LOL: Can’t I play other games professionally?

Chapter 485 Asian Games Training Camp

In this respect, the gap between LPL and LCK is obviously huge. At least for now, even though LPL has clearly replaced LCK's dominance, the difference between the two teams' mid laners is still enormous.

The LCK, including both domestic and overseas locations, boasts an astonishingly large number of top-tier mid laners.

It's obvious that three of the top four LPL teams have Korean mid-laners.

This is also the most wonderful dilemma for LCK in the Asian Games team selection process, bar none.

With the Asian Games approaching, LCK, one of LPL's biggest competitors, is also busy preparing its roster selection process at the same time as LPL officially announces its Asian Games lineup.

However, aside from the mid-lane position, the selection process in the LCK is much more difficult than in the LPL.

In previous years, LCK viewers might have thought that any five LCK players could easily beat LPL, but things are different now. Now it seems like no matter how many players you pick, they can't beat LPL.

The reason is simple: the LCK teams this year have generally underperformed, leaving the LCK coaching staff unsure of what to choose.

Not to mention the players, even the coaches were a problem for LCK from the beginning. After thinking it over, they could only bring Kkoma back from LPL, and they had to beg and plead with the SNG management.

Since it was still during the league season, SNG wouldn't easily let their coach go.

LCK didn't want to choose from LPL either, but they really couldn't find anything better.

Why not hire Kkoma, who has both ability and experience, instead of Nofe, or even Sin, the dismissed coach of KZ?

It's obvious that Kkoma is better, even though Kkoma has only led SN to the top six in the LPL playoffs so far.

However, after comparing their performance at the Intercontinental Cup, the LCK officials felt that it was already a cause for celebration that Kkoma was able to lead SNG to the top six in the playoffs.

With the responsibility of coaching the Asian Games falling on Kkoma, the burden of selecting players for each position also fell accordingly.

LCK officials successfully shifted the blame, causing Kkoma some distress.

The main problem is that the current LCK players are all in poor form, and Kkoma is having some trouble finding the best options. Khan, who was the world's best top laner last year, has fallen from grace at lightning speed.

So, besides Khan, the only other top laners worth watching are KT's Semb and AFS's new top laner Kiin, who has been the most consistent top laner this year.

In addition, Kkoma also noticed GimGoon, the top laner from EDG, whose performance this season goes without saying.

However, Kkoma is worried that GimGoon is a system player cultivated by EDG, and that he is bound by the conventional concept that LCK top laners must be able to carry.

Kkoma believes that Kim Gong doesn't quite fit this description.

Indeed, GimGoon mostly played under pressure in EDG's matches this year, which was due to the needs of Lin Ruo's jungle carry playstyle. However, when GimGoon actually played lane-type heroes, his performance was not bad either, but he did not have many opportunities to showcase his abilities.

After much deliberation, Kkoma ultimately chose Kiin from AFS for the top lane position, as balance was the most important factor for him.

Semb relies too much on jungle support, which contradicts Kkoma's consistent philosophy.

What he needs is a top laner who can play it safe when he needs to, and step up when he needs to.

Meanwhile, considering that Lin Ruo was the jungler for the Asian Games in the LPL, Kkoma, who was intentionally avoiding direct confrontation with him, did not plan to engage in any head-on clashes in the top and jungle positions.

If Semb is selected, then the clashes in this area are inevitable, but Lin Ruo has ganked all the top laners. Is it really a good idea to go head-to-head?
Not a bit less.

With the top lane position secured, the jungler position will be even more of a headache.

The current LCK has absolutely no one available, or rather, no one who can compete with Lin Ruo. Peanut's performance has been so poor that he's no longer of interest to Kkoma.

AFS's weak point is their jungler, Sprite? Or SKT's consistently underwhelming jungler, Blank... After much thought, the only options seem to be Samsung's Ambition and KT's Score.

Kkoma's initial idea was to bring both of them along to cope with the immense pressure Lin Ruo was putting on them.

After all, if they want to win the Asian Games championship, their biggest enemy can only be Lin Ruo, and it must be Lin Ruo. Having a rotation makes things more convenient.

However, if the jungler brings along the only substitute, then the mid laner position will become a major problem.

Faker, as the core mid-laner, deserves to be selected without any doubt. This not only represents respect for him but also recognition of him as the best player in LCK and even League of Legends.

However... Faker isn't the mid-laner in the best form right now.

Don't forget, Scout won all the international championships for two consecutive years.

