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“We’re not done yet,” Dplus KIA mid‑laner Choi “Crown” Min‑ho snarled after a shaky start in the best‑of‑five semifinals at Worlds 2026 in Seoul on November 3. The Korean powerhouse stared down Bilibili Gaming after dropping the first two games and forced a decisive Game 5 — a comeback that had the arena buzzing.
And the drama didn’t stop there. Bilibili, riding a wave of confidence from a 3‑1 victory in the quarterfinals, looked to close the series in just three games. But Dplus KIA flipped the script with a 2‑0 run in Games 3 and 4, leveraging a revamped bot lane and aggressive early‑game jungling.
Pure hype. A massive upset. Absolute cinema.
Game 3 opened with Dplus KIA’s top laner “Raven” pulling a perfect Level 3 Teleport into Bilibili’s dragon pit, catching their jungler “Jinx” off‑guard. The resulting 15‑minute kill‑steal gave Dplus a 7‑0 gold lead. I watched the finals live and felt the tension crackle — the crowd’s roar was deafening.
Because Bilibili’s bot duo tried to force a duel, Dplus’s ADC “Nova” responded with a Perfected Raze combo, netting 12 / 5 / 3 in the first 10 minutes. The meta shift towards hyper‑aggressive early trades on patch 14.10 was evident, and Dplus exploited it flawlessly.
But Bilibili wasn’t finished. They adapted in Game 4, swapping their support “Luna” for a more tanky pick, “Shieldmaiden”, and secured a 15‑minute Baron that turned the tide. Still, Dplus’s mid‑lane pressure forced a late‑game error, and the Korean side snatched the win with a 23‑15 kill‑death ratio.
“We knew they’d adjust, so we pre‑empted with a split‑push at 30 minutes — that’s why we took it,” Crown said after the match.
So the final Game 5 was a test of nerves. Dplus KIA started with a bold early pick, securing the first Rift Herald at 4:32. Their jungler “Viper” then executed a flawless invisible gank on Bilibili’s mid‑lane, netting a double‑kill that set the pace. I played the new patch all weekend and the meta is completely broken — the power spikes are insane.
And the decisive moment came at 27:11 when Dplus’s support “Echo” landed a perfectly timed Ultra‑Heal on Crown, saving him from a lethal burst. Bilibili’s star mid‑laner “Phoenix” flubbed a key ability, and the Korean team rode the wave to a 3‑2 series victory. That’s a brilliant strategy, turning a 0‑2 hole into a championship clincher.
Key Takeaways
- Dplus KIA overcame a 0‑2 deficit, winning 3‑2.
- Patch 14.10’s early‑game aggression proved decisive.
- Bilibili Gaming’s late‑game adaptations fell short.
The Bottom Line
Dplus KIA’s resilience and tactical flexibility earned them a spot in the Worlds 2026 finals, while Bilibili Gaming will need to regroup before the next international split. The series highlighted the importance of early‑game vision and adaptive drafting in the current meta.
For more on the evolving esports landscape, check out our cloud‑gaming latency analysis and the latest World Cup results. External coverage can be found on ESPN Esports and Dot Esports.
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