MSI 2026 Match Review – Bilibili Gaming Versus Hanwha Life Esports: BLG On The Path for the Lucrative Golden Road

The battle that everyone wanted to see between Bilibili Gaming and Hanwha Life Esports at MSI. Everyone thought it would be a crazy series. However, it did not go as everyone expected. BLG crushed HLE throughout most of the series. Even HLE’s win was dominant. We never got to see the teams battle it out in epic late-game teamfights. BLG advanced to the Grand Final and earned an additional seed for the LPL at the World Championship.

MSI 2026: Game One Review

Draft

Bilibili Gaming – Blue Side

• Gnar
• Jarvan IV
• Akali
• Cassiopeia
• Shen

Hanwha Life Esports – First Pick

• Rumble
• Naafiri
• Yone
• Ziggs
• Rell

BLG Takes Control of The Early Game

Kanavi invades XUN’s top-side jungle. All four solo laners and the supports arrive to support the fight. BLG comes out on top with two kills. Minutes later, it is XUN’s turn to look for the invade. ON lands the Flash Shadow Dash to catch Gumayusi and Delight. XUN and Viper follow up with their ultimates, and BLG win another skirmish. The snowball keeps rolling. The only positive play for HLE ends with three HLE players dying after killing XUN.

An Ace at Fifteen Minutes

At 15 minutes, HLE looks for a five-player play. BLG responds in kind, and BLG earns an ace. They do not let HLE breathe through the map. Every time an HLE player wants to look for farm, BLG shuts them down. They take a 20-minute Baron and begin opening the base. They end the game at 25 minutes.

Player Ratings

Bilibili Gaming

• Bin – 8
• XUN – 9
• Knight – 9
• Viper – 8
• ON – 10

Hanwha Life Esports

• Zeus – 4
• Kanavi – 2
• Zeka – 4
• Gumayusi – 4
• Delight – 3

Player of the Game – ON

MSI 2026: Game Two Review

Draft

Hanwha Life Esports – Blue Side

• Jax
• Wukong
• Annie
• Jhin
• Camille

Bilibili Gaming – Second Pick

• Ambessa
• Lee Sin
• Ryze
• Taliyah
• Leona

First Blood For BLG Again

XUN and ON combine again to punish Zeka as he tries to help Kanavi contest for the second Scuttle Crab spawn. XUN gets the first blood. HLE finally gets into the game with a four-player play to kill Bin. BLG matches HLE’s second-top-side play by killing Gumayusi as he tries to approach. HLE gets a couple of picks back, but it does not shift the gold lead. BLG has the Infernal Soul point before 20 minutes.

BLG Teleports to the Top Lane

BLG sends five players to the top lane to stop HLE’s play again. They kill three members and take the Baron. With Zeus pushing in the bot lane, BLG responds once more. A 5v5 fight breaks out, and BLG crushes them. BLG plays with their food for a couple of minutes, and then ends the game.

Player Ratings

Bilibili Gaming

• Bin – 9
• XUN – 9
• Knight – 9
• Viper – 9
• ON – 9

Hanwha Life Esports

• Zeus – 6
• Kanavi – 3
• Zeka – 3
• Gumayusi – 4
• Delight – 2

Player of the Game – ON

MSI 2026: Game Three Review

Draft

Hanwha Life Esports – Blue Side

• Dr. Mundo
• Trundle
• Viktor
• Lucian
• Milio

Bilibili Gaming – Second Pick

• Renekton
• Skarner
• Mel
• Xayah
• Rakan

Kanavi Sets the Pace

With Kanavi having two pushing lanes and a better Jungle matchup, he invades XUN’s jungle. He gets an early lead and burns Knight’s Flash. With HLE wanting to take the first Drake, BLG looks to match. Kanavi instantly flashes on Knight and kills him. HLE finally wins a skirmish, but Gumayusi dies solo to Viper. Gumayusi dies a second time in the 2v2 as Viper becomes a threat.

