Facing three Western teams, losing two.

As the top seed from the LPL, many analysts and streamers expected BLG to be a championship contender. Their luck with the draw was praised, encountering 100T and FNC initially, then G2 in the 1-1 group stage. A lot of viewers teased that BLG was effectively being advanced to the quarterfinals by the LPL officials. Even BLG players admitted in pre-match interviews that they were invincible in the 1-1 group. BLG’s mid laner, LeftHand, boldly challenged all LCK teams, hoping to eliminate them in the Swiss stage.

Although BLG players spoke very confidently in interviews, their in-game performance was quite disappointing. In the crucial match against G2, BLG started strong with a 4-0 lead in the early game but was repeatedly overturned by G2. BLG’s bot laner ELK fell behind his opponent by 500 gold just 5 minutes into laning, and “world’s top top laner” BIN was solo killed by G2’s top laner. (Many fans also criticized BLG’s mid laner LeftHand’s Ryze play — despite a 3-0 start, he failed to lead his team to victory.)

After defeating BLG, G2’s top Poppy and mid Anivia combo sparked a lot of discussion among LPL viewers. LPL hosts asked G2 players why they chose this lineup in the match, and G2 admitted they saw this combo while watching short videos in China. They felt this composition was very effective against Ryze, which is why they picked it. (It must be said, G2’s learning ability is impressive — Poppy and Anivia is indeed a classic combo originating from China.)

T1’s situation is equally awkward.

After losing to GEN in the Swiss stage, T1’s situation is not much different from BLG’s, both sitting at 1-2. Either T1 or BLG loses one more match, they will be eliminated immediately. It’s clear that T1’s top laner Zeus and BLG’s jungler XUN have huge impacts on their teams. Without Zeus for T1 and XUN for BLG, both teams’ strength drops significantly. Watching the Swiss stage, it’s hard to believe BLG and T1 were last year’s champion and runner-up. (Especially top laner Doran, who is definitely T1’s biggest weakness.)

After the loss to GEN, T1 coach Mata took responsibility in an interview, apologizing and saying the main reason for the defeat was poor draft strategy. T1’s draft in this tournament has been puzzling. Their bot laner Little Rumble has almost never played Kai'Sa professionally, yet in the key match against GEN, the coach picked Kai'Sa for him and also released the world’s perfect record Orianna. This caused discomfort for T1’s double carry in lane, and mid laner Faker fell behind Chovy by 1000 gold in lane.

With both T1 and BLG at 1-2, many LPL fans fear they might face each other in the Swiss stage. Given BLG’s current form, it’s uncertain they can easily beat T1. So many fans are analyzing BLG’s chances to reach the quarterfinals. Ideally, BLG would face a Vietnamese team or PSG in the next draw; otherwise, BLG might become the first LPL team eliminated in the round of 16 at Worlds. (Internationally, BLG is truly making embarrassing history this year.)

Conclusion

I feel BLG has the ability to win every match, but they don’t show enough respect to their opponents. If BLG played a bit more seriously, they would definitely have beaten G2 and 100T easily, since those two teams were heavily defeated by TES. What do you think — can BLG make it to the Worlds quarterfinals? And if BLG and T1 meet in the Swiss stage, who do you think will come out on top?