The 2026 Demacia Cup runs from 3 to 17 October, with an online Swiss group stage followed by knockouts on LAN at JD Gaming's home venue in Beijing. Twelve teams from six regions will compete for a ¥1,500,000 RMB prize pool (around $223,000), in the first edition of China's offseason classic as a global invitational.
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LCK
LPL
LEC
LCS
LCP
CBLOL
The CBLOL is the only region whose invite ignores the Worlds-eligibility rule: the match deciding its 3rd-place finisher is only scheduled for October 3 — the day the Demacia Cup begins — so the invitation goes directly to the 4th-place team. In the LEC, 5th place is settled by the head-to-head record between the losers of Matches 3 and 4 of the Split Play-offs.
The twelve invitees will be drawn randomly for the opening round of the group stage, with same-region matchups avoided.
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