LOL-MSI: BLG dominated with a "one-click sweep" tempo, defeating HLE 3-1 to reach the MSI finals!

On July 9, 2026, at 4:00 PM Beijing time, the sixth day of the MSI Mid-Season Invitational knockout stage featured the winner's bracket final between LPL's top seed BLG and LCK's top seed HLE. Today, every member of BLG was in top form, completely overwhelming HLE in the first two games with relentless pressure from all sides, showcasing their strength impressively and leaving HLE no chance for a comeback. In the end, they defeated HLE 3-1 to successfully advance to the MSI finals!

Game 1

BLG: Gnar, Jarvan IV, Akali, Cassiopeia, Shen

HLE: Rumble, Naafiri, Yone, Ziggs, Rell

At the start, BLG's bot lane spotted Rell warding in the dragon river. Viper's Cassiopeia used Ghost to chase her into HLE's bottom jungle, activating E to stack Conqueror and forcing Delight's Rell to use Heal. In the 3rd minute, Kanavi's Naafiri tried to steal BLG's blue buff but was spotted by Xun's Jarvan. Both teams' top, mid, and support arrived to join the fight. Jarvan's crucial Flash dodged Zeus' Rumble's deadly E+Flash, creating distance and buying time for his teammates to kill Naafiri. Knight's Akali secured first blood on Naafiri, while Rell sacrificed herself to cover her top and mid laners' retreat. BLG achieved a 0-for-2 trade and gained momentum!

In the early game, BLG maintained an intense and relentless pace: First, in HLE's bottom jungle, ON's Shen used a decisive E+Flash to taunt and kill HLE's bot duo. After Gumayusi's Ziggs respawned, BLG executed another turret dive to eliminate him. Meanwhile, HLE's gank on the top lane Gnar was neutralized by Xun's Jarvan, resulting in only a 1-for-1 trade as Rell and Jarvan fell. BLG's jungler and support quickly arrived to chase HLE to their top outer turret. Shen tanked the turret to help Akali secure a double kill, wiping out all three HLE members and completely breaking their tempo.

Xun's Jarvan balanced ganks and objective control, securing the first two dragons and the Rift Herald while supporting his teammates. At the 15th minute, HLE grouped bot to take down Akali, but the cost was high: Akali solo-killed Rumble before dying, and BLG's remaining four members quickly counterattacked, achieving a 1-for-5 ace and a massive victory! Before Baron spawned, Akali ignored HLE's top outer turret and solo-killed Zeka's Yone with a smooth combo, then walked away. Xun's Jarvan followed suit by solo-killing Kanavi's Naafiri in HLE's top jungle. Before Baron spawned, all three HLE outer turrets were destroyed, and the gold deficit reached 9,000.

In the mid game, HLE had zero vision in the Baron river, so they could only watch as BLG took Baron uncontested. BLG recalled to full health and headed straight for the bottom lane, focusing down Rell who was too slow to retreat, and destroying HLE's bottom inhibitor turret. At the 23rd minute, BLG killed Naafiri while she was taking the River Scuttler near Baron, then pushed the mid lane inhibitor, overwhelming HLE with a 0-for-4 wipeout and ending the game in a clean sweep, taking a 1-0 lead!

Game 2

HLE: Jax, Wukong, Annie, Jhin, Camille

BLG: Ambessa, Lee Sin, Ryze, Taliyah, Leona

Although from a draft perspective Viper's Taliyah perfectly countered HLE's top-jungle-support triple dive comp, HLE's bot lane was still quite strong in the laning phase: Delight's Camille took E at level 1 to kick Taliyah, and with Jhin's damage, reduced Taliyah to half HP, forcing BLG's bot duo to farm under turret. Meanwhile, HLE's top and mid lanes also had lane priority. At the 5th minute, BLG anticipated Kanavi calling for help to take Voidgrubs, so they held Zeka's Annie mid lane as she moved toward the top river. Xun's Lee Sin secured first blood, while Kanavi's Wukong killed all three grubs to minimize losses.

