What to watch this week - LPL grand final

The LPL Spring Split is nearing its conclusion with the grand final set to take place this weekend.

We are a mere 15 days away before the start of the Mid-Season Invitational as we close in on the last few participants who have yet to finalise its placements for the first international tournament of the year. All there is left is the LPL as well as the CBLOL to determine the finalists that will qualify for MSI. The CBLOL is currently being decided between LOUD and paiN Gaming with the winner moving on to Chengdu, China next month.

However, plenty of the attention will be paid towards the LPL Spring Split finals that will feature a best-of-five series showdown between the likes of Bilibili Gaming and Top Esports. The latter was also responsible for eliminating JD Gaming from the competition, thus denying JDG a chance to defend its MSI title. This also means that we are guaranteed a brand-new winner by the end of the tournament.

Both BLG and Top have arguably been the LPL's top-two teams of the Spring Split with the former finishing first and the latter in second during the group stage. BLG dropped just one series throughout the entirety of the group stage, which came against Invictus Gaming. Aside from that, they have been in stellar form since the start of the 2024 season. Aside from that, BLG were also responsible for sending Top to the lower bracket after a back-and-forth series in the upper bracket final.

And while JDG was the LPL's best team last season, they have yet to find its form for this year as Top would beat them twice in the playoffs; once during the upper bracket semifinals and the other time in the lower bracket final. Given that both teams have already confirmed its slots to MSI, all there's left now is to determine who will qualify as the number-one seed from the LPL.

The grand final winner between BLG and Top will join the likes of Team Liquid, G2 Esports, and Gen.G Esports in the Bracket Stage of MSI while the loser will have to slog through the Play-In Stage. And that could already pose a threat to teams as it features the likes of T1, Fnatic, and FlyQuest to name a few.