To ensure they have the best fighting force in the LCK, they absolutely must bring Scout back; only then can they see a glimmer of hope for winning the championship.

Faker also has to be selected, or at least be a substitute, which makes the selection of substitutes very limited.

Anyone with a brain knows how much of a public relations crisis would result if Faker wasn't selected, especially since Kkoma was the head coach who guided Faker's growth and witnessed his rise to godhood.

With the Asian Games gold medal and the great opportunity to be exempt from military service, Kkoma naturally couldn't let Faker, who wasn't in great form this year, be left out of the selection process.

With the starter and substitute for the mid lane position finalized, a choice had to be made for the jungle position. Kkoma ultimately gave up on Ambition and chose Score as the starter instead.

Although Score was also completely crushed by Lin Ruo at the Intercontinental Cup, you really can't find another player who wasn't crushed by Lin Ruo.

I guess I'll just have to make do.

Finally, we come to the bottom lane duo. The golden duo, Bang and Wolf, are both at the age where they should retire, so it's impossible for them to be selected for the Asian Games anymore.

The Xuanming Elders were originally the best answer, but they collapsed beyond repair after MSI, so the only option left is the combination of Ruler and Corejj.

but…

Clearly, Ruler didn't have the glory of the 17 World Championship this time, which made Kkoma hesitate for a long time.

Ultimately, after much painful reflection, Kkoma decided to use the core AI Aiming from AFS, as Aiming is absolutely qualified, at least in terms of being a large C.

If they don't want to compete with LPL teams in jungle skirmishes, then their two carries are especially important and must be able to shoulder the responsibility of dealing damage.

Corejj will still be the support player, which is Kkoma's final answer.

The LCK officials who finalized the list immediately called EDG to ask Scout's opinion. Scout would naturally not refuse the opportunity to be exempted from military service.

"It seems LCK is still afraid of us." Mingkai sighed upon receiving the news.

In the past, LCK would never have considered a Korean player who was playing professionally in LPL.

That's impossible. They'll just think that anyone who goes to the LPL is just wasting their career for money, or that they can't make it in the LCK and that's why they're going overseas.

If there were such a national team tournament, the LCK officials would definitely not give a second glance to the Korean players in the LPL, believing that there is no need to call up any foreign players at all.

However, the results of the past two years have been a slap in the face to LCK, forcing them to lower their proud heads and abandon their prejudices to make a careful choice.

They might not want to select LPL players, as they would need to negotiate with LPL clubs. But the reality is that the strongest LCK players are in the LPL…

"Without me protecting you, Scout, you better watch out, or I'll beat you to a pulp." Upon seeing Scout selected, Lin Ruo habitually uttered a harsh threat.

You need to put some pressure on your good brothers; that's called mental preparation before the game starts.

Tianye chimed in, "Support should be able to gank mid at level two, right? If not, try again at level four, and again at level six."

Scout is also difficult to talk to; his teammates know his habits too well, and he might just get inexplicably ganked and destroyed in the future.

Moreover, in terms of teamwork with Lin Ruo, Scout, who used to be the most opinionated and even often argued with Ming Kai, who was a player, has completely changed.

He basically listens to Lin Ruo in the game now, which has led to him not thinking independently for a long time. Suddenly leaving, and even becoming an opponent, will definitely make him feel a little uncomfortable.

Who can blame Lin Ruo for being absolutely right? The reason he and Ming Kai had arguments about games before was simple: he believed that Ming Kai did have some issues.

But Lin Ruoke doesn't have these problems.

So when Lin Ruo said he was prepared to get beaten up, Scout thought it was actually quite possible.

But that's all for later. Before the Asian Games, they still have two weeks of regular season games to play.

The LPL Summer Split standings remain very impressive in the second half, with EDG currently leading the Western Conference standings with a perfect 12-0 record.

To ensure that the regular season does not disrupt the training camp after August 15th, the LPL can either postpone the relevant schedules or start the season earlier.

EDG played three matches in one week in early August, facing RNG and WE from the same group, as well as TOP.

Lin Ruo, who has already been a substitute, still didn't play much in the WE vs. TOP match, except in the match against RNG, after Haro's first game appearance ended in defeat.

Lin Ruo then came on as a substitute and led the team to a narrow victory, coming back from a 0-1 deficit to win 2-1 and maintain their winning streak in the summer season.

Lin Ruo basically stopped playing in the later matches. IG and RW from the other group no longer had a chance to play against each other, and the players in his group were mostly mediocre, so there was no need for him.