Zeus Takes Over

Kanavi helps Zeus get a kill on Bin. Kanavi does die, but Dr. Mundo is online. He then kills Viper, while living two ultimates from BLG. Right after, he teleports to the top lane and helps Kanavi kill Bin. The game does not have many kills in the mid game, but HLE takes control of the map. The Baron push from HLE breaks open the base. They play slow until BLG makes a mistake. They capitalize and end the game.

Player Ratings

Bilibili Gaming

• Bin – 3
• XUN – 3
• Knight – 5
• Viper – 6
• ON – 4

Hanwha Life Esports

• Zeus – 9
• Kanavi – 8
• Zeka – 8
• Gumayusi – 5
• Delight – 6

Player of the Game – Zeus

MSI 2026: Game Four Review

Draft

Hanwha Life Esports – Blue Side

• Zaahen
• Vi
• Aurora
• Varus
• Nautilus

Bilibili Gaming – First Pick

• K’Sante
• Pantheon
• Orianna
• Ezreal
• Neeko

Zeus and Zeka For First Blood

The early game sees the junglers invading each other, but with no significant advantage. Zeus all-ins, and Zeka arrives to collect the first blood. Zeus does not have enough damage for the second all-in, and he dies to Knight. HLE looks to fight the Grubs, despite Zeus being dead. They kill XUN and even out the gold.

A Slow Mid Game

There are a handful of kills in the mid game, but neither team gets a significant advantage. HLE contests the fourth Drake too late. ON and Knight turn the play around with two massive ultimates. They earn their first significant lead of the game with the kills Baron. The teams fight over HLE’s Blue Buff. Zeus saves the fight for HLE, but they still lose. BLG takes the Baron for a second time, and moves to Ocean Soul point. HLE catch Viper and tries to force the fight. It fails, and all the hope dissipates. BLG wins one more fight to end the series.

Player Ratings

Bilibili Gaming

• Bin – 8
• XUN – 9
• Knight – 9
• Viper – 8
• ON – 7

Hanwha Life Esports

• Zeus – 5
• Kanavi – 4
• Zeka – 6
• Gumayusi – 5
• Delight – 5

Player of the Game – Knight

MSI 2026: Series Ratings

Bilibili Gaming

Bin – 7.0

Bin never got the chance to fight Zeus in even battles. Most of the time, the other members impacted the top lane. However, once he got a lead, he took over the game.

XUN – 7.5

XUN’s early games took over the series. He ensured that Kanavi was never comfortable in their three-game wins. The Skarner performance was lackluster, but the rest was impressive. He ensured that his solo laners could get ahead.

Knight – 8.0 (Total Apex Player of the Series)

Knight was immense once again. As soon as he got a lead, HLE and Zeka could not contend with him. His play on Akali and Orianna was lights out.

Viper – 7.8

Viper stepped up today. Even though they left him alone often, he played the game he needed to. He got a lead for himself in game three with a solo kill on Gumayusi.

ON – 7.5

ON was better than Delight in this series. He was always first to play, and he had the better plays as well. He forced Delight to follow him around the map, instead of the other way around. His Shen was the best performance of the series.

Hanwha Life Esports

Zeus – 6.0

Zeus was the best-performing player on HLE. He was instrumental in their game win. Even when HLE struggled in games, Zeus impacted them, but it did not matter.

Kanavi – 4.3

Kanavi was not allowed to play in the series. The only game he had an impact was when he played Trundle into Skarner. XUN and ON kept him quiet in the series. Kanavi flipped the first game, setting the tone for the series.

Zeka – 5.3

Zeka tried his best to carry HLE in game four. However, Knight had a bigger lead over him. He could not keep up with the Golden Left Hand throughout the series.

Gumayusi – 4.5

Gumayusi had little impact on the series. The games were often decided away from him. He had decent performances, with his worst being in HLE’s only win. The solo kill he suffered nearly gave BLG a route into the game.

Delight – 4.0

Delight was dizzy on the map in the series. He either did not make the right play or was second behind ON. He had some good Dredge Lines on Nautilus, but they did not make an impact.

More MSI Content

Below is all the previous MSI content on Total Apex. You can expect more MSI articles in the following weeks.

• MSI 2026 Information
• MSI 2026 HLE Preview
• MSI 2026 BLG Preview
• MSI 2026 HLE Versus BLG Preview