The League of Legends S15 World Championship Swiss round has finished. On the previous match day, the provincial team CFO defeated FLY without dropping a game, securing a spot in the Worlds quarterfinals. The LCP official caster was so emotional that he cried, as the last time the provincial team made it to the playoffs was in 2015, when Kabe’s Flash Wolves and Ximen’s AHQ advanced together. It’s definitely something worth celebrating after ten years.

On the same day, T1 faced Europe’s MKOI. Although their top and bottom lanes performed mediocrely and gave up many opportunities, Faker woke up, scoring 13 kills with zero deaths across two games, carrying the team into the knockout stage. Even after more than ten years, Faker’s skill remains formidable. However, with Doran as a weak link and Gumayusi’s serious decline in form, T1’s chances of winning the championship this year seem quite slim.

The final match was an LPL internal battle between Top Esports and BLG. Before the game, everyone believed the all-Chinese roster would win and advance to the quarterfinals. However, BLG stumbled once again. The two teams fought fiercely over three games, and in the decider, TES’s dual carries stepped up to send our number one seed home. From LPL’s hope to a number one seed exiting at the round of 16, BLG has given fans too many shocks this year. Who would have expected such an outcome?

After being eliminated in the round of 16, BLG faced a huge backlash. Fans called for disbandment and restructuring, and some demanded Bin’s retirement. The disbandment is actually unsurprising because BLG has the highest investment in the entire LPL. With such huge spending, only reaching the round of 16 is a huge loss compared to lower-invested teams like AL. No matter how wealthy the club is, they likely won’t keep the same roster next year.

Observant viewers noticed that after BLG lost to TES, several player profiles under official accounts were deleted, possibly signaling the team’s disbandment. However, more impactful than the team breaking up is the call for Bin to retire. Last year during the World Championship, BLG released a documentary where Bin said: “If I only make it to the round of 16, I might not want to play next year.”

What was said last year resurfaced this year. After the round of 16 exit, discussions about Bin retiring dominated trending topics. Many bloggers and fans posted messages and videos urging Bin to keep his promise and retire soon. Honestly, bringing up last year’s remarks to pressure a player this year is unreasonable. Admittedly, Bin performed poorly, but not badly enough to warrant retirement.

The LPL is already in a transitional phase, and losing Bin would remove a lot of excitement from matches. Most importantly, fans would lose much of the entertainment value, since few players dare to talk big like Bin before games. Calls for retirement likely come from disappointed fans, but after this lesson, Bin should tone down the bravado and focus on improving himself.

The always stubborn Bin was visibly trembling and had tears welling up during his post-match interview after the round of 16 exit. It’s clear he can’t accept the result. Regardless of whether BLG disbands, we hope Bin can adjust his mindset and fight again next year. The same goes for other players — this defeat is not the end of their careers, and those still competing should keep pushing forward.

In conclusion:

In LPL history, it’s not only BLG’s number one seed that fell in the round of 16. Former teams like EDG and LGD also exited at this stage as top seeds. Perhaps because BLG was last year’s runner-up, expectations were very high, so the criticism after this year’s loss has been particularly harsh.

So, what do you think? Will BLG keep the same roster next year?

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