Lin Ruo calmly made the most of her last moments to climb the ranks in CrossFire, striving to rise from the top 100 in the entire region to the top 10.

When August 13th arrived, Lin Ruo knew that his days of suffering were about to begin.

The Asian Games training camp is a challenging event, as the training camp lasts for more than a week and is being held at the sports training center in Shenzhen.

This location is also the training ground for other athletes participating in the Asian Games. It's not like being able to slack off at the EDG club. Lin Ruo could only imagine what it was like to play League of Legends for eight hours a day in the past.

Anyway, it's been a long time since I've tried it, so it feels a bit unfamiliar.

On the morning of August 14, all the athletes and staff participating in the Asian Games gathered at Shanghai Pudong Airport, ready to depart for Shenzhen.

Scout, who also left with them, boarded a flight back to South Korea for training. This time, LCK can be said to be following LPL's lead completely, as they do not want to create any possibility of complacency.

Meanwhile, the LPL Summer Split regular season is still ongoing, and EDG still has two matches to play, but these will not be able to be made up until the end of August or even the beginning of September.

During the Asian Games, the LPL Summer Split regular season will not be suspended; however, the regular seasons for EDG and RNG will be postponed accordingly.

In front of the airport, Lin Ruo calmly greeted the other trainees who were participating in the training camp.

Mouse's eyes lit up when he saw Lin Ruo, and he couldn't wait to come up and cuddle with him: "Great, Brother Lin, I can continue to lie down when I play the game with you."

He couldn't even imagine the hardships he had endured during his year with RW, because the club didn't treat him like a role player at all, and constantly made him pick Captain as the carry.

Moreover, Cuzz, that traitor, rarely comes to the top lane, while Doinb is always doing things like ganking the bottom lane with four players.

You want me to do C, but you won't help me? That won't do.

So when Mouse saw Lin Ruo again, he was incredibly excited. There is only one way in the world to win a game that is the happiest and least stressful.

That means following Brother Lin and winning effortlessly, eating three meals a day, and never going hungry.

When he was there before, Lin Ruo had a hard time getting carried in the bottom lane because he often only exerted his strength in the late game, and Lin Ruo inevitably needed to carry the team in the early and mid-game.

That's how ADCs are; you can't just dominate all three lanes in the early game, unless you have a clone ability, even if the King of Heaven himself came, he couldn't do it.

However, Lin Ruo has now switched to jungle, which is an incredibly good position. Thinking of Lin Ruo's current nickname, "The best top laner in League of Legends," Mouse couldn't help but grin from ear to ear.

Are you going to try and outnumber us on the top lane? That would be great! I'm a professional at calling someone "daddy."

How wonderful that must be! At least I feel comfortable.

Xiao Ming, who was watching from the side, could also feel it. After all, he had often been carried by Lin Ruo in duo queue before. However, Lin Ruo started to act like a big shot after winning the Spring Split championship with EDG.

And I never want to duo queue with him again.

Xiaoming had no objection to this, because Lin Ruo wasn't isolating him, but everyone else.

Yes, Lin Ruo didn't play League of Legends ranked games much anymore at that time...

"Little dog, I will definitely help you win the Asian Games championship this time." The enthusiastic Lin Ruo would never forget to make a promise to her idol first.

Uzi was very reassured. He remembered that Lin Ruo had said the same thing at the Intercontinental Cup, and then they won the championship.

For some reason, after teaming up with Lin Ruo, Uzi felt that he might even win the world championship. He had an urge to transfer to EDG next season.

If we can win the championship, then cutting our salary in half is not a problem.

"Brother Lin, I'll play mid lane, you can play support."

Xiaohu thought for a moment and came over, but Lin Ruo's request for him was simple: "Xiaohu, just don't feed when you play against Scout and Faker."

"Okay." Xiao Hu wasn't angry at all; he was filled with affirmation. This was Brother Lin giving him a hint.

It implies that as long as he holds his own online, Lin Ruo can easily carry him to victory, which would be incredibly satisfying.

From now on, UZI will never force us to do dangerous 2v5 situations again.

From now on, to play it safe, I'll just go straight for the naked Golden Body. I think no one will dare to criticize me anymore. I'm doing this according to Brother Lin's instructions to resolutely not give the opponent any chance.

I'm such a meticulous person, let's see who dares to say I'm a coward.

In this area, Xiao Hu considers himself an expert; if he wants to be a meat supplier, no one can stop him.

(End of this chapter)