In a matchup pitting two of China's most recognizable outfits against each other, FunPlus Phoenix FunPlus Phoenix China Rank #7 Autumn Kale Dunne Life Qu Donghao (瞿东豪) AAAAY Zhang Yang (张杨) BerLIN Zhang Bolin (張柏霖) yosemite Wang Lei (王磊) and Bilibili Gaming Bilibili Gaming China Rank #4 whzy Wang Haozhe (王昊哲) Levius Lu Yinzhong (卢胤中) rushia Wang Xiaojie (王晓杰) nephh Marcus Tan Knight Liu Yuxiang (刘宇翔) squared off in the first upper semifinal game of China Kickoff.

The two-map series played out on Bind, Lotus, with the decider map Abyss being unnecessary. Bind was BiliBili's map pick, and Lotus was FPX's.

Bind has proven to be a more defense-sided map across the region in Kickoff so far. Before BLG and FPX's match, the total number of defending rounds outnumbered attacking rounds 33-17. That trend seemed to follow in this match, with FPX ending their defense-sided first half with an 8-4 advantage. The map was tight to close, with BiliBili tying the map six rounds into the half.

A well-executed 5v5 retake helped BLG claim their first lead of the map.

Though it looked like FPX had stopped the bleeding and figured out their attack with two straight rounds, BiliBili Gaming stormed back, claiming the final four rounds to close the map 13-11. Longtime BLG duelist whzy impressed on Bind, recording a server-high 26 kills and 325 ACS to help his team secure their map pick.

That shifted the focus to Lotus, where FPX famously stole maps off of Gen.G Gen.G Korea Rank #1 Foxy9 Jung Jae-sung (정재성) t3xture Kim Na-ra (김나라) Munchkin Byeon Sang-beom (변상범) yoman Chae Young-moon (채영문) Karon Kim Won-tae (김원태) and Team Heretics Team Heretics Europe Rank #1 MiniBoo Dominykas Lukaševičius Wo0t Mert Alkan RieNs Enes Ecirli benjyfishy Benjamin David Fish Boo Ričardas Lukaševičius in the Swiss Stage at Masters Shanghai. Last year's team opted for a triple Controller team composition, but this year's approach appears different. A double Controller, double Duelist team composition saw Autumn pick up Yoru, flexing his versatility.

With defense-sided rounds hard to come by, FPX relied on some heroics from a former BiliBili player to work their way up to four on the board by halftime.

yosemite with the clean Guardian 4K against his former team.

Victories in the pistol round and ensuing anti-eco round put BiliBili just three rounds away from closing the series. Facing a 10-4 deficit, FPX went on a run of their own, grabbing four straight rounds, but the series began to close once BLG snatched a half-buy round. That snowballed into them grabbing three of the next four rounds, securing BiliBili a spot in the upper semifinal and a win away from a spot at Masters Bangkok.

FPX, of course, has momentum rolling over from 2024. They finished second at China Kickoff last year, helping them secure one of China's two slots at Masters Madrid. They continued to ride this momentum through the rest of the year, en route to becoming one of just two Chinese teams to qualify for all three international events, alongside eventual Champions 2024 winners EDward Gaming EDward Gaming China Rank #1 S1Mon Hsien Meng-Hsun (谢孟勋) ZmjjKK Zheng Yongkang (郑永康) nobody Wang Senxu (王森旭) CHICHOO Wan Shunzhi (万顺治) Smoggy Zhang Zhao (张钊) . In the lower bracket, they will take on the winner of Nova Esports Nova Esports China Rank #5 o0o0o Ye Xiaodong (叶晓东) SWERL Ali Kobraee CB Wang Qingchuan (王庆川) Ezeir Zhao Zejun (赵泽骏) GuanG Guang Honglin (光洪霖) and Dragon Ranger Gaming Dragon Ranger Gaming China Rank #11 Flex1n Lo Rui (罗瑞) vo0kashu Ilya Ushakov Cangshu Zheng Yujun (手郑宇峻) Nicc Shao Yi-qun (邵逸群) TvirusLuke Chen Cheng-ching SpiritZ1 Lin Dingyu (林定宇) , two teams they have never lost to.

On the flipside, BiliBili seem far removed from the mid-season difficulties they underwent last season. After missing out on both Masters events, the mid-season bounce-back, which included three roster changes, resulted in the team qualifying for Champions 2024. rushia joined the squad in the offseason, putting the finishing touches on a team still looking to reach its first Masters event. BiliBili Gaming will move on to face the winner of EDward Gaming and Trace Esports Trace Esports China Rank #2 LuoK1ng Zhang Zhanpeng (张展鹏) Kai Lu Zhinan (卢智楠) FengF Song Xuefeng (宋学锋) heybay Ho Shun Hei Biank Zhong Jianfei (钟剑飞) in the three-map upper final.

The next matches of VCT China Kickoff are: