The
first semifinal took place today between two familiar LPL teams. However, this rematch of last year’s semifinal had a different outcome. This time,
BiliBili Gaming swept
Weibo Gaming 3-0, securing their spot in the Worlds final at London’s O2 Arena. While WBG made fans believe in the quarterfinals that they might recreate last year’s miracle, they couldn’t keep up against the LPL powerhouse, which lived up to its favorite status with a dominant performance. In light of this intense matchup, Sheep Esports has decided to offer ratings for each player from both teams.
Weibo Gaming: 4
Weibo Gaming was perceived as the small thumb (seed 4) against the Chinese behemoth, and while the final result confirmed this balance of power, WBG put up a good fight in each of the games. Firstly, WBG responded very well to the BLG macro, playing a slow, anti-climactic game to the Chinese style, to kick off hostilities. Then in the second one, in an opposite fashion, with a frenetically-paced game where players constantly provoked teamfights from level one onwards. Here again, Weibo seemed to stand up well to the onslaught of the LPL champion, constantly balancing out the deaths on each side. What made the difference was that BLG won all the decisive moments in the games, the tipping points that pushed the balance in their favor. And then, perhaps WBG should have found a solution against those uncontrollable Skarner and Jax in the draft, at least for game 3...
Breathe: 4
Breathe tried a different approach in each game, but none of them really stood up to Bin's famous Jax. He did manage to get a big early lead on Poppy, which he then transferred to his team on neutral objectives while Bin's Jax caught up by destroying all the Weibo turrets. After that, it was the turn of his Maokai to take the blows on the weak side, and to perform some feats of temporization; insufficient to offer his team an option of victory. Finally, there was his Rumble, which, despite a good ultimate in his team's only fight won, ended a 27-minute match with 6 deaths (the BO record) in the final game and never really got to find his place.
Tarzan: 4
Tarzan opted for the AP carries that are so dear to him for the first two matches... Without success. On Brand, he contented himself with securing certain objectives and power farming the jungle in the early game. But his lead wasn't enough to make up the difference created by XUN, notably botside. He then took out the first Elise at the Worlds since 2017 and although he was slightly more proactive in the early game, by forcing dives, he never had the same impact in the rest of the match as his opposite number, still on Skarner. Finally, he decided to pick a frontline and take on a different role for his team, but once again it wasn't enough to match his opposite champion who ran riot in this final game.
Xiaohu: 3
Xiaohu gave it his all... for the wrong team. Yet a lot of responsibility fell to him, with two Yone first picks (90% win rate before today) in two of the three losses, as well as a Lucian pick in the blind that was logically supposed to dominate the lane or else quickly become a burden for his team. If his plans to win in the 1-on-1 were disrupted by a heavy focus from BLG - not just XUN, but also Bin and ON - it has to be said that he was never able to adapt and got mechanically tangled up far too often. Many of his deaths were avoidable and have cost Weibo dearly. Not to mention his famous play during the last fight of the second game, when he hadn't noticed that he was walking into Ziggs' mines, or the numerous occasions when he was caught out just before a decisive fight...
Light: 5
Light was the one who tried the hardest to turn the series around over the three games, the one who was undoubtedly the most consistent in his play, and who took risks at the right moments. This was particularly true in the second game when he and Crisp created a sizeable lead over the opposite bot lane. Although he made a mistake that cost his team a lot, by being mispositioned in the botside river during the mid-game, he came close to pulling off the feat in the final teamfight at the Drake. The same was true of his Ezreal, with whom he had a monumental fight that put his team back in the game, before being completely abandoned by this same team, and finding himself at the mercy of knight’s Akali which was way too fed. His midlaner weighed far too heavily on his shoulders.
