The Swiss stage of the 2023 League of Legends World Championship ended at the weekend with one of the most anticipated and thrilling matches, with Bilibili Gaming facing G2 Esports for the final place in the quarterfinals.
It was BLG who eventually got the slot after beating G2 eSports 2-1 to move into the knockout stage of the competition, giving a milestone on the League of Legends professional scene.
The result, which leaves G2 ESports out of the knockout stage, means that EMEA, which had always produced top-tier teams for over ten years, will not have a team without representation in the top eight of the competition for the first time in nine years.
EMEA hopes were on G2 after Fnatic’s exit from the tournament, making the showdown between G2 and BLG an enticing one. From the first game of the series, G2 lost to BLG, as Bin dominated in the top lane.
G2 produced a great teamfight to get back into the game and stabilize the match with a pivotal teamfight to amass the mountain soul and gold advantage, but they lost their lead when BLG stepped back up.
BLG eventually secured the win from a tight level at the Elder Drake pit, even though G2 refused to concede defeat by taking down Bin and Yagao. HansSama did a quadra kill in front of BLG’s Nexus, as G2 got back into the race yet again and forced BLG to game 3.
The third game saw both teams getting kills in an early-game jungle invasion. But it was BLG who still had the advantage through drakes, solo kills, and precise team fights.
The win for BLG means that all four teams from the LPL region moved into the finals stage of the World Championship.
Daniel Ademiju Idowu
