The opening match of the EWC 2026 League of Legends tournament took place on the 15th at the Paris Expo Porte de Versailles in France. Defending champion Gen.G secured a dominant victory over Europe's Karmine Corp, advancing to the Group A winners' match.

Early in the game, Karmine Corp drew first blood in the bottom lane, but Gen.G responded by racking up kills through their top-side players. While the early game was tightly contested, Gen.G seized control after a decisive teamfight victory during a Dragon skirmish at the 13-minute mark. They then began to widen the gap with consecutive kills in the top and bottom lanes.

Outperforming their opponents in both skirmishes and macro play, Gen.G held a 4k gold lead by the 24-minute mark and had secured three Dragon stacks, effectively snowballing their advantage. When Karmine Corp attempted to push into the mid lane, 'Canyon's' Lee Sin punished them with a spectacular initiation; Gen.G followed up by taking Baron and maintaining their one-sided offensive.

Karmine Corp struggled to fend off Gen.G's relentless pressure. Giving their opponents no room to recover, Gen.G continued their destructive assault and destroyed the enemy Nexus in just 27 minutes.