The first game of the League of Legends 2026 World Championship (LoL Worlds) saw Silver Scrapes as Karmine Corp beat Cloud9.
After a long wait, an LEC team has finally defeated an LCS team at Worlds again as the storied rivalry between Europe and North America gained a new chapter.
The intense series went all the way to five games, with KCorp surviving a brutal onslaught in the first few games to come out on top 3-2.
The two teams are now waiting for the result of LCP’s MVK Esports and CBLOL’s FURIA to find out their next match in the LoL Worlds Play-Ins.
KCorp Come Out on Top in Five-Game Thriller
Both teams will have mixed feelings after an intense series filled with exciting moments and frustrating mistakes. Still, this is the perfect time for the teams to learn.
This series was always going to be close, with bookmakers still struggling to figure out which of these two is favourite to advance from the Worlds Play-Ins.
Yet, in another universe, this would’ve been a 3-0 stomp in C9’s favour.
The first match was total domination, with KC’s bot lane both going 0/6/1 as the LEC team only found one kill.
And it looked like Game 2 was going to be the exact same, despite KC counter-picking a poke-heavy bot lane.
Yet, C9 threw away a 7k gold lead in a couple of awful fights around Dragon to bring KC back into the series.
After a poor game by Martin ‘Yike’ Sundelin gave C9 series point, KC then equalised with the biggest stomp of the day as their bot lane finally woke up.
C9’s Philippe ‘Vulcan’ Laflamme had been the MVP of the series up until that point, but in the end it was KC’s Kang ‘kyeahoo’ Ye-hoo who was the difference maker.
The Korean midlaner had a phenomenal performance on Ahri in Game 5 to secure KC a much-needed win and confidence boost after their shocking 3-0 defeat by Movistar KOI in the LEC Playoffs.
Are KC now the favourites to advance from the LoL Worlds Play-Ins or do you expect Cloud9 or someone else to beat them? Share your predictions with us on the Insider Gaming Discord.
Meanwhile, Lee ‘Faker’ Sang-hyeok has become a minion in a T1 and Universal collab. And for even more Insider Gaming delivered directly to your inbox, sign up for our newsletter.
An esports journalist for nine years with a focus on LoL Jack has written for national newspapers, interviewed major names, and driven people mad with puns. He's most proud of…
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