On September 21, the LPL Summer Playoffs Finals saw BLG take down rivals TES to take the championship and head to Worlds as the league’s #1 seed.

BLG takes LPL Championship against TES in Five-Game Banger

BLG takes down TES in nail-biting match

Taking place in front of thousands of fans in Shenzhen, the two powerhouses went head-to-head in what was a crucial series for Top Esports. BLG, following their strong playoff run, had already guaranteed its spot at Worlds 2025, meaning that it was up to TES to show up in the series.

The series

The series started off strong for the challenger, who punished Elk’s overextension early on, slowly snowballing the game until the Ocean Soul drake at 27 minutes. In the first series, BLG fielded Beichuan as the starting jungler but the player wasn’t able to match Kanavi.

As a result, BLG once again brought in Zhao “Shad0w” Zhi-Qiang, who once again proved the jungle swap magic does exist. Thanks to an incredible 1v2 from Bin up in the top lane, BLG built a substantial 5k lead by the 17th minute mark, destroying the nexus in less than 27 minutes.

In game 3, TES drafted a strong 2v2 top side with Renekton and Zed to counter Shad0w’s Trundle with both teams drafting strong duo carry comps (Varus and Ryze on BLG’s side, Cassiopeia and Corki on TES). The game-deciding play came when TES utilized Ryze’s ultimate to secure a Baron, pushing down mid lane and taking match point.

With the backs against the wall, BLG showed resilience. The team decided to go for the ultra-aggressive Caitlyn-Elise bot lane, betting on an early snowball. The game plan worked out with the team picking up four kills early on against JackeyLove’s iconic Draven: an impressive 32 to 7 kill score for BLG allowed them to bring the match to Silver Scrapes.

In the game-deciding series, BLG found an early advantage thanks to an impressive 8-man skirmish in the mid lane. Despite the kills’ lead, TES kept the game even until Knight found an incredible flank on Akali to finish off both TES’ carries. With a 5k lead and the better teamfighting comp, BLG found another great fight to ace the opponents and take down the nexus to claim their first, but most important, title of the season so far.

BLG goes from rags to riches in one split

After what was an extremely disappointing half-split performance at the Mid-Season Invitational and the Esports World Cup, BLG have managed to bounce back with the addition of Shad0w. His presence and constant swaps with Beichuan have allowed BLG to take advantage of their strong points, depending on the draft and what playstyle the team requires based on the matchups.

Even though there are still questions regarding the LPL’s strength as a region heading into Worlds, BLG’s comeback is a strong sign that they might be on course for another strong run like in 2024.

Anyone’s Legend lock Worlds qualification as the #2 seed

With BLG now locked as the LPL #1 seed at Worlds 2025, AL will be the #2 seed, having accumulated the second-highest amount of championship points. The team has struggled a lot more this past split, so getting a guaranteed place in Swiss stage is a godsend.

Top Esports will now have to go through the LPL Regional Finals for another shot at a Worlds qualification, joining Invictus Gaming, JD Gaming, and Weibo Gaming. For all these four squads, winning the gauntlet is crucial. This is because the second-place finisher in the regional finals will have to face T1 in the play-in stage… and going up against the 2024 World champions is probably the worst nightmare you want as a team that worked all year long for a Worlds appearance.