LOL: Can’t I play other games professionally?

Chapter 409 Do you endorse card and board games?
The game ended at just over 25 minutes, with EDG's unstoppable strategy leading to two easy team fights that secured their third consecutive win in the MSI group stage against LCK champions KZ.

Viewers expected EDG to easily defeat KZ, but in some ways, they didn't.

However, the invincible performance of EDG against the LCK region last year is still fresh in the minds of all LPL viewers, while giving LCK viewers watching the live broadcast goosebumps.

EDG is still the same EDG. After Lin Ruo switched to jungle, their overall rhythm became even more aggressive. In other words, they seem to have become a level stronger.

Many people probably didn't expect that EDG's victory over KZ would garner far more attention in South Korea than in China.

Perhaps it was because too many West African viewers placed their hopes on the newly debuted KZ that the disappointment after their clean and decisive defeat was many times greater than usual.

The match had barely ended when several trending topics appeared on Korean online forums, fueling the disappointment and anger of LCK viewers.

This match was a completely familiar rhythm and storyline for them, without the slightest change.

When Classic faced EDG, their once-proud draft and macro play were completely crushed. Then, even more classic was Peanut's performance against Lin Ruo, where he started to lose his way and performed worse than a third of what he did in the league.

[Damn it, what's going on? Are we going to get crushed by EDG all year again? I'll go crazy if we don't!]

I never want to see Peanut in a world championship again, ever. Can't we send him to play in Southeast Asia?

No, you're just a kid who doesn't want to see Lin Ruo's opponent.

Indeed, this Lin Ruo is just too outrageous. Peanut has never won a single game against him.

[Isn't he playing StarCraft 2 lately? Could he please play in a StarCraft 2 league? He could even play Go. I heard he loves money; let's crowdfund to give him a salary higher than in League of Legends.]

【Seriously? It was just a best-of-one match, is it really that big of a deal? SKT won the World Championship two years in a row and LPL didn't even treat them this humbly. What's this? Just one dominant EDG and you guys are acting like this?】

Despite the prevailing lamentation on Korean online forums, a significant number of LCK fans stepped forward to express their support for KZ.

Clearly, they didn't believe that EDG was already this strong in their first year, and would be even stronger in their second. No matter how top a team is, they will eventually fall with the changing meta.

However, when the second day of the group stage began, LCK viewers who held this view wanted to slap themselves in the face.

EDG's only opponent on the second day was a newly emerging team from Vietnam.

Haro started again, and Lin Ruo was on the bench. EDG performed exceptionally well, easily defeating the Vietnamese team and securing their fourth win.

Of course, this was not enough to make LCK viewers despair. What truly made LCK viewers despair was that KZ was crushed by FW on this day.

Yes, they got blown up.

FW team once again transformed into heroes against Korean teams, defeating the still somewhat bewildered KZ team.

The game was incredibly dull in the early stages, with the first blood not emerging until the 22nd minute. The reason for the blood wasn't a team fight, but rather Pray's overconfidence in choosing to duel Kog'Maw, which resulted in him being severely injured, allowing FW to take the lead.

Immediately following, during the dragon fight, FW's top laner Hanabi's Yasuo skillfully used his wind ability to flank and knock up three KZ members, instantly ending the team fight.

It was precisely because of this team fight that FW secured both the dragon and the baron, putting KZ in a truly passive position.

Although they put up a little resistance later, they ultimately couldn't stop the Flash Wolves' offensive.

So when the group stage ended on the second day, LCK fans were devastated by the result of their points tally.

They are not ranked second, because FW and EDG, who have won all four of their matches, are tied for first place.

They are not ranked third either, because there is another team with three wins and two losses, FNC, which is ranked earlier in alphabetical order.

Well, they are only ranked higher than TL and the Vietnamese team, which does not fit the LCK fans' strategy of always striving for first place, or at least second place.

Therefore, KZ suffered a huge cyberattack on Korean websites that night.

Losing to EDG is bad enough, but losing to FW is bad too. Next, we'll have to lose to FNC, and after that, we'll lose to TL. Then there'll be no one left to lose to.

General Fan's classic quotes have also sparked a craze on South Korean websites.

In contrast, the situation in the LPL was remarkably calm.

What? You mean EDG has won all four of their group stage matches so far?
LPL viewers responded that this is perfectly normal. What kind of team is EDG? How could they lose to weak European and American teams, or to an LCK team that didn't beat them once last year?