Before Bin's Ambessa got her first core item "Eclipse," she was temporarily pushed in lane, so BLG chose to focus on the bottom side: Lee Sin took the first dragon, then invaded HLE's bottom jungle with BLG's bot duo. Viper's Taliyah used a simple but precise "Earthshatter" to pin down Camille, and Lee Sin took the kill. Wukong arrived too late and was forced to Flash, surrendering control of his own jungle. HLE shifted focus to the top lane, sending top, jungle, and bot lane to gank and kill Ambessa.

After the Rift Herald spawned, both teams fought twice in the top river, resulting in a combined 3-for-3 trade. BLG secured the Herald and destroyed HLE's top outer turret for first turret gold. Although HLE killed Leona bot lane just before Baron spawned, BLG responded by killing Jax top lane, who had no Flash. With fewer members, HLE gave up the dragon, allowing BLG to get the Ocean Soul point and use the Herald to destroy HLE's mid outer turret, building a 5,000 gold lead.

In the mid game, BLG quickly regrouped top, using a numbers advantage to kill HLE's mid laner and jungler, achieving a 0-for-2 trade. They then rushed Baron and escaped safely. At the 23rd minute, BLG pushed bottom lane with Baron-buffed minions. HLE focused down Bin's Ambessa, but BLG countered with a 1-for-4 trade, taking down HLE's bottom inner turret and securing the Ocean Soul!

Falling far behind, HLE quickly lost their top and mid inhibitor turrets. They managed to kill Taliyah but lost their top and jungler in the process, with the gold deficit now at 13,000, leaving them powerless. Finally, HLE made a desperate stand in front of their mid inhibitor. BLG's full-item builds and superior teamfight coordination overwhelmed HLE, leading to a 1-for-4 wipe and ending the game. Both games saw BLG lead by 15,000 gold, comfortably taking a 2-0 lead and securing match point, just one step away from the MSI finals!

Game 3

HLE: Dr. Mundo, Trundle, Viktor, Lucian, Milio

BLG: Renekton, Skarner, Mel, Xayah, Rakan

At the start, HLE's mid and bot lanes had priority. Kanavi's Trundle finally entered his preferred counter-jungling rhythm, repeatedly stealing Skarner's "Wolves" and "Raptors." Knight's Mel approached the jungle to take a look but was immediately forced to Flash by HLE's mid-jungle combination of pillar and field. At the 5th minute, Trundle soloed the dragon. HLE's mid and bot lanes arrived first to support, and Trundle decisively Flashed over the wall to chase Mel, securing first blood with his teammates' help. BLG could only give up the dragon.

HLE's bottom-side advantage quickly spread to the top lane. During the Voidgrub fight, they focused down Skarner. Even with a level-6 Renekton joining the fight, BLG couldn't secure a kill and had to give up the grubs. However, Viper's Xayah stepped up, solo-killing Gumayusi's Lucian under HLE's bot outer turret. Later, both bot lanes swapped to top lane simultaneously. ON's Rakan made a decisive engage, pinning down Lucian (who had no Flash), and Xayah secured another kill.

BLG's overall tempo was suppressed. Although they secured one dragon and killed Trundle in the jungle, ending his "sinful" life, Zeus' Dr. Mundo quickly stacked over 100 Heartsteel stacks, becoming unkillable and impossible for BLG to handle. At the 15th minute, HLE succeeded on both top and bottom lanes: Trundle took the Rift Herald uncontested, and HLE destroyed the top outer turret; meanwhile, Mundo swapped to the bottom lane, stuck to Xayah, and with his teammates' help, killed her, silencing BLG's only advantage. Before Baron spawned, HLE used the Herald to destroy the top inner turret. BLG gave up the mid inner turret to focus down and kill Trundle, with Xayah collecting the shutdown gold, but BLG still trailed by 4,000 gold.

