League of Legends: Reborn in Season 3, Tuning the Entire League

Chapter 204 Mascot: Justice Unrivaled, Cosmic Radiance Supreme Yin Yang Spinning Top!

"How to get an NXG Super Fan Membership Card: ① Spend over 5,000 RMB in NXG merchandise stores within the past year (at least six months), ② Attend more than ten offline matches in a single season, ③ Actively participate in team promotion and make substantial contributions through online communities and forums..."

Jiang Ming sought advice and reference from professors at the university who had membership-based stores outside the school when deciding on how to obtain the super fan membership card for his club.

The Super Member Card has a six-month spending threshold, which avoids the utilitarian behavior of fans rushing to spend money in order to get the card, and does not require additional financial burden. If you are keen to watch the game offline, you only need to select NXG's game sessions a few more times, which is enough to prove your loyalty to the club.

For fans with limited financial resources who cannot meet the first two conditions, a third "light asset" acquisition channel has been specially opened.

What is this called?
That's what you call conscience!
The benefits of NXG Club membership cards are not like those of some clubs where even dogs would shake their heads at them, and they use cheap, tattered merchandise to appease fans.

From exclusive identity design, customized personal team uniforms, and birthday-themed gift boxes, to offline viewing and post-match interactive participation, occasional invitations to experience club esports life firsthand, and even co-creation of club cultural values, every benefit is truly generous.

For example, in the past two days, NXG's official Weibo account and fan groups have been soliciting opinions on the design of the club's exclusive mascot and the team uniform for the World Championship.

Yes, it's definitely not because I'm lazy or trying to copy fans' ideas.

After all, there weren't many Super Member cards issued in the first batch, only fifty-three!

What good ideas could fifty-odd people possibly have that he could borrow from?

"Hey, you know what, these guys' concept art is pretty good. Our Chinese players are all really talented."

Whether his words are pleasant or not is unknown for now, but at this moment, in the office, Jiang, who is so fond of the mascot concept art sent by several die-hard fans of the team, has already transformed into Nicholas - "It's so good" - Jingze!
Three servings!

There are three concept drawings that meet the standards!
Each one has its own unique characteristics, perfectly matching the club's requirements for its mascot's image.

When will we be able to produce concept design sketches that designers work themselves to the bone so easily?
Lin Jingyi also exclaimed, "This is probably the power of passion."

"So it's that time of year again when you have to choose one of three options, which you hate the most."

"Making choices is really inhuman. Can't adults have it all?" Jiang Ming joked.

Of course, he couldn't do that. Apart from having a sample made by a manufacturer and sent to the creator based on the initial fan design concept, it's best to keep the mascot, which has symbolic meaning, unique.

Jiang Ming attaches great importance to this mascot design for many reasons:
In a strict sense, mascots are part of the club's fan economy. In the e-sports industry, the connotation and role of mascots have long surpassed the symbolic meaning of traditional sports, becoming a core cultural carrier connecting clubs, fans and the industry ecosystem.

The essence of an esports club mascot is, of course, a cultural symbol of a team or even a club. For example, RNG's "Slime Monster," EDG's "Silver Dragon Knight," and FPX's "Little Phoenix" are all concrete carriers of brand personification.

NXG also needs such cultural symbols to appear. The reason why the design process takes into account the opinions of fans is mainly due to the composition of the club's fans. The e-sports fan group is mainly composed of Generation Z, and their cultural identity relies on symbolic and youthful expressions.

Mascots often incorporate elements of anime, cyberpunk, and regional culture, aiming to become a visual label for subcultures and help fans quickly establish a sense of belonging to NXG.

The fastest way is to let the audience participate themselves!
In addition to the aforementioned attributes, mascots are naturally suited to fragmented forms of communication such as emojis, animated shorts, and virtual live streams, becoming a perpetual motion machine for club content production.

Many streamers in later generations like to design an anime character for themselves when doing game live streams, such as a streamer who dressed up as a Psyduck-themed Shinobi. This is the root of the reason.

In addition, the core role of esports club mascots is more about building deep emotional bonds with fans.

After all, team performance is always fluctuating. Compared to players, mascots are more stable and unaffected by performance fluctuations, making them a good starting point for fans' emotional connection.

