Tag: Worlds

How to get every Worlds 2026 Twitch chat badge

Posted on by Geekmandem

Heartsteel, True Damage, Pentakill and K/DA each have their own global chat badge up for grabs, plus there’s a Worlds Supporter badge and an in-game goodie for anyone willing to part with a sub.

Watch any channel streaming in the League of Legends category for 30 minutes during each band’s window, and the badge is yours. It doesn’t need to be an official broadcast either, so any official co-streamer counts, the Worlds Broadcast or someone trying to get out of Iron at 3am.

Band badge schedule

  • Heartsteel: 15 October to 27 October
  • True Damage: 28 October to 6 November
  • Pentakill: 7 November to 12 November
  • K/DA: 13 November to 14 November

Heartsteel has been live since 15 October, so if you’ve had League on in the background at any point this week while watching Worlds, you likely have it. K/DA is the one to watch out for. It’s a two-day window, so you have the least amount of time to claim it.

Worlds 2026 Supporter badge

Worlds 2026 Twitch badges

Grab a new recurring sub or gift sub on the official LoL Esports channels, or on any participating co-streamer or broadcast partner, between 15 October and 14 November, and you’ll get the Worlds 2026 Supporter badge. Prime subs don’t count, so you are going to need to actually throw money at the broadcast.

That same sub also unlocks the first Worlds sub drop, an emote called Flex On Em. You’ll need your Riot account connected to Twitch, so sort that out before you sub rather than after. It’s labelled Part 1 as well, which suggests Riot has more sub drops lined up for later in the event.

Drops only progress on one stream at a time, so opening five League streams in separate tabs won’t speed anything up. Badges claim automatically once you’ve hit the requirement, and you can check your progress on the Drops Inventory page. After that, head into your Twitch chat settings to equip whichever badge you fancy flexing.

LoL Worlds 2026 Pick’Ems: Our Swiss Stage Picks

Posted on by Geekmandem

The Play-Ins are done, Karmine Corp is through, and Worlds 2026 moves to Allen, Texas, for the Swiss Stage. That means it’s time to lock in another set of Pick’Ems before the first game on October 23rd.

If you missed our first round of picks, the short version is that we called the winner, but how we got there wasn’t paved in points.

We can’t promise you a perfect card, but if there’s a matchup you keep flip-flopping on, maybe our picks can help settle it.

Worlds 2026 Pick’Ems dates

  • October 18th: Swiss predictions start.
  • October 23rd: Swiss predictions end (before the first match, so don’t leave it until the evening).
  • October 31st: Knockout predictions start.
  • November 3rd: Knockout predictions end.
  • November 14th: Worlds ends at the Barclays Center, and rewards are given out.

How the Swiss Stage works

Sixteen teams, up to five rounds. Win three, and you’re into the Knockouts; lose three, and you’re on the flight home. Round 1 is all Bo1s, and once a team is one win from qualifying or one loss from elimination, it turns into a Bo3.

No team plays the same opponent twice, and teams from the same region couldn’t meet in Round 1. After that, it’s anyone’s game.

Worlds 2026 Swiss Stage Round 1 matchups

  • Gen.G vs Invictus Gaming
  • Team Liquid vs CTBC Flying Oyster
  • Anyone’s Legend vs Karmine Corp
  • G2 Esports vs Dplus KIA
  • Hanwha Life Esports vs Top Esports
  • LOS vs T1
  • Team Secret Whales vs LYON
  • Bilibili Gaming vs Movistar KOI

Some interesting matches for sure, with the home region, North America, getting a nice start. For those in Europe, it was not so good. KC face AL, G2 Esports play Dplus Kia, and MKOI play Bilibili Gaming. So, any one of those winning in Round 1 would be a good look.

Our Swiss Stage picks

Worlds 2026 Swiss Pick’Ems

We have a few different picks to look for here. We need to select one side that will go through with a specific score (3-0, 3-1, 3-2); doing some correctly will net us bonus points. We then need to pick five other sides that will advance, regardless of score.

3-0 (Undefeated): Gen.G
3-1 (Comfy In): AL
3-2 (Close Call): G2 Esports

Also advancing:

  • T1
  • HLE
  • BLG
  • DK
  • Team Liquid

Matchups will be key for who goes through, but we think some wildcards could make it. Gen.G we think, are a good pick for 3-0, while AG.AL at 3-1 also feels safe. G2 at 3-2 is risky, but if they go through, that is the likely score, so why not.

