“Tomorrow, I’ll prove I’m the number one top laner in the world.”
That was Bin on Weibo the night before the First Stand 2026 grand final. Twelve hours later, he was holding the trophy and the Finals MVP award after Bilibili Gaming dismantled G2 Esports 3-1 in São Paulo, Brazil.
BLG have been the bridesmaid of international League of Legends for years. Second at MSI 2023. Second at MSI 2024. Second at Worlds 2024. Three consecutive runner-up finishes. That streak ended on March 22, 2026. This is their first international title.
If you do not follow LoL esports closely, here is why this matters: G2 Esports, the biggest name in European League of Legends, made their first international final in over six years. They got there by obliterating the best Korean team in the world. And they still could not beat BLG. The gap between the LPL and everyone else right now is real.
G2 won Game 1, and it looked like they had a chance
The opener was a proper fight. Both junglers set the pace. Objectives went back and forth. Neither team could pull away for nearly 40 minutes.
Then came the Baron fight. G2, somehow outnumbered, executed the teamfight perfectly. They aced BLG. Zero deaths. Caps on Aurora was untouchable, and Bin’s Gnar, which had gone 8-0 across nine games this season, finally lost.
For about an hour, European fans allowed themselves to believe.
BLG won the next three and it was not close
Game 2 started even, but BLG found a collapse in the top side jungle and never looked back. Gwen snowballed. The BLG bot lane crushed the 2v2. G2 stretched it to 39 minutes with desperate individual picks, but the gold lead was too wide. 28-12 in kills.
Game 3 was over in draft. BLG had three winning lanes and Xin Zhao into two ranged carries. G2 had no win condition. It was a stomp from minute one.
Game 4 went fast. Under 30 minutes. G2 actually had the better start, picking up early kills and looking aggressive. Then BLG stole the Baron. One play. That was it. BLG marched down mid off the stolen Baron buff and ended the series.
The G2 lower bracket run deserves its own article
Forget the final result for a moment. What G2 did to get there was extraordinary.
They lost to BLG 3-0 in the group stage. Completely outclassed. Most analysts figured they were done. They dropped to the lower bracket, beat FearX 3-0, and then walked into the semifinal against Gen.G, the LCK’s first seed and one of the most consistent Korean rosters in years.
G2 swept them. 3-0. Gen.G had lost only five individual games all year. Three of those five came in a single series against G2. Gen.G did not take a single tier 2 turret across three maps.
That was the first time an LEC team beat an LCK team in a best-of-five since Worlds 2020. The team that did it in 2020? Also G2. Also against Gen.G. Some rivalries run deep.
This was G2’s first international final in 2,323 days. Their last one was Worlds 2019, a 0-3 loss to FunPlus Phoenix. They have now lost a final in all three major international LoL competitions: Worlds, MSI, and First Stand. That is a record nobody wants.
After the loss, G2’s coach Romain Bigeard was honest about the gap. Speaking on OTP’s broadcast, he said BLG played “more aggressively, more explosively” and that draft was the deciding factor. He called it much harder than the Gen.G series. Then he said what most people watching already knew: “Bilibili Gaming is the best team in the world.”
Bin delivered, and Viper made history
Bin backed up his Weibo post. His performances in teamfights throughout the knockout stage and grand final earned him the FMVP. The top laner has always been mechanically gifted, but the knock on him was consistency at the international level. He answered that question in São Paulo.
Viper, BLG’s bot laner, became the first player to win First Stand twice. He won the inaugural event in 2025 with Hanwha Life Esports before joining BLG for the 2026 season. Two different teams, two trophies. Only a handful of players in League history can claim that kind of consistency across organizations.
Viewership and what this means going forward
The grand final peaked at over 1.5 million concurrent viewers, according to Esports Charts. That narrowly beat the G2 vs Gen.G semifinal, which pulled 1.46 million. Both numbers are strong for a tournament in its second year.
BLG’s win gives the LPL its first international title in three years. It also has a structural impact on MSI 2026: the LPL’s second seed now receives a direct bye to the bracket stage, skipping the earlier rounds. That is a real competitive advantage earned through First Stand performance.
The prize split was $250,000 for BLG and $150,000 for G2.
For G2, the second-place finish is still the LEC’s best international result in years. The run through the lower bracket, the Gen.G sweep, the return to a final after 2,323 days. That is not failure. But it is not the trophy, either. And the next international test comes at MSI 2026, where the competition only gets harder.
Frequently asked questions
Who won First Stand 2026?
Bilibili Gaming won First Stand 2026, defeating G2 Esports 3-1 in the grand final in São Paulo, Brazil, on March 22, 2026.
Who was the Finals MVP?
Bin (Chen Ze-Bin), BLG’s top laner. He posted on Weibo the night before the final that he would prove he was the best top laner in the world.
Is Viper the first two-time First Stand champion?
Yes. Park Do-hyeon won First Stand 2025 with Hanwha Life Esports and First Stand 2026 with BLG. No other player has won the event twice.
When was G2’s last international final?
Worlds 2019, a 0-3 loss to FunPlus Phoenix. That was 2,323 days before the First Stand 2026 grand final.
How many viewers did the First Stand 2026 final get?
Over 1.5 million peak concurrent viewers, slightly higher than the G2 vs Gen.G semifinal at 1.46 million.
What does BLG’s win mean for MSI 2026?
The LPL’s second seed gets a direct bye to the MSI 2026 bracket stage, a structural advantage earned by BLG’s First Stand victory.
