G2 Esports and Karmine Corp qualify for Worlds 2026 after opening LEC playoff wins
G2 Esports and Karmine Corp qualify for Worlds 2026 after opening LEC playoff wins
G2 Esports Esports and Karmine Corp secured EMEA's first two places at Worlds 2026 after winning their opening LEC Summer playoff series in Madrid.
G2 Esports swept Team Vitality 3:0, while Karmine Corp defeated GIANTX 3:1 to reach the upper-bracket final.
For Karmine Corp , the result marks the organization's first-ever qualification for the League of Legends World Championship.
G2 Esports Esports 3:0 Team Vitality
G2 Esports took control of the series from the opening game.
Vitality remained competitive throughout Game 1, but G2 Esports eventually secured a 22:18 victory after 38:29.
The following maps became progressively more comfortable.
G2 Esports won Game 2 19:12 in 33:55 before finishing the sweep with a 15:10 victory in Game 3 after 29:01.
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Game 1 — G2 Esports Esports 22-18 Team Vitality — 38:29
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Game 2 — G2 Esports Esports 19-12 Team Vitality — 33:55
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Game 3 — G2 Esports Esports 15-10 Team Vitality — 29:01
Caps led the series for G2 Esports with an average 5.7/0.7/8.5 KDA, 73.7% kill participation and 24.1K average damage.
The qualification will be G2 Esports 's tenth appearance at Worlds.
Karmine Corp 3:1 GIANTX
Karmine Corp followed by securing the biggest milestone in the organization's League of Legends history.
KC opened the series with a 12:8 victory after 35:04.
GIANTX responded strongly in Game 2, defeating Karmine Corp 22:12 to level the series.
That proved to be their only victory.
KC completely dismantled GIANTX in Game 3, winning 14:1 in 26:23, before closing the series with another one-sided 20:6 victory in 26:29.
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Game 1 — Karmine Corp 12-8 GIANTX — 35:04
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Game 2 — GIANTX 22-12 Karmine Corp — 35:54
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Game 3 — Karmine Corp 14-1 GIANTX — 26:23
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Game 4 — Karmine Corp 20-6 GIANTX — 26:29
Yike recorded KC's best average K/D/A at 4.0/1.9/7.4.
Karmine Corp finally reach Worlds
The qualification completes a long-term goal for an organization that spent three years competing in Europe's regional leagues before joining the LEC.
Karmine Corp have already reached major international stages through First Stand, MSI and the Esports World Cup, but Worlds had remained the missing achievement.
That wait is now over.
G2 Esports and KC advance to the upper-bracket final, where the winner will secure at least a top-two LEC finish and direct qualification to the Worlds Main Stage.
The third-place LEC team will instead enter the new Worlds Play-In.
Vitality and GIANTX remain alive through the lower bracket.
