As the number one seeds from LCK and LPL, many fans were looking forward to a spectacular match between Gen.G and BLG. Moreover, the team winning this match would advance to the MSI 2024 finals and have more time to study their opponent. Therefore, the significance of this encounter became even more crucial. However, the reality of the match turned out to be quite “one-sided” as Gen.G dominated BLG for most of the game, winning with a score of 3-1.
On the side of LPL representatives, Bin was perhaps the best-performing player for BLG as he fought hard to keep his team’s hopes alive. In fact, Gen.G could have finished the fourth game earlier if Bin hadn’t performed brilliantly with K’Sante. However, that was all Bin could do, and he couldn’t prevent his team’s defeat as Gen.G played exceptionally well.
Notably, after this match, BLG used the “old trick” from the previous game by banning 5 Mid Lane champions. This is understandable as both Faker and Chovy are outstanding players who need to be limited in champion pool. However, LPL fans believe this move from BLG actually indicates that Knight is facing issues, which negatively impacts the team.
Indeed, looking back at the recent match, Knight appeared to be completely outmatched by Chovy in lane control and participation in fights. Therefore, BLG had to find ways to limit the opponent’s strength by banning as many champions as possible. However, Chovy’s champion pool is large enough to overcome such targeted bans. For instance, despite BLG banning 5 Mid Lane champions, Chovy still effectively used Yone to help Gen.G secure victory.
Furthermore, the banning/picking strategy that overly focused on Knight is exposing several vulnerabilities in BLG’s approach. They allowed Canyon to get his signature champion Nidalee in 2 games and suffered complete defeats. Additionally, BLG also paid the price for leaving Poppy open in game 3, a champion that counters Diana, K’Sante, and Tristana too effectively. Even Knight was significantly limited in champion options with this banning/picking strategy, having to use a very ineffective champion, Vex, in game 4.
The recent loss to Gen.G might be a “wake-up call” aimed directly at BLG’s ambitions to win MSI 2024. It is important to note that the remaining opponents of BLG are all strong and balanced teams in all positions. Therefore, using too many bans to serve only Knight is not advisable. If BLG cannot address this weakness, it is highly likely they will watch another team lift the MSI 2024 trophy on their home turf.