LOL: Can’t I play other games professionally?

Chapter 495 The Finals, Ultimate Swing.

With one hour to go before the start of the League of Legends finals at the Asian Games, there was no live broadcast to keep you informed, but there were still on-site interviews, mainly by CCTV reporters, offering spoilers.

Therefore, some footage of the players before the start of the competition was naturally leaked.

Early in the morning, before the competition even started, CCTV reporters arrived at the only way to enter the competition venue, and the entire Chinese team participating in the competition was clearly visible on camera.

Lin Ruo always leads the group, smiling and waving to the camera as she passes by, and the other contestants behind her follow suit.

A CCTV reporter then stepped forward for an interview, asking simply, "Does Lin Ruo think she can win the match today?"

Upon hearing this, Lin Ruo gave an OK sign, looking confident: "It's all covered. If there are any problems, contact Abu. He's my guardian."

Abu, who was drinking water in the back, almost spat out his soda. What do you mean by asking him if there's a problem? Besides, what does "guardian" mean? Didn't he become an adult last December?
"Lin Ruo is really humorous." After asking the question, the CCTV reporter turned to the camera to follow up: "Dear viewers, these are all the Chinese players who participated in the League of Legends Asian Games finals. We can see that every player has a smile and confidence on their face."

"We also believe that the gold medal in this League of Legends exhibition match will undoubtedly belong to the Chinese team."

The camera then focused on the entire Chinese team entering the stadium before ending the shot.

Because events like the Asian Games usually have pre-event interviews, and the organizers even select many matches for live streaming, the pre-event interviews were broadcast live in their entirety on CCTV's website and television channels, which is why many viewers paid attention to them.

This is also the only League of Legends Asian Games live stream content that fans can watch.

When the camera came on and Lin Ruo started making witty remarks, the audience exclaimed that it was just right and no further explanation was needed.

[That feels good, kids. It's been a long time since we've heard Lin Ruo say anything slutty.]

[Are you sure how long? Didn't Lin just have a post-match interview yesterday after the semi-final? Although it was delayed, it wasn't by more than a few minutes.]

[I'm off to the text-based live stream next door.]

[Going to sleep, do I even need to watch anymore? Waking up means another victory.]

[That's true. They're going to have to go to a deciding set against the provincial team. I don't know how the Korean team will win. It feels like there's no point in watching the game at all.]

[Tch, you just don't want to watch? You clearly can't watch it; there's no live stream available for you. If there were, you would have been eagerly watching it long ago.]

[I can't watch it, so I don't. Who can stand reading text-based live streams? It's a bit of a torture. It would be so much better if the live stream were broadcast live.]

[Is the scene strange? It's sealed.]

[Lin Gou said it's a sure thing, so what's there to worry about? I'll just set an alarm for two and a half hours, and when I wake up it should be around 3:0.]

...

The interview ended without a meeting. Apart from those still awkwardly chatting in the live stream, most viewers left quickly. It was indeed too torturous for them to watch text-based live streams when there was no live stream available.

However, this does not change their belief that there will be no surprises in the match, and they believe that if they can see the current state of the South Korean team, they will have even less to worry about.

After the Chinese team entered the venue, the South Korean team, who arrived late, followed.

Fortunately, the CCTV reporter's camera didn't capture it, otherwise the less-than-pleasant mood on head coach Kkoma's face would have been made public.

Kkoma didn't get a single good night's sleep, let alone get some rest.

However, since he, as the head coach, doesn't have to play in the games, it's not a big deal whether he gets to sleep or not. The main thing is that the players need to get enough rest.

However, Kkoma didn't see any particularly good expressions on the faces of the other players either.

These reasons are not just due to lack of sleep. Yesterday's five-game battle with the Taiwan team was also a major contributing factor. After all, playing BO5 for two consecutive days would affect one's mental state and make it difficult to concentrate.

Given their inferior strength compared to the Chinese team, it's perfectly understandable that they would feel down.

The venue, which still only had a capacity of less than 500 people, gradually filled with cheering spectators as time went by, and Chinese fans undoubtedly made up the majority of them.

Even before they took the stage, the two sides already displayed a vastly different aura, and this was also true for the players themselves.

The moment the Chinese team stepped onto the field, the atmosphere was no longer that of a pre-match game, but rather that of someone who had already won the championship.

