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Esports2 min readBy Lolumen

Swiss Round 1: eight best-of-ones on October 23

Every match of the Worlds Swiss Stage’s first round, with times: Gen.G against Invictus Gaming opens the day, and T1 meets Los Grandes at 18:00 CDT.

Four Round 1 matches with their times in CDT: Gen.G vs Invictus Gaming at 12:00, Hanwha Life vs Top Esports at 13:00, G2 Esports vs Dplus KIA at 16:00, and Los Grandes vs T1 at 18:00.

The Worlds 2026 Swiss Stage opens on October 23 in Allen, Texas, with all sixteen teams in action. Round 1 is best-of-one: one game each, no second chances in the series. Here's the full draw, in Central Daylight Time.

Every Round 1 match

  1. Gen.G vs Invictus Gaming, 12:00
  2. Hanwha Life Esports vs Top Esports, 13:00
  3. Bilibili Gaming vs Movistar KOI, 14:00
  4. Anyone's Legend vs Karmine Corp, 15:00
  5. G2 Esports vs Dplus KIA, 16:00
  6. Team Liquid Alienware vs CTBC Flying Oyster, 17:00
  7. Los Grandes vs T1, 18:00
  8. Team Secret Whales vs LYON, 19:00

Storylines

  • Korea against China, twice. Gen.G, Korea's season champion, opens against Invictus Gaming, and MSI winner Hanwha Life meets Top Esports. Both LPL teams came through their regional qualifier playoffs.
  • Karmine Corp, straight off the Play-In. They swept MVK Esports 3–0 on October 18 to get here, and their reward is Anyone's Legend, China's Split 3 champion. Karmine Corp will have had five days to rest.
  • G2 against Dplus KIA. Europe's summer champion faces Korea's fourth seed in the only LEC–LCK match of the round.
  • T1 against Los Grandes. The three-time defending champions close out the day's main matchups against Brazil's champion.
  • North America's two. Team Liquid Alienware face CTBC Flying Oyster, and LYON take on Team Secret Whales in the last game of the day.

Why best-of-one matters

Teams that win their first two rounds are halfway to the quarterfinals, and a single upset in a best-of-one can send a favourite into the 0–1 bracket. Three wins advance and three losses eliminate. Round 2 pairs teams by record, so the draw for it is only made once Round 1 is done.

How to follow along

Our Worlds guide has the full schedule through the final in Brooklyn on November 14, and every team in the field. Every Worlds game is played on Patch 26.20. That patch's changes explain much of what you'll see in drafts: Ambessa, Ashe and K'Sante were trimmed for it, and Kennen and Kindred buffed.

Sources

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