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G2 Esports vs Dplus KIA: 5:00 PM ET on October 23

G2 Esports vs Dplus KIA is slotted for 5:00 PM ET (4:00 PM CDT) on Friday, October 23: the only LEC–LCK match of Worlds 2026 Swiss Round 1, and a best-of-one.

G2 Esports vs Dplus KIA: 5:00 PM ET on Friday, October 23, which is 4:00 PM CDT in Allen, Texas and 21:00 UTC. A best-of-one, Swiss Round 1, match 5 of 8.

G2 Esports vs Dplus KIA is slotted for 5:00 PM ET (4:00 PM CDT) on Friday, October 23, the fifth of eight best-of-ones in Worlds 2026 Swiss Round 1, in Allen, Texas.

A note on the clock: New York is on daylight time until November 1, so ET here means EDT, UTC−4. In UTC the slot is 21:00.

Late afternoon, if the day runs on time

Four best-of-ones come first. Only the 1:00 PM ET opener has a published broadcast start; the rest are hourly slots, and a best-of-one can start later than its slot if the game before runs long. Riot's ruleset also lets officials reorder matches within a day. The time here is from the official LoL Esports schedule; some previews list Round 1 in draw order instead, which isn't the order the games are played.

How they got here

  • G2 Esports won the LEC Summer final on September 20, 3–0 over Movistar KOI, and are the LEC's first seed. They were in draw Tier 1.
  • Dplus KIA are Korea's fourth seed. Hanwha Life Esports qualified for Worlds as MSI champion, and because HLE also finished in the LCK's top three, the LCK's fourth slot passed to DK. They were in draw Tier 4.

Tier 1 teams drew Tier 4 teams, with no same-region matches allowed in Round 1, and this became the only LEC–LCK match of the round.

What's at stake

One game between the LEC's top seed and the LCK's fourth is hard to call, and the format means it isn't final either way. Three match wins advance a team to the Knockout Stage and three match losses eliminate it; the winner goes 1–0, the loser 0–1.

Rounds 1 and 2 are best-of-ones, and any match that decides advancement or elimination is a best-of-three. Round 2 pairs teams with the same record at random, with no rematches, and from Round 2 on, teams from the same region can meet. It's drawn right after Friday's matches and played Saturday, October 24, from 1:00 PM ET.

Where to watch

Before and after

At 4:00 PM ET: Anyone's Legend vs Karmine Corp. At 6:00 PM ET: Team Liquid Alienware vs CTBC Flying Oyster. Every match of the day is in Worlds Swiss day 1 in Eastern Time.

Sources

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