LoL Worlds 2024 Finals Preview: Can T1 go back-to-back?
The 2024 League of Legends World Championship is set up for a thundering end as China’s Bilibili Gaming takes on South Korea’s T1 in their quest to become the next World Champion.
October League of Legends has continued its strong tradition of mechanical outplays, magnificent triumphs, and heartbreaking eliminations as the Worlds 2024 semifinals built the tale of two redemption arcs for the LCK fourth seed T1 and the LPL first seed Bilibili Gaming, after eliminating Gen.G and Weibo Gaming, respectively, from Worlds 2024. Yet, despite these similar year-long redemption arcs from both Worlds 2024 finalists, the journey to becoming the next League of Legends World Champion couldn’t be any more different.
Here is a preview of the League of Legends Worlds 2024 Grand Finals and what you can expect from the T1 vs BLG series this week.
T1
There is truly no team like T1 when it comes to the League of Legends World Championship. For three consecutive years, this group of five players has accomplished almost everything you could imagine, ranging from multiple LCK titles to a World Championship title just last year. Yet, despite their accomplishments as a group of five, their 2024 season and possibly their tenure as a lineup nearly ended before Worlds even began.
Just two months ago, T1 was one game away from missing out on Worlds 2024 in its entirety before narrowly clinching the LCK fourth seed against KT Rolster in five games. Heading into Worlds 2024, every single statistic and logical analysis had T1 as an outside contender to make the Worlds 2024 Semifinals, let alone the Worlds 2024 Grand Finals.
However, something in the back of every League of Legends’ fans' mind could never forget the amassed history of legendary World Championship moments from the game’s most decorated organization and player Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok. Those unconscious manifestations have transformed into an improbable run to their third consecutive Worlds Grand Final after besting Gen.G in the Worlds semifinals, previously known as the “T1 Killers”.
Now, T1 is headed to their unprecedented third consecutive Worlds Grand Final and seventh in franchise history as this legendary team looks to go back-to-back. If T1 wants to reclaim their crown as the best League of Legends team in the world, they will need to take down the hottest team in League of Legends right now.
Bilibili Gaming
Worlds, and 2024 as a whole, has been a story of redemption and newly discovered glory for Bilibili Gaming as they enter new grounds for the organization.
Many viewed Bilibili Gaming as a favorite to make it to the Grand Final stage before Worlds 2024 began. They were the reigning LPL champions, two-time MSI runner-ups, and boasted an LPL superteam built for international moments like this. However, their journey to this position has not been as smooth as people have expected it to be.
Bilibili Gaming was one series away from elimination in the Swiss Stage of Worlds 2024 after dropping best-of-one games against LNG and T1. It wasn’t until their series against PSG Talon and reintroducing Xun to the lineup that things started to reignite for them. After dominating PSG Talon, Bilibili Gaming narrowly qualified for the Worlds 2024 Quarterfinals after scraping together a 2-1 series win against the European Superteam, G2 Esports.
That momentum shift culminated in a dismantling of South Korea’s number one seed, Hanwha Life Esports, before overcoming past demons with a flawless 3-0 series against Weibo Gaming. Now, Bilibili Gaming has an opportunity to do something that no other Chinese team has been able to do at the World Championships: win a Worlds best-of-five against the LPL slayers, T1.
Will the pressure of their very first World Championship crumble at the hands of the greatest League of Legends dynasty? Or will that pressure turn into immortalized diamonds as the LPL team that did the impossible?
When will the LoL Worlds 2024 Grand Final take place?
The BLG vs T1 Worlds Grand Final is ready to be one of League of Legends' most exciting best-of-five series in the game’s 14-year history. Will the players of Bilibili Gaming end their year of dominance with the greatest trophy of them all? Or will T1 rise from the ashes and show the entire world that the crown was always theirs? With the stage and storyline set for both teams, thousands of League of Legends fans will be greeted by an onslaught of exceptional gameplay as the 2024 season looks to end strong.
The Worlds 2024 Grand Final will take place on November 2, 2024 at 7am PT in the 02 Arena in London, England, where T1 and Bilibili Gaming will battle on the stage to close out the 2024 League of Legends Season.
Sage got his start in esports as a volunteer writer in 2016 for esports organization, Dignitas. Since then, he has continued to work on his craft as a journalist and reporter for a number of established esports publications, such as esports.gg, Unikrn, Akshon Esports, Howla, The Player’s Lobby, Nerd Street Gamers, and most recently Dot Esports. Now, as a member of Esports Illustrated’s content team, Sage’s primary duties are centered around creating groundbreaking written and video content about the esports industry that impacts the community in a meaningful way. Sage graduated from Rutgers University with a Bachelor’s degree in Information Technology and Informatics. There, he was a member of the Rutgers Esports Executive Board, both as the head of the fighting game community and a videographer/photographer for the Content team.