In the second last game of VCT China 2025 Stage 2, Bilibili Gaming Bilibili Gaming China Rank #3 whzy Wang Haozhe (王昊哲) rushia Wang Xiaojie (王晓杰) nephh Marcus Tan yilai Gu Yiming (顾依铭) Knight Liu Yuxiang (刘宇翔) bud Yang Renyu (杨韧余) eliminated 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) Smoggy Zhang Zhao (张钊) Jieni7 Zhang Juntai (张君泰) from winning a stage title for the second stage in a row, this time in the lower bracket finals 3-1. EDG does finish higher in Stage 2 than they did in Stage 1, in third place instead of fourth, but Bilibili has another shot for the first seed heading into Champions Paris after a 3-1 series win over the former champs.

The series began on Bind, with BLG picking the map while running a double Initiator with nephh on KAY/O and Knight on Fade. EDG instead ran double Controller and double Duelist, with CHICHOO on Viper and Smoggy on Brimstone. It started well from the 2024 champs, as they won pistol and converted the bonus on their defense side. While BLG were able to get two rounds on the board, EDG ran out to a 6-2 lead. It looked immaculate from CHICHOO and nobody, but BLG fought back to tie the half 6-6, thanks to nephh and an early 1v2 clutch.

nephh clutches a 1v2 to save the half for BLG. (Clip via Project Horizon)

BLG won the second pistol, but EDG converted the eco to rip the lead back after the half. BLG were not going down without a fight, always keeping EDG within reach. In fact, off of some amazing rounds from nephh, BLG scraped a 12-11 lead late, but EDG took it to overtime. Then, in OT, EDG won the first two rounds to win Bind 14-12 and take the series lead early on.

Next up was Haven, the EDG map pick, with another showing of double Duelist with Jieni7 and ZmjjKK . BLG instead ran double Initiator with Breach and Sova, and it paid dividends on Haven. EDG were able to win the first pistol on their defense side, but BLG took all the momentum after preventing that bonus conversion. From that moment to the half, it was a whzy show, as he stepped up on Neon to challenge against the double Duelist and outplay them both. EDG won only one round after, meaning BLG entered the half up 9-3. After winning the second pistol to go up 11-3, it was only a matter of time for BLG, eventually closing map two out 13-8.

It was a tied series heading into Lotus, with the victor reaching series point first. EDG stuck with double Duelist as BLG ran double Controller, and the added map control from BLG proved to be the right call. BLG won the first pistol and converted the bonus to get out to an early lead, heavily countering the double Duelist attack side from EDG. Thanks to some standout moments from Jieni7, EDG were able to pull back some round wins, but still entered the half down 8-4. The defense side looked better for EDG, even after BLG won the second pistol. After a rough first half, ZmjjKK stepped up to start hints of a comeback. Alas, it was too late, as BLG closed Lotus out 13-10 to take the series lead 2-1.

Ascent was the fourth map of the series, back on EDG's map pick. Both teams ran different solo Duelist compositions, with EDG running Jett and Cypher while BLG ran Neon and Killjoy. EDG showed their strong attack side even with some tough moments from Jett, as both Jieni7 and Smoggy helped them reach the half tied 6-6. Especially for a defense-oriented map like Ascent, reaching a tied half is normally advantageous if you achieve it on your attack side. Yet, when the defense side arrived for EDG, they collapsed. They won pistol, but lost the antieco due to a whzy ace, and never won a round again.

whzy gets an ace over EDG on his eco round. (Clip via Project Horizon)

BLG were taking liberties lurking mid, and whzy was proving why he was arguably the best player in VCT China 2025 so far. BLG won the map 13-7, the series 3-1, and once again eliminated EDG from the regional tournament with the knowledge that they will both go to the upcoming international.

Overall, in this four-map series, the MVP was nephh from BLG, who played three different agents and was clutch for Bind and Ascent. He ended the series with a 1.36 match rating, 70 kills, 63 assists, 82% KAST, and 144 ADR.

With this win, Bilibili Gaming will rematch against Dragon Ranger Gaming for the VCT China top seed heading into Champions Paris. As for EDG, they will finish Stage 2 in third place, and have already secured a spot at Champions Paris, but will have to wait for Stage 2 to end to see what seed they will have in their return to Champs.