Team Liquid, Lyon, KCorp, and MKOI could all make it, but it will come down to the literal luck of the draw. Invictus Gaming and Secrey Whales could also cause an upset. If we wanted to let our bias come forward, we would knock Liquid off and include KCorp. If there was ever a time for North America to do something, it would be on home soil. But, it would also be peak NA to totally collapse like Cloud9 already did.

Check back for the Knockout Stage pickems once the Swiss Stage concludes.

LoL Worlds 2026 Pick’Ems: Predictions and Crystal Ball

Posted on by Geekmandem

LoL Worlds 2026 Pick’Ems are here ahead of Worlds 2026. This time, the Crystal Ball adds another layer to the event, with even more rewards.

As always with Worlds, we, as players, get the chance to make our Pick’Ems for a selection of rewards. This year, a perfect set of Pick’Ems will even net you every single Ultimate Skin as a reward.

To help you on that adventure, we’ve picked our Pick’Ems, to help you judge your calls. We’re not going to guarantee a win here, but if there is a choice you’re not too sure about, maybe we can help guide it.

Worlds 2026 Pick’Ems

World 2026 teams
Image Credit – Riot Games

Pick’Ems are broken down into three sets. Play-Ins, Swiss, and Knockouts. The Play-Ins stage ends on October 15th, so make sure to get those picks in soon. Here is the breakdown of the dates.

  • October 10th: Pick’Ems and Crystal Ball start.
  • October 15th: Crystal Ball and Play-In predictions end.
  • October 18th: Swiss predictions start.
  • October 23rd: Swiss predictions end.
  • October 31st: Knockout predictions start.
  • November 3rd: Knockout predictions end.
  • November 14th: Worlds ends, and rewards are given out.

Here are our Play-ins picks.

UB – Semifinals – FUR vs MVK – FUR and C9 vs KC – C9

UB – Finals – C9

LB – Semifinals – KC

LB – Finals – KC

Finals – KC

Overall, we think KC will take it. Looking at the data and what other people are suggesting, this is likely the result. C9 will have the home crowd buff, which is why we think they beat KC the first time, but KC will come into the Grand Final off the back of two wins, and then get revenge on C9.

Here are our Swiss Stage picks.

We’ll update these on October 18th.

World 2026 Anthem Released Featuring True Damage and Faker

Posted on by Geekmandem

Riot Games has dropped “Know My Name”, performed by True Damage, alongside the official Worlds music video on the League of Legends YouTube channel. The track is also out now on all the major streaming platforms.

It’s True Damage’s first release since “GIANTS” back in 2019, and it’s a first for Worlds too. “Know My Name” is the 13th Worlds anthem, but it’s the first time Riot has handed the job to one of its own virtual artists.

Worlds 2026 Anthem

The video follows Faker on the road to T1’s historic three-peat. It isn’t just a highlight reel of trophy lifts either, with Riot promising a look at the setbacks he had to battle through to get there.

True Damage will perform “Know My Name” at the Worlds 2026 Final Opening Ceremony at Barclays Center in Brooklyn on 14 November. Before that, Worlds gets underway with the Play-In Stage in Los Angeles on 15 October.

Worlds 2026 Anthem to be Performed by True Damage

Posted on by Geekmandem

With speculation about who would sing the Worlds 2026 anthem, Riot Games has sought to confirm that it will be True Damage. The popular hip-hop collective will perform the song “Know My Name” as the official 2026 Worlds Music Video.

The song will premiere on October 8th, and will feature LoL Icon Faker. The song will be the 13th official Worlds Anthem released by Riot Games. This is the latest from an internal virtual artist.

Worlds 2026 Anthem

The main focus of the video is Faker’s journey to T1’s historic three-peat Worlds Championship victory. The video will focus on Faker’s career, his resilience, and his ability to rise from defeat. The theme will look at how he took those defeats to rise to the world’s biggest stage. Becoming a World Champion once again.

The song marks the long-awaited return of True Damage. The band features five League of Legends champions as artists, each bringing their own sound to the hip-hop collective. Akali (rapper), Ekko (rapper), Qiyana (vocalist, rapper), Senna (vocalist), and Yasuo (DJ, producer).

As for the real-world artists at the helm, Riot Games has procured some top talent to bring True Damage to life.

