Invictus Gaming kick off 2026 with Demacia Cup title

Invictus Gaming open 2026 by sweeping JDG 3–0 to win their third Demacia Cup, capping a playoff surge despite fielding two substitutes ahead of LPL Split 1.

eSports Betting News

by Jur Dava

January 5, 2026 0

In a one-sided grand final, on Saturday, January 3, Invictus Gaming defeated JD Gaming to claim the Demacia Cup title ahead of the start of the 2026 League of Legends season.

By sweeping JD Gaming on Saturday, Invictus Gaming started off the new year in style and claimed the third Demacia Cup title in the team’s history.

The historic accomplishment, however, is that much more impressive considering IG won the trophy despite fielding two substitute players.

INVICTUS GAMING 🇨🇳 ARE THE DEMACIA CUP CHAMPIONS 🏆

IG clean swept JD Gaming 3-0 in the Grand Finals

They did not play with their full roster, as midlaner Rookie 🇰🇷 and support Meiko were not included:

🇰🇷 Soboro
🇨🇳 Wei
🇨🇳 Renard
🇨🇳 Photic
🇨🇳 Jwei pic.twitter.com/Cz3ORCfEOT
— Sheep Esports (@Sheep_Esports) January 3, 2026

Invictus Gaming’s run to their third Demacia Cup title began in Stage 2 Group A, having secured a direct invite to the second phase of the tournament.

IG’s path through the group stage started with a 0-2 loss agianst EDward Gaming. However, they picked themselves up quickly and added three straight wins against LGD Gaming, Team WE, and Ninjas in Pyjamas, which was enough to secure a spot in the playoffs.

The knockout stage looked easy for Yan “Wei” Yangwei and co., who crushed Top Esports in the quarterfinals, then added a 3-0 sweep of LNG Esports in the semifinal.

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The grand final, against JD Gaming, proved to be just as easy for the 2018 world champions, who cruised past JDG in three maps.

For JD Gaming, the loss was not the result they were hoping for. However, by reaching the grand final, JD Gaming showed that their new roster, consisting of a new jungler Yu “JunJia” Chun-chia, mid laner Tsai “hongQ” Ming-hong, and ADC Chen “GALA” Wei, has the potential to compete for top spots in the LoL Pro League (LPL).

With the conclusion of the Demacia Cup, the focus now shifts towards the start of the 2026 LPL season, which is scheduled ot begin with LPL 2026 Split 1 on January 14.

Despite winning the Demacia Cup, Invictus Gaming are not among the top contenders to win LPL Split 1. They are priced at +1000 on the top LoL betting sites to hoist the trophy, behind JD Gaming, who carry the tag of third favorites at +450.

Bilibili Gaming head into the new season as the leading favorites at +175 to defend their LPL throne ahead of Anyone’s Legend at +350.