Rather than saying that the audience likes a certain player, a certain team, or a certain cultural symbol, it would be more accurate to say that these esports fans are searching for a vessel for their youth and their own emotions.

Any club operator with a modicum of common sense would know to focus their efforts in these areas.

“Let’s stop worrying about it. Let’s not limit ourselves to the few mascots we have now. Let’s put them online as a starting point and ask for everyone’s opinions. Maybe we’ll find better options.” Jiang Ming made the decision. “By the way, let the audience decide the name of the mascot. Post a voting link. Don’t be afraid of strange names. The stranger the name, the more likely it is to attract casual fans.”

As a result, that evening on Weibo, a post about the selection of the NXG club's mascot and the voting for naming rights immediately rose to the top of the trending topics list.

NXG Esports Club:
[Summoners, the NXG club mascot design feedback session is now open!]

[Dear Baron Nashor, jungle overlords, mid-lane kings, squishy bot-lane AD carries, and support luminaries! It's time to unleash your creativity—NXG Club's mascot design and name design competition is officially launched! From now until September 1st, your design has the chance to become the club's "soul totem," fighting alongside the team in the LPL, and even reaching the World Championship stage!]

[Design Requirements: 1. Image Design: Must reflect the spirit of esports and club culture (e.g., team logo, team theme color). Style is not limited. 2. Name: No restrictions except for vulgar and negative names.]

[Generous Rewards: Champion Prize (1 winner): 5000 RMB cash prize + VIP viewing seat at home games for a whole year!]

[Mascot physical figurine customization rights + official merchandise sales revenue sharing!]

[Club Lifetime Super Member Card ×1]

[Finalist Award (5 winners): Team autographed jersey + limited edition peripheral gift pack; entries will be showcased on the official website and social media pages!]

[Participation Prize: All players who submit entries will be entered into a draw to win club merchandise...]

[How to participate: Weibo: Post your work with the hashtag #NXGClubMascotDesign# and tag @NXGClubOfficialWeibo.]

[Email: Send your work in a package to][email protected](File name: Name + Contact information)

[Formatting Requirements: Designs must be in JPG/PNG format with a resolution of at least 300dpi. Include a design concept explanation of no more than 200 words (which may include the source of inspiration and interpretation of its meaning)]

[Selection Process...Important Notes...]

Summoners, pick up your paintbrushes!

Your creativity will become the team's "spiritual totem," unleashing a new storm in the Rift! Prove your passion for esports through design and let the world see the unique symbol of NXG!

[Attached: Club mascot design drafts provided by three NXG Super Member fans!]

Once the activity was announced on Weibo, the number of views, clicks, comments, and reposts all increased at an unbelievable speed.

What Jiang Ming didn't expect was that the players' first concern wasn't the club's mascot design, but rather the NXG Club Super Member Card mentioned in the post.

【? ? ? 】

[A club super membership card?] [Hakimin, you secretly pulled off something big behind our backs!]

[No, it includes individual team uniform design, exclusive logos on the club's fan wall, and the opportunity to visit the club and experience esports life, right?]

[Waaaaah, you've excluded a ten-year fan like me! Hakkin, you'll lose me!]

[Damn, I checked the requirements for the Super Member Card: you need to spend over 5,000 yuan at surrounding stores, or have watched at least ten games in a recent single season... I can only say there are still a lot of rich people.]

[Office workers can't take it anymore!]

[(Screenshot JPG) Oh dear, who got the NXG Super Member card? It's so hard to guess!]

[(doge) The guy upstairs is actually number 003? I'm number 009. I'm curious who has number 001?]

Wow, can I take this as a bunch of people upstairs showing off their wealth? I've already reported it because it made me uncomfortable!

[Bro, trust me, remove the question mark; they're just showing off.]

[I want a Super Fan Card!]

As a student with no money, I suddenly realized that the third point is quite suitable for me. I see my friend posting hundreds of club promotional articles every day.

[(Laughing and crying) Shouldn't today's discussion focus on the club's mascot? I've seen some designs from some great designers, and they're quite interesting.]

[Hey, Hakmin, are you sure there aren't any restrictions on the name of our mascot?]

[My suggestion: A super cool, awesome, and invincible Tyrannosaurus Rex!]