A small number of South Korean fans tried to fight back when their own team took the stage, but they didn't make much of a splash.

After a brief preparation, both sides took their seats and started setting up their equipment. Because the computers and network provided in Jakarta were not very good, it took twice as long as usual to set up the equipment.

It wasn't until about 10 minutes past the match time that the live commentary finally came on screen to analyze the draft picks.

"China is on the blue side, South Korea is on the red side, and Faker is still starting for South Korea this time."

Wang Duoduo, who was in charge of the finals commentary, analyzed the draft phase in a swift manner, saying, "The Chinese team's first three picks were Rakan, Shen, and Zoe in the mid lane."

The first two support picks are easy to understand; they are both OP heroes that are either banned or picked in this version, although Shen didn't perform well when used by the Korean team in the last round.

However, this does not affect the status of the supermodel. In an era where the bottom lane is weak, if they dare to let it out, they will definitely take it.

As the blue team, the Chinese team certainly wouldn't do anything like picking Shen on the first floor, so naturally, pressing it in the first three picks is the wisest choice.

As for removing Zoe from the mid-lane position, Wang Duoduo keenly sensed a very obvious message behind it.

That means Xiaohu will definitely not try to play any lane matchups online, but will likely choose more utility-oriented heroes to ensure that he can protect Lin Ruo in the jungle.

Otherwise, it would be unnecessary to eliminate Zoe, the biggest threat in the lane, in the first three moves.

Wang Duoduo's thinking was very clear, which coincided with Kkoma's thinking on the other side of the player's seat.

After a brief moment of thought, the Korean team also quickly eliminated Morgana, Swain, and Trundle in the jungle position in their first three picks.

learn from mistakes.

The South Korean team, having learned from their mistakes, has become very clever and gained valuable experience.

The vulnerabilities exposed by Swain and Morgana in the previous two rounds of matches meant that their bot lane was always at a disadvantage.

Therefore, the Korean team chose to disable all of them to ensure that the bottom lane has a suitable environment for survival and to avoid becoming a vulnerability in the team again.

In their view, pressing the button on the troll was perfectly normal. The reason was simple: the hero was indeed too overpowered in the early game, and even more so in Lin Ruo's hands.

If you want to get by, and Score doesn't cause problems in the early stages, it's far better to just shut it down than to take too many preventative measures.

After the first three rounds of ban/pick, the match quickly entered the first three pick selection phase. The Chinese team almost instantly locked in Varus in the first pick position.

This left Wang Duoduo and the other people in the South Korean players' seats somewhat dumbfounded.

Varus is a champion that can't be played passively in the bot lane; if you pick him, you're definitely going to make a difference. So, will the Chinese team play with a traditional AD carry as their core strategy and focus all their efforts on supporting the bot lane?

This is clearly inconsistent with the Chinese team's playing style and approach in every match since the Asian Games.

So what is the purpose? Is the so-called change of tactics simply to catch them off guard?

Kkoma didn't quite understand, but that didn't stop him from believing that the Chinese team's sudden shift in the draft was creating opportunities for them.

If the bot lane wants to go for a core playstyle these days, then go for it. I'll stick to my top, mid, and jungle playstyle and see which side performs better later on.

Barrel plus Ryze.

When the South Korean team revealed their first two moves, even Wang Duoduo in the commentary booth couldn't help but gasp: "The South Korean team's choices for these two moves were, I must say, excellent."

What's so good about it? It's all about stability. The Ryze and Gragas mid-jungle duo is incredibly stable. They don't need to do anything too aggressive in the early game, and they can still perform at their best in the mid-game.

Moreover, Ryze is synonymous with Faker, which goes without saying.

Even Gragas can be considered synonymous with Score, because he is the champion that Score has picked the most throughout his career, without exception.

At this moment, Lin Ruo, sitting in the Chinese team's bench, looked at the lineup with a calm expression: "The other side is very stable, but we are even more stable than them."

Xiao Hu next to him nodded repeatedly, sorry, their lineup was indeed more stable than the other side, because the legendary Pig-Cow combination was revealed on the second and third floors next.

"A Minotaur and Sejuani? That's a good combination; these two picks really enhance the team's rhythm."

