Bilibili Gaming is up against it in the World Championship final. Despite being one of the overall favourites ahead of the tournament, they suddenly now find themselves underdogs against four-time Worlds winners T1 in the London grand finals. Ahead of the series, BLG’s squad spoke to the media in a pre-match press conference.
Check out our in-depth T1 vs BLG predictions piece for a full breakdown of this matcup.
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Bin shares his thoughts on where BLG edges over T1
The back-to-back LPL winners were quizzed on their burgeoning rivalry with T1, a rivalry that has seen the pair face off in the last four international events. BLG bot laner Elk was quick to highlight how the teams are “very familiar” with each other after numerous meetings, adding that he hopes it leads to a “very exciting best-of-five”.
Intimidating top laner Bin was much more willing to stoke the flames, explaining how his side has a key advantage around teamfighting.
“I feel like the strength of that T1 is they can really have very smart play inside the games. But in terms of the fights, the team fights, the macro, that kind of stuff, I believe BLG as a team are better.”
A key narrative around BLG has been their switches in the jungle. While XUN started as the main jungler for much of the season, a switch to Wei was made during the summer split and seemingly led to better results. But another change was enacted during Worlds, bringing XUN back in as the starter during BLG’s charge to the World Championship final.
Wei and XUN might throw a secret curveball?
The switch somewhat leaves Wei in limbo. He’s officially part of a six-man roster, a decision that even saw him awkwardly present at the official media day where this press conference took place, standing for a photo next to a fist-bumping XUN and Oner while not knowing how to pose aside the pair.
He and XUN were asked about their partnership, specifically how they learn from each other and strive to help Bilibili succeed overall.
XUN picked out differences in playstyles as a benefit for the side, stating that, from Wei, he can “really learn how to do very stable maybe macro and try to win the games with less risky moves”.
Wei unsurprisingly highlighted the opposite, stating how he “really learned a lot of how can we fight in the games from string and also learn a lot of mechanic things.”
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For a team like BLG who has a start-studded roster on paper that would surely prefer to play out games on the front foot, it feels unsurprising just from their responses that XUN would be the preferred starter. While trying to win games correctly with less risk might’ve worked in earlier seasons, such a low-risk, low-reward ideology does not synergies with the modern game and seems to fundamentally go against the LPL’s identity.
2023 Worlds favourites, and then-candidates for best-ever League of Legends lineup, JD Gaming was fully expected to lift the Summoner’s Cup last year. They were led by Knight in the mid lane, an LPL superstar who had hoped to become the first Chinese mid laner in history to win Worlds after previous LPL Worlds winners were always represented by Korean mids.
“To get the world championship really means a lot for me. It means I got the recognition.”
Bin is expected to make or break BLG in the finals
Questions moved back to Bin, specifically around his longevity in the top laner having just reached his second Worlds final an impressive four years after his first.
“I think the secret of always maintaining a very high love performance is my love of League of Legends and also how can I enjoy myself on stage.”
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Simply put, Bin’s motivation is still there, and it shows in his play. He was later asked what it would mean for an all-Chinese roster to win the title, stating that it would simply show that “five Chinese players can perform better than five Korean players.”
He ended by explaining how Bilibili Gaming needs to “focus on our own stuff” if they wish to lift the Summoner’s Cup, showcasing the “normal BLG level on stage to secure the victory”.
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