Movistar KOI defeat Team Vitality and keep their Worlds hopes alive, Team Vitality sent to Demacia Cup

are still alive, and the playoffs continue to treat the Spanish team well. On the brink of elimination and only barely qualifying for the LEC playoffs after a disastrous regular-season campaign, and his teammates bounced back by overcoming Team Vitality 3-2, who exited through the back door after an otherwise strong regular season.

After struggling for part of the series and falling behind 2-1, the players completely turned things around, coming back to take the lead in the final game thanks to a very well-constructed draft. Solid throughout the BO5, Elyoya was named the series MVP. The Spanish jungler has never missed Worlds since entering the LEC in 2021.

Finishing second in the regular season behind Karmine Corp, Team Vitality could legitimately have dreamed of making their first Worlds appearance since 2018. After being swept 3-0 by G2 Esports in their opening match last week, the French team suffered their second defeat in as many games. Overall, Vitality failed to win a single best-of-five this year following the fiasco of the Spring Split.

This defeat rules the team out of Worlds, but Vitality can fall back on another international competition. After finishing fifth in the LEC, the team qualified for the new edition of the Demacia Cup Global Invitational, which will be played a few days before Worlds and is set to begin on October 3. MKOI's survival therefore eliminates GIANTX, who will not compete in any international competition. With a lower seed than Team Vitality in the regular season, the team ultimately finishes behind the French side.

MKOI have now secured a top-four finish in the competition and will be in Nice next week to compete for the title. First, the Spanish team will face NAVI on Friday in a qualifying match for the final Worlds spot, before potentially taking on Karmine Corp and then G2 Esports in the final on Sunday.