In the commentary booth, Wang Duoduo's tone changed, and he began to praise the Chinese team's draft picks.

Most players would feel completely at ease if they saw their jungler and support duo consist of Alistar and Sejuani.

These two heroes, once picked, will make you wonder if they're tanky enough, and whether you can initiate team fights.

Moreover, with Alistar paired with Varus, the bottom lane priority is practically guaranteed.

The only thing Sejuani might have to worry about is having her jungle invaded, but since the enemy team has already locked in Gragas as their jungler, there's really no need to worry.

"Let's pick Ezreal first, then the bot lane should be able to hold its own." Kkoma, choosing to stick to the same strategy, prioritized ensuring the bot lane's survival.

If EZ can get killed in lane, then he might as well retire. What's more, the enemy support is a tank support. Picking a mage support and trying to fight back in lane is not a bad idea.

However, Kkoma focused all his attention on the top, mid, and jungle, believing that the most important elements in this version are the top, mid, and jungle, as long as the bot lane no longer suffers from being completely outmatched in lane.

Then we can definitely ignore it for now.

The two sides quickly entered the second round of ban/pick phase, and Camille and Kled were both banned on the red side.

Everyone on the Korean team could see this clearly. The Chinese team's lineup was very much geared towards strong team fights. So, if they were paired with Kled or Camille, who could initiate team fights and deal damage, then...

That lineup is undoubtedly a bit too good.

If someone makes a draft pick like that, handing over a knife, they're guaranteed to be retired on the spot.

Later, as expected, the Chinese team also banned Gangplank and Aatrox for the top lane.

Everyone knows they have a team fight composition, so by comparison, the Korean team definitely has an extremely good kiting composition.

If the Chinese team fails to achieve its goal in one wave, it will likely be defeated by the Korean team. Therefore, the Captain should not be given out, as it is too easy for the Chinese team to back down. The same applies to Aatrox.

With the ban phase over, it was time for the fourth pick. As both sides continued their battle of wits, no one expected the Korean team to make such a flexible decision in their meticulous drafting process.

That means temporarily picking Taliyah to replace Gragas as the jungler.

With Gragas generally considered the jungler, the sudden emergence of Taliyah to replace him inevitably caused Sejuani, who had been complacent, to encounter major problems in the jungle.

The Korean team still intends to put pressure on Lin Ruo, and locking in Taliyah can better free up the heroes in the mid and top positions.

Kkoma's unexpected turn of events has shifted the focus of winning the game back to Nakano and Ueno.

Otherwise, the situation could easily escalate into a battle around the bottom lane, which is not the outcome Kkoma wants to see.

At this moment, Wang Duoduo, the commentator, frowned even more, but he quickly realized that there was a reversal, as the Chinese team had also made the best adjustments.

What adjustments are being made?

I'll pick Gnar first in the top lane, and as for the mid lane, I won't pick any mages.

Tianye, positioned on the fifth floor, immediately locked in Irelia for Xiaohu in the mid-lane position.

With these two moves, the so-called team-fighting lineup enters a phase where it can both attack and defend.

Are Gnar and Irelia weak in team fights? Not at all. On the contrary, they are even more effective at split pushing.

One-three-one single carry!

Although there is no mage, this split push does bring a lot of flexibility and various tactical adjustments, which directly reduces the Korean team's room for maneuver.

If you don't want to team fight and prefer to kite, then sorry, we'll go split push. With Gnar and Irelia having two items, split pushing isn't something Ryze alone can easily control.

This directly forced the Korean team to adjust their lineup, and Kkoma had no choice but to instruct CoreJJ to pick a rare Fiora in the fifth-floor counter-pick position to deal with the situation.

This is the best option to prevent split pushing, because Fiora is actually stronger when split pushing. They need to use Fiora and Ryze to form a synergy to prevent the Chinese team from split pushing in a 1-3-1 formation later on.

As a result, both sides seem to have changed, but they still maintain a balanced situation.

This draft didn't reveal which team had a worse lineup or a better lineup. The only difference was that Kkoma seemed to have a backup plan.

In the final moments of the draft, Faker's mid-lane Ryze was moved to the top lane, while top laner Kiin's Fiora was moved to the mid lane.

Fiora is about to gank mid, while Ryze is going to gank top lane...

(End of this chapter)