First Stand Day 1 – Big wins, big problems, big questions

First Stand Day 1 is officially over, and it delivered a long but entertaining start to the tournament. BNK FearX and Bilibili Gaming put on the series of the day, battling through a thrilling five-game showdown. The other matchup, however, was far less competitive, with G2 Esports cruising past Team Secret Whales without much trouble.

BLG’s and G2’s First Stand Day 1 wins aren’t enough to hide their problems

Neither BLG nor G2 came away with a truly convincing win. If anything, both victories exposed problems rather than covering them up, and nowhere was that clearer than in the top lane. Chen “Bin” Ze-Bin looked excellent, taking over on Jax in the first game and once again proving he can be the player who pushes BLG over the line. On the other side, Sergen “BrokenBlade” Çelik had a far shakier series and often looked like the most vulnerable part of G2’s lineup.

BLG vs BFX was mostly a story of top-side dominance. Bin, Peng “XUN” Li-Xun, and Zhuo “knight” Ding controlled the pace, while Luo “ON” Wen-Jun often left Park “Viper” Do-hyeon isolated in bot lane to unlock plays across the map. Against a BNK FearX side that relies heavily on Nam “Diable” Dae-geun getting lane priority and snowballing, it was a smart way to attack the series.

Still, BLG’s biggest flaw did not disappear. They keep creating strong early leads, but their mid-game decision-making remains shaky. Once the map opens up, BLG too often give opponents a way back through sloppy rotations and avoidable macro mistakes.

G2, meanwhile, looked strong in almost every role. Steven “Hans sama” Liv and Labros “Labrov” Papoutsakis had a very solid series in the bot lane, while Rasmus “Caps” Borregaard and Rudy “Skewmond” Semaan once again showed how quickly they can take control of a game together. BrokenBlade was the clear exception. He looked shaky for most of the series and only really stabilized in the final game, where he managed to recover from two early Pun’s solo kills and still put together a solid Shen performance.

Romain told us: “You have to win it. If you win, people are going to say it’s expected. If you lose, they’re going to call you s***.” G2 did exactly what they had to do: win convincingly, even if the performance still left a few question marks.

SOLO KILL for Pun! #FST2026 pic.twitter.com/LapuMz07Bn

— LoL Esports (@lolesports) March 16, 2026

While BFX shine, TSW look a step behind

Probably no one thought that BNK FearX would have had such a strong start, and after the first game of the series, probably no one. Their international debut game has been a big reality check as they got absolutely dismantled by BLG in the first game. Lee “Vicla” Dae-kwang and Song “Clear” Hyeon-min were the ones who struggled the most during it, Diable, on the other hand, looked amazing. The young prodigy has even been able to secure a pentakill on the Jinx in his first ever international series, mainly thanks to him, BFX managed to tie the series to five games.

PENTAKILL FOR DIABLE! #FST2026 pic.twitter.com/B9DqRsFe73

— LoL Esports (@lolesports) March 16, 2026

Team Secret Whales just didn’t look on the same page, while Pun, Trần “Dire” Duy Đức and Lê “Hizto” Văn Hoàng Hải looked more than convincing in terms of mechanics, while their bot lane Hoàng “Eddie” Công Nghĩa and Trần”Bie” Đức Hiếu just got totally outclassed during all games.