First Stand 2026: G2 Keeps Hope Alive for Europe, JD Gaming Reunites with Bilibili Gaming

The final group stage matchday of First Stand 2026 has concluded, with G2 and JD Gaming advancing to the semifinals.

G2 rekindles hope for European League of Legends.

Ahead of the match between G2 and BNK FearX (BFX), most international League of Legends fans were impressed by the performance of the LCK representative, "The Foxes." Therefore, it was not surprising that the majority thought BFX would be able to win. However, G2 proved that their LEC Versus 2026 championship title was not due to luck. From the very first game, G2's top lane played extremely effectively.

BrokenBlade and SkewMond quickly gained an advantage, allowing their team to easily snowball. Furthermore, Hans Sama delivered an incredibly impressive performance with Ashe, securing  the opening victory. In game 2, BFX played better. Despite possessing a team composition with significant scaling potential including  Ornn, Azir  , and  Corki , G2 even fell behind by 6,000 gold. The turning point came during a team fight around the Dragon 4 pit, where SkewMond was taken down by Diable, leaving the other members low on health.

But Labrov's timely return helped Hans Sama and his teammates heal and launch an impressive counterattack. Hans Sama secured a Triple-Kill and prevented BFX from taking the Dragon. Ultimately, Caps' brilliant performance in the final team fight in the bot lane led to a clean sweep for G2. Thanks to this, the European team secured a crucial 2-0 victory and a chance to advance to the First Stand 2026 semifinals.

Entering game 3, G2 maintained their momentum and executed some high-quality skill plays. Caps himself also performed better with  Zoe . Meanwhile, BFX almost lost their composure, constantly making mistakes and ultimately succumbing to the pressure from the LEC Versus 2026 champions. The 3-0 victory secured G2 a spot in the semifinals, where they will face another champion: GEN.G.

LYON tried their best, but couldn't stop JD Gaming. 

In the other match,  JD Gaming (JDG)  asserted their dominance against LYON and secured a victory. However, the number one seed from North America didn't let the LPL representative easily defeat them. Despite being defeated in the first game, LYON fought tenaciously in game 2 to equalize the score at 1-1.

In the crucial game, JDG almost unleashed their full potential to secure the victory before the 30-minute mark. Ultimately, in another lengthy game, GALA exploded and delivered a decisive 3-1 win for JDG. This was also one of the rare matches where a team considered significantly weaker managed to win a game against an LPL representative. This victory earned JDG a spot in the First Stand 2026 semifinals to face BLG.

With only two matches remaining, First Stand 2026 will officially conclude. In Semifinal 1, G2 will face the ultimate challenge: GEN.G – a team that has remained undefeated since the LCK Cup 2026. Meanwhile, JDG will once again face BLG, a rematch of the LPL 2026 Split 1 Grand Finals from a few weeks ago. Which two teams will advance, and which will claim the First Stand trophy this year? Let's wait and see after the exciting Semifinal matches.