LOL: Can’t I play other games professionally?

Chapter 404 Late-Night Broadcaster
Around noon on May 8th.

The fully prepared EDG club players and staff embarked on their journey together, boarding a flight from Shanghai Pudong Airport to Berlin, Germany.

Compared to KZ, who had arrived two days earlier, their actions were inevitably slower.

Fortunately, EDG hasn't missed any scrims these past two days and continues to prepare for matches, except for Lin Ruo, who has been playing ranked games.

There are no direct flights from Shanghai to Berlin, Germany, so the EDG team will first depart from Shanghai Pudong Airport, then stop in Frankfurt, and finally transfer to other modes of transportation to reach Berlin.

The flight departs around 12:00 PM and is scheduled to arrive at 7:00 AM tomorrow, with a total travel time of approximately 13 hours.

The trip didn't take too long, much less than what I spent in Brazil last year.

After boarding the flight, everyone played on their phones for a while, and then spent the rest of the time catching up on sleep.

Lin Ruo was the only one focused on watching StarCraft 2 strategy videos. He wanted to learn as much as possible, because only by understanding more about the operation and strategies could he actively innovate based on his familiarity.

StarCraft is a long-established game that has been around for many years. Most of its strategies and tactics have stood the test of time, making them very useful to learn and saving beginners a lot of time.

Moreover, the StarCraft 2 game homepage also has official introductory learning videos, which are obviously more effective than the Dota 2 official introductory videos that are designed to discourage players.

During the flight's takeoff, Lin Ruo, who had watched two and a half hours of travel guide videos, briefly went to the restroom and enjoyed the services of business class before finally having time to open Weibo and browse current events.

As expected, they have a huge following. Even their departure for Berlin, Germany to participate in MSI made it to the trending topics, which should also be attributed to the travel photos taken by EDG's official account.

Opening her profile page, Lin Ruo noticed that there were many more comments today than yesterday, mostly concentrated under her most recent Weibo post.

After quickly browsing through a few posts, I found that most of the questions from fans revolved around the same question: Would you be doing a live stream in Berlin, Germany?
Lin Ruo thought for a moment, wasn't this obvious to him? Although he was a professional League of Legends player, he actually preferred the identity of a streamer.

There's nothing we can do; livestreamers make money so fast.

Without hesitation, Lin Ruo promptly launched a live stream announcement, setting the time to the earliest possible moment upon arriving in Berlin, emphasizing that the stream would begin immediately upon arrival.

Jet lag? No need.

A qualified streamer should adapt to the viewers' schedules, not expect the viewers to adapt to his.

Berlin, Germany is 6 hours behind China time. That means when they arrived in Beijing at 7 a.m., it was around 1 a.m. in Berlin, Germany.

Live broadcast at this time...

I'm afraid he might be sent back by Abu if he doesn't want to train the next day, but it's okay, Lin Ruo naturally has a way to deal with it. Who says he has to play games when he streams? He can stream himself sleeping too, okay?

The show might be novel and achieve better results than playing games normally.

With that in mind, Lin Ruo turned to studying StarCraft 2 strategy guides for a while, and then spent the next 8 hours catching up on sleep.

Sleeping a little longer now should reduce my drowsiness quite a bit.

Around 7 a.m. Beijing time, the group disembarked in Frankfurt and, with the help of a local bus arranged by Abu, headed to Berlin.

It was another journey of more than 4 hours. By the time we finally arrived at our business hotel in Berlin, it was already almost 5 a.m. local time.

The four hours of leisure time on the bus almost completely offset my drowsiness, but I should still make up for the time difference by sleeping more.

Lin Ruo was the only one who set up the computer in the hotel training room provided by Riot Games. He quickly set up the keyboard and mouse, grabbed a bottle of Red Bull, and started his long-awaited overseas live stream right on time.

It was already 13 p.m. Beijing time, the time for a rest and nap. Lin Ruo, who usually starts his day by lying in bed to recuperate at the EDG club, was full of energy and started his live stream by logging into StarCraft 2.

He's going to climb the ranks, he's going to just go for it! Nothing can stop him from aiming for Platinum. Even if there's a match tomorrow, it won't stop him, let alone if there isn't one.

