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The Worlds 2026 Swiss Stage runs 23–31 October at the Credit Union of Texas Event Center in Allen, Texas, where 16 teams play to a 3-win / 3-loss cutoff and only 8 advance to the Brooklyn knockouts. Every model makes Gen.G the clear favourite — outdrafted.lol gives them a 91% chance to advance and a 37% chance to go 3–0 — with LCK’s Hanwha Life and T1 plus LPL’s Bilibili Gaming forming the next tier.
This guide covers the format, the full 16-team field, Round 1 times in six zones, Pick’Em rules and data-backed predictions. Probabilities are third-party model and market figures — outdrafted.lol’s Swiss simulation, Polymarket via RiftOdds, and bookmaker prices via Tips.GG — read on 23 October 2026, before Round 1. They are forecasts, not results; standings update live at lolesports.com as games finish. Worlds is played on the locked Worlds patch 26.20, not the live 26.21.
Swiss Stage advance odds: all 16 teams
Every team in the Swiss Stage, ranked by modelled chance to reach the quarterfinals. Figures are from outdrafted.lol’s Swiss simulation, read 23 October 2026 before Round 1; they shift as results come in.
| # | Team | Region | 3–0 | 3–2 | Advance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gen.G (GEN) | LCK | 37% | 20% | 91% |
| 2 | Bilibili Gaming (BLG) | LPL | 31% | 22% | 85% |
| 3 | T1 | LCK | 31% | 21% | 85% |
| 4 | Hanwha Life (HLE) | LCK | 29% | 23% | 84% |
| 5 | Dplus KIA (DK) | LCK | 16% | 27% | 71% |
| 6 | Anyone’s Legend (AL) | LPL | 15% | 26% | 66% |
| 7 | G2 Esports (G2) | LEC | 9.5% | 28% | 61% |
| 8 | Invictus Gaming (IG) | LPL | 5.6% | 27% | 53% |
| 9 | Team Liquid (TL) | LCS | 8.8% | 20% | 46% |
| 10 | Top Esports (TES) | LPL | 3.7% | 22% | 39% |
| 11 | Karmine Corp (KC) | LEC | 4.7% | 20% | 38% |
| 12 | LYON | LEC | 4.4% | 14% | 29% |
| 13 | Team Secret Whales (TSW) | LCP | 2.5% | 11% | 20% |
| 14 | Movistar KOI (MKOI) | LEC | 1.4% | 10% | 18% |
| 15 | CTBC Flying Oyster (CFO) | LCP | 0.8% | 5.0% | 8.7% |
| 16 | LOS (Los Grandes) | CBLOL | <1% | 2.9% | 4.8% |
How the Swiss Stage works
The 16 teams were drawn into four pools (Pool 1 GEN, AL, TL, G2 · Pool 2 TSW, LOS, HLE, BLG · Pool 3 LYON, MKOI, T1, TES · Pool 4 CFO, IG, DK, KC), and Round 1 pairs a Pool 1 team against a Pool 4 team and a Pool 2 team against a Pool 3 team. From there, teams are matched against others on the same record. Three wins advances; three losses eliminates. Rounds 1–2 and the 1–1 bracket are best-of-one; any match that would clinch advancement or elimination (the 2–0, 0–2, 2–2 pools) is best-of-three. The whole event uses Fearless Draft: once a champion is played by either team in a series, it is locked out for both sides for the rest of that series, which is why Play-In series averaged 36.7 unique champions. There are no games on 27 October; the first match each day is 17:00 UTC on 23–26 and 31 October, and 20:00 UTC on 28–30 October.
The five favourites explained
The teams most likely to reach Brooklyn, with the rosters and prices behind the numbers.
#1
LPL hope
Dynasty
In form
Dark horse
Gen.G arrive as the LCK’s first seed with Kiin, Canyon, Chovy, Ruler and Duro, and sit top of every board — 91% to advance on outdrafted.lol and 30.5% to win on Polymarket, the only team above 20%. Bilibili Gaming are the LPL’s best bet at 85% to advance and 18.5% to win, narrowly ahead of T1 on the prediction markets despite T1’s status as three-time defending champions (2023–2025) with Faker, Oner and Keria; T1 open as 1.11 favourites against CBLOL’s LOS. Hanwha Life — the reigning MSI 2026 champions with Zeus, Kanavi, Zeka, Gumayusi and Delight — are 84% to advance and jointly second (4.40) in the outright market. Dplus KIA head the chasing pack at 71%, giving the LCK four of the top five and underlining why Polymarket’s region board prices LCK at 67.4% to produce the champion versus the LPL’s 25.1%.
