The MSI 2024 final between Gen.G and Bilibili Gaming truly took the audience through a rollercoaster of emotions. Throughout all four games, both teams had moments that made viewers feel they could fail at any moment, only to rally back afterward. The unfortunate part was that the fans didn’t get to witness a full five-game BO5, as Gen.G played significantly more tightly and disciplined than their opponents. Meanwhile, the connected and alert BLG from their match against T1 vanished completely, replaced by countless instances of self-sabotage leading to their defeat.
According to what Knight and Elk shared about their failed backdoor in game 4 against Gen.G, the BLG players, despite reaching the highest level and their main carries having at least three items each, were not confident they could secure victory even while holding both of the strongest buffs. This lack of confidence was noted by LPL fans: “Perhaps Knight lost his spirit from game 1 due to encountering the ‘ghost of GAM’.”
In the very first game of the finals, Canyon used the champion Karthus—a name considered to be off-meta but possessing the extremely annoying ultimate, Requiem, which affects all enemy champions and has a global range. Many VCS fans might recall that the early exit of Top Esports from the World Championship even before the group stage ended in the past was largely due to Levi’s Karthus. And Knight was a member of TES who experienced that humiliating defeat. In fact, in that match, he couldn’t even win his lane against Kati, who at that point had only just participated in his first international tournament of his career.
Perhaps, the reality of losing right in the opening game also somewhat affected BLG’s decisions throughout the finals. However, it cannot be denied that Gen.G remained calm and collected in every ban-pick phase and in handling the various situations that arose during the match. Even when BLG took the lead, they did not fall into chaos and ultimately secured victory as a natural outcome.