Occupation? I won’t even hit a dog!

"I need an explanation!"

Ed Zhu was furious in his office: "Last week you assured me that we only needed to win two of the remaining three games to advance to the playoffs, and that the remaining three teams were completely stress-free and 100% certain to win. What about now? There are still two weeks left to play, and we are already out?"

In front of Ed Zhu.

Both Abu and Maokai, the two unlucky kids, had embarrassment on their faces.

Logically speaking, the probability of EDG missing the playoffs is so small that it can be ignored.

Unexpectedly, due to various problems such as form and luck, EDG first lost to VG, which was ranked at the bottom. Then its main competitor LNG overturned RNG, which was ranked second only to FPX. As a result, EDG was gone in the ninth week of the regular season!

"Blame me."

Maokai took the blame: "I felt that VG was easier to play against, so I wanted to practice in advance, and the lineup I chose did not fit the trend of the version."

Patch 9.14 brought a massive hero overhaul.

Unlike previous changes that only adjusted attributes, this modification also involves many mechanisms. For example, Robot's R and Crocodile's Red Rage W can destroy shields, Aatrox's R removes resurrection, Akali's [Shadow Array] extension mechanism is modified, E gains a spell power bonus, Galio cannot flash with W, Pike's E cannot cause damage to minions, etc. The extent of the update is second only to the all-round rework during the season change.

Currently, the game is still using 9.13, and the next update will be 9.14.

Maokai felt that he had a sure win against VG, so he let Ray choose the crocodile which did not have the ability to break the shield in advance.

As a result, Ray was caught as a breakthrough point in the top lane. Not only did he fail to become the carry of the entire team in the mid-term, but he also dragged down the other four teammates and became a true shooting big brother.

"You can't say that."

"I also agree to let volunteers choose alligators."

Abu told the truth: "Also, Crocodile has a 19.2% appearance rate in the summer season, second only to Aatrox's 24.2%. He is a mainstream top laner, but Zhiyi is not very good at it."

"Alright, alright, alright." Ed Zhu tried to calm down: "It's not wrong to choose Crocodile, but we didn't even make it to the playoffs, and we will lose a lot of sponsorship... More important is the contract with Ye Tian."

"Contract with Ye Tian?" Abu asked tentatively: "Does Ye Tian want to go to other LPL teams to play in the World Championship? Do you want to terminate the contract in advance?"

"No." Ed Zhu shook his head: "If it was Ye Tian who came up with this idea, he should have just terminated the contract. Ye Tian helped us win two championships, and we didn't make it to the world championship this year, so it's reasonable to terminate the contract one year in advance."

"Ye Tian didn't mention it, so it was Teng Jing who mentioned it?" Abu's mind was working quickly.

All contracts of professional players must be submitted to the official for filing, and the official is naturally well aware of the terms. After confirming that EDG would miss the S9 finals, the official naturally wanted to pull Ye Tian out of EDG's restrictions in order to ensure the winning streak of the LPL region.

"Correct."

Aide Zhu told the truth: "Tencent actually contacted me and asked me to take the initiative to terminate the contract and contribute to the LPL region."

"Why?" Mao Kai sneered: "Ye Tian proposed to terminate the contract, we should agree to it both emotionally and logically. Ye Tian is not anxious, but Teng is anxious?"

Ye Tian asked to terminate the contract, but EDG refused and could not say no.

After all, the contract signed by both parties is only for three years, and two years have passed from the summer of 2017 to now.

If EDG is unwilling to terminate the contract one year in advance and part ways amicably to strive for future cooperation opportunities, it will be criticized by the entire LPL region and even the audience around the world, and lose the honeymoon relationship it has worked so hard to maintain with Ye Tian, ​​and lose both fame and fortune.

To sum up, Ed Zhu could actually accept the result of early termination of the contract, and was prepared to agree to Ye Tian immediately and increase his favorability.

but.

The person who came was not Ye Tian, ​​but Teng Jing.

Who the hell does Teng think he is?
Maokai's choice of words is a little subtle, but his meaning is very clear - if the emperor is not in a hurry, why should the eunuch be in a hurry?
"They were extremely anxious. They called me before the game was over."

Edzhu spoke out the source of the anger.

EDG's failure to enter the playoffs will certainly make Edzhu angry, but a series of events such as the factory manager retreating behind the scenes, EDG losing its status as a phantom god in the civil war, last year's stumbling to get the third seed, and this year's regular season being even worse have made Edzhu mentally prepared to a certain extent, so he will not be furious.

What really made Ed Zhu unable to suppress his anger was Teng Jing's attitude.

From any perspective, EDG team's contribution to the LPL region is second only to Ye Tian.

In addition to winning the trophy at the Bird's Nest and defending the S8 title, the most encouraging thing for the LPL region was EDG's outstanding performance in defeating SKT in the 2015 MSI finals.

