The LPL third stage group stage had a brief hiatus after the first week. With Bin absent, BLG still managed to secure three consecutive wins. Even though they needed all three games to win each match, it's commendable to have such a streak with a new player. Aside from BLG, Top Esports also remained undefeated in the Summit group. Although they swapped their support, Top Esports' performance in this stage seems to be lacking.

Struggling even against TT, they would likely get crushed by BLG or AL. The three teams that moved up from the Nirvana group to the Summit group all seem like toys. Although TT and LGD got their first wins, both victories were against EDG. EDG is now in the most awkward position—after strengthening their mid laner and support, their strength has actually dropped sharply, and they can't even beat teams of similar caliber. If nothing unexpected happens, EDG will suffer seven consecutive losses in the first round robin.

Bin is reported to return on August 7th.

After the Esports World Cup, Bin temporarily left the stage. For several days, there were rumors that BLG's management was in contact with Hoya, and the two teams had reached a verbal agreement—only the contract signing was lacking. However, in the past two days, there has been no further news. It's speculated that contacting other top laners was just a method to pressure Bin. BLG never intended to replace him. Recently, a netizen posted a leak: Bin has been confirmed to return next week.

BLG's manager, through Yagao, has reached an agreement with Bin. In the match against TES on August 7th, Bin will return to the starting lineup. This news is quite credible. Earlier, when Bin was resting, some people leaked that Bin would only rest for two weeks. Combined with the fact that Hoya didn't join, it shows that BLG hasn't given up on Bin. The only question is whether Bin has reflected well during this time—hope he doesn't hold the team back when he returns.

Zeus streams a review of the MSI finals.

HLE top laner Zeus recently reviewed the MSI finals during his stream. When discussing game 5, Zeus bluntly stated that picking Mundo top was already decided before the draft. Regardless of what Bin chose, he intended to play Mundo. During the draft phase, seeing BLG pick Miss Fortune and Neeko, he became even more certain about playing Mundo, because BLG's composition had no ability to deal with tanks.

However, when Bin picked Aatrox, Zeus was a bit panicked because BLG had already predicted he would play Mundo. But he still picked it. It must be said that the world's best top laner is truly confident. Despite being hard-countered, he didn't get crushed in lane and had a huge impact in teamfights. It just shows that Bin at that time was too focused on laning. If he had grouped early to secure resources, Mundo would have had a hard time reaching level 16.

Shi Senming responds to RNG's contract hold.

Former RNG support player Shi Senming, after retiring, was still held back by RNG's contract and couldn't stream for a long time. During a recent stream, he responded directly for the first time to the famous saying: "What contract hold? The contracts were all signed by myself." Shi Senming stated that even if he knew the team's performance would be poor and he would be hit by a boomerang, if he could choose again, he would still pick RNG and would never regret it.

Additionally, Shi Senming revealed that he had the opportunity to leave during his prime, but Uzi added fuel to the fire, and for the sake of brotherhood, he ultimately chose to stay with RNG. This boomerang really hit hard—he didn't leave when he could, even defended RNG, but after retiring, he was stuck in a long streaming contract by RNG. However, back then, RNG was at its peak, and he probably never expected to be screwed over in the end.

Conclusion:

What Zeus said in his review really rubbed salt into Bin's wounds. Even against Gwen and Aatrox, he still insisted on playing Mundo. How little lane pressure must he have felt to be so confident? It's estimated that after the first few games, Zeus had already realized that Bin's laning ability was average and that he was too focused on laning, so he dared to play Mundo into a counter.

So, how much of a gap do you think there is between Bin and Zeus?

Feel free to leave comments and discuss!