Eight teams survived the Worlds 2026 Swiss stage, which ended on October 31. Three come from the LCK, three from the LPL, one from the LEC and one from the LCS. The quarterfinals are best-of-five series running from November 3 to 6, and the bracket already tells a story that the format should worry about.
The most obvious fact is that TOP Esports against Invictus Gaming is an all-LPL series. That guarantees at least one LPL team reaches the semifinals, but it also means two of the strongest LPL sides meet before the final four. Both teams reached 3-1 in the Swiss stage, and Invictus Gaming had already beaten LYON 2-1 on October 28 while TOP Esports beat Bilibili Gaming 2-1 on October 29. A format that can produce a quarterfinal between two teams that had already met, and that can leave a region's best teams sharing one bracket slot, is not doing its job cleanly.
The other three series each put an LCK team against a non-LCK opponent, which looks more balanced on paper. Gen.G and Dplus KIA went 3-0 to top the Swiss table, so their records earned them strong positions. Yet the path to the quarterfinals was decided by deciding Round 5 series, where Karmine Corp, LYON and Bilibili Gaming each needed a 3-2 record and all won on October 31. Results like these are exciting for fans in the moment, but they show how much a single round can swing a team's entire tournament.
The eliminations also deserve attention. Movistar KOI, LOS and Hanwha Life Esports finished 2-3, while Team Liquid Alienware, G2 Esports and CTBC Flying Oyster went 1-3. Team Secret Whales and Anyone's Legend ended 0-3. The result is that no LCP or CBLOL team reaches the quarterfinals. Organizers should explain clearly how seeding and pairing rules were applied, and publish them before the next event, so that teams and fans can see whether the bracket is fair.
My recommendation is simple. Organizers should keep the Swiss format only if they can show that pairings avoid repeat matchups and regional clustering where possible. Until they do, every quarterfinal like TOP Esports against Invictus Gaming will invite the same question: was this the best bracket, or just the bracket the rules allowed?