The fourth seed steamrolled the rising Canadian 6-2, 6-4 to continue her stellar form at Melbourne Park where she has now reached three finals, as well as another semi-final and the fourth round over the past five years.
After an agonising defeat to Victoria Azarenka in last year's decider on Rod Laver Arena, when she dramatically twice rolled her ankle and briefly blacked out, she is desperate to go one better.
"At least I'll try to not fall down this time, because last year in the final I think I played well but I only can say (I was) unlucky because I fell down twice."
Li's gutsy decision to get up and play on last year won her a new legion of fans in Australia, where she was already hugely popular due to her bubbly off-court persona.
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Her French Open victory in 2011, the first singles Grand Slam title for an Asian player, helped popularise tennis in China. Li is also the figurehead for a push by women's tennis into the region.
The 20th seed was in inspired form against the Pole, who said she was exhausted after ending Azarenka's title defence in three sets on Wednesday.
It ensured Cibulkova not only made her first Grand Slam final in 26 attempts, but also goes down in the history books as the first singles player from her country to get so far.
"I had so many thoughts in my head (during the match) but just focused on my game. I can't believe I'm in a final," she said.