In Spring and Fall… Gen.G Lost Again to China’s BLG

Gen.G Esports, the number one seed in Korea's League of Legends professional league LCK, collapsed.

In the quarterfinals of the 2023 League of Legends World Championship (Worlds Cup) held at Sajik Indoor Gymnasium in Dongrae-gu, Busan on the 3rd.

Gen.G had a close match that went all the way to 5 sets against Bilibili Gaming (BLG), the second seed in the Chinese league, but ultimately lost. 파워볼

The Gen.G players, who played for the first time in two weeks, lost two sets, but as their sense of real-world play improved, they gradually showed performance worthy of being the 'first king of the LCK.'

Although they lost the first and second sets in a row in a tense early game, they won the third set after a fierce battle that lasted more than 46 minutes, setting the stage for their pursuit.

He won the 4th set and brought the game back to square one.

However, he lost 5 sets and his World Cup journey came to a halt.

Following the 2023 Mid-Season Invitational (MSI) last May, Gen.G lost to BLG at another important moment, reaffirming their status as a 'natural enemy'.

In sets 1 and 2, Gen.G had been devising a 'meta destruction method' for two weeks, but it was painful that it didn't work.

In the 1st and 2nd set ban picks, Gen.G gave the opponent Rumble, Jarvan, Orianna, and Xayah, which are currently considered meta picks in the Swiss stage and quarterfinals.

Instead, he picked Aphelios and Azir and came up with a strategy to counter them.

However, this counter pick did not work and they lost two sets in a row.

In the 3rd set, Gen.G made a quick revision and came up with a revised ban pick.

In the 3rd set, Gen.G banned many ADC champions.

I closed Xayah, Aphelios, and Kalista and took out Kai'Sa.

In mid-game, Chovy's carry power was strengthened by using Yone instead of Azir.

The 4th set also presented the same answer sheet. Gen.G banned Xayah, Aphelios, and Caitlyn and brought out Kalista.

In mid-game, he chose Akali instead of Yone, who was banned, giving Chovy another carry champion.

The result was a success. Unlike BLG's mid and ranged dealers, who lost strength due to the changed ban picks, Gen.G's Jeong "Chovy" Ji-hoon and Kim "Phase" Soo-hwan played well and won every important team fight.

The fantastic initiating performances of the relaxed ‘Delight’ Hwan-jung Yoo and Han ‘Peanut’ Wang-ho also contributed greatly to the team’s victory.

Doran, who had been pushed back by Vin, also succeeded in ‘breaking the tie’ by playing with Aatrox and Rumble.

However, it was painful to once again give up the Rumble-Jarvan-Orianna upper body combination to BLG in the last 5th set.

BLG, who added stability to the bottom with Senna and Tahm Kench, won the object team fight in the second half and took home all the major gains, including Baron Nashor and the dragon.

As a result, the match between BLG and Weibo Gaming (WBG) was completed in the semifinals, and the LPL of the Chinese League secured a spot in the finals first.

Meanwhile, the two remaining teams in the LCK, KT Rolster and T1, will compete in the quarterfinals against Chinese LPL 1st seed Jingdong Gaming (JDG) and 3rd seed Li Ning Gaming (LNG) on the 4th and 5th, respectively.

If both teams lose, the 'nightmare' like in 2018 where not a single Korean team makes it to the semifinals of the World Cup held in Korea will be repeated.