iQOO S8UL have been crowned champions of the Rai Star x Gyan Gaming Cup, one of the biggest MOBA Legends 5v5 tournaments ever held in India. The grand final took place in Kolkata on February 18, 2026, and saw S8UL Esports take down Godlike Esports in a tightly contested Best-of-Seven series that ended 4-3. The victory earned the team INR 12.5 lakh in total prize money.
What Is the Rai Star x Gyan Gaming Cup?
The Rai Star x Gyan Gaming Cup is a MOBA Legends 5v5 tournament that ran for an entire month before reaching its conclusion in Kolkata. The event featured open qualifiers that attracted 1,024 teams from across India, making it one of the largest MOBA tournaments the country has seen to date.
The open qualifiers used a single-elimination format with Best-of-One (Bo1) matches. Only 16 teams survived to reach the main event brackets, where the competition shifted to longer series formats with higher stakes.
The iQOO S8UL roster is the MOBA Legends 5v5 division of S8UL Esports, a well-known Indian esports and gaming content organization. The team that competed at the Rai Star x Gyan Gaming Cup consisted of six players.
Mohammad Saad, who goes by the in-game name Apex, served as the team’s in-game leader (IGL). The rest of the roster included Abhijeet Katkar (Abhi), Mehta Jay (J), Chirag Singh (Radium), Debasish Sana (Anti), and Joseph Nehhunjang (Kakarot).
Apex has international experience as well. He previously competed at the MLBB Mid Season Cup 2024, which was held as part of the Esports World Cup and featured a USD 3 million prize pool.
How iQOO S8UL Reached the Grand Final
iQOO S8UL qualified through the open bracket and entered the Group A playoffs as one of the top 16 teams in the tournament. Their path through the main event brackets was clinical and showed steady improvement as the series formats grew longer.
In the quarterfinals, iQOO S8UL defeated Megatron Esports with a clean 2-0 scoreline in a Best-of-Three series. The semifinals saw them face PEAK, where they secured a 3-1 win in a Best-of-Five matchup. The Group A finals against Elusivity Esports was the most one-sided result of their run, as iQOO S8UL swept the series 4-0 in a Best-of-Seven format to book their place in the grand final.
Grand Final Recap: iQOO S8UL vs Godlike Esports
The grand final was the closest series iQOO S8UL played throughout the entire tournament. Unlike their earlier dominant performances, this Best-of-Seven decider against Godlike Esports went the distance and ended 4-3 in favor of iQOO S8UL.
Both teams traded maps back and forth in what turned out to be a fiercely competitive series. iQOO S8UL maintained their composure in the final maps to close out the match and secure the championship title.
iQOO S8UL Rai Star x Gyan Gaming Cup Tournament Results at a Glance
Here is a quick summary of iQOO S8UL’s full tournament run from open qualifiers to the grand final.
- Quarterfinals (Bo3): iQOO S8UL 2-0 Megatron Esports
- Semifinals (Bo5): iQOO S8UL 3-1 PEAK
- Group A Finals (Bo7): iQOO S8UL 4-0 Elusivity Esports
- Grand Final (Bo7): iQOO S8UL 4-3 Godlike Esports