A chapter in LPL history may have just come to an end.
Bilibili Gaming (BLG) have been eliminated from the LPL's Split 1 Playoffs after a 3-1 loss to
Top Esports (TES) in the lower bracket. The news comes as a shock, as BLG had retained their ultra-dominant 2024 rosterâthe same squad that won both LPL splits and reached the finals of MSI and last year's Worldsâexcept for
Peng "Xun" Li-Xun who went to JD Gaming after sharing the spot last year alongside Yan "Wei" Yang-Wei.
It had been exactly 980 days since TES last won a match against BLG. Their previous victory dated back to June 22, 2022, during a hard-fought BO3 in that year's Summer Split. This win finally puts an end to a one-sided rivalry in recent years between two of the leagueâs top organizations, where BLG won nine matches in a row.
With this victory, TES secures a minimum top 3 finish and will face JD Gamingâs
Lee "Scout" Ye-chan and
Kim "Peyz" Su-hwan this Thursday for a chance to reach the final and claim a title they have not won since Summer 2020âback when a certain
Zhuo "Knight" Ding was still holding down their midlane. The winner of this match will face Anyone's Legend in the grand final on March 1st. Moreover, the LPL champion
will take part in First Stand, the first international event of the year, held in Seoul, South Korea.
