As the top all-Chinese team in the LPL, BLG has garnered much expectation from fans, who think that only they can help the LPL secure a championship now that AL's strength has dropped and TES's international results are disappointing. However, many fans of all-Chinese teams were disheartened when BLG's discipline issues remained unchanged. In their match against the bottom-ranked WE, BLG repeatedly allowed WE to seize opportunities due to their reckless play.

In particular, during the third game against WE, BLG had a 3000 gold lead at the 9-minute mark and a 6000 gold lead by the 23-minute mark. LPL commentator Wang Duoduo remarked during the live broadcast that this was the greatest disparity in strength in LPL history. However, BLG's subsequent plays contradicted Wang Duoduo's comments, as they seemed to disregard WE entirely, forcing fights with multiple opponents. Even BLG's core player made an exaggerated move by face-checking, leading to BLG giving up kills and WE eventually turning the gold deficit around in the mid-game.

Wang Duoduo, seeing BLG's outrageous plays, commented live that the match was “really not exciting enough.” Of course, many IG fans celebrated with champagne upon witnessing BLG struggle against WE, and even IG veteran player NING joked during the broadcast that “the typhoon saved BLG.” NING noted that IG had swiftly defeated WE in under 50 minutes in their encounters, while BLG was sweating against WE. Ultimately, NING concluded that if this BO3 had featured IG instead of WE, BLG would have been thoroughly beaten by IG.

NING's pre-match champagne remarks, along with those of IG fans, left many BLG supporters feeling offended. After all, BLG's current record stands at 7 wins and 0 losses, while IG's record is 5 wins and 2 losses. Many BLG fans couldn't understand why IG fans believed BLG was inferior to IG. Some even joked that BLG's struggles against WE were simply due to them practicing a new roster, as evidenced by their pick of Xerath for mid and Kha'Zix for jungle in the second game, which showed they were not taking WE seriously. In the end, numerous BLG fans cited statistics to argue that IG had never won a BO3 against BLG this season, thus lacking the right to criticize them.

TheShy’s “son” advances on the path to knighthood.

As the strongest team in the LPL's rebirth group, EDG has not lost a single major match since replacing support WINK in the third stage. With EDG easily defeating TT 2-1 and achieving six consecutive major victories, they became the first team from the rebirth group to advance on the path to knighthood. Moreover, EDG's top laner ZDZ has been hailed by many LPL fans as the hope for domestic top laners, with some believing that ZDZ’s presence in the rebirth group is hindering his career. Some viewers even jokingly referred to ZDZ as “the artificial TheShy.”

During a live stream, ZDZ addressed the origin of this nickname. Initially, when THE SHY took a year off from WBG, ZDZ joined WBG during the transfer period. The then-coach of WBG, Dan Shen, utilized ZDZ in a manner similar to TheShy. ZDZ also communicated frequently with TheShy, seeking advice on various gameplay techniques. He even revealed that he considers TheShy as a “father figure,” while TheShy himself acknowledges ZDZ as his “son.” This outrageous statement from ZDZ sparked considerable discussion and debate among viewers.

Conclusion

BLG's discipline issues are truly a headache for fans. I personally don’t understand why BLG enjoys being reckless so much. Do you think BLG can maintain discipline when facing IG? Does IG have a chance to defeat BLG?

EDG's dominance in the rebirth group is remarkable. I personally feel that if EDG encounters FPX on their path to knighthood, they still have a chance to break through, as EDG's players possess comparable paper strength to FPX.