Invictus Gaming beat Top Esports 3-1 to reach first League of Legends Worlds semi-final since 2019
Invictus Gaming defeated fellow Chinese side Top Esports 3-1 in the opening quarter-final of Worlds 2026 in Texas, booking a place in the semi-finals and guaranteeing at least a third-place finish.
Invictus Gaming have become the first semi-finalists at the League of Legends World Championship 2026, defeating Top Esports 3-1 in a best-of-five quarter-final played at the Credit Union of Texas Event Center in Allen, Texas.
The victory sends Invictus Gaming into the last four for the first time since Worlds 2019, completing a remarkable turnaround for a team that finished only 17th at last year's championship. It also guarantees the side at least a third-to-fourth-place finish and 400,000 US dollars in prize money.
Top Esports, who entered the knockout stage as the third seed from China's LPL, leave the tournament in fifth to eighth place, collecting 300,000 US dollars. Invictus Gaming had qualified as the league's fourth seed, setting up an all-Chinese opening quarter-final.
Invictus Gaming opened the series strongly. A decisive skirmish around the 15-minute mark in their own jungle in game one swung momentum their way, and they built a gold lead of more than 10,000 before closing out the opener.
The series then developed into a hard-fought contest between two teams that know each other well from domestic competition, with Top Esports fighting to stay alive and Invictus Gaming repeatedly finding the decisive team fight when it mattered most.
The closing game underlined that pattern. Jungler Wei's Naafiri dominated across the map from the early stages, and Invictus Gaming sealed the series with a decisive victory at the Dragon Soul team fight before marching into the opposition base.
Much of the story around Invictus Gaming this season has centred on familiar names returning to the roster. The celebrated top laner TheShy and mid laner Rookie are back in the side, alongside support Meiko, whose re-signing helped turn a difficult campaign into what commentators have described as a miracle run.
That run began in the third split of the LPL season and carried through the play-in and group stages of Worlds. Both teams reached the knockout round in the fourth round of the Swiss-style stage, with Top Esports reversing a deficit to beat Bilibili Gaming 2-1 and Invictus Gaming sweeping LYON in three games.
Invictus Gaming will now face the winner of the quarter-final between Gen.G and LYON for a place in the grand final. Whoever emerges from that match will start as a strong favourite on paper, but Invictus Gaming's form, confidence and veteran core mean they can no longer be treated as outsiders.
For Top Esports, the defeat ends a campaign that promised more. They arrived in Texas as one of the LPL's leading contenders, yet they were outplayed in the key moments of a series that may be remembered as the moment Invictus Gaming announced their return to the top of world League of Legends.
More in Gaming & Esports
Photo: A video game controller (file image)
Gaming & EsportsNearly half of new Steam games disclosed AI use in October, up from 1.7 per cent in 2024
An analysis of about 63,600 Steam releases found 49.9 per cent of October 2026 games carried an AI-content disclosure, up from 26.4 per cent a year earlier, with artwork the most commonly reported use.
Photo: Desert sand dunes (file image)
Gaming & EsportsBethesda finally names The Elder Scrolls VI: Sentinel, eight years after the first teaser
Bethesda Game Studios has revealed the full title of its long-awaited role-playing sequel as The Elder Scrolls VI: Sentinel, in a 40th-anniversary video that offers a desert teaser but no gameplay, release date or confirmed platforms.
Photo: A games controller (file image)
Gaming & EsportsDragon’s Dogma 2 gets free Delicious in Dungeon crossover, bringing Laios and Marcille as recruitable companions
Capcom has launched a free Delicious in Dungeon collaboration for Dragon’s Dogma 2, letting players recruit Laios and Marcille as official pawns and claim outfits based on the pair until late January 2027.