The first two best-of-five series of the LPL Split 3 Grand Finals were played this Sunday, September 7. The opening match between Bilibili Gaming and JD Gaming ended in a reverse sweep for BLG, who struggled at the start of the series but found their rhythm with the entry of Yang "Beichuan" Ling. The day continued with a dominant performance from Invictus Gaming, who secured a clean 3-0 sweep over EDward Gaming.

Across the eight games played today, red side came out on top six times, compared to only two victories for blue side. The two victorious teams, BLG and IG, will face each other in the Upper Bracket of Round 2 on September 9, while the two losing sides, EDG and JDG, will play an elimination best-of-five on September 11.

Tomorrow’s schedule features two series: first Anyone’s Legend against Weibo Gaming, followed by the regular season leaders Top Esports making their playoff debut against Ninjas in Pyjamas, one of the two teams alongside EDG to qualify from the Nirvana group. As a reminder, only the winner of these Grand Finals will qualify directly for Worlds, while the remaining teams will have to fight for their spot either through Championship Points or in the Regional Finals.

BLG hold on and prevail

BLG’s series was far from easy. In Game 1, Xu "Xiaoxu" Xing-Zu on Rumble got ahead, and the pick proved to be simply too strong. The young toplaner, who joined from Royal Never Give Up at the start of summer, delivered some solid performances and showed great promise within a JDG roster still struggling to find its footing.

Game 2 saw BLG substitute their second jungler, Zhao "Shad0w" Zhi-Qiang, with Beichuan, but it made little difference as Peng "Xun" Li-Xun put on a Kindred masterclass, a champion he both excels at and is renowned for. JDG looked untouchable, as if things were finally clicking for them, but they quickly fell back into bad habits.

This year Lee "Scout" Ye-chan has unfortunately been only a shadow of his former self, while the adaptation year in China for 19-year-old AD Carry Kim "Peyz" Su-hwan has been difficult — understandably so, considering he has already played with three different supports in just a few months, with synergy alongside Wang "Zhuo" Xu-Zhuo still not fully established.

BLG stayed alive in Game 3 thanks to an Orianna–Nocturne combo, before forcing a decider in Game 4 — the only one of the series to go past 30 minutes — where they leaned on scaling to equalize. Finally, in Game 5, Beichuan’s Poppy repeatedly made the difference in teamfights, sealing the reverse sweep. BLG narrowly escape against a spirited JDG, they will now face a tough challenge against IG.

The return of IG

A historic LPL team, World Champion in 2018, and by far the most-watched squad in the history of the Chinese regular season, Invictus Gaming are not yet back at the very top, but it’s clear they have returned to the forefront of the Chinese scene. Fittingly, it is thanks in part to Kang "TheShy" Seung-lok and Song "Rookie" Eui-jin, who continue to firmly hold down the solo lanes since their comeback, joined more recently by Yan "Wei" Yang-Wei in the jungle.

The team has been playing brilliantly, but most of the spotlight usually shines on one man: Chen "GALA" Wei, who is currently performing on an entirely different level. In Game 1 today, EDG made the mistake of leaving Kai’Sa open against him — he closed out with a 10/1/6 scoreline and led the charts with over 30k damage. In Game 2, TheShy’s Aatrox nearly took over the game on his own, and finally in Game 3 the jungle–support duo stole the show, with Wei on Zed and Tian "Meiko" Ye on Rakan, who at 27 years old continues to impress after more than a decade in the LPL.