Movistar KOI have claimed the last LEC place at the 2026 League of Legends World Championship, beating Natus Vincere 3-1 in the LEC Summer Playoffs on September 18. The series opened the LEC Season Finals arena show in Nice, France. It ended NAVI's debut LEC season and sent the newcomers to the Demacia Cup Global Invitational instead.
The result completes an unlikely turnaround for MKOI. The former LEC champions barely reached playoffs with a 4-5 record in the Summer Split, then beat Team Vitality 3-2 in a close series before taking down NAVI. Jungler Javier "Elyoya" Prades Batalla also kept alive his record of reaching Worlds every year since his 2021 debut, a sixth consecutive appearance.
A Game 1 that slipped away
MKOI came close to a sweep. According to Insider Gaming's account, the series could have finished 3-0 had they held on to their Game 1 lead.
Game 1 was cagey early, with NAVI's mid-jungle pairing getting ahead before MKOI won the first big skirmish. The game opened up when LEC Rookie of the Year Enes "Rhilech" Uçan landed a triple kill on a lethality Jarvan IV build and NAVI took Soul Point. Elyoya answered with two large Smite fights, then secured the next Drake and Baron to pull control back to MKOI, who eventually took Soul themselves and looked set to win.
NAVI turned it around in one fight. Yoon "Poby" Sung-won landed a Syndra double stun onto MKOI's bot lane, and Lee "SamD" Jae-hoon cleaned up with a triple kill. NAVI then raced down mid and ended the game while still behind in gold. Sheep Esports put the deficit at roughly 6,000 gold.
NAVI's mistakes hand over the series
Game 2 swung the series back. MKOI drafted a skillshot-heavy composition that needed an early lead, and NAVI only had to play safe through the first 15 minutes. Instead, Rhilech and NAVI's bot lane went for an early invade onto Raptors and were punished, giving MKOI three kills. When David "Supa" Martínez García picked up a triple kill on Kalista nine minutes in, the game was effectively decided.
MKOI then dominated Game 3. In Game 4 they closed the series out despite an early stumble at the Voidgrubs. Insider Gaming noted that NAVI looked ready to answer their Game 3 loss with a stomp of their own. Instead, they were caught split up at Dragon with SamD's fed Sivir exposed, and that fight handed MKOI the game and the series. Insider Gaming attributed the late errors to NAVI's inexperience.
Jojopyun closes it out, Elyoya keeps his streak
Sheep Esports named mid laner Joseph Joon "Jojopyun" Pyun as MKOI's star of the series. His Yone in the deciding game saved the mid game and then took over the fight for control. Elyoya's Smite plays in Game 1 showed the veteran presence MKOI leaned on throughout.
What happens next
MKOI's run is not finished. They stay in Nice and face Karmine Corp on September 19 for a place in the LEC Grand Final, where G2 Esports are already waiting.
NAVI's season continues on a different stage. They will play their first international League of Legends tournament at the Demacia Cup Global Invitational, which starts on October 3. They will represent the LEC there alongside Team Vitality, with Rookie of the Year Rhilech among the players who will carry the lessons of this series into it.
League of Legends
Worlds 2026
Natus Vincere
Movistar KOI
LEC
