The Chinese esports organization JD Gaming became the final participant of the First Stand— the first international tournament of the League of Legends 2026 season. The team won a ticket by making it to the grand finals of the first LPL split playoffs, and will travel to Sao Paulo, Brazil, as the second team representing the Chinese region.
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A difficult path through the lower bracket of the LPL playoffs
The qualification was given to JDG without too much comfort. After losing a tense series against BLG in the upper bracket, the team was forced to fight its way through the lower bracket of the playoffs – and in the process knocked out Anyone’s Legend and Weibo Gaming, two strong contenders for the international tournament.
As a result, the team still lost to Bilibili Gaming in the grand final with a score of 3:1 – but it had already secured a ticket to First Stand 2026 by that time.
The head coach of Tabe and a serious roaster-revamp
The work of the head coach of Wong “Tabe” Pak Kang deserves special attention. Despite the massive roster upgrade ahead of the 2026 season, he quickly built a workable team. Of last year’s line-up, only top-liner Xu “Xiaoxu” Xing-Zu remained. The four new players are a balance of veterans like Yu “JunJia” Chun-Chia and Chen “GALA” Wei, and young rising talents like Cai “HongQ” Ming-Hong and Zhao “Vampire” Zhe-Tsan.
The team cannot boast of dominating personal confrontations, but it takes its toll on teamwork and composure in key moments — the signature features of the squads led by Tabe.
All 8 participants of First Stand 2026: group composition
The tournament brought together eight of the strongest teams that qualified in their regions. After the LPL finals, the group stage draw was held, which determined the pairs and the grid.
JDG, as the second team from the LPL, will face Gen in the first round of the group stage on Tuesday, March 17.G is the leader of LCK Split 1. In addition to the Koreans, a representative of LCS LYON and the Brazilian LOUD collective were in the group with the Chinese.
The situation is not easy. Considering the current form of Gen.Despite the stable dominance of Korean teams in the international arena, JDG will most likely have to fight for the second place in the group to continue the tournament.
Format, prize pool and schedule
Each group is played according to the double-elimination system — that is, one defeat does not automatically knock a team out of the fight. All matches are played in the Fearless best-of-five format. The total prize fund of the tournament is $ 1 million, of which the winners will take away $ 250,000.
The tournament runs from March 16 to March 22 in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Broadcasts are available through the official Riot Games channels.
