a late replacement. TES finished 5th-8th and collected US$300,000.
The old champions are still in the bracket
TheShy and Rookie won the world championship together in 2018. Their reunion now carries IG into the last four for the first time in seven years, one season after the organization placed 17th.
The semifinal opponent will be Gen.G or North America’s LYON. Gen.G beat LYON 2-1 in their Swiss-stage meeting on October 25.
Quarterfinals and semifinals in Allen start at 4 PM CST. The champion will earn $1 million from the $5 million prize pool, with the final scheduled for Saturday, November 14 at 2 PM EST at Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
Sources
- Invictus Gaming
- Invictus Gaming, T1 snag League of Legends Worlds playoff berths
- Invictus Gaming vs. Top Esports
- Invictus Gaming defeat Top Esports to become the first semifinalists at Worlds 2026 | GosuGamers
- IG Beat TES 3-1, Reach First Worlds Semifinal Since 2019
- Invictus Gaming beat Top Esports 3-1 to reach first Worlds semifinal since 2019
Photo: 갱맘TV (CC BY 3.0)
