Movistar KOI have opened their Worlds 2026 run with a big scalp. The European side beat Bilibili Gaming in Round one of the Swiss stage.
Few people saw it coming. BLG arrived with the bigger name and the stronger international record. MKOI arrived as the underdog. They leave with a 1-0 start, while BLG drop into the 0-1 pool.
Under the Swiss format used at recent Worlds, one loss doesn’t end BLG’s run. Teams need three wins to advance and three losses to go home. But BLG now have less room for error.
Mistakes but no panic
MKOI’s game was far from clean, but the team didn’t crumble. When a player went down, the rest of the team slowed the game and played safe. BLG never managed to turn those picks into a real snowball.
The most talked-about call came at the first Elder Dragon. MKOI chose not to fight for it.
That’s a brave choice. Elder gives a huge combat buff, including an execute on low-health enemies. Giving it away can lose you the game on the spot. But a forced fight or a 50-50 Smite battle from a bad spot can be even worse.
MKOI took the safer road, survived the danger, and stayed in the game.
