We really thought this was the one. The new League of Legends First Stand tournament just wrapped up its Grand Final in Sao Paulo, and for exactly 38 minutes, the West had genuine hope.
G2 Esports came out swinging and actually took Game 1 against Bilibili Gaming (BLG). The crowd was screaming. The copium in the Twitch chat was flowing. We were all ready to believe that G2 could actually pull off an international miracle.
And then, reality hit. BLG woke up, locked in, and completely dismantled G2 with a brutal 3-1 reverse sweep to take the $250,000 first-place prize. Here is the brutal breakdown of what just happened.
The False Hope (Game 1)
Caps was absolutely playing out of his mind. He finished the series with an 18-8-21 KDA and genuinely looked like he was trying to drag G2 across the finish line by himself. They took the first game on blue side in 38 minutes, and for a second, BLG actually looked mortal.
The LPL Reality Check (Games 2, 3, and 4)
You can only poke the bear so many times. BLG immediately drafted better and just ran over the map for the next three games.
Bin was an absolute raid boss in the top lane, finishing with a 17-7-18 KDA.
XUN was smurfing in the jungle. He posted a 16-11-31 KDA and basically suffocated G2’s map pressure.
BLG closed out the final three games in 40 minutes, 28 minutes, and a super-fast 27-minute clincher. It wasn’t even close by the end.
First Stand Tournament prize pool
1. $250,000 — Bilibili Gaming
2. $150,000 — G2 Esports
3-4. $125,000 — JD Gaming, Gen.G Esports
5-6. $100,000 — FEARX, LYON
7-8. $75,000 — Secret Whales, LOUD
–Field Level Media
The Final Standings
BLG officially finishes the entire First Stand tournament with a flawless 4-0 series record (12-3 in total games). G2 walks away with $150,000 for second place, which is respectable, but it still stings knowing they got 3-0 swept by BLG earlier in the upper bracket and then lost to them again in the finals.
The LPL dominance continues. The gap has not closed.
My verdict: G2 played incredibly well to even make it to the Grand Final, but BLG is just playing a completely different video game right now.
Do you want me to hunt down the YouTube VOD links for the Grand Final so you can watch Bin’s top lane highlights, or are you just looking for the updated global team rankings after this tournament?