  • SOYEON – Rapper and lead producer of multinational five-member group i-dle. In addition to establishing i-dle with chart-dominating EPs and singles. SOYEON has also embarked on solo ventures since 2021 and has played a prominent role in Riot’s virtual groups K/DA and True Damage.
  • Coco Jones – GRAMMY Award Winning multi-hyphenate singer/songwriter and actress who has captivated the world with her timeless artistry, sensual voice, and emotive songs to become R&B’s breakout artist.
  • Vic Mensa – GRAMMY-nominated musician, actor, entrepreneur, and philanthropist from Chicago whose work spans music, film, business, art, and advocacy.
  • Sofía Reyes – Mexican singer-songwriter and actress who has established herself as one of the leading voices in contemporary Latin pop, recognized for her distinctive sound, artistic versatility, and global approach to music.

Patch 26.19 Preview – League of Legends

Posted on by Geekmandem

The League of Legends Patch 26.19 Preview is here. It’s the first of two pre-Worlds patches that will be deployed. Worlds will be played on the next patch, 26.20. Riot Phroxzon on X with the Patch 26.18 Preview.

Role Changes

Support HP Regen

After Support roaming was nerfed in 26.16, pre grub spawn Support roaming is all the way back down again, especially in Pro Play which is what we were after.
That said, Enchanters and Ranged supports are now dominating the meta again.
So we’re making some targeted adjustments to melee supports so that they are able to engage and withstand some poke, rather than get poked out and not be able to engage again.
Overall, this isn’t going to be a giant swing, but hopefully enough of a nudge up for Melee Supports that players think about dynamics of the lane a bit differently.

Top Role Quest

For quite a while now, in some regions, especially at higher skilled play, Top has been a decent amount weaker than Bot (who are the natural counterparts).
That said, Top in regular play is both very popular and very powerful, and we’re not looking to change the dynamic very much (and also why we’re not nerfing bot lane overall).
So we’re giving a targeted adjustment to the more skill skewed aspect of Top lane, through the Teleport and upgraded Teleports from the Role Quest, which are typically used more effective in skilled play (where Top needs the help).
That should allow Top to exert its influence on the map more reliably, especially in split push scenarios.

Ranged Top

We hear a lot of the complaints about Ranged Top laners and agree that when these champs get too powerful it leads to pretty degraded “low gameplay states”. That said we do think it’s reasonable for Ranged Top laners to be a thing you can play there viably, it just needs to be at the appropriate power level with the appropriate power curves.
We don’t feel comfortable taking a large swing here, especially before Worlds, but just wanted to let y’all know that we’re working on some small changes to make it a bit more tolerable for melee champions.
This will hopefully allow us to also buff some of the ranged champions that are normally played bot who were nerfed due to their top lane performance (eg. Vayne), but we won’t be able to do this until this set of systems changes is released.

Class Changes

Simple Champions & Nasus

In the post the other day about simple champions, I mentioned that we think it’s good to have simple champions be strong at all levels of play. Not all of them, but some.
This can often be frustrating, especially when in moment-to-moment combat, their play patterns are very straightforward and feel lower counterplay if they can meet their success condition.
Our philosophy is that if a simple champion is overpowered and causing frustration, then that might be a cause for nerf.
However, if a champion is frustrating and simple, but not overpowered, if it doesn’t have an unintended design flaw, we’re likely to leave it as it is (eg. Viktor).
Viktor is strong in lane, but he’s also easy to gank and weak in early skirmishes; we think this is a reasonable strength and weakness profile and also, over the last few years, we’ve taken (imo) too much power out of early game trading from many champions, which has caused the laning phase to lose texture broadly across the game.
Nasus however, has been strong according to this principle, even when accounting for his mastery curve and he has more sharp success conditions now with Q 4 stacks; in lanes where he can stack freely he becomes more of a threat, while in lanes where he’s contested, he’s easier to keep down.
This often means when you run into Nasus in a good matchup, he’s often scaled without much holistic counterplay for the team (only his lane opponent).
So while we think this shape of Nasus is broadly correct, it does warrant sitting at a slightly lower resting power level due to these considerations.
There was a lot of discussion about Lucian when the notes were revealed yesterday.
Our current approach is to make Lucian’s reliance on specific supports much less tightly bound.
Lucian Mid and Top are also at extremely low power levels (high 30’s/low 40’s) which would be considered borderline griefing if picked.
So we’re trying to make the lives of Solo Q Lucian pairings more pleasant, while also trying to keep the list power neutral overall for Bot Lucian.
This change is better framed as an adjustment, rather than the nerf that was listed yesterday.
For a long time (even after we removed Duskblade, which caused us to put this functionality in in the first place), Master Yi’s Q Cooldown has scaled negatively with ability haste.
Now that Duskblade isn’t in the game we don’t think this functionality is necessary anymore.