Knight and Kanavi lead JDG LoL over BLG LoL in LoL Esports MSI 2023 Finals

JDG Ruler LoL is finally an MSI champion. The only trophy missing from his storied resume came in the first split after a life-changing decision to join JDG in the Chinese LPL LoL. The mid-jungle synergy between Knight LoL and Kanavi LoL, enabled JDG LoL to claim the LoL Esports MSI 2023 Finals title by beating JDG LoL in a rematch of the 2023 LPL Spring Split Finals. This si the first time in LoL Esports history that 2 Chinese LPL teams have met in the Grand Finals of an international LoL Esports tournament. Credit to BLG LoL for beating the two LCK LoL representatives, Gen G LoL and T1 LoL, in consecutive days to reach the  MSI 2023 Finals through the lower bracket.

League of Legends Esports MSI 2023 Finals Schedule and Location

The final fixture of the MSI LoL 2023 schedule was the Grand Finals matchup between Bilibili Gaming or BLG LoL and JD Gaming or JDG LoL. The match was scheduled for Sunday, 21 May 2023, at 12 PM Greenwich Mean Time (GMT), in Copper Box Arena in London. It was broadcast on the official LoL Esports site, all Youtube and Twitch accounts affiliated with Riot Games, and multiple partnered League of Legends content creators. 

MSI 2023 Opening Ceremony Song 

The MSI 2023 Opening Ceremony featured a live performance of “Rules (Are Meant To Break)” by Che Lingo, a London-based hip-hop artist, and we even had a chance to celebrate the birthday of mid-laner JDG Knight LoL before the match tipped off. Here’s a live performance video of the official MSI 2023 song:

League of Legends Esports MSI 2023 Finals Result

JDG LoL managed to carve up a highway to the MSI 2023 title. Being the first seed from the Chinese LPL LoL, meant that they were directly qualified for the main stage of the LoL Esports MSI 2023 format. They had to play a total of 4 matches, including the Grand Finals, in order to become winners of LoL Esports MSI 2023. We covered their journey after their impressive win against T1 LoL in the previous round.

Bilibili Gaming, however, had to overcome many doubters to reach this point. After losing in the Grand Finals of the 2023 LPL Spring Split, BLG LoL had to fight through the play-in stage as the LPL LoL second seed. When they dropped a game to the LCS LoL Cinderella story in Golden Guardians, everyone thought BLG had shown weaknesses. As a result, many analysis predicted C9 LoL to beat them, but BLG LoL beat Cloud9 with a 3-0 result. They got sent to the lower bracket by JDG LoL with an identical 3-1 score. There they met the two best teams from the LCK LoL, in Gen G LoL and T1 LoL. Many predicted BLG LoL to be knocked out, but they persevered. Beating Gen G with a 3-0 result was a surprise, but beating T1 with a 3-1 result was a shock.

JDG vs BLG Game One Analysis and Result

Game one of this series kicked off with some interesting tactical adaptations and draft mind games. JDG jungler Kanavi LoL brought out the highly contested Nautilus pick in the jungle role, something we saw for the first time in this tournament. This threw off BLG LoL completely, affecting ‌mid-lane matchups, early-game aggression, and macro decision-making. 

JDG mid laner Knight LoL picked Jayce for lane dominance after BLG mid laner Yagao LoL picked Knight’s signature Syndra, with the crowd dynamics signaling they love these skill matchups. 

Knight LoL jumped to an early 4-kill lead over his counterpart, which he used masterfully with multiple flanking maneuvers and teamfight execution. BLG LoL did their best to shut him down, with BLG top laner Bin LoL using his Teleport summoner spell to collapse on him. BLG jungler Xun LoL was also there to help, but all they did was help Knight LoL further extend his highlight reel. With a 9000 gold lead after acing the entire BLG LoL roster, JDG LoL marched to their base and took game 1 in 25 minutes. 

BLG vs JDG Game Two Analysis and Result

Game two more early-game aggression focusing on the bot lane. After 10 minutes, bot laner BLG Elk Lol was the one to benefit, to the tune of 2 kills on his Jinx pick. And while the next 10 minutes saw BLG LoL have complete objective control over the drakes, it was top laner BLG Bin LoL who created the opportunities. He picked Gwen, the most powerful sentinel in League of Legends, and terrorized top laner JDG 369 LoL with macro decision-making in these side lane skill matchups.

JD Gaming trusted the shot-calling prowess of their jungler Kanavi LoL, and slayed the Baron Nashor buff before BLG LoL could react. But JDG LoL ended up losing the ensuing fight despite being under their top lane tower, thanks to JDG’s teamfight execution. In the following sequence, JDG mid laner Knight LoL was looking for flanking maneuvers, but lost out the vision warfare and got caught, giving BLG LoL the Infernal Dragon Soul. With the end game win condition in their pockets and the crowd dynamics on their side, BLG LoL managed to close out game 2 in 32 minutes, evening up the series at 1 a piece.

JDG LoL vs BLG LoL Game Three Analysis and Result

The draft mind games didnt stop in game three. A Jayce first pick for JDG Knight LoL was followed up by a bot lane Vayne counter pick for BLG Elk LoL. Unfortunately for BLG, this Vayne strategy never got to late-game teamfighting. The Kennen, Kha’zix and Annie top side for BLG LoL was completely irrelevant for most of the game, resulting in an insurmountable 8000 gold lead at 20 minutes. 

JDG Knight LoL demanded that Jayce pick and completely dumpsterd the mid-lane matchup against BLG Yagao LoL, asserting his lane dominance. BLG LoL could never obtain objective control with that team composition, making this one of those tactical adaptations that backfired in a huge way. JDG LoL won game three in just 24 minutes, setting up for a deciding game 4.

BLG LoL vs JDG LoL Game Four Analysis and Result

For the first 10 minutes, it was all quiet on Summoners Rift. JDG secured first blood after their jungler Kanavi LoL helped take down the top laner for BLG Bin LoL. BLG has enjoyed its underdog story during this LoL Esports MSI 2023 tournament, but JDG LoL has had its number recently. The objective control and teamfight execution was off for BLG LoL on the second drake, giving JDG a 3000 gold lead and a chance to end their Cinderella story.

BLG LoL tried to claw back using flanking maneuvers and macro decision-making by attacking JDG 369 LoL and Knight LoL on the side lanes. Until it eventually backfired when Knight won the 1 vs 2 skill matchups, giving JDG objective control around the Baron Nashor buff which they secured. This led to the final push in which JDG Missing LoL hit multiple Thresh hooks in a row to send BLG back to their base and give JDG the third and final win in this best-of-five series. This put an end to BLG’s underdog story and was the first international title for Knight LoL, who also collected MVP honors for his dominant performance.

Header: Riot Games