All MSI Top Teams Eliminated on Day One of EWC League of Legends Knockouts

The Esports World Cup’s League of Legends bracket delivered immediate chaos on Friday. Every team that made the MSI semifinals in July — including MSI champion HLE and runner-up BLG — was eliminated on the first day of knockout play in Riyadh.

DK, the LCK’s fourth seed at MSI who finished dead last in the group stage, turned the script around. They took down BLG 2-1 in a tense best-of-three series that went the distance, earning a semifinal spot against GEN.G on Saturday.

The first game belonged to DK’s early aggression. Lucid’s Lee Sin ganked bot lane at the three-minute mark to pick up first blood on BLG’s Ziggs, though he was traded out in the process. The match stayed close through 25 minutes until BLG grabbed a Baron power play and looked to take control. But DK executed a cleaner teamfight at 38 minutes — Siwoo’s K’Sante picked up a double kill, and DK pushed through BLG’s base to close out Game 1.

BLG answered back in Game 2. Siwoo’s Tristana took first blood in a top-lane duel, but BLG’s Xun on Naafiri stole the dragon and sparked a chain of kills that swung the game. By 33 minutes BLG had Baron buff and pushed through DK’s high ground to force a deciding third game.

The decider was the longest and messiest of the three. Xun’s Pantheon ganked bot for first blood at two minutes, but both teams played cautiously through the mid-game. At 35 minutes DK caught BLG’s support Bard out of position in the jungle, and ShowMaker’s Syndra cleaned up with a double kill. Two minutes later, with both teams fighting over dragon, Siwoo’s Aurora flanked and eliminated BLG’s Caitlyn. DK chased down the remaining four for an ace and marched into the base to win the series.

The carnage extended beyond BLG. MSI champion HLE — who beat BLG in the MSI finals on July 12 — was also knocked out in the first round. Both remaining LPL teams, JDG and AG.AL, met the same fate. Every MSI semifinalist is now out of the tournament.

The semifinals on Saturday pit T1 against KC at 19:00 local time, followed by GEN.G versus DK at 21:30. The winners face off on Sunday at 20:30 for the championship; the losers play earlier that day for third place.

EWC 2026 runs July 17-20 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, hosting multiple esports titles under one roof. The League of Legends portion uses a single-elimination bracket with best-of-three matches throughout.