LPL regional rivalry clash: Top Esports vs. Invictus Gaming Preview
Playoff draws will always have wrinkles that create strange results, and two of the three LPL teams that have made it to the pinnacle of Worlds 2026 being seeded into the same quarterfinals bracket is just unfortunate happenstance.
In fact, the LPL’s performance at Worlds 2026 has meant that it was almost inevitable that two of China’s representatives would clash with each other at some point early in the Knockout bracket.
LPL legacy versus LPL slayer
It’s one of the most storied organizations in Chinese esports (Invictus Gaming) versus the powerhouse Top Esports, who’ve spent most of Worlds soundly beating fellow LPL organizations.
iG, helmed by their emotional support Korean top laner Kang "TheShy" Seung-lok, doesn’t look like their 2018 form, but the signs of life are still there. TheShy, who as a top laner, doesn’t have the same luxury of some of his midlane compatriots, as turning into a cerebral macro expert, is still expected to execute at a hyper high level every single matchup, meaning the occasional slip does happen.
Still with the indomitable Song "Rookie" Eui-jin in mid lane (whose irony coated name gets better each year he continues to play), and the (comparatively) youthful and hungry Zi "JiaQi" Jiaqi in the bot lane, this is a scary team.
But they’re facing the LPL assassins in Top Esports. The team that set AL crashing into a surprise defeat by Team Liquid and humbled Bilibili Gaming ahead of their scrap against HLE. This Top Esports org is used to winning big at home, and crushing LPL opponents, and they do so almost every year. 2026 was an oddly off-year for them in that department, though, until the Regional Finals, where they, perhaps not so coincidentally, beat iG 3-1 in the finals.
And while iG looks great on paper, we know LPL matches can be a coin flip.
How does this one land? We think Top Esports will continue its march of destruction through its LPL compatriots. Their destruction of Anyone’s Legend and their takedown of BilibiliGaming is just too compelling evidence to showcase.
Stick with rdy.gg as Worlds 2026 continues!