Crisp: 4
The Kalista - Renata combo that caused BLG so much trouble in game 2 was not so threatening in game 1, where they suffered somewhat in the early/mid-game against the Varus - Neeko response. Overall, Crisp was unable to find a clutch play or make a big difference, with his ulti for example, but still fulfilled his role as a peeling overall. However, he was unable to find that same place on Maokai in game 3, serving up two offers to Bin's Jax early on and never managing to protect his AD Carry from the Akali threat.
There would be no heroics two years in a row for WBG, though they still secured a top-four finish in the tournament. Credit: Colin Young-Wolff/Riot Games
BiliBili Gaming: 7
There was a clear draft diff today. The team didn’t need to pull out heavy artillery and arrived well-prepared. They were fortunate to secure some very strong picks throughout the series across all three games, such as Bin’s Jax and Xun’s Skarner, which were consistently available to them in redside during the first rotation of picks. They mastered their scaling and demonstrated patience in Game 1, quickly wrapping up Game 3 with a flashy pick of Akali, showcasing their ability to play slowly when needed, while also being able to deliver an entertaining performance for the audience. With such standout players on BLG, there was simply no contest today.
Bin: 7
Another day at these Worlds, and once again, Bin is on Jax duty. Three games on redside, three picks of Jax—his signature champion, which he has now played eight times since the start of the tournament, solidifying his status as one of the best Jax players in the world. While he wasn’t the main protagonist in today’s victory, Bin was, as usual, a constant nuisance for his opponents, applying consistent pressure in the sidelane and almost always having a teleport advantage that provided natural control over objectives on the map. Although WBG did a good job of keeping him from flanking most of the time, he still enabled his team to better position themselves to initiate teamfights.
Xun: 8
There was little doubt, but it is now certain: Peng "Xun" Li-Xun is the orchestrator of this team, and allowing him to have Skarner in all three games was WBG’s biggest mistake in this best-of-five. Creative and instrumental in initiating every move for his team, he enables BLG to gain map control with remarkable ease. His opponents will have nightmares about his numerous ultimates, which consistently led to pick-offs on enemy players. He finished the series with a KDA of 6/5/27 and a kill participation of 67.4%, alone illustrating how impactful the player has been today.
Knight: 8
Once again, Zhuo "knight" Ding is impressive this year. The midlaner has finally reached his first Worlds final after falling short in the semifinals in 2020 and 2023. And he earned this qualification in style. First, in a hard-carry late-game position on Smolder, he served as his team's primary source of DPS, establishing dominance after the 25-minute mark in Game 1 (similar to Chovy in Game 5 against FLY). In Game 2, he was untouchable on Syndra, but he truly wowed everyone with his flashy pick in Game 3: Akali. On the verge of securing the first pentakill of these Worlds, Knight proved today that he could bring the Summoner's Cup back to China and sent a clear message to his future opponent in the final. In fact, the midlane prodigy only died once throughout the entire best-of-five, finishing with a remarkable KDA of 19/1/18.
Elk: 7
As has often been the case throughout the tournament, the player doesn't impress with his ability to dominate the laning phase but consistently delivers clutch performances and showcases impeccable mechanics as he enters the midgame. Unlike his allies on the topside, he was able to express himself on three different champions. First, he frustrated the squishy WBG composition with the powerful arrows from his Varus, and then he used the relentless poke of his Ziggs in Game 2, making teamfights significantly easier for his team. Although he started the game 0/3 within the first 15 minutes, his impact in the midgame was so substantial that he helped his team close out the game after only one clean teamfight from BLG at 30 minutes. In Game 3, he was given Kai'Sa in a more traditional role, but he didn’t have to do much since his three topside teammates dominated the match.
ON: 6
Without particularly standing out and missing some plays with his Rell, ON made it through the semifinal largely carried by his teammates. Struggling a bit and missing several ultimates with Neeko in Game 1, he settled into a more comfortable role, focusing on controlling the frontline with Rell in the following two games. Job done.
Bin, Xun, and Knight dominated the competition today, paving the way to their second international final this year. Credit: Colin Young-Wolff/Riot Games
