Defending champions T1 eliminated Karmine Corp, the LEC’s last team, in the final open quarterfinal at Worlds 2026. The result completes the semifinal bracket and leaves T1 two series away from a fourth straight Summoner’s Cup.
A place in the final is now at stake for T1, with Bilibili Gaming standing in the way. Two more series wins would give T1 a seventh world title. That run would extend a strong recent stretch. T1 have now reached the Worlds semifinals six years in a row, beginning in 2021. They finished second in 2022, then lifted the trophy in 2023, 2024 and 2025.
The series carried some history from earlier in the year. The teams had split two meetings in 2026. T1 won 3-0 in the MSI 2026 Play-In Stage on June 29. Karmine Corp answered with a 2-1 win in the EWC 2026 playoffs on July 18.
T1’s late-game draft took control from the opening map
T1 held the better record, so they had first choice for Game 1. They took blue side, and Karmine Corp chose first pick. T1 drafted a late-game lineup around Yunara, Viktor and Ornn. It took over from the mid game and closed out the opener in 35 minutes, Hotspawn reported. Game 2 was quicker still, lasting less than 30 minutes. Peyz on Kai’Sa and Oner on Trundle led that win.
Karmine Corp had taken a long road to the knockouts. Unlike T1, who entered as the LCK’s third seed and went straight into the Swiss Stage, they had to clear both the Play-Ins and the Swiss Stage. In the Play-In Stage they edged Cloud9 3-2 on October 15. A day later they swept MVK Esports 3-0. T1 went 3-1 in the Swiss Stage, beating LOS, CTBC Flying Oyster and Movistar KOI. Their only loss there came against Dplus KIA.
Bilibili Gaming remain unbeaten in Worlds quarterfinals
BLG’s quarterfinal against Dplus KIA was one-sided. They took all four Barons and outscored DK 62 kills to 28, according to Dot Esports. BLG have now won all three of their Worlds quarterfinals, each against an LCK team. They beat Gen.G 3-2 in 2023 and Hanwha Life Esports 3-1 in 2024 before this year’s clean sweep.
The other half of the bracket was settled earlier in the week. Gen.G beat LYON 3-0 on November 4. Invictus Gaming opened the quarterfinals by knocking out fellow LPL team Top Esports 3-1.
Both semifinals start at 16:00 Central Time. Gen.G and Invictus Gaming play first, on November 7, and T1 face Bilibili Gaming on November 8. Riot Games is running Worlds 2026 with 19 teams and a total prize pool of $5,000,000. The Grand Final is set for November 14 at 14:00 Eastern Time.
Sources
