Esports World Cup 2026 Recap: New LoL Champion Guaranteed, Dota 2 Final Set

Saturday's Esports World Cup 2026 action finalized the League of Legends and Dota 2 Grand Final matchups while crowning the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Women's Invitational champion, making it one of the tournament's biggest days yet.

The Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Women's Invitational closed out first, with Team Vitality beating Natus Vincere across a six-game Grand Final. Then the League of Legends semifinals reshuffled the entire title picture, eliminating the tournament's previous two champions on the same day. Dota 2 wrapped things up with BB Team and PVISION punching their tickets to Sunday's Grand Final, each in a very different way. Here is how it all played out.

Three separate titles, three separate storylines, and by the time the last map ended the bracket for Championship Sunday was completely locked. No more waiting on tiebreakers or hypothetical matchups, just two Grand Finals left to play and a champion already sitting at home with a trophy.

Karmine Corp Eliminate T1 to Reach First Esports World Cup Grand Final

Karmine Corp became the first League of Legends team to qualify for the Grand Final after beating T1 2-1 in Saturday's opening semifinal, and for most of Game 1 it did not look like their day at all.

T1 took that opener in a rout, winning 28-15 as Oner ran Xin Zhao through the jungle, Doran controlled the top lane on Jayce, and Faker did what Faker does on Syndra. Karmine Corp had no answer for any of it.

They found one fast. Game 2 flipped the script completely, with Karmine Corp taking it 23-11 behind Caliste's Ezreal, Canna's Rumble, and kyeahoo's Anivia, a trio that spent the whole game shutting down T1's attempts to force fights before they could get going.

The decider was tighter than either of the first two games, ending 24-24 on kills alone. What separated the teams was everything kills do not measure: objective control, and the timing of the fights that mattered. Caliste switched to Lucian, kyeahoo played Annie, and Canna's Gnar held the front line while Peyz and Keria could not keep T1's defending LCK squad alive through the closing minutes.

It is Karmine Corp's first Esports World Cup Grand Final appearance, and they got there the hard way, dropping the opener and clawing back twice against a T1 roster that had looked untouchable for most of Game 1.

Dplus KIA Dethrone Defending Champions Gen.G Esports

The second semifinal produced the day's other three-game series, and this one ended a title reign. Dplus KIA eliminated defending champions Gen.G Esports, closing out a matchup that swung hard between the two teams before Dplus finally pulled away.

Dplus opened with a 20-16 win, and Gen.G answered immediately, taking Game 2 by a 17-14 margin to send the series to a decider. Whatever momentum Gen.G carried into that third game did not survive long.

Dplus KIA played their cleanest game of the day when it mattered most, dismantling the defending champions 22-9. ADC Smash was the standout, posting an 11.00 KDA on Lucian, while ShowMaker's Annie and Lucid's Jarvan IV dictated the pace from the opening minutes. Gen.G's title defense ends here.

Gen.G came into the day as the team every other roster had to get past, and for two games they looked like they might still be that team. The third game told a different story, and Dplus KIA now carries that momentum straight into the Grand Final.

A New League of Legends Champion Is Guaranteed

With T1 and Gen.G both out, neither the previous champion nor the team that dethroned them is left standing. Whoever wins Sunday's Grand Final, the Esports World Cup will crown a League of Legends winner it has not crowned before.

That leaves Karmine Corp and Dplus KIA to settle it, an LEC squad against an LCK squad, both arriving after hard-fought semifinal victories. The Third Place Match between T1 and Gen.G carries its own weight too, since neither team wants to leave the Esports World Cup without a podium finish to show for it.

BB Team Dominate Vici Gaming to Reach the Dota 2 Grand Final

BB Team needed just two games to book the first Dota 2 Grand Final spot, and neither of them was close.

Game 1 was as one-sided as the tournament has produced, with BB Team crushing Vici Gaming 30-3. Save-'s Hoodwink, MieRo's Slardar, and gpk~'s Puck took over the map early and never let Vici back into it.

Game 2 followed the same script. BB Team closed it out 26-8, with Kiritych~ delivering another sharp performance and gpk~'s Ember Spirit joining MieRo to control every major fight through to the end.

Two maps, two blowouts, and Vici Gaming never really got a foothold in either one. BB Team's road to Sunday could not have been more efficient.

PVISION Survive a Team Yandex Comeback to Book Their Grand Final Berth

Where BB Team's path was quick, PVISION's took the full distance against Team Yandex.

PVISION looked in total control after Game 1, winning 28-9 with room to spare. Team Yandex had other plans for Game 2, clawing back with a 28-25 win that forced a decider and kept their tournament alive.

Whatever hope that comeback built disappeared fast in Game 3. PVISION delivered one of the most dominant games of the day, closing it out 36-7. Satanic's Lone Druid finished with a 9.00 KDA, and Noticed's Axe, No[o]ne-'s Invoker, 9Class, and Dukalis combined to bury Team Yandex through a decider that was never really in doubt.

PVISION and BB Team now meet in the Grand Final having taken almost opposite routes to get there, which should make Sunday's series worth watching just for the contrast in styles alone.

Sunday's Dota 2 Schedule

Team Vitality Defeat Natus Vincere 4-2 to Claim the MLBB Women's Invitational

The Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Women's Invitational concluded on Saturday, and Team Vitality took the title with a 4-2 win over Natus Vincere in a Grand Final that went the full six games.

NAVI set the tone early, winning Game 1 by a wide 14-5 margin. Vitality answered right away to level the series, then pulled ahead with a dominant Game 3 win. NAVI kept the championship alive by taking Game 4, but that was the last game they would win. Vitality closed the series with back-to-back victories, including a 13-3 statement in Game 5 before sealing the title in Game 6.

Across the series, VIVAL, CHEL, FUMI EKO, CINNYYY, and VIVIAN kept landing the objectives and teamfights that decided each map, and it was that consistency, not any single standout performance, that ultimately separated the two teams.

Team Vitality are the first team crowned at the Esports World Cup 2026, and they had to earn every bit of it against a NAVI side that refused to fold after going down 0-1 in the series.

*Game 2 was decided by objectives despite an even kill score.