Get PremiumThe first bracket of Worlds 2026 will be known on October 10. Riot announced that the Play-In Draw Show will take place immediately after the CBLOL Finals, a fitting sequence since the Brazilian runner-up is the last team to join the field that night.
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Worlds 2026 Play-In draw set for October 10, right after the CBLOL Finals
The draw will seed four teams: the third seeds from the LEC (Karmine Corp), the LCS and the LCP (MVK Esports), plus the CBLOL's second seed. They open Worlds in Los Angeles on October 15, and the format leaves no room for a slow start. The Play-In is a double elimination bracket played entirely in BO5s (best-of-five), with a single spot in the Swiss Stage at the end of it.
The structure obviously rewards staying on the winners' side. The two Round 1 winners meet in the upper bracket while the losers face immediate elimination, and the team that reaches the deciding match unbeaten earns the Right of Dual Selection, choosing both its preferred pick position and its map side for game one. Six series, four teams, one survivor: the loser's bracket run to Texas is as long as the field is short.
