Invictus Gaming Beat JD Gaming Three One to Claim the Last Chinese Place at the World Championship
JD Gaming finished third in the Chinese regional final for the third year running and will miss the World Championship again.
Invictus Gaming beat JD Gaming 3-1 in the lower bracket final of the LPL Regional Finals on 19 September 2026 to become the fourth and last Chinese team at the League of Legends World Championship.
The result completed a long recovery. Invictus finished bottom at the 2025 World Championship, then placed fifth or sixth in the first split of 2026 and no higher than ninth in the second.
A set of roster changes steadied them. Third place in the third split earned a Regional Finals berth, and after losing to Top Esports in the upper bracket final they were left with a single elimination match against JD Gaming.
For JD Gaming the defeat means a third consecutive year without a World Championship appearance, and a third straight third place finish in the Regional Finals. They will play the Demacia Cup Global Invitational instead.
Invictus join Anyone's Legend, Bilibili Gaming and Top Esports as China's four representatives, with Top Esports having taken the third seed by beating Invictus in the upper bracket final. The World Championship is held in the United States from 15 October to 14 November 2026, and Invictus enter at the play-in stage as the region's lowest seed.