Chovy Waited Eight Worlds for This Final. His Opponent Just Ended Faker's Run: Gen.G vs BLG, Worlds 2026

Featured photo: Chovy at the 2025 Mid-Season Invitational. Photo: Fomos Esports, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0.

Chovy (Jeong Ji-hoon), called the best mid laner in the world, has reached a League of Legends World Championship final for the first time, at his eighth Worlds. His opponent is the Chinese team Bilibili Gaming (BLG), which stopped Faker’s bid for a fourth straight title one day later.

On November 8 (Korea time) in Allen, Texas, right after Gen.G swept Invictus Gaming (IG) 3-0, Chovy sat down for his interview with red-rimmed eyes (TechM). He didn’t cry. He smiled. Honestly, the moment I saw that face, my chest tightened as a fan. He held on for seven years for this one final.

Worlds is League of Legends’ world championship, held every autumn. Gen.G, where Chovy plays mid, won Korea’s LCK this year.

In this story

Seven times stopped at the threshold
The eighth time, he chose to enjoy it
The team that stopped Faker is a team Chovy knows
A word left for his mother
November 14, 2 p.m. Eastern, Barclays Center

Seven times stopped at the threshold

Chovy played at seven straight Worlds from 2019 to 2025 and never once reached the final. He lost 2-3 to DRX in the 2022 semifinals, 1-3 to T1 in the 2024 semifinals and 1-3 to KT in the 2025 semifinals (Wikipedia, Sheep Esports). He stood on top at home again and again and was praised as the best mid laner every year, but the last stage of the world championship always belonged to someone else. That’s why Korean fans called him the “uncrowned king.”

Also read: Vietnam Calls Him "Teacher Park." A Crowd in Pattaya Called Him "Kimchi Man."

The eighth time, he chose to enjoy it

What changed this time wasn’t skill so much as mindset. After the semifinal, Chovy opened up: “At the Worlds I played before, I was always caught up in thinking I had to meet people’s expectations or overcome enormous pressure, so I don’t think I enjoyed the tournament at all.” Then he added, “This time I wanted to stop worrying about that pressure and play games that were truly fun, for me” (TechM).

The numbers back him up. Gen.G went 3-0 through the Swiss stage, then swept North America’s LYON in the quarterfinals and IG in the semifinals, both 3-0. In six knockout games on the way to the final, they didn’t drop one (Newsis). In the most dangerous game, Game 3 against IG, Gen.G gave up the early lead entirely, and Chovy steadied the team on Taliyah to lead the comeback (TechM). Of that game he said calmly, “You can’t just give up because the game is hard, can you?” (Inven)

The team that stopped Faker is a team Chovy knows

The next day, in the same arena, BLG beat T1 3-1. T1’s run at a fourth straight Worlds title ended right there, and so did T1’s streak of never losing a best-of-five to a Chinese team at Worlds, which had held since 2013 (Daily eSports). At this tournament BLG knocked out Hanwha Life (2-0), Dplus KIA (3-0) and T1 in turn. Gen.G is the only Korean team left (Newsis).

Before the semifinals, Chovy almost seemed to sense this matchup. “BLG coming off a win over Worlds T1, or Worlds T1 making the final again. Both are tricky teams” (Inven). For Chovy, BLG isn’t a stranger. BLG eliminated Gen.G 3-2 in the 2023 Worlds quarterfinals (ESTNN), and BLG was also the team Chovy beat 3-1 in the MSI final in Chengdu, China, in May 2024, when he lifted his first international trophy (esports.gg). The team that once made him cry and once made him smile now stands across from him in the Worlds final.

BLG’s mid laner Knight (Zhuo Ding) feels the same. “This is the first time I’m facing Chovy at this Worlds, and it’s really amazing that it happens on the final stage.” He promised “a great match to show who’s better” (OSEN).

A word left for his mother

At the end of a question about reaching the final, Chovy brought up his mother. “I don’t show it on the outside, but my mother really helps me a lot. Sometimes she’s even a role model for my life.” Then he cut himself off with a smile: “It’s embarrassing, so I’ll stop there” (Inven). At the end of the interview, he shyly called out to the Texas crowd, “Thank you, I love Texas” (TechM). As a fan, it’s endearing that behind the title of the world’s best is a bashful 25-year-old like this.

November 14, 2 p.m. Eastern, Barclays Center

The final is a best-of-five at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, on November 14 at 2 p.m. Eastern (4 a.m. November 15 in Korea) (Newsis). If Gen.G wins, it’s the organization’s first Worlds title in nine years, since its predecessor Samsung Galaxy won in 2017, and the LCK produces a world champion for the fifth straight year. Of the ten starters on both teams, only three have won Worlds: Gen.G’s Canyon and Ruler and BLG’s Viper (Newsis). Chovy goes to New York as someone outside that group of three.

The last thing he said in his semifinal interview was this: “I think this might be a moment that never comes again. I don’t want to let nerves or anxiety take a moment this important from me” (Inven). At the door he knocked on eight times to open, Chovy plans to walk in smiling again.

Where to watch: LoL Esports official (checked November 10, 2026; regional broadcast channels are listed on the site).

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