"Training starts at 2 PM, don't let the live stream delay it." Abu, who was already used to it, just said it simply. Of course, if someone was still live streaming at 10 AM, he would definitely drag them away, chair and all.

After a while, the luggage was settled, and as everyone else fell asleep, the training room finally quieted down, and the number of viewers in the live broadcast room gradually increased.

The viewers who had just entered the live stream were overjoyed and surprised. Lin Ruo, who had broken his promises more than once or twice, was actually keeping his word today?

[Holy crap, Lin Gou actually started streaming! Okay, I admit you're a streamer who keeps his word, here's a little red flower for you.]

[The Berlin International Film Festival is still not lit up, right? Lin Gengxin, won't you die from exhaustion after such a long journey without sleep?]

Go to sleep, I'm afraid I'll ruin the future of Chinese esports. What if I get executed? I'm so scared.

The three bottles of Red Bull on the table next to him testified to Lin Gou's determination at this moment. Of course, my suggestion is still to drink coffee, unless it's for advertising purposes, then that's another story.

Yes, Lin Gengxin streamed all day today; he could get a Red Bull ad.

Are you saying Lin Gengxin is courting death?

[I didn't even notice until you mentioned it, Lin Gou is so thoughtful. How about this, I suggest you retire right after MSI, and we'll make you the number one streamer in China, bar none.]

[Don't worry, guys. As long as no one sends him gifts, Lin will get off the plane and go to sleep soon. You have to believe that he's the kind of person who's blinded by money.]

This method is very useful. If there aren't many gifts during the broadcast, Lin Ruo will indeed end the broadcast early. But sorry, there are a lot of gifts.

Seeing the constant stream of gifts flooding his screen, Lin Ruo knew that he was just too dedicated, which had earned him the genuine admiration of his devoted fans.

Tsk tsk, I'm not afraid of streamers having talent, I'm afraid of streamers working too hard.

Without saying a word, a ranked match was started immediately, and Lin Ruo, who doesn't play Protoss much, played a game for the first time.

Like the Terran, the Protoss are actually quite easy to pick up, but in StarCraft 2, the Protoss are not as popular as the Terran and Zerg.

Especially in professional matches, the Protoss seem to have a natural disadvantage. The reason for this is that while the Protoss team emphasizes balance, it highlights a weakness: its units are flashy but impractical, expensive and weak.

Protoss ground units require a lot of micro-management to ensure survivability, but their damage output is severely lacking. Even with perfect micro-management, they can't deal much damage and are less effective than Marines or Roaches/Roachs.

The Air Force was completely overwhelmed by Thor's Big+ and EMP+, and the Viper Infected Corruption Big Dragon+.

In summary, the units look high-end and sophisticated, but they break easily in battle.

Lin Ruo didn't play for that reason, but simply because he had no interest in studying the Protoss. But that's okay, he'll study it today.

The Protoss are different from the other two races in that they must learn about a completely new unit before the game starts, called the Psionic unit.

Simply put, it's a rather unique armor attribute that exists in units of the Terran, Protoss, and even Zerg races, but the Protoss are always the most suited to Psionic units.

In other aspects, the Protoss buildings are very similar to the Terran buildings; the first building that needs to be built in the game is the Pylon.

In addition, there is the Warp Nexus, which can be used to receive resources and has a mass recall ability. Also included is the Absorber, which is used to collect high-energy gas. These two buildings, along with the Pylon, are basic building units that the Protoss can use at the start of the game.

There is an energy field within the Crystal Tower's area. The cyan energy field warps faster, while the blue energy field warps slower. There are warp gates or nexus structures behind the Crystal Tower that can change the color to cyan.

After building the Crystal Tower, new buildings called the Portal and the Forge will be unlocked.

The portal is particularly important. As a unit that produces troops similar to the Terran barracks, once researched, players can click on the portal and choose to transform it into a warp gate.

At this point, all warp gates can be quickly selected by the player using the W key, allowing units to be teleported within the range of any crystal tower.

Teleporting troops is not free. The resources required for teleporting troops are the same as for producing troops normally, but the teleportation speed is faster, and troops can be teleported to any crystal tower at will.

It is clear that the application of troop passing techniques can not only improve combat efficiency, but also gain an advantage in tactical deployment.

