MSI 2023 recap: Bilibili Gaming v Gen G Esports

Today, as MSI draws to a close for this year, the LPL's second seed Bilibili Gaming took on the LCK's first seed Gen G Esports for a place in the lower bracket final. Fans of both teams were out in force at the Copper Box Arena for a clash that would see one team sent home.

Game 1 (BLG win)
BLG: Jax; Maokai; Taliyah Zeri; Lulu
GEN: Gragas; Vi; Lissandra; Xayah; Rakan

BLG started the game with aggressive trading in the early laning phase, and there was a lot of early jungle-focused action with BLG coming out ahead on kills and gold, but not significantly. The mid game skirmishes were relatively even as the teams traded kills and objectives, but BLG were the ones stacking Dragons. Bin and Elk scaled monstrously into the late game, giving BLG the pressure needed to bait GEN into a bad fight around Baron. BLG secured the Baron buff and four members of GEN, swiftly closing the game off this play.

Game 2 (BLG win)
GEN: Ornn; Wukong; Annie; Aphelios; Tahm Kench
BLG: Gwen; Vi; Ahri; Jinx; Braum

Peyz and Delight forced their counterparts out of the lane in an early trade, but BLG returned the pressure with a gank mid to secure first blood. Things started to swing in GEN's favour as they found successful picks around the first Dragon and secured it, using this pressure to snowball Peyz and convert for the second Dragon too. Skirmishing and trading of objectives continued, with GEN achieving Soul Point and a steady kill advantage. BLG turned the game around with a clean skirmish in the mid lane, which they converted into the Baron. Bin became difficult for GEN to deal with, and BLG were able to fight their way to Dragon Soul Point too. A decisive fight around Baron saw Elk turn a good counter-engage from GEN into a quadra kill and the objective, and BLG utilised this pressure to achieve Ocean Soul and take the win.

Game 3 (BLG win)
GEN: Ornn; Kindred; Annie; Aphelios; Thresh
BLG: Sion; Vi; Ahri; Jinx; Blitzcrank

BLG invaded GEN's jungle as a five man unit at level one, securing the Red Buff away from Peanut. Peanut got revenge by stealing away Xun's raptor camp, and despite committing two flashes to the play BLG were unable to find a kill. Objectives were traded in the early game, with BLG prioritising Dragons and finding first blood onto Chovy around the Rift Herald. Around the second Dragon, On came alive as BLG found four kills for two and the objective. Into the mid-late game it became a case of Peanut vs Elk, but On kept finding clutch hooks in crucial fights to turn them in BLG's favour. BLG stacked Dragons for Soul Point, and after extended skirmishing secured Baron in exchange for GEN denying the Soul. BLG utilised their pressure cleanly, running GEN around the map and breaking apart their base. By the time the next Dragon and Baron came around, GEN couldn't properly fight due to their base being torn apart, leading to BLG securing the Soul and Baron and closing out the series.

Unexpectedly for most, Bilibili Gaming were not only able to upset Gen G, but they did it in dominant fashion. They go on to face the LCK's second seed SK Telecom T1 and the Unkillable Demon King Faker tomorrow, for a chance to battle it out with JD Gaming in the 2023 MSI final.