The esports team Bilibili Gaming (BLG) became the second finalist of the 2026 League of Legends World Championship, sensationally defeating the defending champions T1 with a score of 3:1. This victory marked a historic milestone: for the first time, a team from the Chinese LPL league eliminated T1 in the Worlds playoffs stage.
By triumphing over Lee "Faker" Sang-hyeok and his team, BLG broke the Chinese region's 13-match losing streak in best-of-five formats against T1. On their way to the final, BLG consecutively eliminated three Korean rosters. The title of Most Valuable Player of the series for his consistent performance and key decisions went to the Chinese team's toplaner, Chen "Bin" Zebin.
The first map began with an early advantage for T1, but BLG's jungler Peng "Xun" Lixun outplayed his opponent at key objectives, allowing the Chinese squad to seize the initiative. The decisive moment of the game was an episode where, thanks to a successful combo by Zhuo "Knight" Ding and Bin's lightning-fast reaction to the opponents' attack, BLG definitively cemented their advantage and opened the score in the series.
In the second game, T1 punished their opponent for excessive aggression. The turning point was a flawless Baron steal by T1 jungler Mun "Oner" Hyeon-jun, which allowed the Koreans to take the initiative and tie the series score.
On the third map, T1 changed their draft strategy around their AD Carry Kim "Peyz" Su-hwan, but the plan failed after he was killed by minions. Taking advantage of this mishap, Xun continued to dominate the map, securing the first turret, the Rift Herald, and key objectives for BLG, bringing the team to match point.
In the decisive fourth game, BLG quickly took the lead following a massive teamfight for the Voidgrubs. Despite incredible efforts from Faker on Akali and T1's attempts to turn the game around, the perfect use of ultimates by Luo "ON" Wenjun (on Seraphine) and Xun neutralized all of the Koreans' efforts. BLG composedly won the final teamfights and closed out the series.
In the Worlds 2026 grand final, which will take place on Saturday, November 14, in New York, Bilibili Gaming will face the Korean team Gen.G. This match will determine the scene's new ruler following the T1 era.
The matchup will be the culmination of the careers for midlaners Knight and Jeong "Chovy" Ji-hoon, where the former seeks to restore hope to his region, while the latter aims to begin his own era. The final will also mark the return to the main stage of star AD Carries Park "Viper" Do-hyeon (BLG) and Park "Ruler" Jae-hyuk (Gen.G) after a five and nine-year absence, respectively.
As a reminder, Call of Duty: Black Ops — the story of the game that showed the dark side of the Cold War
