Bilibili Gaming and Hanwha Life Esports met in the upper bracket final of MSI 2026 with a direct ticket to Sunday's grand final on the line. Xun had called HLE "our biggest competitor" before the series — his team then spent four games proving the label generous. BLG closed it out 3-1 behind an untouchable Knight and a jungle-support duo that HLE never truly solved, sending the LCK's first seed down to the lower bracket final. Here are RFT's editorial ratings of the series.
Strong laning phases, an excellent teamfight presence, and constant pressure on HLE through his teleport plays. Bin also deserves credit for containing Zeus despite spending most of the series in blind picks. The one stain on his BO5 is the Renekton game — caught out several times without getting anything back in return. A very solid series otherwise.
A series that summed up his MSI: excellent. It was also the first time he beat Kanavi in a best-of-five and he suffocated Kanavi in almost every game. A game one built on a perfect read of the opposing pathing and a permanent link with ON from start to finish. His versatility stood out too — utility or carry, it made no difference. Game three was the exception, a counterpick in draft leaving him with little room to impose his usual game.
Knight proved once again that he is currently the best player in the world. He died three times across the entire BO5. HLE made the enormous mistake of leaving Orianna open in the final game and paid for it in full: 7/0/15, 96% KP, 33.3k damage. Game one had already set the tone with a signature-pick duel — his Akali against Zeka's Yone — which he won comfortably, perfectly connected to his jungle and support. The only thing keeping him from a 10 is a Mel game that never found its use, though the problem looked more like the draft than the player. At some point, the question becomes how many bans Knight actually requires — and the answer may exceed what the format allows.
Exceptional versatility on the AP bot laners that gives BLG the most depth in draft. Pulling out a Cassiopeia then a Taliyah that had not yet been seen in the bot lane at this tournament. His mechanical strength showed in lane too, including a flash-dive solokill on Gumayusi in game three. The one recurring flaw: he still gets caught here and there on lapses of concentration, which occasionally slowed BLG's snowball.
An excellent BO5, announced from game one by his signature Shen — everywhere on the map and always perfectly synchronised with Xun. His roams unlocked Knight's lane entirely in the opener, and he was present for every skirmish that mattered. He was just as brilliant in teamfights, whether on Leona or on Neeko, with which he stunned four players alongside Knight's Orianna in the combo that ended the series.
A frustrating series, because his game three on Dr. Mundo — unkillable from the fifteenth minute — showed what he can bring. Everywhere else, he made too many mistakes in lane and in teamfights despite being handed counterpicks in draft, and had little impact in games one and two. He mirrored HLE's BO5 as a whole: disconnected.
Read perfectly by Xun from start to finish. Game one was the low point, hunted permanently by BLG's jungle-support duo until his Naafiri game became unplayable at 0/7, before being outpaced by the Lee Sin in game two. A series to forget for a player who never found a foothold.
HLE's best player in the series, facing BLG's best — and carrying game three almost single-handedly on Viktor. He still finished well below his opposite number, in part because his team rarely followed him in skirmishes and teamfights. There is also something about Knight that does not work for Zeka: he has not beaten him since DRX's victory over TES at Worlds 2022.
Clearly below Viper across the BO5 — a -679 Gold Diff @15 and -875 XP Diff @15 against his opposite number over the series tell the story. He was notably solokilled in the Xayah–Lucian duel and never really got his picks working.
A series completely disconnected from Kanavi, and visible struggles adapting to ON's proactive style — games one and two are to forget, spent getting caught over and over in the jungle. He found some use on Milio in game three without ever dominating the lane. The pattern is becoming familiar: Delight seems to struggle whenever the opposing support stops playing textbook League.
