The biggest upsets in League of Legends esports history

Rituraj Halder Published July 27, 2026

The League of Legends esports scene can be dominated by big regional juggernauts, but there are some exceptions. In its long history, League of Legends tournaments have witnessed many surprising turnarounds, where the favorites were defeated.

In the list below, we have shared some of the greatest upsets in League of Legends history. Did we miss anything? Let us know in the forums.

1) KaBuM! E-Sports stuns Alliance (Worlds 2014)

Going into the final day of the 2014 World Championship group stage, Europe’s top-seeded Alliance looked unstoppable. There was good reason for this. They were led by legendary mid laner Henrik “Froggen” Hansen and the roster had just achieved the milestone of executing a flawless “perfect game” against Korea’s Najin White Shield. This meant that Najin White Shield couldn’t secure any kills, turrets, or major objectives.

To secure their spot in the quarterfinals, Alliance simply had to defeat KaBuM! E-Sports, a Brazilian wildcard team that had yet to win a single match at the tournament.

What should have been a routine win for Europe rapidly turned into a total nightmare. Alliance drafted a highly arrogant, slow-scaling team composition. They seemed to have heavily underestimated the aggressive, proactive style of the Brazilian region.

KaBuM! E-Sports shocked Europe’s top seed Alliance at Worlds 2014. Image credit: Riot Games

KaBuM!’s mid laner Thiago “tinowns” Sartori, playing Ahri, took advantage of multiple spacing errors from Alliance. The team’s top laner Pedro “Lep” Marcari, on the other hand, consistently turned fights around with Kayle.

As the game crossed the 30-minute mark, KaBuM! completely seized control of the map, choking out Alliance’s vision and collapsing onto their base. The Brazilian squad shattered the European nexus to secure a shocking victory, instantly knocking Alliance out of the tournament.

2) Albus NoX Luna overthrows the ROX Tigers (Worlds 2016)

During the 2016 World Championship, the ROX Tigers arrived in San Francisco as the absolute favorites to lift the Summoner’s Cup. They were led by Tier-1 superstars like Song “Smeb” Kyung-ho and Han “Peanut” Wang-ho. Unsurprisingly, the reigning LCK champions were expected to completely roll over Group A.

Facing them in a critical Week 2 match was Albus NoX Luna (ANX), a direct wildcard representative from the CIS region. ANX had reportedly spent their pre-tournament bootcamp playing World of Warcraft because top-tier teams refused to spend practice hours scrimming against them.

Albus NoX Luna, the ultimate underdogs of the 2016 World Championship.

ANX took to the Rift with a “nothing to lose” attitude. Rather than playing it safe, they brought out highly out-of-the-box, aggressive picks, centered around Kirill “Likkrit” Malofeev’s signature Brand support.

The match turned into an absolute 66-minute bloodbath, the most thrilling, back-and-forth single game in Worlds history.

ANX matched the mechanical gods of Korea blow for blow. The game featured multiple desperate Baron Nashor steals, high-stakes Elder Dragon fights, and an overall display of raw resilience from the wildcard squad.

In the final minutes of the match, ANX executed a brilliant split-push maneuver, marching down the bottom lane to conquer the ROX Tigers.

This monumental victory allowed ANX to become the first-ever wildcard team to qualify for the Worlds quarterfinals.

3) Team Liquid topples Invictus Gaming (MSI 2019)

At the 2019 Mid-Season Invitational (MSI) in Taipei, China’s Invictus Gaming (iG) looked almost invincible.

As the reigning 2018 world champions, they had just blitzed through the MSI group stage with an unprecedented 9-1 record, routinely ending matches in under 20 minutes.

Team Liquid celebrating their historic 3-1 victory over Invictus Gaming. Image credit: Riot Games

When iG deliberately chose North America’s Team Liquid (TL) as their semifinal opponent, the international community treated the best-of-five matchup as an easy formality for the Chinese favorites.

However, Team Liquid, featuring a veteran core of Yiliang “Doublelift” Peng, Nicolaj “Jensen” Jensen, and Jo “CoreJJ” Yong-in, set a benchmark in tactical play in that match. Instead of folding to iG’s hyper-aggressive style, TL absorbed the early pressure, setting up crisp, calculated counter-ganks.

Jake “Xmithie” Puchero completely out-pathed iG’s superstar jungler Gao “Ning” Zhen-Ning, while Jung “Impact” Eon-yeong anchored the top lane under immense pressure.

TL completely blindsided the world champions, jumping out to a shocking 2-0 series lead. While iG managed to claw back a victory in Game 3, Team Liquid completely locked them down in Game 4, closing out the series in a dominant 3-1 fashion.

4) Invictus Gaming collapses against FunPlus Phoenix (LPL Spring 2020)

A year after their MSI heartbreak, Invictus Gaming still remained a highly feared regular-season titan in China’s domestic LPL league. At the LPL Spring 2020 playoffs, iG secured the number one overall seed and were heavily expected to cruise to another domestic final.

However, after a shocking semifinal loss to Top Esports, they were dropped into the 3rd-place decider match.

There, they faced FunPlus Phoenix (FPX), the reigning 2019 World Champions, who had also suffered an unexpected playoff stumble and were looking to rebuild their momentum.

FunPlus Phoenix facing down Invictus Gaming in the domestic LPL arena. Image credit: Riot Games

What was supposed to be a highly competitive blockbuster rebound for iG turned into a complete tactical disaster.

FunPlus Phoenix built an incredible defensive plan for the match, completely neutralizing iG’s star top laner Kang “TheShy” Seung-lok. By locking in coordinated, hard-engage compositions and ruthlessly punishing iG’s highly reckless, over-extended playstyle.

FPX systematically picked apart the former world champions, securing a decisive 3-0 sweep. The defeat completely exposed iG’s flaws and became the definitive end of their era of undisputed domestic dominance.

If you enjoyed reading this, also check out the most recorded kills in League of Legends esports’ international tournaments.

Featured image credit: Riot Games