Xi Lai Gaming Xi Lai Gaming China Rank #1 WsLeo Huang Pinwei (黄品维) Lysoar Liang Youhao (梁优好) NoMan James Man Rarga Arthur Churyumov happywei Deng Minwei (邓闵维) defeated Bilibili Gaming Bilibili Gaming China Rank #3 whzy Wang Haozhe (王昊哲) rushia Wang Xiaojie (王晓杰) nephh Marcus Tan Knight Liu Yuxiang (刘宇翔) bud Yang Renyu (杨韧余) 3-2 in the middle final of China Kickoff, sending BLG down to the lower bracket and claiming the second spot at Masters Santiago.

The Ascension squad secures their third international qualification in a row on their second try as they continue to cement themselves as one of the top teams in China. BLG didn't make it easy for them; despite having to field an emergency substitute for Knight in Biank , the team made the series go the distance with overtime comebacks.

The five-map nailbiter played out on Abyss, Bind, Breeze, Pearl, and Split. BLG eked out Abyss 16-14, XLG won Bind 13-4, BLG took Breeze 14-12, and XLG won out Pearl 13-11 and Split 13-4.

The series began on BLG's first pick of Abyss. Both teams kept the same compositions that they had previously shown in the event across the match, with XLG opting into Waylay-Yoru on nearly every map and BLG leaning more into double-Initiator looks.

XLG had a slight edge on their attacking half as they started 7-5. Rarga found critical entries and midround kills to get XLG rounds, while rushia and Biank pulled out two low buy wins to keep the economy and the scoreline close.

rushia makes good use of BLG's only rifle with a 3K.

Going into the second half, XLG pulled further ahead after winning the pistol and shutting down BLG's Stinger force buy. Down 12-7, BLG dug their heels in for a comeback, forcing extra innings with confident postplant pushes. Both teams had opportunities to win in overtime; it was a whzy Mid lurk that allowed BLG to close out 16-14, completing the comeback.

On Bind, XLG demonstrated a mental recovery from the grueling first map with a dominant 13-4 win. Their 9-3 attack was a classic snowball as XLG first won the bonus and then leveraged their ultimate advantage to extend their lead. All five XLG members ended with positive K/Ds while Rarga led them forward, prying open sites with four first kills and overproducing with 19 kills total and 190 ADR.

happywei hits a 1v2 to keep the snowball rolling.

Breeze was the most back-and-forth map of the series. After trading blows from 4-4 to 6-6 to 8-8, XLG started holding down the sites on their defense, earning themselves three map points at 12-9. Once again, the individuals of BLG ground it back to overtime by creating chaos and thriving it as whzy forced his way through as Neon. This time, BLG ended it in one clean shot as they ran it back all the way to 14-12.

happywei topfragged in the map, but it was Biank taking on the role of super sub for BLG as he ended with the highest rating of 1.32 and 22 kills.

Pearl was a tale of two defense halves. XLG, defending first, showed mastery in the retake as they quickly spun up a 9-3 lead, with one of BLG's only rounds being a whzy 1v3.

happywei makes the B site his own.

On their own defense, BLG continued the comeback theme, locking down chokepoints to draw the score back to 10-10 and then 11-11. XLG finally staved off the comeback in regulation for the first time, forcing a decider with a 13-11 victory.

That decider was Split. Similar to Bind, XLG asserted their superiority with a shutout. The individuals were firing as the members of XLG combined for six total 3K round wins for a 9-3 defense half before winning the pistol to secure an easy 13-4 and a well-earned spot at Masters Santiago. NoMan went on a tear as Waylay with 22 kills to only seven deaths and 201 ADR.

BLG has one last shot at Masters as they head for a rematch against EDward Gaming EDward Gaming China Rank #2 ZmjjKK Zheng Yongkang (郑永康) nobody Wang Senxu (王森旭) CHICHOO Wan Shunzhi (万顺治) cb Wang Qingchuan (王庆川) Smoggy Zhang Zhao (张钊) in the lower final tomorrow, February 9. The winner will claim the final regional spot and the loser will go home.