Preface: After IG advanced from the Relegation Group to the top three of the LPL playoffs, many LPL viewers have higher expectations for IG. Many IG fans hope that IG can make history and become the first team in LPL history to break out of the Relegation Group and win the championship. However, after the crucial match between IG and AL ended, many IG fans felt regret about IG's playoff journey. After all, many IG fans believed that IG players had stronger individual skills than AL, but due to the IG coach's overly abstract draft, IG unfortunately lost to AL and missed the LPL finals.

Before the match started, insiders revealed that IG's scrims were on par with BLG, which made many IG fans happy. Since BLG dominated AL during the regular season, many viewers believed IG had the strength to defeat AL. However, something that left many IG fans speechless happened: the IG coach decided to "experiment with weird lineups" during the loser's bracket final, picking many champions that IG players hadn't played this season. For example, in the do-or-die game between IG and AL, the five IG players picked top lane Anivia, mid lane LeBlanc, and bot lane Zeri — all first-time picks this season.

The IG coach's constant picks for TheShy also drew a lot of criticism from viewers. Many didn't understand why the coach insisted on giving TheShy ranged top laners. After all, top lane Varus, top lane Jayce, and top lane Anivia all had negative win rates in the current meta. Especially top lane Jayce — even BLG hadn't won with it. Because of IG's poor draft, TheShy ended up with a pitiful match rating of only 4.5, his lowest rating of the season.

Of course, some fans speculated that this was part of IG's planned strategy. Given the significant gap in strength between IG and BLG, even if IG advanced to the finals, they would likely be defeated by BLG. So it might be better to use this BO5 to practice new lineups, identify the team's weaknesses, and prepare for the upcoming Regional Finals. After all, IG's current points are very low—unless they win the championship as a dark horse, even if they get second place, they would still have to play in the Regional Finals.

Bin refuses to "trash talk" and taunt AL

After AL eliminated IG and successfully met BLG in the finals, many viewers began to look forward to the classic LPL pre-match trash talk segment. As a major star player in the LPL, Bin always dropped epic lines during trash talk. However, this time, the pre-match trash talk disappointed many spectators. After Bin's failures at MSI and the Esports World Cup, he faced unprecedented online harassment. So after his return, Bin has been very low-key, and many viewers joked that Bin has changed.

Especially during this LPL finals' pre-match trash talk, Bin humbly said, "The gap between BLG and AL is too big; there's no need to trash talk to mock the opponent." Bin's modest remarks left many LPL viewers momentarily unable to adjust. Of course, since Bin didn't talk tough, Breathe, known as Bin's "number one fanboy," also didn't dare to be arrogant. Breathe admitted that even thinking about trash-talking Bin made him laugh. After all, since his debut, Breathe has never won a single BO5 against Bin.

Conclusion

The gap between AL and BLG is indeed too large. Many viewers predict that AL will likely be swept by BLG. If AL's jungler Tarzan goes super-saiyan, they might take one game off BLG. It's really a pity that IG couldn't beat AL. Personally, I was looking forward to an exciting showdown between TheShy and Bin. Do you think IG will have another chance to face BLG in the future?