The two last Western teams standing at the League of Legends Mid-Season Invitational 2026 are about to collide. LYON, the rebranded North American squad featuring jungler Inspired, faces G2 Esports in a best-of-5 lower bracket match scheduled for 1 AM PT / 4 AM ET on Friday. The winner locks in a path to a top-3 finish at the tournament in Daejeon, South Korea. The loser goes home.
How both teams got here
Both squads earned their way into this elimination match with convincing lower bracket wins on July 8. LYON swept Team Secret Whales 3-0. Dhokla, Inspired, Saint, Berserker, and Isles have gelled into a unit that looks far more dangerous than most analysts expected heading into the bracket stage.
G2, the LEC’s top seed, knocked out T1, one of the tournament’s favorites, with a 3-1 series win.
The MSI 2026 bracket stage runs from July 3 to July 12, using a double-elimination format. By this point in the bracket, second chances have already been spent. Friday’s match is survive-or-die for both rosters.
