The first round of eliminations at the 2026 League of Legends Esports World Cup is over. Pre-tournament, many believed Doublelift secured a favorable draw for the LPL—except for JDG's probable exit, BLG and AL were both expected to reach the semifinals. But the outcome was far from ideal. In the elimination rounds, JDG was eliminated in the quarterfinals, while the promising AL and BLG both suffered shocking defeats, falling to KC and DK in succession, missing out on the next round.

JDG losing to GEN was expected, but AL being swept by KC was simply absurd. Only top laner Flandre showed some effort on AL; the other four players performed worse than the next. After the second stage playoffs and a long break, AL still couldn't field an AP bot lane, and even picked Ornn—a champion rarely seen even at MSI. Bigwei's preparation was a complete mess.

AL losing to KC was already outrageous, but BLG getting crushed by DK, the weakest LCK team at the Oil Cup, was even worse. BLG's decisive game was infuriating to watch. Many viewers probably thought the match was settled when BLG led by 6K gold at 26 minutes, so they closed the stream and went to wash up. But before they even lay down, they heard BLG had lost.

The biggest culprit in BLG's BO3 was still Bin. His 2-0 start as Jayce was ruined by always being late to team fights. In a poke comp, he couldn't chip the enemy's health before fights, and the team crumbled upon engagement. However, Knight also had issues in the first game—he was pressured in lane by ShowMaker, teleported late, and wandered aimlessly in team fights. But Bin's performance in the next two games was so atrocious that he attracted all the criticism.

In the second game, Bin's Gnar was truly feeding. At 3 minutes, he proactively dueled Siwoo and got solo killed. Then at 7 and 9 minutes, he was solo killed twice more—three solo deaths within 10 minutes. That's incredibly absurd. At MSI, enemies had to gank him; now they don't even need to—Bin just hands over kills. Fortunately, his teammates held the line, preventing a clean sweep.

In the final decisive game, BLG's collapse was also due to Bin. He avoided team fights early on, going 0-1-0 at 30 minutes. During the Baron fight, when BLG was already secure, Bin went to zone the enemy, but after chasing them away, he kept pursuing. As a result, the top, mid, and ADC all died, allowing DK to equalize the gold. The final team fight was even worse: a full-health Rumble used Zhonya's in place, Bin got caught and died, and DK ended the game in one push.

A few days ago, when HLE beat BLG at MSI, Guan Zeyuan led the criticism of the double-elimination format. Now, with a single-elimination format, they went out in the first round. If it were double elimination, all three LPL teams would have had a chance to fight back. It's just that weak players shouldn't blame the format. Without strength, even a tailored format won't yield a championship. With LPL stuck at the semifinals, the remaining matches are a three-way LCK plus KC. Barring surprises, a Korean team will take the title.

With two of three teams having favorable draws, none made it to the semifinals. LPL's performance at this Oil Cup was truly disappointing. Doran underperformed at MSI, but at the Oil Cup he reflected and even swept Zeus and his team. But Bin's case is completely different. Official caster Miller, after watching the game, couldn't hold back: "Not worthy of winning. Bin should stop playing top lane—he only thinks about minions and solo kills."

Conclusion:

If they can't even get past DK, what world championship can they talk about? DK is the weakest of the four LCK teams, and the team is currently in a financial crisis, unable to pay player salaries. For BLG to lose to them is a shocking upset, and their level of play is truly exaggerated. Bin's mentality is clearly flawed; if he doesn't change, this year will be a wash.

So, who do you think is the biggest problem on BLG?

Feel free to leave a comment and discuss!