The LEC Spring Split 2026 regular season has just concluded, with GiantX taking down Karmine Corp and Movistar KOI beating G2 Esports. The upsets from this weekend shook up the expected standings for the league.
Additionally, with KC, G2, and MKOI now being locked in a rock-paper-scissors dynamic, the LEC playoffs are becoming unpredictable.
On the final day of the LEC Spring Split regular season, GiantX faced Karmine Corp and Movistar KOI was up against G2 to conclude the Madrid roadshow. On the line was playoffs seeding as well as figuring out how the LEC teams stack up.
GiantX was a clear outlier from the get-go. Until this week, GX had never won against a top-six team, and KC, G2, and MKOI are the three big names of the LEC.
Karmine Corp, on the other hand, entered the week undefeated and looked lie the team most likely to dethrone Vitality. As the only team that beat them, they looked set to finish 9-0 as the real winner of the LEC.
However, this isn’t at all how the day went. Karmine stomped game one as expected. Afterwards, though, game two was a brawl where neither team was able to build a lead across 40 minutes.
Then on the final map, KC ran circles around GX the entire time, until they won a single fight at 32 minutes and took the game alongside. In all three games, GiantX finished behind in gold.
Similarly, everyone predicted G2 as the winner of the final match. This time, MKOI confidently won game one through fearless play. Then, G2 managed to get a lead on both other maps, before KOI reclaimed it all back.
G2 still won game two, but they lacked the clean gameplay they usually display.
GiantX beats Karmine Corp in one of the biggest upsets of the LEC Spring Split. Image source: Hara Amorós / Riot Games
This entire LEC split was all about Vitality and Natus Vincere pulling ahead while we waited for the big three names to catch up on their later games. Now that it’s all done, instead of answers, there are even more questions.
Here are the final LEC Spring Split standings for the playoffs:
| Placement | Team | Score | Won against |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Team Vitality | 8-1 | G2, MKOI, NAVI, GX |
| 2 | Karmine Corp | 7-2 | VIT, MKOI, NAVI |
| 3 | G2 Esports | 6-3 | KC, NAVI, GX |
| 4 | Movistar KOI | 6-3 | G2, GX |
| 5 | Natus Vincere | 6-3 | MKOI, GX |
| 6 | GiantX | 5-4 | KC |
Instead of entering as favorites, VIT and KC both have their kryptonites and unsuspected blind spots. Karmine Corp beat Movistar KOI, who beat G2 Esports, who in turn beat KC, making any LoL betting prediction extremely difficult.
Then, there’s no telling where VIT stands against those three. KC won against them, and they’re notoriously weaker in the playoffs. On the other hand, G2 drastically levels up during that stage.
Lastly, NAVI and GX are clearly below the top four, but they can play spoilers. Starting in the loser’s bracket, they can very well eliminate favorites.
Given the matchups, if all series go the way they did during the regular season, we’d have Vitality beating MKOI and G2 sending KC down. Then, NAVI can win against MKOI and GX against KC, and that’s two favorites out after the first round.
Stay tuned for more as the LEC resumes on May 23!
Featured image source: Hara Amorós / Riot Games
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