BLG vs Golden Guardians Preview: MSI 2023 Play-In Stage

BLG vs GG will decide the first team to advance into the Bracket Stage of MSI 2023.

The first couple of days of the MSI 2023 is behind us and we are finally getting started with the elimination and qualification games. BLG vs Golden Guardians will determine the first team to join the five other major region teams waiting in the Bracket Stage. Thanks to the double elimination, the loser will still have another chance to qualify through the Last Chance Qualifier.

BLG vs Golden Guardians Preview

BLG

It was a weird day for BLG fans today. They played against the weaker team attending the event in Movistar R7 and won pretty fast with both games ending under 27 minutes. But despite the dominant end results, there were some headscratchers during the games. While Game 1 was a complete stomp, both BLG solo laners had abysmal performances in the second game. We saw Bin die to multiple ganks and Yagao struggle agaisnt Mireu in a 1v1.

On the bright side, BLG bot lane and jungle were on a war path today. We’ve seen one of the widest bot gaps on the international stage with Elk nearly out-damaging the entire R7 team in Game 1 with his Lucian. Xun played around him perfectly in both games and also showed his carry potential on the Nidalee pick.

Golden Guardians

Doubted by a lot of fans once again, Golden Guardians started out strong in their first international tournament. Aside from the first five minutes of Game 1, they completely dominated GAM Esports, not even giving them a sliver of hope. The macro play was on point at every minute of the game. In two games, the Guardians secured every neutral objective available on the map.

The individuals also showed up massive. Licorice was once again the weakside player in both games, neutralizing almost every attempt made by GAM to get a lead. River and Gori were the engines of the early games, as GG always made plays through their mid lane. But most of the spotlight was probably on the bot lane duo. Both players had an amazing return to the MSI after a long time. Huhi flaunted his deep champion pool on day one with Sett and Amumu, while Stixxay crowned the day with a pentakill in Game 2.

PENTAKILL FOR @STIXXAY! #MSI2023 pic.twitter.com/Cs6f2OFuSI

— LoL Esports (@lolesports) May 3, 2023

BLG vs Golden Guardians Predictions

If we consider the strength of their opponents, it wouldn’t be out of this world to say Golden Guardians had a better day than BLG. But even with that, it would be pretty unreasonable to predict a GG win for tomorrow. If BLG solo laners have a down day again maybe GG could find some chances, but otherwise it should be a 2-0 victory for the LPL 2nd seed.

How to watch BLG vs Golden Guardians

Fans can watch the event on the official LoL Esports website for the chance to earn exclusive drops from Riot, which will be available throughout the whole event. Or you can catch the action on Riot Games Twitch channel and the LoL Esports Youtube channel.