T1’s run is over. Bilibili Gaming beat the three-time defending champions 3-1 in the Worlds 2026 semifinals on November 9, ending T1’s bid for a first-ever fourth straight world title. BLG now face Gen.G in the grand final on November 15 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
Afterwards, Faker did not look for excuses. “Overall, I think the opponent was better prepared than we were,” he said. “We couldn’t play the game the way we had planned.”
How BLG beat T1, game by game
The series, played at the Credit Union of Texas Event Center in Allen, Texas, according to Sports Kyunghyang, was closer than the scoreline suggests. T1 had chances in three of the four games.
| Game | Winner | What decided it |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | BLG | T1 drew first blood, but BLG controlled the early objectives and took Baron after winning a fight around 20 minutes |
| 2 | T1 | Oner stole Baron on Lee Sin around 21 minutes, and T1 took Dragon Soul and Elder to level the series |
| 3 | BLG | Faker’s Ahri kept T1 in it, but he and Phase were picked off and BLG won the decisive fight around 32 minutes |
| 4 | BLG | Faker’s Akali clawed back a big gold deficit with a teamfight around 28 minutes, but BLG won the next mid-lane fight and closed it out |
Game 2 was T1 at their best, and it brought back memories of every comeback they have pulled off on this stage. The official LoL Esports account summed up the mood in the arena.
Game 4 was the heartbreaker. T1 lost three players in an early skirmish and fell well behind, with HotSpawn putting the deficit at around 6,000 gold. Faker’s Akali then cut it to around 1,000, and for a moment it felt like another T1 escape was on. BLG held their nerve, won the next fight in mid lane, and ended it.
Three streaks ended in one night
This loss means more than one series. T1 had won Worlds in 2023, 2024 and 2025, and no team had ever won four in a row. Their run of reaching the final every year since 2022 is also over, stopping at four.
The third streak is the one that surprised many fans. According to Sports Kyunghyang, T1 had never lost a knockout best-of-five to a team from China’s LPL since their first Worlds in 2013. Thirteen years of history went with this result.
For BLG, it is revenge. They lost the 2024 Worlds final to T1, and this win sends them back to the final for the second time in the team’s history.
What Faker said after the loss
Faker spoke to the media after the series. His comments, as reported by the Japanese outlet Fistbump News and translated by TalkEsport, were honest about both the match and his own year.
Personally, it was a year with many regrets. Beyond just the results, there were many things in the process where I thought we could have done better, both in and out of the game.
Faker, via Fistbump News
He said he was still somewhat satisfied with the series itself, because both teams played a great match. He also looked ahead. “I felt I lacked a lot this year, personally,” he said. “Next time, I want to show our fans many better performances and show a stronger version of myself.”
It is the kind of answer fans have come to expect from him. No blame, no anger, just a clear sense that he wants to come back better. For a player who has already won more world titles than anyone, that hunger is still the most remarkable thing about him.
BLG vs Gen.G: the Worlds 2026 final
BLG will play Gen.G for the title on November 15 at Barclays Center. It sets up a final between Knight, BLG’s mid laner, and Gen.G’s Chovy, two of the best mids in the world, with one of them about to lift the trophy for the first time.
Gen.G will start as the LCK’s last hope after T1’s exit. If you have followed the tournament from the start, our Worlds 2026 Swiss Stage results show how both finalists got here. Full match VODs are on the official LoL Esports site.
For T1, the off-season starts now. Faker made it clear he is not done.