[You bumpkin! A better name would be Ultimate Storm Overlord Berserk Thunder Chaos Battle Spiral Ascension Little Bird Beast.]

[Hahaha, hahaha, you guys are really going to make me laugh to death! Just from these two names, I can already imagine the chaotic mess that will ensue when NXG's mascot design comes out.]

[This guy is particular; he even made it into a vote. We have to vote for the little bird/beast.]

[Please call him Ultimate Storm Overlord, Berserk Thunder Chaos Battle Spiral Ascending Little Bird Beast! (doge)]

【I, the Ultimate Storm God of War, Mad Dragon, refuse to accept this!】

[My own mechanical dragon, the guardian of the Crystal Nexus, might also be the best choice.]

[Change it up, change it up, there's also the invincible, cosmic, supreme Yin-Yang Beyblade King!]

Thanks to the participation of a large number of players, all sorts of bizarre names have emerged, and the NXG mascot design is showing signs of breaking into the mainstream.

More and more passersby are joining in the fun.

They've seen plenty of mascots, but this is the first time they've seen players come up with the mascot's image and name without any restrictions.

Especially considering the numerous bizarre and excessively long naming polls that are ranked at the top.

The WE club management was stunned by what they saw.

Do you NXG people even want to live?!
Our entire club is embroiled in conflicts and players are falling out, and yet you just designed a mascot and instantly stole all the attention and traffic. Isn't that a bit too inhumane?

……

While Jiang Ming and his NXG were busy preparing for the mascot design competition, the competition among LPL teams for the last two seeds in the S3 World Championship had entered a heated phase.

The four teams ranked second to fifth in the regular season—IG, PE, OMG, and Royal Club—are engaged in a brutal battle in the single-elimination gauntlet.

Unlike the previous system of points-based tournaments, this year's bubble tournament has a simple and direct rule: the four teams are grouped in a serpentine pattern according to their rankings, with IG (second place) facing PE (fifth place) and OMG (third place) playing against Royal Club (fourth place).

The loser in the first round will be eliminated from the World Championship, while the winner will advance to the next round to compete for the final spots as the second and third seeds.

The group stage draw results have left many players sighing with disappointment.

Who could have predicted that PE, who were battling NXG in the Spring Split finals just two months ago, would now fall to fifth place in the regular season and have to face IG, who boast a star-studded lineup, in a do-or-die match? Even more lamentable is that WE, the legendary team that won the IPL5 championship, failed to even qualify for the gauntlet.

In the match between OMG and Royal Never Give Up, public opinion was overwhelmingly in favor of the opposing side.

Most viewers believe that OMG, known for its stable operations and similar top-mid-jungle playstyle to NXG, will likely secure a spot in the next round thanks to its double victory over its opponent in the regular season and its more mature experience in major tournaments.

September 1st!
The NXG Club mascot's image and name have been officially revealed!

—"Justice is invincible, the universe shines with ultimate brilliance, the Yin-Yang Spinning Top!"

This humorous and creative name originated from the collective wisdom of the players. The reason given by the players is that the flame tassel shape in the NXG team logo resembles a whip for spinning tops, and the team's fierce dominance on the field is jokingly referred to as "whipping the opponent". The combination of the two gave birth to the core image of "Spinning Top Boy", which not only echoes the details of the logo design, but also strengthens the team's "fierce attack" style label with the fun memory of childhood games.

(I ran one, and it was quite interesting!)

At the same time, the LPL Regional Finals officially began!
The first match is between IG and PE.

The enhanced version of IG is undeniably strong. With a gradually stabilizing bot lane and extreme aggression in the top half of the map, IG has truly maximized the benefits of the current meta.

Not to mention that PE was embroiled in team turmoil during the Summer Split, in terms of raw strength, top laner Aluka and mid laner Van were hardly comparable to the formidable players PDD and Zz1tai.

Thus, in the first BO5 match of the gauntlet, IG easily defeated PE with a shocking 3-0 score.

It was only then that people finally realized that IG, with its updated training team and players, had reached a higher level of strength, having managed to take a point from NXG. The former two powerhouses of S2 had already completed their transformation.

IG secured the second ticket to the S3 World Championship.

(End of this chapter)