LoL - LPL: TES defeat AL and will get another shot against BLG in the grand final

The penultimate Bo5 of the 2025 LPL Grand Finals took place on Saturday, September 20, in the Lower Bracket Final. Top Esports ended the Lower Bracket run of Anyone's Legend, who had won three consecutive series against Ninjas in Pyjamas, Invictus Gaming, and JD Gaming. TES, meanwhile, had defeated NIP and Weibo Gaming in the Upper Bracket before falling to Bilibili Gaming in the Upper Bracket Final. They will face BLG tomorrow to determine the champion of the LPL Split 3.

If TES wins tomorrow, they will automatically qualify for Worlds alongside BLG, who are already in thanks to their Championship Points. If BLG wins, Anyone's Legend will take that spot instead, thanks to their Winter final, Spring title, and third place in Summer. The team that does not qualify tomorrow will join the Regional Finals, where Invictus, JD, and Weibo Gaming are already waiting.

In Game 1, AL were completely outclassed, with toplaner Bai "369" Jiahao delivering a phenomenal performance on Aatrox. He picked up a quadrakill during a fight at Atakhan and finished 8/3/10, with the Darkin Blade carrying the game to open the score. Game 2 was dominated from start to finish by TES, but the scaling of Wang "Hope" Jie's Sivir eventually paid off for AL. The Chinese AD carry dealt more than 30k damage, allowing his team to equalize in a game that had seemed all but lost.

The third game flipped the script again. AL looked to have the mental edge and were turning the series in their favor, but once more it was 369, this time on Gnar, who brought TES back. With 82% kill participation, the Chinese toplaner was in top form and secured the first match point of the series.

Finally, the last game turned into a real rollercoaster, with the advantage constantly shifting between the two sides. TES drafted heavy engage with Jarvan IV, Rell, and Sylas, while AL responded well with Cui "Shanks" Xiao-Jun’s Veigar to control mid and a safe Ziggs in bot. Both teams traded blow for blow until the very end, when Yu "JackeyLove" Wen-Bo emerged from the shadows to save his team. Full items on Jhin, his damage spoke for itself, and a single decisive fight was enough to close out the game and the series, sending TES to the grand final tomorrow.