However, since troop transport also consumes resources, players should ensure they have sufficient resources before performing the troop transport operation.

Furthermore, if relay troops are used properly, they can effectively support the front lines or quickly replenish troops, laying the foundation for victory in battle.

In summary, unit progression is one of the important means for Protoss players to improve their combat power. With proper planning and use, it can greatly enhance the game experience and competitive level.

Therefore, the warp gate is undoubtedly a core building for the Protoss, with the highest priority among almost all buildings.

The additional forge can provide weapon and armor upgrades for Protoss ground units, and shield upgrades for all Protoss units and buildings; in short, it's an auxiliary device.

The game continues, and the corresponding skills will be refreshed in an orderly manner as the game progresses.

For example, time acceleration can speed up a target building unit, increasing its operational efficiency by 50% for 20 seconds.

I can't believe how much profit this would generate if it were used on farmers, but unfortunately it can't be used.

Obviously, this "time acceleration" is quite advantageous in the intense battle mode where every second counts. However, in the cooperative mode where resources are plentiful and there are hundreds of people involved, its effect is not so obvious, and it is even somewhat useless.

Lin Ruo, who was setting up his defenses according to the standard pattern, saw the opponent launch a sneak attack on the front line. With a simple tactical recall, he avoided all losses and forced the opponent to retreat empty-handed.

Next, the control core is unlocked, which is the central hub for commanding and teleporting troops. Once researched and completed within the control core, the teleportation portal will automatically upgrade to a warp gate, significantly improving the original transformation efficiency and also allowing for the addition of many new troop types.

For example, at the beginning, Lin Ruo could only create Zealots. As melee units, Zealots have excellent health and attack power, making them the main force in the early stages of the battle.

After upgrading the Zealot's Charge skill, it allows the Zealot to quickly approach enemies and deal massive damage, making it very effective for breaking through enemy lines.

In addition, there are the scouts, which are the basic unit of the Protoss and are very useful in the early stages for scouting and harassment.

With the development of the control core, robot sentinels, hunters, and apostles all came into being.

The so-called mechanical sentinel is a type of combat drone equipped with a force field generator and a holographic projector.

These devastating robots can generate powerful defensive shields to protect friendly units and reduce damage from ranged attacks.

It can also use force field barriers to delay or split up enemy forces, while also generating illusions to distract the enemy so that the real Protoss commandos can safely reach their designated positions and deliver a fatal blow to the enemy. Its abilities are very diverse and useful.

In contrast, the Spider-like Stalker is different. In multiplayer mode, the Stalker is an indispensable ranged and anti-air unit for the Protoss in the early game.

With its ranged attack capabilities and rapid movement speed, the Stalker can be a powerful tool for early-game harassment. Building a Stalker costs 50 gas.

Once the Hunter completes its upgrade at the Shadow Council, which offers upgrade options, and gains the Blink ability, its value will increase significantly.

Blink not only allows for quick responses to air-to-ground harassment, but also enables flexible switching between offense and defense on the battlefield. When in an advantageous position, the Blink skill can be used to quickly chase down and eliminate enemies; when at a disadvantage, it can be used to quickly retreat from the battlefield.

This makes Blink Stalker one of the main tactics for the Protoss against the three races, as its flexible mobility allows the Protoss to maneuver freely between offense and defense.

In direct combat, skilled players can use clever maneuvers to teleport a weakened Stalker to the back of their unit, maintaining sustained firepower and gradually whittling down the enemy, thus disrupting the balance of power. This is the essence of the teleportation Stalker tactic in offense.

This can be considered barely passable as not being flashy but impractical.

In addition, the Immortals possess powerful shields and ranged attack capabilities, making them key units in mid-game battles.

Additionally, as an aerial unit, the Phoenix Fighter can move quickly and destroy enemy aerial units.

Then there's the Colossus, the ultimate ground unit of the Protoss. The Colossus has powerful AOE (area of ​​effect) damage capabilities, which can quickly eliminate a large number of enemy units.

The Stormship is even more terrifying; its powerful air units can unleash terrifying energy beams that can devastate the enemy and level the surrounding area.

As it turns out, the Protoss's units, regardless of combat capabilities, are indeed quite numerous, and their names sound incredibly imposing, suggesting they are capable of destroying the world.

(End of this chapter)