Invictus Gaming pushed past Top Esports 3-1 on Tuesday in the first quarterfinal match at the League of Legends World Championship in Allen, Texas.
Sixteen teams began play in the $5 million event, with half qualifying for the single-elimination playoff bracket. The knockout stage, consisting of best-of-five matches, will be played in Allen except for the grand final, which will be held at Barclays Center in New York on Nov. 14.
The championship team will receive $1 million.
On Tuesday, Invictus Gaming opened with a 31-minute win on blue before Top Esports equalized with a 47-minute victory on red. Invictus Gaming then sealed the series by claiming a 29-minute win on red and a 31-minute triumph on blue.
China’s Zi “JiaQi” Jiaqi paced Invictus Gaming with a 27-9-27 kill-death assist ratio. Teammate Song “Rookie” Eui-jin of South Korea wound up at 20-8-33.
Lin “Creme” Jian registered a 16-10-18 K-D-A ratio for all-Chinese Top Esports.
Invictus Gaming now await the winner of the Wednesday quarterfinal match featuring LYON and Gen.G. Dplus will oppose Bilibili Gaming on Thursday, and three-time defending champion T1 will face Karmine Corp on Friday.
League of Legends World Championship prize pool
1. $1 million
2. $800,000
3-4. $400,000
5-8. $300,000 — Top Esports, three more teams TBD
9-11. $175,000 — Hanwha Life Esports, LOS, Movistar KOI
12-14. $125,000 — G2 Esports, Team Liquid, CTBC Flying Oyster
15-16. $90,000 — Anyone’s Legend, Team Secret Whales
17. $50,000 — MVK Esports
18. $40,000 — FURIA
19. $30,000 — Cloud9
–Field Level Media
