For the first time since 2019, Invictus Gaming qualify for Worlds, and fittingly, it’s once again with Kang "TheShy" Seung-lok and Song "Rookie" Eui-jin that the organization makes it back. After four games in the final BO of the regional finals on September 27, IG secured their ticket to the Worlds Play-In by defeating JD Gaming, they will have to face T1, LCK's fourth seed, to qualify to the main stage.

This qualification wasn’t easy to secure for IG. At the start of the year, they assembled a competitive roster featuring legends such as TheShy, Rookie, Zhao "Jiejie" Li-Jie, Tian "Meiko" Ye, and Chen "GALA" Wei. The first split didn’t go particularly well, but the second saw IG rise above expectations, finishing third behind Bilibili Gaming and Anyone’s Legend—good, but not enough to qualify for the Mid-Season Invitational or the Esports World Cup.

The regular season of Split 3 brought a sudden roster change with the arrival of Yan "Wei" Yang-Wei replacing Jiejie who then joined FunPlus Phoenix, and it paid off with a second-place finish in the standings. However, the playoffs told a different story, with back-to-back losses against BLG and AL knocking them out of title contention. In the regional finals, they first fell to Top Esports before finally defeating JDG today to clinch their spot.

The importance of the jungle

As is often the case in the LPL, the impact of the jungler on the game is decisive, and if one of them is in form, he will most likely win the BO. Today it was a duel between Wei and Peng "Xun" Li-Xun, the two junglers from BLG’s six-man roster in 2024, who faced each other this time for a spot at Worlds.

In game 1, JDG struck first with a dominant performance, creating a massive gap in the solo lanes and setting the tone. Game 2 was much tighter between the two teams, with GALA carrying IG’s hopes—and on Kalista, the Chinese AD Carry didn’t disappoint, bringing the series level.

The draft of game 3 saw GALA lock in Kai’Sa, which almost guaranteed a win for IG, especially with Wei’s commanding performance on Jarvan IV. The same went for game 4, where he pulled out Zyra jungle, a pick rarely seen this year but one that worked perfectly, earning him MVP honors in the last two games and sending IG to Worlds.