BLG sweeps Dplus KIA 3-0, ends unbeaten run, reaches Worlds 2026 semifinals

On November 6, 2026, Bilibili Gaming swept Dplus KIA 3-0 at the Credit Union of Texas Event Center in Allen, Texas, USA, in the Worlds 2026 quarterfinals. The win ended Dplus KIA’s unbeaten run after the team went undefeated through the Swiss stage.

Bilibili Gaming had barely survived the Swiss stage at 3-2, defeating Hanwha Life in its final match before the quarterfinals. The victory left BLG one match from the final.

BLG advances to the Worlds 2026 semifinals and will wait for the winner between T1 and Karmine Corp for its Sunday match. Invictus Gaming faces Gen.G in the other semifinal on Saturday, with both finalists decided that weekend. BLG and Invictus Gaming are the two LPL teams in the semifinals. Hotspawn frames the sweep as potentially setting up a rematch of the 2024 final against T1 if T1 beats Karmine Corp.

Dplus KIA won the Esports World Cup earlier in 2026 and challenged top LCK teams during the regular season. Hotspawn frames that as making DK’s overall season positive despite the quarterfinal loss. BLG has now won Worlds quarterfinals against Korean LCK teams in 2023, 2024, and 2026, beating Gen.G in 2023, Hanwha Life in 2024, and Dplus KIA this year. BLG lost to Dplus KIA at the Esports World Cup in July before sweeping the team at Worlds without dropping a game.

In the post-match broadcast interview, BLG support Luo Wen-Jun, known as On, said advancing to the final mattered more than avenging the Esports World Cup loss. “I thought advancing to the final was more important than avenging our Esports World Cup (EWC) loss.” He said he believed BLG would win before the match but did not expect a 3-0.

BLG did not take Dplus KIA lightly, so its preparation focused on champion choices for late-game play and close attention to draft, Luo said. He picked engage supports such as Nautilus and Leona to start fights, helping BLG seize the upper hand around key objectives and shut down comeback attempts.

Luo said the record of beating Korean teams does not mean much and that what matters is how well the team plays. He said BLG has a strong chance to make the final if the team comes together as one and plays with its usual fighting spirit.

Game 1 saw Dplus KIA take an early gold lead before BLG won a fight around the Rift Herald (a neutral map objective), took the third drake (dragon) and two towers, and Xun finished on Naafiri with a 20.0 KDA. Hotspawn describes the series as featuring trades across lanes with both teams snowballing carry players. In Game 2, Dplus KIA led early but lost its gold lead around the 16-minute mark as BLG won through better teamfight execution and ability usage, playing more composed with better use of key abilities.

In Game 3, Dplus KIA drafted Aphelios-Thresh for Smash and Career against BLG’s Lucian-Millio bot lane (bottom lane) while BLG ran a proactive Trundle-Ahri mid-jungle duo, with meta (the most effective tactics available) picks taken off the board and BLG using Lucian’s early game power for punishing bottom-lane plays. Showmaker handed first blood (first kill) in Game 3’s first minute on Pantheon and could not match Knight’s movement against Trundle. BLG caught Showmaker off guard, took Baron (a neutral map objective), and pushed for the base to complete the sweep; Smash tried to keep DK in the fight with damage output, but BLG played the map better with the lead.

BLG flexed Cassiopeia to the bot lane for Viper and gave Knight the Galio pick during the series. Bin played more for the team, allowing Knight and Viper to thrive in the meta as BLG found a strong balance among players despite earlier communication issues that had hurt the team; Hotspawn says BLG’s stocks as a title contender were rising. Pressure affected some young Dplus KIA players, who were overly zealous in decisive moments, according to Hotspawn.