Gen.G Esports emerged victorious in the League of Legends Mid-Season Invitational tournament held in Chengdu, China, by defeating Bilibili Gaming in the grand final with a 3-1 score. Despite the home advantage for Bilibili Gaming in front of the Chinese crowd, Gen.G proved to be the stronger team throughout the tournament, leading to their well-deserved victory.
As the top seed from the LCK, Gen.G entered the tournament as favorites to win the event. With a roster that is considered a super team in League of Legends, they lived up to the expectations by dominating their opponents. They defeated Fnatic 3-0 in the opening round of the MSI bracket stage and then went on to beat Top Esports 3-2 in the next round to secure their spot in the final against Bilibili Gaming.
Facing Bilibili in the winner’s bracket final, Gen.G secured a convincing 3-1 win, further solidifying their position as the top team in the tournament. Despite expectations for Bilibili to learn from their defeat and come back stronger in the final, Gen.G maintained their dominance and secured the victory in the grand final.
Bilibili had a challenging path to the final, defeating PSG.Talon and world champions T1 in the upper bracket before facing T1 again in a close 3-2 series in the lower bracket to earn a rematch with Gen.G in the final. The final started with Gen.G taking a convincing lead in the first two games, but Bilibili managed to win game three and make game four a close and intense battle, ultimately leading to Gen.G’s victory.
In game two of the grand final, Gen.G’s Kim “Peyz” Su-hwan set a new all-time kill record in a single game at a top-level international event with 28 kills, surpassing the previous record of 18. Despite a dominating performance by Peyz, Bilibili put up a strong fight in the final stages of the match, showcasing their resilience and skill against the formidable Gen.G team.
The win at MSI not only earned Gen.G the $50,000 first-place prize but also guaranteed them automatic qualification to the League of Legends World Championship set to take place in London, England later in the year. Bilibili, the runners-up, received $40,000, while T1 and G2 Esports received $30,000 and $25,000 respectively for their third and fourth-place finishes in the tournament.
