Clash of the titans: 2023 MSI Upper Bracket Finals recap

In an exciting five-game series that lived up to the hype, JD Gaming won 3-2 against T1 in the Upper Bracket Finals on May 18, the third match day of the second week of playoffs at the 2023 League of Legends Mid-Season Invitational (MSI) at Copper Box Arena in London, England.

China's JDG (League of Legends Professional League/LPL, #1) advances to the Grand Finals on May 21.

Korea's T1 (League of Legends Champions Korea/LCK, #2) will play next in the Lower Bracket Finals on May 20 against the winner of the May 19 match between Korea's Gen.G (LCK, #1) and China's Bilibili Gaming (LPL, #2); the winner of T1 vs. GEN/BLG will face JDG in the Grand Finals.

T1 vs. JD Gaming

Game 1: JDG wins

JD Gaming won Game 1 against T1 in 28:53 by a 17-3 kill score. JDG bot laner Park "Ruler" Jae-hyuk went 9/0/3 on Jinx and led in kills with the support of Lou "Missing" Yun-Feng's 1/1/12 Braum; jungler Seo "Kanavi" Jin-hyeok finished 2/0/11 as Wukong; and mid laner Zhuo "knight" Ding had 100% kill participation on his 4/0/13 Annie. Jame's Player of the Game: JDG knight, 2nd

Game 2: T1 wins

T1 tied up their series against JD Gaming with a 24:24-long Game 2 in which they tied 9-9 in kills. T1 mid laner Lee "Faker" Sang-hyeok found a 3/2/1 Tristana performance, and bot laner Lee "Gumayusi" Min-hyeong finished 4/2/2 on Xayah and nabbed a quadra kill. In the loss, JDG knight went 3/2/4 as Cassiopeia, and the Chinese squad only managed to take two drakes and one tower. Jame's Player of the Game: T1 Gumayusi, 5th

Game 3: T1 wins

T1 took a 2-1 lead vs. JD Gaming with a 12-9 Game 3 victory in 23:10. T1 top laner Choi "Zeus" Woo-je went 2/1/7 on Gwen; jungler Mun "Oner" Hyeon-jun went 1/2/10 as Kha'Zix; and Gumayusi added a 7/1/2 KDA as Jinx. JDG knight finished 3/2/5 on Annie in the losing effort. Jame's Player of the Game: T1 Gumayusi, 6th

Game 4: JDG wins

JD Gaming secured "Silver Scrapes" against T1 with a 16-7 Game 4 win that lasted 31:56 and tied the series 2-2. JDG top laner Bai "369" Jia-Hao finished 3/1/4 as Gragas; Kanavi's 6/0/9 Wukong led in kills; JDG knight picked Annie again and went 3/1/9; and Ruler's Aphelios logged a 4/2/4 score. T1 Gumayusi went 5/3/1 as Jinx in the loss. Jame's Player of the Game: JDG Kanavi, 2nd

Game 5: JDG wins

JD Gaming made good on Ruler's promise with a 35:06-long Game 5 victory that they led 16-9. JDG Kanavi controlled the game on his 2/0/13 Sejuani; knight earned Player of the Day honors for his 2/2/14 Sylas performance; and Ruler secured 133% of T1's kills by himself, going 12/1/3 as Jinx. T1 Zeus was 4/3/2 on Gwen in the loss, while Gumayusi and support Ryu "Keria" Min-seok finished 4/2/3 as Aphelios and 0/1/8 as Lulu. Jame's Player of the Game: JDG Ruler, 5th

Riot Player of the Day: JDG knight (15/7/45), 1st

Featured photos courtesy of Colin Young-Wolff/Riot Games.