More LoL on EverythingEdinburgh: best champions this patch, best champions to climb and the top esports earners of 2026.
Round 1 schedule & start times
All eight Round 1 matches are best-of-one on Friday 23 October. Times below are CDT (venue local); 12:00 CDT = 17:00 UTC = 13:00 ET = 18:00 UK = 20:00 Kyiv. Market prices are the shorter (favourite) side from Hypredict and SpinBetter via Tips.GG.
| CDT | Match | Favourite (price) |
|---|---|---|
| 12:00 | Gen.G vs Invictus Gaming | Gen.G 77.0% / 1.24 |
| 13:00 | Hanwha Life vs Top Esports | HLE 76.9% / 1.27 |
| 14:00 | Bilibili Gaming vs Movistar KOI | BLG |
| 15:00 | Anyone’s Legend vs Karmine Corp | AL |
| 16:00 | G2 Esports vs Dplus KIA | DK |
| 17:00 | Team Liquid vs CTBC Flying Oyster | TL 1.38 |
| 18:00 | LOS vs T1 | T1 1.11 |
| 19:00 | Team Secret Whales vs LYON | LYON |
One timing wrinkle for European viewers: the clocks change on 25 October, mid-stage. The 17:00 UTC first match is 20:00 Kyiv on 23–24 October but 19:00 Kyiv from 25 October onward, and Batru shows CEST until 24 October and CET from the 25th. The quarterfinals and semifinals (3–8 November, Allen) start at 22:00 UTC as best-of-five, and the final is 14 November, 19:00 UTC (21:00 Kyiv), at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
Worlds 2026 Pick’Em guide
Swiss Pick’Ems opened on 18 October and lock before the first Swiss match (Gen.G vs IG, 17:00 UTC on 23 October). You play at lolesports.com/pickems or inside the League client with a Riot account. The format: pick 8 of the 16 teams to reach the quarterfinals, and your first three picks score bonus points if they advance with the exact record you assign them — 3–0, 3–1 and 3–2. outdrafted.lol’s model-optimal bonus picks on 23 October were Gen.G for 3–0 (37%), BLG for 3–1 (33%) and G2 for 3–2 (28%). Knockout picks open 31 October and lock before the first quarterfinal on 3 November.
On rewards, be careful what you copy from older guides. As of 22 October, Riot had not published the 2026 reward tiers in text, and a reward table circulating on some sites (Pulsefire Ezreal, DJ Sona and similar) appears recycled from a previous year — do not treat it as confirmed. Riot aims to deliver Pick’Em rewards within 48 hours of the 14 November final; contact Player Support if nothing arrives by 21 November. Pick’Ems are unavailable in China and some other regions.
Play-In meta: most contested champions
The Play-In (22 games, patch 26.20, four teams) is the only pro sample so far, and it is a small one, but it flagged the champions teams fought hardest over. Nocturne was the story: banned in 21 of 22 games without a single pick. Presence is pick-plus-ban rate.
| Champion | Picks / Bans | Presence | Record |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nocturne | 0 / 21 | 95.5% | — |
| Seraphine | 4 / 11 | 68.2% | 3–1 |
| Olaf | 4 / 10 | 63.6% | 4–0 |
| Vi | 5 / 7 | 54.5% | 5–0 |
| Ezreal | 5 / 6 | 50.0% | 3–2 |
| K’Sante | 5 / 6 | 50.0% | 0–5 |
| Lee Sin | 5 / 5 | 45.5% | 3–2 |
| Cassiopeia | 4 / 6 | 45.5% | 4–0 |
| Akali | 3 / 7 | 45.5% | 1–2 |
| Locke | 3 / 5 | 36.4% | 1–2 |
Two picks stand out for opposite reasons: Vi (5–0) and Olaf (4–0) were undefeated on the Play-In, while K’Sante went 0–5 despite being picked five times — a warning that pro priority is not the same as a winning record. By role the most-picked were Rumble (top), Jarvan IV (jungle), Syndra and Viktor (mid, five each), Lucian (bot) and Lulu (support). For scale, Worlds 2025’s most-contested champion, Yunara, hit 88.1% presence, so expect these numbers to climb as the stronger Swiss teams join the pool.
Worlds 2026 Swiss Stage FAQ
Odds and model probabilities are third-party figures (outdrafted.lol, Polymarket via RiftOdds, Freetips, Tips.GG, Hypredict) read on 23 October 2026 before Round 1, and are forecasts rather than results. Live standings and Swiss draft stats are at lolesports.com and Leaguepedia. We update this guide through the Swiss Stage and into the knockouts.
