The 2026 League of Legends Mid-Season Invitational is now over. During the finals, BLG and HLE went all five games. With BLG leading 2-1 and holding match point, they dropped the next two matches, and HLE took the title. Losing this BO5 felt really disappointing. Xun and Knight were in top form the whole time, but the top lane got dominated repeatedly in consecutive games, putting an end to BLG's perfect run.

After the match, many viewers criticized Danny's draft choices. In the previous game against LYON, Zeus's trump card, Swain, was forced out. In a post-match interview, Zeus admitted it was his ultimate secret weapon, which he had hoped to keep hidden but was forced to use when the team was cornered. HLE had also picked Mundo before, yet Danny didn't target it in the last two games, instead letting it through completely.

From a viewer's perspective, both champions should have been banned. But Danny and the players felt Mundo could be let through. In a post-match interview, Danny stated, "I'm not entirely sure about the Mundo vs. Aatrox matchup, but everyone says Mundo has to endure lane pressure until level 16." The implication was clear: Aatrox can beat Mundo, and with a big advantage, but Bin couldn't deliver.

Danny said Zeus was gambling in the decisive game, betting he could survive until level 16, and it turned out he won that bet. Bin had a slight advantage in lane thanks to his champion, out-farming Zeus by over 1000 gold, but that lead vanished the moment Mundo hit level 16. BLG threw everything they had but couldn't burst down Zeus in time. Once the game dragged into the late stages, the composition gap became too wide, and BLG couldn't win.

The gap in the top lane was arguably the biggest in this BO5. Bin died repeatedly while ganking in the first two games; his Crocodile and Rumble had no impact. In the game where he played Jax, Xun focused Zeus, and Bin had a decent game, but the last two games saw the top lane collapse again. His K'Sante fed the enemy Swain, making it impossible for his team to kill him. In the Aatrox vs. Mundo matchup, during the mid-game when he should have grouped to help his team expand their lead, Bin instead farmed peacefully alongside Mundo, providing no pressure at all.

The fact that the final MVP went to Zeus is enough to show how huge the gap between top laners was. Bin's champion pool simply cannot compare to Zeus's. Zeus can pull out Mundo, Swain, and Anivia, while Bin can't play any of them. His go-to champions are still the same old picks. In the decisive game, Zeus dared to pick Mundo into Aatrox, which shows he didn't respect Bin at all. And Bin's biggest problem is that he keeps absorbing resources from his team.

In this MSI, Bin ranked first among top laners in CS per minute and gold income, and second in gold share. However, he ranked dead last in participation rate, damage taken per minute, and solo kills. His damage conversion rate, damage share, and damage taken per minute were either second-to-last or third-to-last. Looking at the numbers, Bin is the type of player who takes resources without delivering results, completely failing to repay his teammates' sacrifices.

The main reason BLG lost to HLE was that Bin didn't know how to sacrifice. During his power spikes when he should have been grouping, Bin still chose to farm, leaving his teammates to absorb pressure. After taking all that gold, he still couldn't carry in team fights. To put it bluntly, if you brought in WE's top laner Cuba to pair with BLG's players, they could have beaten HLE in the finals. The mid-jungle synergy was so strong that if the top laner had been more team-oriented, they wouldn't have lost.

Conclusion:

With a shallow champion pool and a resource-draining playstyle, if Bin doesn't change, BLG's season will go nowhere. In his post-match interview, Zeus already gave Bin a hint: "I used to be a 'play lane well' kind of player, but since last year, I've been thinking more about how to impact the overall game." Hopefully, Zeus's words will make Bin reflect on himself.

So, what do you think about Bin's performance in the finals?

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