JDG vs. BLG: 2023 MSI Finals recap

JD Gaming won 3-1 against Bilibili Gaming in the Grand Finals and became the 2023 League of Legends Mid-Season Invitational (MSI) Champion on May 21 at Copper Box Arena in London, England.

China's JDG (League of Legends Professional League/LPL, #1) won its first MSI tournament and first international tourney overall, along with jungler Seo "Kanavi" Jin-hyeok and support Lou "Missing" Yun-Feng. Top laner Bai "369" Jia-Hao and mid laner Zhuo "knight" Ding won the 2020 Mid-Season Cup — a mini tournament that featured eight top teams from China and Korea — with the LPL's Top Esports, and bot laner Park "Ruler" Jae-hyuk won Worlds in 2017 with the LCK's Samsung Galaxy.

China's BLG (LPL, #2) finished MSI 2023 in second place.

JDG knight was named Finals MVP; interestingly, the mid laner playing Jayce won all four games in the 3-1 series.

JD Gaming vs. Bilibili Gaming

Game 1: JDG wins

JD Gaming won Game 1 against Bilibili Gaming in 25:55 by a 13-4 score. JDG 369 picked up a 2/1/5 score as Gragas; Kanavi finished 2/1/5 as Nautilus; knight went 5/0/4 as Jayce; and Ruler's Jinx was 3/0/4. BLG only picked up one tower, two drakes, and a Rift Herald. Jame's Player of the Game: JDG knight, 3rd

Game 2: BLG wins

Bilibili Gaming won their only game of the day against JD Gaming in Game 2, ending in 31:12 with a 16-11 score. BLG mid laner Zeng "Yagao" Qi finished 5/2/7 as Jayce; while bot laner Zhao "Elk" Jia-Hao and support Luo "ON" Wen-Jun went 4/2/7 on Jinx and 1/0/14 on Rakan. JDG only managed one tower, one drake, and one Herald in the loss; Kanavi's Wukong and Ruler's Xayah went 3/1/4 and 4/3/2, respectively. Jame's Player of the Game: BLG ON, 3rd

Game 3: JDG wins

JD Gaming took a 2-0 lead against Bilibili Gaming and won 12-3 in a 23:53-long Game 3. JDG 369 found a 0/0/3 performance as Sion; Kanavi controlled the game on his 1/0/6 Sejuani; knight finished 7/0/3 as Jayce and led in kills; and Ruler added a 4/0/3 score on Zeri. BLG failed to secure a single major objective in their losing effort. Jame's Player of the Game: JDG knight, 4th

Game 4: JDG wins

Four of JD Gaming's five players won their first major international tournament with a 22:33-long Game 4 victory in which they led 11-1 in kills. 369's Sion was massive and finished with a 1/0/3 score; Kanavi went 3/0/5 as Maokai; knight locked up Finals MVP honors with a 5/1/4 Jayce game, his third of the day on the champion; and Ruler and Missing were 2/0/2 on Aphelios and 0/0/7 on Thresh. Jame's Player of the Game: JDG Missing, 1st

Riot Finals MVP: JDG knight (19/7/13)

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