They didn’t even participate in the Mid-Season Invitational, only to dominate everyone in Paris: Dplus Kia has won the Esports World Cup in League of Legends. European fans also had plenty to cheer about.
A statement win in Paris: Last weekend, Dplus Kia—an underdog—triumphed in the League of Legends EWC competition. It was a team that very few had on their radar heading into the tournament. The Korean esports organization had, after all, been dealing with a string of setbacks recently. Among other things, they failed to qualify for the Mid-Season Invitational in their home country, and in the Spring Split regular season, they finished only fifth in the standings.
A Perfect Start
Dplus Kia’s quality shone through time and again as early as the group stage. They defeated both Furia and G2 Esports 2-0 in their respective best-of-3 series. These were decisive results that weren’t necessarily expected given both teams’ performances at the 2026 MSI.
In the subsequent knockout stage, Dplus Kia first faced the reigning LPL champion and MSI finalist, Bilibili Gaming. DK had to dig a little deeper into their bag of tricks, as the Chinese team managed to take one map from the eventual EWC champion. Nevertheless, the Koreans ultimately advanced to the semifinals. There, they faced off against GEN.G in an all-LCK matchup, which Dplus Kia also won 2-1.
Home-Field Advantage for Karmine Corp
However, the second semifinal provided the tournament’s even bigger surprise, as record-holding world champions T1 faced off against Karmine Corp from the LEC. Instead of confidently knocking the Europeans out of the competition, it was the French esports organization that pulled off a sensational, decisive victory over T1. Perhaps home-field advantage ultimately tipped the scales in favor of the team led by Caliste ‘Caliste’ Henry-Hennebert, propelling them into the final.
But that’s where the French team’s run would end. The South Koreans from Dplus Kia didn’t give their LEC opponents the slightest chance, securing the title with a commanding 3-0 victory in the best-of-5 series. In addition to direct qualification for the next edition of the Esports World Cup, the LCK team also walked away with $600,000 in prize money. As the runner-up, Karmine Corp still took home $340,000.