Bilibili Gaming are the Chinese newcomer to the global scene who have shocked the Valorant eSports scene by defeating North American favorites NRG
Day 3 of Champions 2023 began with the opening matches of Group C, where BLG made their debut on a global stage facing a strong contender in their first match – NRG – one of the favorites from the Americas region. The North Americans had high expectations coming into this match, especially since BLG are the rookies of the event. However, the Chinese contender shocked the world by defeating Pujan “FNS” Mehta’s squad in a 2-0 series, winning their first-ever international match in front of the Los Angeles crowd.
🚨 UPSET ALERT 🚨
Bilibili Gaming STUNS NRG and 2-0 in their international debut! #VALORANTChampions pic.twitter.com/MnvppIN3EQ
— VALORANT Champions Tour (@ValorantEsports) August 8, 2023
Bilibili Gaming Win 2-0 against NRG
The series didn’t even go to a third map, as the newcomer team had control over the game throughout both maps, especially on Split, where BLG’s Wang “whzy” Haozhe dominated with a 31-15 K-D on Raze.
Lotus, the first map of the series, started with NRG looking decent on the attacking side, as the first half ended in a 7-5 score in the North Americans’ favor. BLG then showed a strong attack as well, taking the map to overtime and then winning Lotus.
.@BilibiliGaming takes us to OVERTIME! #VALORANTChampions
Don’t miss this: https://t.co/io2c23u0BL pic.twitter.com/7d67BlXGVr
— VALORANT Champions Tour (@ValorantEsports) August 8, 2023
Split was a much stronger map for the Chinese roster, as BLG secured a dominating 8-4 defense, with whzy heating up and continuing to perform in the next half. After winning Split in a 13-8 domination, BLG have proven themselves to be a team of high potential in their first Champions game.
4K with the Judge 💥 @BLGwhzy #VALORANTChampions pic.twitter.com/mNRTQfXqFb
— VALORANT Champions Tour (@ValorantEsports) August 8, 2023
Practice and Relaxed Mindset Helped with Bilibili Gaming Victory – Knight Mentions
Credit: Riot Games
In the post-match interview, BLG member Liu “Knight” Yuxiang talked about the victory and mentioned how excellent practice was behind such an upset. He also described the team’s relaxed mindset as they are the rookies of the event with the lowest expectations, which helped them gain a mental advantage over NRG, who had heavy expectations in their opening series.
