ESL reveals IEM Beijing 2026 invites as Vitality and Spirit skip Chinese LAN

ESL has unveiled the invite list for the upcoming IEM Beijing tournament, set to run from November 2nd to November 8th. This Chinese LAN is scheduled to be one of the final events before the PGL Singapore Major, but the field will feature only eight teams from the current top-ten VRS rankings. Team Vitality and Spirit have both declined invitations.

Team Vitality has decided to skip the LAN to better accommodate their players' rest and recovery ahead of the Major. In a team statement, they emphasized prioritizing their players and families. Dan "apEX" Madesclaire and William "mezii" Merriman will be going on paternity leave, meaning one of them will miss both BLAST Open Porto and PGL Masters Bucharest. The organization reiterated that Majors remain the club's main focus and they will do "whatever it takes" to secure their fourth Major title.

Spirit faced a similar situation, declining an invite due to their own busy schedule. ESL invited thirteen teams in total, but the final lineup will be completed by qualifiers: two teams from the global closed qualifiers and one from an Asian closed qualifier will fill out the roster.

North American fans will have the opportunity to cheer on Team Liquid Citadel, as they secured a place thanks to being the highest-ranked NA team. The new IGL, Johnny "JT" Theodosiou, will lead the squad as they look to use the event as a springboard into the Major. The full list of invited teams includes Falcons, NAVI, Legacy, BetBoom, PARIVISION, The MongolZ, MOUZ, FURIA, G2, Aurora, and FaZe.

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