The
LPL Split 3 concludes on September 21 with
Bilibili Gaming crowned as champions after beating
Top Esports 3-2. This means we’ve had three different champions for the three splits: TES in Winter,
Anyone's Legend in Spring, and finally BLG for Summer. This victory qualifies BLG as China’s first seed for the Worlds, which will be held at home, while
Anyone's Legend secures the second seed thanks to
Championship Points.
As for Top Esports, they advance to the
Regional Finals, where they will face
Invictus Gaming in a Worlds qualifying BO as China’s third seed. A loss would send them to a final BO against the winner of the match between
Weibo and
JD Gaming, which is an elimination match. Furthermore, the winner of that last BO will go to the Worlds Play-In stage to face
T1, Korea’s fourth seed, who were also defeated today by
Gen.G 3-2.
Knight's league
Whether it’s this BO, this split, or the LPL as a whole, Zhuo "
Knight" Ding is arguably the greatest player in Chinese
League of Legends history. Today, he becomes the most decorated player in LPL history with his sixth title,
surpassing Ming "Clearlove" Kai and Li "Xiaohu" Yuanhao, who each have five. Once again, he was clutch in his team’s victory over TES to secure the most important split of the year. In a post-match interview, Knight stated that all teams in the Regional Finals can contest for the fourth seed and expressed hope that they can crush T1.
The BO was opened by TES in a match that saw only 14 kills over 31 minutes, ten of which went to the winners. Lin "
Creme" Jiana had a standout performance on Azir, a champion rarely seen due to frequent bans. BLG and Knight responded strongly in Game 2, dominating in the shortest game of the BO, quickly showing viewers that this series would be intense.
Game 3 saw TES dominate, with some flashes of brilliance from BLG. Creme again put on a strong performance, this time on Ryze, and both midlaners traded blows back and forth. In the decisive Game 4, BLG went all-in, running a Caitlyn–Elise botlane for control and giving Knight his signature champion, Ahri, likely his strongest pick. They completely stomped the game, forcing a Game 5.
The final game was shaky, with TES even slightly ahead around the 30-minute mark. Once again, Knight on Akali made decisive plays, picking off targets here and there. Chen "
Bin" Ze-Bin also had a strong Jayce performance, which helped BLG secure the win. BLG are now LPL champions and will attend Worlds as China’s first seed.
Header Photo Credit: LPL/Riot Games
