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Team Secret Whales vs LYON: 8:00 PM ET on October 23

Team Secret Whales vs LYON closes Worlds 2026 Swiss Round 1 at 8:00 PM ET (7:00 PM CDT) on Friday, October 23, in the slot most exposed to delays. The Round 2 draw follows.

Team Secret Whales vs LYON: 8:00 PM ET on Friday, October 23, which is 7:00 PM CDT in Allen, Texas and 00:00 UTC on October 24. A best-of-one, Swiss Round 1, match 8 of 8.

Team Secret Whales vs LYON closes Worlds 2026 Swiss Round 1 at 8:00 PM ET (7:00 PM CDT) on Friday, October 23. It's a best-of-one, the last of eight played that day in Allen, Texas.

All times are Eastern Time (ET). New York is on daylight time until November 1, so that's EDT, UTC−4. In UTC the slot is 00:00 on October 24, but it's still Friday evening in Texas and New York.

The slot most likely to slip

Seven best-of-ones go before this one, and only the first, at 1:00 PM ET, has a published broadcast start. A best-of-one can start later than its slot if the game before runs long, so the last match of the day is the one most exposed to delays. Riot's ruleset also lets officials reorder matches within a day. Previews that list Round 1 in draw order put this match seventh rather than last; the official schedule has it last, at 8:00 PM ET.

How they got here

  • Team Secret Whales beat CTBC Flying Oyster 3–0 in the LCP Split 3 final on August 30 and are the LCP's first seed. They were in draw Tier 2.
  • LYON are the LCS's second seed. They lost the LCS Summer final 1–3 to Team Liquid Alienware on October 4, and were in draw Tier 3.

LYON and Team Liquid Alienware are the only North American teams in the Swiss Stage, since Cloud9 Kia went out in the Play-In. Their league-final opponents play each other too: CTBC Flying Oyster and Team Liquid Alienware meet at 6:00 PM ET.

What's at stake

Three match wins advance a team to the Knockout Stage and three match losses eliminate it, so this game decides a starting record, 1–0 or 0–1, and nothing more. Rounds 1 and 2 are best-of-ones; any match that decides advancement or elimination is a best-of-three.

When this one ends, Round 1 is done and Round 2 is drawn. Teams are paired at random with others on the same record, with no rematches, and from Round 2 teams from the same region can meet. Round 2 is eight more best-of-ones on Saturday, October 24, hourly from 1:00 PM to 8:00 PM ET.

Where to watch

Earlier on Friday

At 7:00 PM ET: LOS vs T1. The whole day, and what comes after it, is in Worlds Swiss day 1 in Eastern Time.

Sources

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