The LPL once again secure their title as the defending MSI champions with JD Gaming (JDG) defeating fellow LPL team, Bilibili Gaming (BLG) in a heated Bo5. JDG manage to take the series 3-1 in a convincing manner to take the title of MSI 2023 champions. Fans around the world cheered for both teams since there were familiar names among the rosters that made fans want to support them even if they weren’t fans of the LPL.
JD Gaming Crushes the MSI 2023 Championships!
JD Gaming were hard favorites when the series began and it showed as the Chinese representative broke the stereotype of superteams underperforming in international tournaments. The team simply outplayed BLG at every corner and the individual talent proved to be too much even for a team that was riding the hotstreak of eliminating both LCK representatives. In the end, JDG proved that they are the best team in the world with the best players in the world in multiple roles.
Despite the new format changes for MSI 2023, JD Gaming proves that they are undoubtedly deserving of the championship after winning all their matches in the upper bracket, including a win against overall tournament favorites LCK’s T1. We predicted T1 to win the entire tournament but JD Gaming’s superteam manages to defy all of the tier lists by showing that the LPL are the true kings of the mid-season.
Ruler’s Final Piece of the Puzzle
Ruler has been one of the greatest AD Carry players of all time and is one of two remaining among the legendary people of the role who are still actively playing the game (the other one is Deft). He has already won Worlds in 2017 as well as winning both LCK and LPL. The only thing missing to complete his incredible trophy case was winning the Mid-Season Invitationals which he did so incredibly on JDG.
In the post-match interview, Laure asked Ruler if he considers himself to be the best ADC now that he has completed all titles but in true legendary fashion, he says that he still hasn’t reached that level yet. While many already recognize him as one of the greats, there is no doubt that his competitive spirit will push him to new heights. There are two major tournaments that await him this year which are the 2023 Asian Games and the 2023 World Championships.
The MSI 2023 Finals MVP – Knight!
The MSI 2023 Championship showcased Knight’s true ability. For the longest time, LPL analysts have been pushing the narrative that Knight is the best player in the LPL but he failed to showcase what these people have been praising him for on the international stage. However, MSI 2023 has been a standout performance from Knight with his Jayce going deathless during the finals and hard-carrying JD Gaming to victory.
The MSI 2023 Champions have put Knight forward to show that he definitely deserves the title. While Kanavi also showed a standout performance with extremely intelligent macro gameplay that accelerated his team forward, he was overshadowed by how much Knight showed up in the finals. We’ll give Kanavi a medal for being the shadow carry of the team but there is no doubt that Knight definitely deserves his award.
BLG Bin’s Disappointing End
Bilibili Gaming quickly rose to popularity after decimating the LCK in the lower bracket. Specifically, Bin has become a fan favorite personality in the tournament with his confidence and entertaining personality that gave the people the spice they needed to make things more interesting. On his Twitter and Weibo accounts, he posted in advance that he’ll beat Gen.G 3-0, T1 3-1, and JDG 3-2. Unfortunately for him, he wasn’t able to fulfill the final prediction with a tough loss to the MSI 2023 Champions.
Bin is the only player from MSI 2022 who managed to make it to defend the title. Royal Never Give Up won the previous tournament with Bin as their top laner. People were rooting for Bin to win this year again and while he outplayed his lane opponent – 369 – throughout the series, his entire team was simply outclassed. JD Gaming won against Bilibili Gaming in both the LPL playoffs and the MSI 2023 upper bracket so it didn’t really come off as too much of a surprise for LPL fans that they lost.
The LPL is the Strongest Region in League of Legends (again?!)
The LPL has made the case that it is the strongest and most competitive region in the world time and time again. While they didn’t manage to show that in a lot of tournaments including Worlds 2022, the LPL has won 7 out of the past 10 international tournaments in the modern era only losing MSI 2019, Worlds 2020, and Worlds 2022. The two regions are currently tied at having 9 international titles each but the LCK is currently leading with significantly more Worlds Championships, which many will consider the more relevant trophy.
Since the LPL era began in 2018, the fans of the region have been arguing that they have overthrown the LCK in terms of regional strength. While the LPL definitely has the better domestic league, their international performance hasn’t exactly come close to the level of dominance the LCK had in the early era of LoL Esports. LCK still managed to claim victory in worlds that disputes the LPL’s claim as the strongest region.
JD Gaming Moving Forward
If JD Gaming retains its MSI 2023 Championship roster, they are definitely considered heavy favorites in the LPL Summer season. However, it is difficult to say whether or not they will be tournament favorites at the World Championship if they fail to show a dominant performance in their domestic league first. It’s too far into the future to say that they will be the biggest threat at worlds since the meta and the competition still has much room to evolve.
The LPL representatives have definitely showcased an incredible performance in this tournament but the region has a tendency of underperforming at worlds. The world has definitely placed its eyes on the LPL as the region to watch and the representatives they will be sending to the biggest international tournament will be heavily scrutinized. Can they retain this level of dominance in the upcoming tournament?