Yes, especially in the Tieba forums where many League of Legends players gather, they're already popping champagne halfway through the game.

Q: How valuable is the MSI three-time champion title?

I don't know, it seems like no team has ever achieved this before. Anyway, EDG is probably the first, but it's hard to say how significant that achievement is.

I suggest changing the MSI Cup to the EDG Cup ahead of schedule, and learning from how the Demacia Cup is conducted.

【Seriously? It's only been four group stage matches. Besides, how many games has Lin played? It's only been one. He's just a carry player!】

Indeed, Lin Gengxin is a player who wins without lifting a finger.

The nicknames "Lying Down and Winning" and "Lin Ruo" were the only trending topics related to EDG that night, and were pushed to the top by people who enjoyed making fun of the memes.

Although Lin Ruo defeated KZ in the first game, he did not participate in the other three games, so in terms of the number of games played, he really was just an easy win.

Lin Ruo didn't care about this at all. Playing with memes and opening champagne in advance were all old tricks he had already used.

So he chose to follow the trend and changed the title of his live stream that night to "Welcome to the live stream of Lin Ruo, the 'Lying Down and Winning Dog'".

Seeing the barrage of comments flooding the screen, Lin Ruo could only be thankful that he was playing StarCraft II in 1v1 mode, otherwise he would probably be labeled a "carry-win dog" again.

After all, someone like him only knows how to drop a lot of houses in the mid-game to keep the situation in check, apply pressure on multiple lanes when attacking, and try to encircle and flank in the final charge.

Playing a ranked match is easy; I can easily crush my opponent. Occasionally, when the mood strikes, I'll play a long, drawn-out game to torment my opponent, continuing my fierce push towards Platinum rank.

Oh, it seems it wasn't a sprint, but rather that I've already completely crossed the finish line.

Lin Ruo looked at the score, which was indeed quite high, and thought that spending money to unlock ranked matches was indeed effective; look how many points she gained in a single game.

He didn't want to; he originally wanted to play one more game before climbing the ranks, but he ended up climbing with a ten-game winning streak, which was a bit too fast for him.

Platinum rank, looks great.

[Lin Gou has already reached Platinum rank in ranked matches?]

The viewers in the live stream couldn't help but gasp in surprise. They were no longer in the mood for jokes; Lin Gou's performance in StarCraft 2 was more than just a case of being carried; he'd probably dominate a 5v5 match. Indeed, he carried the entire game so much that Blizzard's official StarCraft 2 Twitter account couldn't resist posting a screenshot and two thumbs-up gestures of admiration, while also making jokes in the comments section.

"I think I've discovered a future StarCraft 2 superstar. He's the player who reached Platinum in the shortest time in the game's history."

In short, the StarCraft 2 official team saw Lin Ruo's performance as if a ray of light had illuminated their world.

The difficulty in learning StarCraft 2 has led to a rapid decline in the number of players in China in recent years.

However, with Lin Ruo's appearance, the popularity of StarCraft 2 immediately rebounded significantly.

In the Chinese region, where daily active users were decreasing day by day, Lin Ruo's daily operations resulted in a 40% increase in active players in just two weeks.

This is an incredibly impressive number, demonstrating the indelible role Lin Ruo played in StarCraft II during this period, especially his positive contribution to the game's promotion.

Bringing more and more viewers into StarCraft 2 or getting them to start playing it again is more effective than any of their previous endorsements.

Blizzard naturally wouldn't just stand by and watch, so they also tried to contact Lin Ruo to discuss some game endorsement issues.

For example, the official Chinese region account could send a barrage of "big swords" to the live stream to encourage Lin Ruo to continue playing StarCraft 2.

Do it this way.

Lin Ruo had no choice but to continue playing more StarCraft 2.

He wasn't after the money; he simply thought StarCraft 2 was really fun, much better than Dota 2, which never paid a cent and just freeloaded its exposure.

How could he possibly let such a game down?

As for what kind of competition, to be honest, it's enough to have the new Crown Prince, Ha Huang, in charge.

After this news spread, more and more domestic game developers realized the importance of publicity within just one night.

However, this promotion only refers to Lin Ruo's specific live stream promotion.

The results weren't just good, they were phenomenal. From Dota 2 to PUBG Mobile, and now StarCraft II, it's clear that Lin Ruo has a greater ability to attract viewers through games.