In the mid game, HLE grouped and pretended to take Baron to distract BLG, buying time for Mundo to split-push bottom. Mundo ignored the turret to chunk Mel and solo-destroyed the bottom inner turret. All of BLG's outer turrets fell, leaving them with severe vision deficits in the jungle. They could only watch as HLE took the Hextech Soul point uncontested. At the 25th minute, HLE heavily invaded BLG's top jungle, poking Skarner to low HP before backing off, then turned to secure Baron.

BLG lost both mid and bottom inhibitor turrets. They decided to force a fight mid-lane. Rakan ulted to engage but was neutralized by Milio's ultimate. The flanking Renekton got separated from his team and traded his life for Trundle's just before dying. HLE achieved a 1-for-1 trade, secured the Hextech Soul, and built a 13,000 gold lead. Finally, HLE pushed the top inhibitor turret. Mundo activated his ult and tanked four BLG members while walking under the turret, leading HLE to a 0-for-5 ace and ending the game, pulling back to 1-2.

Game 4

HLE: Aatrox, Vi, Aurora, Varus, Nautilus

BLG: K'Sante, Pantheon, Orianna, Ezreal, Neeko

At the start, BLG's mid and bot lanes had priority. Although Kanavi's Vi failed to smite-steal BLG's "Raptors," Zeus' Aatrox successfully pressured Bin's K'Sante top lane. Aatrox hit level 6, used his ult to force K'Sante under turret, and Zeka's Aurora used her ult's displacement to easily secure first blood.

After respawning, K'Sante baited Aatrox into overextending, allowing Pantheon to secure a kill. In the subsequent Voidgrub fight, HLE's teamfight had stronger crowd control and damage, but BLG had a numbers advantage before Aatrox respawned, resulting in a 2-for-2 trade. Each team took one grub. HLE relied on their jungler-support double "Lock-On" ultimates to frequently invade BLG's jungle, nearly killing ON's Neeko. BLG had to give up the dragon and the third grub. HLE's mid and bot lanes swapped positions first, maintaining tempo control.

At the 14th minute, Neeko disguised as Orianna while clearing a ward in the triangular brush above HLE's bot outer turret. HLE's members chased her down, and she died without using her ult. Xun's Pantheon ulted in to support, quickly Flashing to dodge Varus' ult, then secured a double kill with his teammates' help. BLG achieved a 1-for-2 trade and destroyed HLE's bot outer turret (first turret), stabilizing the situation. Before Baron spawned, BLG attempted a top lane gank but failed as Aatrox Flashed away. However, HLE killed Neeko mid lane while she was wandering, and held two dragons. Both teams' gold was even, making for a tense stalemate.

In the mid game, HLE made a critical dragon decision error: They hadn't set up position near the dragon river and appeared to give it up. But after BLG secured the dragon, Delight's Nautilus face-checked a brush to engage, was focused and chunked, then panicked and used his ult to knock up Pantheon before Flashing away. Despite wasting an ultimate, HLE still chose to chase. ON's Neeko ulted onto three HLE members, and BLG's dual carries followed up with beautiful double-ult combos that melted HLE's backline. Viper's Ezreal used his ult to dodge Vi's ult as well, dealing massive damage and securing a triple kill. BLG achieved a 1-for-5 ace, winning decisively!

After this fight, the balance tipped. BLG took Baron uncontested and pushed through HLE's bot inner turret. HLE could only try to buy time for their three carries to scale, giving up the next Water Dragon. The gold deficit reached 3,000. At the 28th minute, BLG heavily invaded HLE's top jungle. HLE's jungler and support recklessly engaged to pin down opponents, but BLG's teamfight kiting was beautiful, picking them apart one by one and chasing Varus all the way to HLE's top inhibitor turret to kill him. BLG achieved a 2-for-4 trade, firmly controlling the tempo! With reduced numbers, HLE couldn't contest the Baron area, allowing BLG to take a second Baron uncontested and secure the Ocean Soul point. Finally, BLG achieved a 1-for-5 ace in HLE's bottom jungle, pushed the bottom lane, and ended the game, defeating HLE 3-1 to successfully advance to this year's MSI finals!