As a privileged prince team, EDG feels more or less guilty when facing other clubs.

Facing Tencent, EDG can definitely say with confidence: I have made contributions to the LPL region, and I have contributed to the LPL region.

In this situation, Teng actually stabbed EDG in the back, not caring at all how much negative impact Ye Tian's helping other teams win the championship would have on EDG, how much the value of the two championships would be reduced, and he didn't care about EDG's contributions and hard work over the years. How could Ed Zhu not be angry?
"What is Ye Tian's attitude?"

Abu got to the point: "If Ye Tian wants to solve it, we should just treat what Teng Jing said as fart. Although it smells a bit, we can still bear it by covering our noses. If Ye Tian doesn't want to solve it, Teng Jing can't force both of us to 'voluntarily' together, right?"

"Ye Tian hasn't told me yet. How about this, you take Mingkai to meet Ye Tian and find out what Ye Tian has to say, and then reveal what Teng Jing said..." Ed Zhu wants to play the emotional card.

"Okay, I'll go with Mingkai right away." Abu had actually thought of this a long time ago, and was waiting for Ed Zhu to come first.

Drive to Datian Park.

As soon as Abu and the factory manager entered the door, they saw a familiar figure.

It is Kid who is singled out in the jingle "Brothers work together, more than a thousand pounds, plus (), can break the steel bars."

Not familiar with the jingle?

It's ok.

Kid has a nickname - e-sports Yuan Shao.

He was the kid Youshen who chose Vayne and dealt only 443 damage in the whole game, combined with the auxiliary shooting Coco's 556, which just made up to 999 Pi Yanping.

Next to this broad back, there is a thin body that is easily overlooked.

Others may not recognize it, but Abu and Zhazi will definitely not ignore this hard-working player who often stays in the EDG training room until the last minute. If his talent is not so poor, this player can definitely make a name for himself in the professional circle with his hard work.

of course.

Compared with hard work, this player is more famous for his luck.

The world champion with a 0% win rate is the only one of his kind.

Opposite Xiaohai Youshen and A Guang are the managers of the TES and BLG teams. The former was renamed from TOP and is backed by Top Esports, while the latter is a team established by Bilibili by buying IM quotas, and is also a wealthy and powerful team.

The IG, FPX, TES, and BLG clubs represented by these four people are also the four teams with the highest points besides RNG, and they all have the possibility of impacting the world championship. On the day when EDG was confirmed to miss S9, they ran to the Datian Park, and their intentions were clearly on display. "Manager, Mingkai, you are here too."

Ye Tian was not surprised: "I guessed that many people would come today, so I prepared tea for you. Come and sit down."

"We are so familiar with each other, why should we be polite..." Abu was halfway through his words when he saw the tea on the table. His voice suddenly stopped. After a few seconds, he finally squeezed out the second half of the sentence from his throat: "You are really rude!"

"Is it the same iced black tea as last time?" The factory manager couldn't help himself.

"It's different, it's different this time." Ye Tian firmly denied: "Last time it was a large bottle of iced black tea for four yuan, this time it's upgraded, it's a small package for three yuan a bottle, the unit price is nearly doubled."

"Go, go, go." The factory manager said hello to the others and sat down. "Today, those little brats beat me so badly that I'm so angry that I haven't eaten yet. Have you eaten yet? If not, you can treat me."

"You don't want Bilian, right?" Ye Tian leaned over and said, "Let's go to the Peace Hotel. Each person will get a piece of bread and a bottle of water."

"Don't bother, let me do it. I can get reimbursed when I get home." Abu took the responsibility.

The three of them talked while eating.

The actual meaning is to see someone off.

The managers of TES and BLG were the first to react and left the Datian Park.

Kid followed closely behind.

Just as A Guang was about to leave, Ye Tian stopped him.

As old teammates that we rarely see, even if they are on missions, it doesn’t prevent us from getting together.

Abu glanced at A Guang when no one was paying attention.

Who said honest people don’t have any ulterior motives?

It is most useful when an honest person is scheming.

When FPX bought A Guang as a partner for Doinb, many people thought that FPX was just using A Guang, a champion with 0 win rate, to gain popularity. But looking back, FPX definitely had the idea of ​​using A Guang to play the emotional card with Ye Tian at that time.

The five of them came to a riverside restaurant and ordered signature dishes such as steamed East China Sea yellow croaker, Taizhou bean noodle-braised lobster, feast roast duck with sturgeon caviar, and fish maw stewed with bamboo fungus eggs. After simply filling their stomachs, they talked about this year's World Championship.

Ye Tian, ​​Zzitai, Abu and Zzitai belong to a community of interests. Although A Guang is in the FPX team, he is also considered half an insider, so he naturally does not need to hide anything when speaking.

"For me personally, the money offered by other regions is definitely higher."

