Bilibili Gaming (BLG) to miss First Stand after LPL Playoffs elimination

26 Jan

Martin Arévalo-Östberg

Top Esports (TES) have shocked the world by taking down Bilibili Gaming (BLG) in the LPL Split 1 Playoffs, effectively eliminating the reigning LPL Champions from the tournament.

Despite the star-studded roster, BLG’s early exit from the LPL Split 1 also means that the squad will not be able to attend First Stand, where all the number 1 seeds from across the world converge in the game’s new international tournament.

Top Laners at First Stand will be glad to hear they won't have to deal with Bin. (Credit: Colin Young-Wolff/Riot Games)

BLG: The Champions Plummet

Bilibili Gaming were handed an early shock in Split 1 of the LPL when they lost to ThunderTalk Gaming (TT) to finish in second place in Group C of the tournament. Despite the blow, BLG were able to make up for the loss and claim revenge on TT after taking down the team in the Lower Bracket of the Playoffs with a 3-1 victory.

Up next, however, BLG had to face off against the LPL powerhouse of Top Esports; a team that upgraded their roster prior to the start of the 2025 season by landing one of the best junglers in the world in Seo "Kanavi" Jin-hyeok.

BLG looked to live up to their name by taking a straightforward Game 1 and set themselves comfortably in the lead to start the series. Comfort, however, breeds complacency, and so began the tragedy.

After that Game 1 win, the dominant BLG squad that came away with every single LPL trophy throughout 2024 was nowhere to be seen, as Top Esports were able to claim all three of the ensuing games. Shocked, outplayed, and outdrafted, there was nothing else for BLG to do but bid farewell to Split 1 of the LPL after being handed a 3-1 defeat in their last life of the Playoffs.

Worlds Finalists put up a disappearing act

With the loss, BLG joins T1 in performing a disappearing act for the ages. T1’s early exit from the LCK Cup, which led to Faker and the team to miss out on an international tournament for the first time in four years, coupled with BLG’s most recent debacle, will mean that First Stand will not feature either of the Worlds 2024 Finalists.

T1 and BLG will not be at First Stand despite playing in the Worlds 2024 Grand Finals. (Credit: Yicun Liu/Riot Games)

Despite both teams looking clearly a cut above the competition to put a show for the ages during the Worlds 2024 Finals, BLG and T1’s fall from grace during the course of little more than three months reflects just how tough it is to stay at the top in a League of Legends professional landscape that grows more and more competitive by the minute.

If there is anything we have come to learn from the start of the 2025 season, it’s to expect the unexpected.

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Featured image source: Colin Young-Wolff/Riot Games

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