The LPL Playoffs have kicked off with the Knight's Rivals phase, where eight teams will face off in four best-of-five series. Today, Invictus Gaming took on EDward Gaming, followed tomorrow by Ninjas in Pyjamas versus FunPlus Phoenix. Monday will see Team WE clash with LGD Gaming, and the phase will conclude Tuesday with Weibo Gaming against ThunderTalk Gaming. Here's an article detailing the LPL Format for the Split 2.

These BO5s are knockout matches, with the winners advancing to join the four teams already qualified for the Knockout Stage: Bilibili Gaming, Top Esports, Anyone’s Legends, and JD Gaming. Based on their rankings, these qualified teams will select their opponents.

A confident win for IG

In today’s series, IG swept EDG cleanly. IG had finished 5th in the Ascend group, just missing direct qualification to the Knockout Stage, so they had to face a team from the Nirvana group to advance. IG made a bold bet on their roster, and it’s paying off. Up top, Kang "TheShy" Seung-lok handled tank duties on champions like Sion, Galio, and Yorick, but the key players were Song "Rookie" Eui-jin and Chen "GALA" Wei—especially Rookie, the 28-year-old Korean midlaner.

In Game 1, Rookie delivered a strong performance on Sylas, putting heavy pressure on EDG with his aggressive playstyle. In Game 2, Gala’s Ezreal came alive, dealing over 50k damage with more than 87% kill participation, pushing IG toward a decisive Game 3 to secure their playoff spot. The final game lasted over 47 minutes and was mostly dominated by EDG, but Rookie’s Akali ultimately won the day. IG now stand as arguably the strongest team in the Knight’s Rivals phase and will likely be picked last by teams in the Knockout Stage.