BLG Claim First Stand 2026 Title as G2's Historic Run Falls One Series Short
Photo Credit: Bruno Alvares/Riot Games
Heartbreaking. After a generational run that saw them sweep the LCK's finest 6-0, G2 Esports fell 3-1 to Bilibili Gaming in the First Stand 2026 Grand Final. Europe's dream of a first international title in over six years ended in São Paulo, but not before G2 made the entire continent believe it was possible.
The series hinged on game four. After dropping games two and three, G2 fought back with a strong comeback that put them in a commanding position — threatening soul point and holding a gold lead. But BLG forced an impossible choice: concede Baron or abandon bot side. Peng "Xun" Li-Xun won the 50/50 smite, and Chen "Bin" Ze-Bin — fed and unstoppable on the flank — collapsed in a devastating 3v4 that ended the game and the series in a matter of seconds. Just a minute earlier, G2 had the momentum and the gold lead. Just like that, the series was gone.
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Photo Credit: Bruno Alvares/Riot Games
Bin: the nightmare G2 could not solve
Finals MVP Bin was the difference-maker from start to finish. His side lane pressure tortured G2 throughout the series, forcing constant rotations and creating advantages across the map. He finished the Final with a 17/7/18 scoreline (53% KP) and 122.5k total damage — the second highest in the series behind only Viper (15/8/26, 127.2k).
In the post-match press conference, Bin kept aura farming when asked about his final MVP title: "I don't have that much emotion right now, because I knew before the series that I was about to win it."
When asked whether he regretted not facing Kiin or Dhokla — opponents he had publicly called out before the tournament — Bin admitted disappointment: "They both got knocked out by other teams, so I couldn't face them. Hopefully I can meet them at MSI."
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BLG prove the LPL is back
For BLG, the title is the organization's first ever international trophy, and a statement from a region that had not won anything on the global stage since MSI 2023. Zhuo "knight" Ding addressed this directly: "This victory means a lot for the team and for the LPL. It builds confidence that we can win on the international stage. Last year, BLG didn't do a good job against teams from other regions. But in 2023 and 2024 we showed we could compete, and now we've found our tempo again."
Knight also singled out G2 as the toughest opponent of the tournament:
The strongest team besides us was definitely G2. They were really troublesome, especially in game four. If we hadn't come back, it's hard to say what would have happened.
Park "Viper" Do-hyeon, now a back-to-back First Stand champion after winning last year's edition with Hanwha Life Esports, reflected on his move to the LPL: "I wanted to improve and become better. Winning an international title with a new team in 2026 proves my growth as a player and as a person." When asked whether he considered himself the best ADC in the world right now, he was measured: "I think it only counts for today. Tomorrow, everything can change."
Photo Credit: Bruno Alvares/Riot Games
Coach Daeny, claiming his first international title since winning Worlds with DWG in 2020, deflected praise toward his players: "They are just so good. Because of that, we can communicate smoothly and build good synergy. This result comes from everyone's efforts."
G2: A Run for The Ages
Despite the loss, G2 can hold their heads high after knocking out the LCK on their own, without losing a single game to them.
In G2's press conference, Rasmus "Caps" Winther was reflective but defiant: "We learned a lot from getting destroyed at MSI and Worlds. Coming to this tournament, it felt like we improved on the things that were going wrong before. I'm very proud of everyone on the team and super excited for what we can showcase for the rest of the year.
But the most important thing is just that we keep improving, because our opponents will do the same.
Asked what message he had for the LEC's younger generation, Caps emphasized belief: "Confidence is very important in League. A big part of getting here is believing in each other and believing that we can take down the strongest teams in the world. Some plays go well, others fail. But we need to get back on the horse and keep trying. It wasn't enough today, but we will be back."
Steven "Hans Sama" Liv and Labros "Labrov" Papoutsakis both identified BLG's bot lane as the toughest they faced all tournament. Hans admitted that BLG grew more confident as the series went on, while Labrov highlighted ON's unconventional picks: "ON is playing a lot of weird stuff like Anivia that no one else has the confidence and skill to pull off. It's very exciting and challenging playing against him."
Photo Credit: Bruno Alvares/Riot Games
Sergen "BrokenBlade" Çelik pointed to teamfighting as the area where G2 grew the most: "We levelled up really big in terms of team fighting. We even won some fights being 10k gold down. Usually European or American teams fall short in team fights in the late game, and I think we have improved quite a lot on that."
Rudy "SkewMond" Seeman was candid about both his regrets and the lessons learned. On Xun's early-game aggression: "BLG and Xun in particular have a lot of early game strategies that can really disrupt the game. I took some wrong decisions instead of looking at the bigger picture. It was a really silly mistake from my side knowing they are a really creative team in the early game." On playing his first international final:
Being confident is really important, and the fact that there's so many regions playing here, you can learn from all of them. Resilience is probably one of the most important things to have, especially when the stakes are that high.
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The Golden Road Question
With the First Stand trophy secured, BLG now have the first piece of what could be a historic year. The question that loomed over JDG in 2023 — can a Chinese team complete the Golden Road? — now hangs over this BLG roster. They have the talent, the experience, and now the early-season momentum. As knight put it: "Hopefully we can just do better in the future." Only time will tell if better means everything.
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