As a result, Abu, who was in charge of arranging the team's schedule for the later stages of the competition, received calls from various game companies throughout the day.

They all wanted to use the club as a go-between so that Lin Ruo could try out their games. Price wasn't the issue; the issue was that Lin Ruo would play.

Abu, who had received numerous calls, was extremely annoyed. How did he inexplicably become a customer service representative?

No, it's bad enough that he came to Berlin as a logistics manager, but now he has to answer inquiry calls every day...

Moreover, there are plenty of demos available, including Chinese-style fantasy MMORPGs, puzzle games, mobile games based on the Classic of Mountains and Seas mythology, and even board games and real-person mahjong.

It seems that game developers also know that Lin Ruo can learn to play games very quickly.

Exhausted, Abu chose to put everything aside after a night and a morning of turmoil.

It's not that he dislikes these investments; after all, they can bring revenue to their club and more game sponsors to their name.

However, since it's still during the MSI season, they must focus on the competition and strive to retain their championship title for the new season. It would be most prudent to discuss these matters after MSI.

Lin Ruo, who knew the situation, also thought it made sense. He was already too busy playing StarCraft 2 to play any other games.

Let's talk about it when Blizzard stops sending him gifts.

...

On May 13, the third day of the group stage continued at the LCS studio in Berlin.

Yesterday, they played one training match, and then Lin Ruoli started five StarCraft 2 ranked matches. The reason is simple: today, their second opponent is the Flash Wolves from Taiwan Province.

Perhaps many people didn't expect that KZ's poor performance would turn out to be the biggest dark horse of this year's Mid-Season Invitational, especially considering that the Flash Wolves, who traded Karsa away, would become the biggest dark horse of the tournament.

So far, the top two teams are both leading with four wins and zero losses, while the Flash Wolves have been keeping the score close throughout.

Today's first match was also an easy victory against FNC, keeping them on the same starting line as EDG, who defeated the Vietnamese team.

5-0, both teams are tied on points and in the same position.

That's why Abu decided to start Lin Ruo, hoping to avoid any surprises and secure first place in the group.

EDG's sixth group stage match against FW has unexpectedly become one of the biggest highlights of the day.

However, that's just the beginning; you only need to watch the start. As usual, FW gets brutally beaten in the end.

In this match for first place in the group, FW selected a strong mid-jungle lineup with four core damage dealers.

EDG fielded a mid-game power spike lineup with Xin Zhao in the jungle. At the start of the match, FW mimicked EDG's strategy from the first day when they defeated KZ, successfully invading the enemy jungle and giving their Graves a three-buff advantage.

Under these circumstances, Lin Ruo, who had a bad start, changed his mindset and focused on attacking his own bottom lane duo. He reached level two and successfully killed FW's bottom lane duo, making up for the disadvantage at the start of the game.

Then, in a counter-gank in the jungle, FW capitalized on GimGoon's Ornn's sacrifice during his level 4 recall to support, outnumbering and catching the recklessly invading Graves, thus completely disrupting FW's rhythm, recovering their early disadvantage and taking the lead.

As the game progressed into the mid-game, EDG continued to put pressure on FW and easily secured Baron Nashor during a Baron Nashor trap. They then initiated a team fight, eliminating two FW players and pushing down FW's bottom lane inhibitor to secure their victory.

Aside from a single mistake at level 1, EDG gave FW no chance throughout the entire match, decisively ending the game in 30 minutes and securing a resounding six-game winning streak, leaving FW far behind to sit alone at the top of the group.

This was an expected result for LPL viewers, and also an acceptable result for LMS viewers.

And before the tournament started, we were still thinking about competing with Europe and America for third place in the group. Now you're telling me we want to compete for first place in the group? Well, getting second place in the group isn't out of the question.

Only LCK viewers couldn't accept it, because they really didn't expect that their own team KZ, which had lost to EDG and FW in a row, would lose to the European team FNC on the third day...

It successfully ignited the passion of the European audience at the scene and made a significant contribution to the development of esports in Europe.

KZ, who had a record of 3 wins and 3 losses, suddenly found themselves on the verge of losing even their third-place finish in the group stage.

Lin Ruo knew KZ's development trajectory, so he wasn't surprised at all, although it did attract considerable attention in the LPL.

The netizens on Tieba, who were getting bored watching EDG crush their opponents all the way, finally found some amusement in KZ.

KZ, the Korean version of the civil war god, are you?
(End of this chapter)