After BLG trounced HLE in the winners' bracket, most LPL fans and players were highly optimistic about their championship chances, with many BLG members already popping champagne in interviews, expecting a 3-1 win over HLE in the final. Historically, no losers' bracket team had ever turned the tables to win MSI. However, a devastating turn of events occurred: BLG actually "made new MSI history" by becoming the first team to lose to a losers' bracket opponent in the finals.

After BLG's loss to HLE, many LPL viewers and streamers began analyzing the reasons for the defeat. Among them, DYS and Crystal pointed to BLG's top laner Bin, claiming that his poor form and uncooperative playstyle were the main factors. Previously, BLG had reached the finals thanks to the combined efforts of mid laner Knight, jungler XUN, and top laner Bin, but during the MSI finals, Bin suddenly went silent, causing major issues for BLG's three-pronged attack.

Beyond Bin's performance issues, many streamers also discussed his playstyle during the live broadcasts. In the decisive fifth game against HLE, Bin played Aatrox and completely ignored his teammates in the mid-game, focusing solely on laning against Zeus. Although Zeus fell behind in CS, his overall development was not hampered; instead, thanks to Dr. Mundo's "tanky angel" nature, Zeus overtook the game in the late stage, and even when BLG's entire team focused fire, they couldn't kill him. Many LoL streamers believed that if Bin had sacrificed some minion waves to help his team secure objectives, BLG could have easily taken dragons, since Zeus's Mundo was weak early and HLE dared not engage in 5v5 fights, but Bin was too fixated on laning.

Perhaps because of the stark contrast in performance between the two top laners, HLE's Zeus was awarded the finals FMVP, and with the MSI championship, he became a recognized "LoL Grand Slam" player. Many viewers joked that Bin is the perennial background for Zeus's titles—for example, Zeus defeated Bin in the 2024 World Championship, Zeus beat Bin in the 2023 Asian Games to advance to the finals, and now in this year's MSI finals, Zeus won FMVP against Bin.

Zeus Comments on BLG's Golden Road

Because BLG lost to HLE in the MSI finals, their "Golden Road" was broken. Many viewers lamented that the LoL "Golden Road" is extremely difficult, as major version changes occur between international events. During an interview, HLE's top laner Zeus gave a sharp comment on BLG's "Golden Road." He said that BLG was looking too far ahead; it was only the MSI, there was no need to talk about the "Golden Road" now, as there are many more tournaments to come.

During the post-match interview, Zeus also discussed his choices of top lane Swain and Dr. Mundo. He said that he enjoys playing "unconventional champions" in solo queue, and Swain and Mundo, which can dominate teamfights in the late game, suit him well. So he discussed with HLE's coaching staff and picked them in the matches. Finally, Zeus praised his teammates for their strong ability to withstand pressure, since both Swain and Mundo require a long time to scale up. While he was farming, he needed help from his teammates, and they fully trusted him, which allowed him to earn the FMVP.

Conclusion

BLG's unfortunate loss to HLE truly made viewers feel upset, as BLG had been dominating everyone before. However, some viewers also believed that losing was a good thing, because this BO5 showed that BLG relies too heavily on Bin. Whenever Bin has an off game, BLG cannot defeat strong opponents. Do you think BLG will change in the future? Some viewers also questioned whether Bin's champion pool has shortcomings. In your opinion, did Bin lose to Zeus due to champion pool issues?