BLG Takes Down LCK's First Seed HLE in Stunning 3-1 Victory to Advance to Semifinals

This was a complete victory of LPL’s first seed over LCK’s first seed. Game 4 was in my opinion the most spectacular game of Worlds so far. BLG won game 1 with Seraphine/Poppy, then came back in game 4 to beat HLE with it. Absolute domination, leaving no doubt! ON just needs to be a bit more mindful - if only having a Luo can enable such impact, that would be a repeat of Missing in S13.

Looking at HLE’s issues in the first 3 games, it was roughly as expected pre-match. The biggest gap was in the top lane, which directly led to HLE’s BP being quite rigid in game 3: Instalocking Doran’s champion is very abstract, but if they don’t prioritize a champion for him, Doran was on the verge of being gapped hard in the Nar matchup in the first two games; Giving Seraphine to BLG like this while banning Senna themselves, and then picking Ahri/Nocturne which LNG already confirmed as a trapped combo. Having Bin’s Nar face off against Doran’s prioritized champ, frankly, there’s no way in this world to have such a comfortable and stable laning phase. This is what makes people feel very reassured when Bin faces Doran.

HLE’s BP in game 2 was also a bit off - if you’re going to ban Alistar, ban Yonei together, who bans one without the other. This is just self-deception that TheShy can’t play Yonei. This also shows HLE can’t play Alistar. Otherwise picking them together would still be better than the current situation. Picking Yonei/Zoe on one side and Alistar/Nocturne on the other would work. HLE has too many things to consider, from the top matchup to the mid champion pool. Facing BLG, HLE’s problems kept compounding, making them more and more at a loss.

TheShy’s Seraphine in game 3 was not only a repeat of his Seraphine in S11, but also the Seraphine that won against DRX in S12 groups: He had a Tether that was chasing HLE’s players, running while latching the chains onto HLE’s players. Too scary. Game 4 BLG still pulled out Seraphine/Poppy when on red side, forcing HLE to make a choice. At this point, HLE definitely can’t instalock a champ for Doran, and has to hand it over to the mid lane. BLG’s BP in game 4 was clearly adjusted, not a brainless Ahri/Senna, but picking Galio + Nilah. Nilah can be expected in this combo, a hard counter to Lehends' enchanter style. But Nilah has a problem of being shredded by Maokai, her combat power isn’t that strong. Galio is an enchanter, needs to scale his weapon, leaving a huge burden on Elk’s shoulders. Elk stepped up to it: His performance this game absolutely deserves a Top 5, BLG’s botlane toyed with HLE.

At this point BLG completed their cycle of tormenting HLE: Losing to Seraphine/Poppy in game 1, beating it in game 4; Picking Zeri and losing in game 1, chasing Zeri again in game 4. Bin has a natural advantage over Doran, Lehends only has enchanters, he battles as a knight. TheShy stagnated at Worlds for years, finally in S14, putting on a performance as explosive as a raging war god. Whether it’s BP or in-game performance, including ON on Luo, BLG at every position, from coaches to players, all performed better than HLE. BLG’s coaching staff finally made their presence felt at Worlds. Their understanding is finally able to explore more possibilities of the players based on their characteristics, rather than just having players go all out with brute force in games.

So BLG looks very promising now. As you can see from TheShy’s expression, he was very satisfied: HLE’s biggest issue and pre-match expectation weren’t too far off. First is the biggest difference between the two sides - top lane gap, which directly caused HLE’s BP to be quite rigid: Instalocking Doran’s weapon is a very abstract behavior, but if you don’t instalock a weapon, Doran had signs of being hard gapped by Nar in the first two games; Giving Seraphine to BLG like this while banning Senna themselves, and picking Ahri/Nocturne which LNG already confirmed to be a trap; Having Bin’s Nar face off against Doran’s prioritized weapon, frankly speaking, there’s no such comfortable and stable matchup situation in this world. This makes people feel very reassured when Bin faces Doran.

HLE’s BP in game 2 was also a bit strange, if you’re going to ban Alistar, ban Yoene together, who bans one without the other. This is just deceiving yourself that TheShy can’t play Yoene. This also shows HLE can’t play Alistar. Otherwise picking them together would still be better than the current situation. One side picking Yoene/Zoe while the other side picks Alistar/Nocturne would work. HLE has too many things to consider, from the top matchup to mid champion pool. Facing BLG, the more HLE tried to patch up their problems, the more they made HLE grasp at straws.

TheShy’s Seraphine in game 3 was not only a repeat of his Seraphine in S11, but also the Seraphine that beat DRX in S12 groups: He had a Tether that was chasing HLE’s players around, running while putting chains on HLE players. Too scary. In game 4 BLG still opted for Seraphine/Poppy when on red side, forcing HLE to make a choice. At this point, HLE definitely can’t instalock a champion for Doran, and has to hand it over to the mid lane. BLG’s BP in game 4 clearly made adjustments, not picking brainless Ahri/Senna, but going for Galio + Nilah. Nilah can be expected in this combo, specifically countering Lehends' enchanter style. But Nilah has an issue of being shredded by Maokai, her combat power isn’t that strong. Galio is an enchanter-type that needs to scale, putting a huge burden on Elk’s shoulders. Elk stepped up to it: This game’s performance absolutely deserves a Top 5, BLG’s botlane toyed with HLE.

So in the end, what defines the meta? The meta is defined by those who have faith in it. BLG firmly believed they could take it, HLE wavered, so today the meta was defined by BLG. Viper was trying his hardest on Zeri (a champion that can’t fully unleash his ceiling), Zeka was trying but couldn’t 1v9. Doran cosplayed as an international friend, getting pressured in most matchups, having little presence in teamfights. Lehends couldn’t keep up, in S6 his performance was unstoppable, perhaps could have followed such a crazy rhythm; but times have changed, few can resist the erosion of time, as a veteran, he really can’t keep up with such crazy teamfight mechanics anymore. Thus, the game entered BLG’s domain, with all 5 players unleashing their mechanics. ON will definitely engage, TheShy will definitely follow up, Elk will definitely position aggressively, Xun will definitely peel, Bin definitely won’t fall. Someone will always step up, HLE really can’t withstand it anymore.

Last year it was a civil war, this year it’s another civil war. Actually, I’m not particularly looking forward to the so-called “semifinals reservation”, I care more about the “match quality”. Last year’s WBG being eliminated 0:3 in finals was certainly disappointing, but I won’t forget TheShy burning with the spirit of competition in the semifinals. “Spectacular” games are the eternal theme of esports. Reminiscing on the past, back to Paris, S9 semifinals was FPX vs IG, a clash of titans, an earth-shattering battle. Last year was also BLG vs WBG, a full five-game series, equally memorable. Now it’s happening again, it seems both WBG and BLG have found the secret to their BP. Last year’s result, this year’s summer finals, the two teams cross paths again, so let’s have another collision.