Creme's Locke Blows Open Top Esports' LPL Game 3

TL;DR: With the series on the line, Top Esports overwhelmed Invictus Gaming in a chaotic 35:55 LPL Game 3, winning 29-13 in kills behind JackeyLove’s near-flawless 22.00 KDA on Jhin. The one-sided 13k gold swing erased IG’s draft advantage and closed the 2026 Regional Finals series 3-1.

Key Takeaways

• Top Esports converted a 77.1k to 64.1k gold advantage into a crushing 29-13 kill score, proving their skirmish execution decided Game 3.
• JackeyLove posted a 4/1/18 line on Jhin for a 22.00 KDA, anchoring every winning fight without giving IG a way back.
• Creme exploded for 13/2/8 on Locke, making the supposed 52% Invictus Gaming draft edge irrelevant once the game broke open.

Building the Lead

This was the pivotal contest after the opening exchanges had left the series level, and Top Esports seized it through relentless fighting rather than a slow macro squeeze. Tian’s Qiyana finished 4/3/12, repeatedly finding the side-lane access the draft analysis said TES needed to snowball.

Invictus Gaming had acquired two of the pre-draft champions under scrutiny: Jarvan IV and Rumble. Wei delivered useful engagement with 3/4/8, but his Jarvan IV could not create the early-game control predicted from IG’s stronger profile. TheShy’s Rumble brought 28.7% of his team’s damage, yet the 2/6/6 score showed how often the pick was forced to fight from behind instead of dictating space.

The Numbers Tell the Story

Top Esports did not merely win fights; they turned every opening into map control. They finished with 9 towers to 2, 3 dragons to 2, and 1 barons to 0, converting their aggression into a 13k gold lead by the end.

Creme’s Locke was the sharpest weapon in that conversion. His 13/2/8 performance supplied a 10.50 KDA, while ZUIAN added 8/5/8 on Ambessa to keep IG trapped in close-range brawls. On the other side, Rookie’s Viktor produced 31.0% damage in a 5/4/6 effort, but scaling never became a sanctuary because Top Esports refused to give him a stable front-to-back fight.

The Final Push

Once TES had control, Zhuo’s Leona made the finish brutally simple. The support’s 0/2/17 line meant that every engage had follow-up, and Jhin was ready to punish any target caught outside IG’s formation.

The final objective count explained the pace of the close: Top Esports used their Baron and tower advantage to remove the remaining room for a defensive reset. IG’s Rumble-Viktor-Rell teamfight combination was the clearer paper draft, but it did not deliver as predicted because TES made the game too chaotic for the composition to set up. Top Esports’ execution, not the model, decided the LPL 2026 result.

Polymarket Market

Polymarket treated this individual game as nearly even at draft close, pricing Top Esports at 52% against Invictus Gaming’s 48%. That narrow read proved directionally correct, although the scale of the win was not anticipated: TES transformed a coin-flip expectation into a 29-13 rout and a 13k gold advantage. The live draft model had favored IG at 52%, largely because Rumble-Viktor-Rell promised superior teamfighting, but Qiyana’s access and Top Esports’ pick conversion shattered that setup. Before the series, the market had leaned IG 56% to 44%, so the day’s execution flipped the narrative. This result closes the series 3-1, and the full series-market wrap-up belongs in the series recap.

FAQ

*Odds via Polymarket, 2026-09-17 14:32 UTC.*