BLG win their first VCT China regional trophy, confirm seeding for Champions
CHINA — Bilibili Gaming have been crowned the Champions of VCT CN Stage 2 after a clean grand final and upper bracket win. They confirm not just their spot at VALORANT Champions Paris, but will be locked in as China’s top seed. The roster, placing second during Stage 1, has finally been able to win a trophy for their efforts. Despite a quiet Kickoff and a group-stage exit at VALORANT Masters Toronto post a runners-up trophy at VCT China Stage 1, at the tail end of the year, BLG seem to have found their synergy.
A new Chinese champion
While EDG might have been a clear favorite heading into this year in China after lifting the Champions trophy in 2024, it was clear from the off-season that Chinese teams were showing up big-time.
With BLG rebuilding their roster with pieces like Wang “rushia” Xiaojie, who was an academy prospect, and Marcus “nephh” Tan joining. With their new roster, BLG found their footing at Kickoff, but fell short of the grand final, placing third and just missing out on qualification to VALORANT Masters Bangkok after a shut-out loss to EDG.
Despite the setback, the team went back into Stage 1 of VCT China looking to improve on their results from the previous stage and aiming for an international appearance. They were knocked into the lower bracket in their second playoff game by Wolves Esports, who they would rematch in the final and lose to, coming second in the stage but again missing out on the trophy. They would qualify for Toronto as the second Chinese seed, but faced a Swiss stage exit.
Gearing up for Champions Paris
BLG had fallen short of that trophy this year twice, but heading into Stage 2, they looked incredibly strong. During the group stage, the team lost only one series to Trace, locking themselves as their group’s top seed headed into the playoffs. They were placed in the upper semifinal, where their first game was against TYLOO. Despite being pushed into a decider map, BLG won convincingly, pushing them forward into an upper final against DRG, while also confirming their presence at Champions.
The upper final saw BLG face their second loss during the stage, as DRG, after a hard-fought three maps, knocked them to the lower bracket. BLG now had to wait in the lower final to know who they’d have to beat to get a second shot at the trophy.
Redemption in the lower bracket
As the dust settled, it was clear EDG were going to be taking on BLG in the lower final. While the teams had faced off multiple times in the past, BLG had beaten them the last two times they’d played this year, most recently during Stage 2 groups. BLG were well rested and waiting for their opponents, ready to repeat the feat. And after BLG’s 3-0 loss to them at Kickoff, they wanted revenge.
BLG lost the first map in overtime but after that, shut EDG out for the next three maps. With Wang “whzy” Haozhe leading the scoreboard in terms of first kills and four out of five players on the team going massively positive in terms of kills, the team won the series 3-1 to eliminate EDG and set up a grand finals rematch against DRG.
A third chance
This year was a tale of glacial improvement for BLG: finding their first wins against EDG, missing out on Toronto playoffs after a second-place finish back home, and now having a chance to finally be regional Champions. DRG, with their double veto advantage, opted to push out Bind and Icebox, choosing Sunset as their opening map.
It was a bad start for BLG, with DRG storming out of the gate with a 5-0 opening lead. BLG won the next two rounds but after that, Dragon Ranger Gaming blitzed their way to a dominant 13-2 win, with BLG’s attack looking to be in tatters. Despite the rough loss, map two, Haven saw BLG find a good reset. After their pistol win, they would keep the lead to close the half out 9-3. DRG tried to mount a comeback but they couldn’t, leading to BLG winning 13-8 and tying up the map scores 1-1. Whzy was the MVP of the map, with an ACS of 312 and five opening kills.
The third map was again DRG’s pick, Corrode. With both teams opting for a double-controller single duelist composition, the first half was neck and neck, with both teams finding bursts of momentum that culminated in a 6-6 score. Post the side-swap, BLG began to heat up on the attack. A pistol win, followed by rushia consistently finding trades and crucial kills would enable the squad to close out the map 13-10, putting them ahead in the series 2-1.
One map away from their first trophy, BLG had opted for Lotus as their penultimate map of play. Starting on defense, BLG’s double controller composition caused problems from the get-go for DRG, along with consistent aggression coming in from the BLG side. Once again, BLG won the pistol. DRG would take the lead shortly at 4-3 but not for long as BLG won the next five rounds to end the half 8-4 in their favor.
DRG regained some of their lost momentum with a huge pistol, antieco, and bonus round conversion to bring the score to 8-7, but between Whzy and Lu “Levius” Yinzhong, the team managed to find cracks in the defenses of DRG and round by round, tied things up at 10-10. With a final burst of energy, BLG won the next three rounds to win Lotus, winning the series 3-1 and being crowned China Stage 2 Champions.
Whzy had 14 first kills through the series, as well as the highest ACS on his team, earning himself the finals MVP title. Rushia and Liu “Knight” Yuxiang on the smokes/info initiator were up there beside him fragging, with rushia stepping up massively on the final map, but overall, BLG looked incredibly strong headed into playoffs. They kept up their form throughout the year, gradually improving and getting closer and closer to their goal of not just winning the stage, but also bringing home another international trophy to China.
Seeding at Champions Paris
Post the grand final, BLG locked in their position as China’s first seed, with DRG being second. EDG narrowly got the third seed over Xi Lai Gaming thanks to them having just one more circuit point. With both DRG and XLG qualifying for Champions, it also means that whichever of the teams places higher at Champions will get to stay in VCT for another year while the latter team must play through Ascension again.
BLG worked their way up to a trophy step by step this year. Whether they can carry that momentum and careful prep over into Paris is the question on everyone’s mind now.
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Cover photo courtesy of VCT CN
