The Esports World Cup 2026 is well underway after the conclusion of Week 2 of the event, with seven trophies awarded so far in Paris.
Insider Gaming has all you need to know about Week 2’s EWC action as the event saw its League of Legends, Dota 2, MLBB MWI, and Free Fire champions crowned.
Dplus KIA secures its first international trophy since 2020
The Esports World Cup League of Legends tournaments featured surprises from start to finish, with none of the Top 4 at MSI featuring in the top four of this event.
Chief amongst the disruptors at the event were Dplus KIA themselves, defeating Bilibili Gaming (BLG) and Gen.G in the playoffs before cleanly converting the Grand Final 3-0 against hometown favorites in Paris, Karmine Corp.
The Esports World Cup saw Dplus KIA and Heo ‘ShowMaker’ Su secure their first non-exhibition international trophy since Worlds 2020, when the then DAMWON Gaming featured Kim ‘Canyon’ Geon-bu, Jang ‘Ghost’ Yong-jun, Cho ‘BeryL’ Geon-hee.
The victory was truly a precious one for the organization, coming as it did in the week that Dplus KIA’s financial struggles were laid bare, leaving the roster unpaid with a sale expected at a later date.
At the very least, Dplus KIA should be able to keep the lights on for a few more days as the roster scored $600,000 by winning the event.
Parivision the team to beat coming into The International 15 after EWC win
Parivision, playing as PVISION at this event due to sponsorship restrictions, claimed the Esports World Cup in style, not dropping a single series over the two-week event.
A 3-1 Grand Final victory over BetBoom reinforced the team’s supremacy, which has been culminating over the course of the year, starting with the appointment of Clement ‘Puppey’ Ivanov as coach in January.
Volodymyr ‘No[o]ne-‘ Minenko has been quick to praise Puppey’s effect on the team, telling Insider Gaming, “he’s teaching us how to play aggressive Dota” in March.
Now with Evgeniy ‘Noticed’ Ignatenko settling the Position 3 issues for the roster, Parivision seems ready to assert themselves as the top team in Dota 2.
All eyes will now be on whether they can recreate this form at The International, but EWC’s prize pool has already surpassed TI’s, netting the roster a $750,000 share of the $2,000,000 prize pool.
Team Vitality reiterates its MLBB dominance
Team Vitality were heavy favourites going into the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Women’s Invitational, looking to defend their MWI 2025 trophy, which they won without dropping a single game in the entire event.
In their path was the only roster to ever defeat this Vitality team at EWC, the 2024 EWC-winning Philippine roster, Omega Empress, now playing under the Natus Vincere umbrella.
Vitality managed to reassert their place at the top of the MLBB women’s scene, defeating NAVI in the Grand Final to win back-to-back EWC titles.
NAVI did give Team Vitality a scare, taking the first game and equalizing the series 2-2 on Game 4, but Vitality’s superior mechanics and macro saw them demolish NAVI in the final two games to take the Grand Final 4-2 and return Vitality to glory.
The victory was a vital win for Team Vitality’s chances of winning the Club Championship, where they are the organization with the second-most rosters at the event after Team Falcons.
The MLBB Mid Season Cup 2026 follows on Week 3 of EWC, where Polymarket is giving Team Vamos the edge against Team Falcons in their opening matchup.
Free Fire sees strong growth as LYON triumphs
Mobile Battle Royale, Free Fire, was the second game of EWC 2026 to be played on the Qiddiya City Grid after Week 1’s Apex Legends action.
The mobile game’s popularity largely stems from South Asia, Southeast Asia, and South America, with rosters from across those regions battling it out for their share of over $1,000,000.
The title saw the majority-Chilean roster of Mexican org, LYON, win the Finals with 155 points, with AG.AL second with 122.
The event pulled a record audience for an EWC Free Fire event, pulling 802,488 concurrent peak viewers according to Esports Charts, representing huge growth from last year’s peak of 555,551 peak viewers.
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Darragh is an Esports Journalist for Insider Gaming specialising in Counter-Strike. He loves to explore how esports teams work, or why they very often do not.
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