KT Rolster, BNK FearX and Hanjin BRION all won their opening matches at the 2026 Demacia Cup Global Invitational on October 3, giving the LCK a clean start to the tournament and sending all three teams into the Round 2 winners' bracket. KT beat Shopify Rebellion, BNK defeated Team Vitality and Hanjin BRION took down JD Gaming.
The results matter now because Round 2 begins at 4:00 PM KST on October 4, and the next step is no longer just about surviving the opening day. Each win brings a team within one match of direct passage to the Knockout Stage, but a loss sends that side into Round 3 instead, so the margin for error has already narrowed.
KT's win had a clear turning point: Lee Seung-min recorded a solo kill that helped KT snowball the game and take control before Shopify Rebellion could settle in. That kind of decisive moment is why the first round carries more weight than a simple opening result. It can set the pace for everything that follows, and it did for the three LCK representatives here.
The bracket now splits the teams onto different roads. KT will face RED Canids Kalunga, Hanjin BRION will play Team WE and BNK FearX will battle LGD Gaming in Round 2. The teams that win there and reach two total victories advance directly to the Knockout Stage, while the losers drop into Round 3. On the other side, Shopify Rebellion, Team Vitality and JD Gaming move into lower-bracket paths, with Natus Vincere set to face FlyQuest and GAM Esports to meet Team Vitality on October 5.
That makes October 4 a pressure point for the LCK trio. They opened together, but they will not advance together unless they keep winning, and the Round 2 draw has already made their paths different enough that one strong day could be enough for direct advancement while one slip would force a longer route through the tournament.
