World 2023 Semifinals just concluded; here’s a quick recap of what happened.
The League of Legends Worlds 2023 Semifinals have come to an end. With the series conclusion between T1 and JD Gaming, we now have our two finalists. On the 19th of November, Weibo Gaming and T1 will go head-to-head on the world stage at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul for the coveted title of World Champion.
Starting off the Semifinals, the LPL fourth seed, Weibo Gaming, faced off against the LPL second seed, Bilibili Gaming. It was a close back and fourth series between the two teams, but Weibo Gaming pulled ahead with a 3-2 victory.
The second series was similarly intense. The best LPL team was up against the only hope of LCK, T1. Even though the odds were against T1, they managed to pull off a magnificent 3-1 victory. Thus advancing to the Worlds 2023 Finals.
With that said, let’s delve in a little further and break down these series.
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Weibo Gaming vs Bilibili Gaming
The series between these two LPL giants was probably one of the closest so far. On one side, we have the LPL superteam Weibo Gaming with players like TheShy, Xiaohu, and Crisp. On the other side, we have Bilibili Gaming with superstar Top Laner Bin.
Both these teams were comparable in terms of power level. However, due to Weibo Gaming’s relatively poor domestic showing and Worlds performance, many were favoring Bilibili Gaming. But when it mattered, Weibo Gaming showed up and secured themselves a finals ticket with a convincing 3-2 victory.
Game 1 of the Weibo Gaming vs Bilibili Gaming was somewhat of a one-sided stomp from the Weibo side. TheShy, with his Rumble, played phenomenally and shut down Bilibili Gaming’s biggest win condition, their Top Laner, Bin. The rest of the map also played fantastic, leading in a 29-minute victory.
For Game 2, Bilibili Gaming picked Blue Side, and similar to the previous game, it was a stomp from the Bilibili Gaming side. Game 3 was relatively stable throughout the game, but TheShy’s Graves pick was the X-factor in the game. He managed to acquire an early lead, and with his lead, Weibo Gaming managed to close out the game at 28 minutes. Game 4 was another blue side stomp from the Side of Bilibili Gaming.
Now it’s time for the final match; it could decide the fate of both teams. But luckily, Weibo Gaming had a side selection, and they chose the blue side. The final game was the closest of all the games. Both teams fought tooth and nail, but in the end, Weibo Gaming’s team comp was much better, resulting in them getting Mountain Soul and a 35-minute victory.
T1 vs JD Gaming
The T1 vs JD Gaming series was the biggest upset in Worlds 2023.
JD Gaming was the favorite to win this year’s Worlds. They had a superstar roster with the best Bot Laner in the world, Ruler, The best Jungler in the world, Kanavi, and one of the best Mid Lanes in the world, Knight. Moreover, this team had won both LPL splits and had recently won MSI. So, most were expecting a clean win from the LPL first seed.
But T1 with Worlds Buff seems like a whole different beast. After losing to Gen.G in the Swiss Stage, this team has not lost a series. The team beat Cloud9 and Bilibili Gaming in the Swiss Stage and defeated LNG 3-0 in the Quarterfinals. Now, they face their biggest challenge in the tournament, JD Gaming. But T1 persevered and beat JD Gaming 3-1 in a convincing fashion.
Similar to the WeiboGaming vs Bilibili Gaming series, this was a story of blue sides. The team who could beat the red side curse would win the game. For game Game 1, T1 got blue side, and they managed to win the game pretty convincingly thanks to some phenomenal Orianna Shockwaves from Faker.
Game 2 was pretty close compared to the first. Both teams were going head to head, but JD Gaming, with their fantastic team fighting, won the game. Game 3 was even big of a roller coaster; it was back and forth the whole game. But Faker’s amazing Azir ult at 29.42 single-handedly won T1 the game.
It’s now match point, and whoever can break the red side curse wins the whole series. But unfortunately for JD Gaming, T1 broke the curse and secured them a spot at the Worlds 2023 Finals.
Worlds 2023 Finals
With the conclusion of the Semifinals, we now have the final two teams advancing to the Finals. On one side, we have the second seed from LCK, the hopes and dreams of Korea, T1. On the other side, we have LPL’s fourth seed, a team doubted by many, Weibo Gaming.
Will T1 be able to secure the Worlds title on their home soil, or will Weibo Gaming be smoking the doubters and winning the World 2023 trophy?
Tune in for the most exciting match of the year on the 19th of November at 5 pm KST.
