LOL: Can’t I play other games professionally?

Chapter 520 The Grand Finals Begin

In that case, people can no longer keep their fun.

[As expected, the biggest Lin fanboy in the world is Lin himself.]

Seeing Lin Gengxin showing off really makes me uncomfortable, guys. But actually, not seeing him show off makes me even more uncomfortable.

[Being invincible in practice matches is really ridiculous. Those guys who know nothing can just brag, but how dare Lin Gou (Lin Gou) come out and boast about it himself? What, so Lin Gou is even better in matches than in practice? Never mind then.]

Seeing Lin Gou bragging offline makes me constantly miss the days when I first played in the LPL. Back then, Lin Gou would always brag in the post-match interviews after each game, unlike now that he's famous and doesn't do those anymore.

[It's all fading now. Lin feels that showing off in post-match interviews is beneath him.]

[It's definitely beneath him. Lin Ruo is now the world's number one player, so it's pointless for him to mock players who are inferior to him in post-match interviews. Do you think he's still the Lin Ruo we didn't even know when he first debuted? It's only interesting when you show off after beating strong teams; it's normal for him not to act tough now that he's beating weak teams every day.]

...

In the eyes of most viewers, it's clear that Lin Ruo isn't showing off and spouting nonsense less often, but rather that the difficulty of the matches is getting lower and lower. He's winning matches with ease now, and his opponents are all defeated by him.

It's so weak that even mocking it is pointless; mainly, it's just not challenging enough.

If Lin Ruo ever stops showing off, it's either because the Earth explodes or Lin Ruo himself explodes.

Of course, it's obvious that neither of these things has happened yet, so Lin Ruo started pretending.

Seeing how netizens were exaggerating the training match, Lin Ruo suddenly felt that it wouldn't be a problem for her to exaggerate as well, since it wasn't an exaggeration to say that she only used two-thirds of her strength in the training match.

This kind of training, which focuses on practicing lineups, always prioritizes probing opponents and adjusting one's own condition. Obviously, opponents need to adjust their own condition even more than they do, so they naturally lose more often.

GRF, for example, plays the most unconventional style. In four out of ten scrims, their bot lane doesn't play the conventional AD carry, practically making their research skills written all over their faces.

Although they were still outmatched with their normal lineups later on, it didn't affect their determination to conduct research. Don't forget that the future GRF team can pull off a bot lane Garen and Yuumi combo for more than five games.

As it turns out, this is indeed a team that loves to stir things up.

Before joining EDG, Viper was never a regular carry in GRF.

Perhaps because the bottom lane mage combo is still being used in this World Championship, GRF has been trying out new strategies centered around the bottom lane in scrims against EDG and other teams.

However, this strategy is outdated, and the new version of the World Championship has undoubtedly shifted the focus of the competition to the top, mid, and jungle.

The bot lane is increasingly becoming a support/support season.

This is precisely why GRF has focused more on researching the bot lane. After all, if they can establish an advantage in the bot lane using various unconventional lineups, they can forge a lineup without tying down the jungler, while still allowing the top, mid, and jungle players to contribute their value.

That's obviously a bit too overpowered in this version.

Regardless of how the version ultimately unfolds, GRF has clearly made it clear that they are developing around the top, mid, and jungle lanes. The nerfs to Kai'Sa have made them lose all hope for their bot lane-centric playstyle.

The slight buff to Aatrox, who had already been nerfed, further confirms this point; Riot Games wants to make this World Championship a season of top lane duels.

GRF has to admit that this patch is somewhat favorable to them, well, that's assuming their top laner Sword doesn't underperform.

Knowing Jianhuang's skill level, Lin Ruoke didn't have any expectations for GRF's top, mid, and jungle players.

Tazan is very strong, Chovy is also very strong, and Sword is just a person.

This wasn't Lin Ruo's assessment; it was GimGoon, EDG's top laner, who thought so after several rematches with GRF in the following days.

"I feel like his Jayce play doesn't have that feel, but I've seen Sword play Jayce a lot in the LCK Summer Split."

GimGoon was also puzzled. Sword didn't seem to have the potential to be a top-tier top laner, but he always managed to get a lot of good top lane champions in GRF's draft strategy.

For example, Gnar is the champion Sword used the most in the LCK Summer Split.

GRF's real sacrifice often comes in the bottom lane, where the bot lane duo of Viper and Lehends tries out various lineups and is either under pressure or on their way to be under pressure.

Let's just put it that way.

iboy often plays Ezreal in the bot lane, while viper has also frequently picked Ezreal.

With EZ being picked, there probably aren't many people expecting him to carry, so clearly the importance of bot lane soloing to free up the support outweighs everything else.

"The fact that you can recognize that Sword Emperor's strength is average means that you've seen through GRF." Lin Ruo patted GimGoon on the back. It seems that this kid is quite good at gaining experience in matches.

Before the S9 match against IG, many people thought Sword was a top-tier top laner.

"Who is the Sword Emperor?" Upon hearing this, Jin Gong's first thought was that Lin Ruo was referring to, but he quickly guessed that "Sword" in English means a precious sword.

So Sword Emperor naturally refers to Sword.

