Karmine Corp and MVK Esports dominate Day 1 of the 2026 World Championship

The sun sets over sunny Los Angeles, marking the end of the inaugural day of the 2026 World Championship. Riot Games Arena in Los Angeles saw several historic and defiant storylines develop as , , , and started the hunt for the lone ticket to the Swiss Stage.

Fans couldn’t beg for a better start than EMEA’s third seed against North America’s second seed. The rivalry between the Western powerhouses had tipped in favor of the LCS, but the LEC wanted to ruin the host’s party. The first Silver Scrapes at a Riot event between EU and NA more than delivered as the French sent the host to the Losers Bracket.

The latter series of the day paired a scrappy, overlooked LCP third seed against CBLoL’s second seed labeled as favorites. After a slow Game 1, the Vietnamese set the series’ tone with aggressive, non-stop League of Legends, and confidently triumphed over a dejected Brazilian squad.

Karmine Corp landed in the United States with a panorama full of doubts, further complicated by stepping into the LCS’ home. North America has had EMEA’s number across Riot-sanctioned events, and it seemed that Cloud9 would easily take the series thanks to Edward “" Ra and Robert “" Huang performance for the first three games.

However, the French organization changed the game plan and put the series in the hands of the 2026 LEC Summer MVP: Caliste “" Henry-Hennebert. The bot laner leveled up for Games 4 and 5 and established a botlane kingdom with the returning Alan “" Cwalina as KC’s effort guided them to a 3-2 victory, and one step closer to the Swiss Stage.

The second series of the day paired MVK Esports against Furia, setting the winner on the path towards the Swiss Stage. The Vietnamese team was shrouded in mystery to those unaware of their capabilities. On the other hand, the Brazilian squad seems to be running on fumes, but star jungler Pedro "" Seixas’s quality is unquestioned.

However, one name attracted all the spotlight: Lương “" Hải Long. The returning jungler had a slow start to the series, but after finding a key pick to close Game 1 surprisingly, the series never left its grasp. Gury had a performance worthy of Head Coach Lê Quang “" Duy’s glory days, as MVK cruised to a 3-0 victory.

Worlds is just revving its engine, yet tomorrow we could meet our first eliminated team. The first elimination match in the Play-Ins features a rematch from this year’s America’s Cup. At the tournament, Furia went 8-0 against North American teams, five of these wins against Cloud9. If C9 wants to extend their Worlds dream, they’ll have to exorcize their demons.

The final series of the day will feature MVK and KC eager to place one foot on the Swiss Stage. The teams haven’t met this season, but the French will need an answer for Gury. The Vietnamese team is full of rookies and will need to leverage their mechanical talent to steal the victory.