After listening to what Abu said, Ye Tian laid it out on the table: "Before A Guang and his team came, clubs from other regions had already approached us. In addition to Europe and North America, there is also an LCK club."

"LCK has them all? They were very hostile to foreign players before." The factory manager was quite surprised.

"Let Ye Tian go to FPX or IG, they won't win this year." Abu could understand: "When we won the championship, we had the foreign aid Li Can. If they invite Ye Tian over, it will be just one foreign aid, and the number of people is the same."

Why did the LPL region usher in the era of Korean aid?
A small part of the reason is that Korean players are inexpensive and of good quality. They are stronger than domestic players but have lower salaries than domestic players. But a larger part of the reason is that without Korean players, the results were not good and they were unable to compete for the world championship.

If the all-Chinese team is capable of winning the championship, even if Korean players can enter the LPL, they will only be a foil.

The same applies to the LCK region.

With Ye Tian's performance in S7 and S8, even if he was targeted by the designers for another year, as long as he joined a strong team that already had the strength to challenge the world championship, he would still be the terrifyingly strong BOSS, and the probability of completing three consecutive championships would be guaranteed to be more than %.

Buying Ye Tian would be a win-win situation, and would allow the LCK, which has lost two full years, to regain its dominance in the World Championship. Even if the Koreans reject foreign aid, it is impossible for them to remain unmoved by such huge benefits.

Moreover, one Chinese and four Koreans won the championship together, and Koreans accounted for four-fifths of the championships!

“I won’t consider LCK for now.”

Ye Tian said his plan: "Korean clubs are just like FNC last year. They think I must play with them. The money they offer is only a little more than half of what European and American clubs offer. North America offers the most, but it's too difficult to play with four accessories."

"Not suitable." The factory manager thought from Ye Tian's perspective: "For you, the highest return is to win three consecutive championships, preferably three consecutive FMVPs."

Three consecutive championships + three consecutive FMVPs. Except for the number of championships which is barely equaled by Faker, the data in all other aspects are the best in the world. The economic benefits brought can be imagined.

How much more can North American clubs give?

Ten or twenty million?
That little bit of money is just a trivial matter!
"If you want to win the championship, I recommend the European team."

Abu made a serious analysis: "IG is in a very bad state this year. Rookie doesn't have the strong personal ability as last year. Baolan is basically sleepwalking. The shy can't carry the team alone. It won't be that easy to lead if you replace him."

"FPX looks OK, but their flaws are too obvious. There is no Xia in the AD hero pool. The mid-jungle-support-three-roam strategy will not work in the next version. As long as the mid-lane's roaming is restricted, the rhythm of the entire team will be stagnant... Judging from their performance throughout the year, it is too easy for designers to target them."

Currently, the official server has just been updated to version 9.14.

There are still four updates left until 9.18, which will be used in the World Championship.

FPX team ranked first in the spring regular season. Although they lost to the explosive JDG in the semifinals of the playoffs, they crushed the team in the battle for third place. In the intercontinental competition, they didn't get a single kill from GRF, the No. 1 team in LCK. After returning to LPL, they treated other teams as robots. Only IG team managed to snatch a win from FPX.

With such a strong performance and the fact that LPL had previously won two consecutive championships, it is very likely that the designers will target FPX and make their moves in the interest of fairness.

Although Abu's words were mixed with personal emotions, he was indeed considering Ye Tian.

Compared with the fighting in LPL and the operation in LCK, the biggest advantage of Europe and the United States is all kinds of imaginative ideas. From Ban/Pick to lineup matching, they are difficult to predict. This year's competition environment where most heroes can be played perfectly matches the characteristics of European and American teams.

TL and G2 were able to eliminate IG and SKT respectively and meet in the MSI finals largely thanks to this.

what?
There aren't usually any big updates before the Worlds?
That's 'usually'!

As early as the S5 season, Riot Games had made a move to buff Europe and the United States through large-scale updates, but the LCK, which adapted to the version the fastest, reaped the benefits.

In the past two years, LCK has been in decline. Riot Games will inevitably consider helping Europe and the United States by targeting LPL, which has won two consecutive championships and swept the entire S8 championship.

It's not just about emotions.

There is also the irreproachable reason that "if European and American teams win the championship, the League of Legends competition ecosystem will be healthier."

"If Ye Tian wants to go to Europe, EDG will take care of LPL."

Abu made up his mind: "Anyway, the contract is there. EDG refuses to terminate the contract. You can't go to other LPL clubs to help. You can only go to Europe to fight for your three consecutive championships. If LPL audiences want to criticize, they will criticize EDG. They can't criticize you."

"EDG is like me, a dead pig is not afraid of boiling water." The factory manager helped: "Ye Tian, ​​if you don't want to go to Europe, but want to go to other LPL teams, you can negotiate with EDG to terminate the contract at any time - Ed Zhu told us before coming here." (End of this chapter)