Jin Gong clicked his tongue in amazement: "You've only just met him and you're already giving him a nickname."

Lin Ruo was too lazy to say anything, and simply said something else: "Anyway, the title 'Huang' isn't a good nickname."

"The 'God' generation doesn't seem like a good nickname either," Jin Gong said, drawing inferences from one instance to another.

Lin Ruo smiled and said, "I don't know, but could it be that Lin Shen is cursing me?"

...

Over the course of several days, aside from scrims, EDG has conducted in-depth research on almost all the teams that might pose a threat in this World Championship and that they are unfamiliar with.

GRF is just one of them, but as a team that has never faced each other before, they are indeed the one that has been studied the most.

Lin Ruo has only been instilling one idea from beginning to end: GRF has obvious flaws.

Once this mindset is truly formed, playing against GRF is often easier than playing against other teams.

Just like how Darius received two consecutive buffs at this year's World Championship, Riot Games seems eager to bring this Darius to the World Championship stage.

But the truth is, it's wishful thinking.

Many teams might still pick Darius in the play-in stage, but once they do, they'll realize he's useless.

It's not as good as one Aatrox, nor as good as one Urgot.

Then, after the group stage, Darius simply disappeared. No one thought of banning him to waste their draft opportunity, and no one thought of picking him to ruin their own teammates' chances.

This is a microcosm of Sword Emperor. Right now, he seems to fit the capabilities of a top-tier top laner, but after playing a few games in the World Championship, everyone will realize that he's really just that kind of player.

Time just passed.

The rest of the time will continue as usual. You can eat some Korean food whenever you have time, but only barbecue.

October 1st has arrived.

The play-in stage, the prelude to the S8 World Championship, has officially begun amidst little attention. With no LPL or LCK teams participating, the only familiar names are the two established European and American powerhouses, G2 and C9.

This holiday, which should have been a time for national celebration, was instead used by the South Korean authorities to host the qualifying rounds, while the actual group stage will not begin until the 7th.

The holiday has come to an end, just as it was.

Now Chinese viewers have nothing to watch. Before the group stage even started, although the qualifying rounds were in full swing, it didn't seem like a world-class event, with pitifully low viewership.

Last year at least WE participated in the Play-In Stage, but this year Gen.G, who was supposed to play in the Play-In Stage, is no longer participating due to rule changes.

Without Chinese and South Korean teams, there is absolutely no attraction whatsoever.

G2? At this point, G2 probably wasn't as appealing to LPL viewers as C9.

Five days passed quickly.

With the play-in stage over, the teams advancing to the group stage were basically all from the top five leagues, with the exception of C9 and G2, plus GRX, the third seed from Taiwan.

Although it's in the Southeast Asian league, it's actually a team composed of people from Hong Kong, China.

The remaining fourth qualifying spot was somewhat surprising, coming from the wildcard Japanese region, where DFM was participating in the World Championship for the first time.

Most people may not know much about DFM, but once that bundle of rulers is revealed, all the viewers will have an unforgettable impression of the DFM team.

With the advancing teams now determined, the final question that remains to be answered is the group assignments.

In an interview, Perzk, known as the god of G2, seriously stated that he wanted to go to Group A. He had no other reason; whether or not they advanced from the group stage didn't matter. He just wanted to beat up Doublelift's TL.

This proves that Europe is larger than North America.

And the final result was so dramatic: G2 was indeed the first to be drawn into Group A, forming the final piece of the "group of death" puzzle.

EDG, Gen, TL, G2.

The moment it was released, it sparked a huge discussion on the LPL forum.

Can you believe that Team Liquid, the North American Summer Split champions, are likely the weakest team?

[I don't need to go with a high probability; I think TL is definitely the weakest team. Let's set a small goal first: winning one game in the group stage would be a success.]

[Kids, I believe in our eldest brother's abilities more than anyone else. I bet a dime that TL will most likely be eliminated last in their group.]

[Where's the tombstone? Diligent Photoshop users, please erect one for my esteemed senior brother in advance, thank you. Let us congratulate him on his elimination from the group stage two weeks early.]

[This is so tragic, sob sob. This should have been Doublelift's last World Championship, and he ended up in such a terrible group. Riot Games clearly doesn't want Doublelift to leave with any joy.]

[I declare that Team Liquid (TL), led by Doublelift, is the most miserable summer split champion in League of Legends history. After all, have you ever seen a summer split champion who had absolutely no chance of advancing from their group?]

[But all of this is ultimately the fault of Doublelift himself. Who told him to lead North America to the top 16 in the World Championship year after year, and even perform terribly at MSI? Otherwise, they wouldn't have been able to beat Taiwan, finish at the bottom of the five major regions, and only get the second seed as the Summer Split champion.]

...

Obviously.

After a round of discussion, LPL viewers' thoughts were quite clear: Doublelift, you're really bad. It's not that LPL viewers don't believe in Doublelift, but rather that his consistently poor performance year after year makes it impossible for them to even have the slightest reason to believe in him.

Although G2 has been inconsistent year after year, at least they've had a day where they've pulled through. As for Doublelift, he's just completely lacking, consistently starting and getting eliminated in both World Championship and MSI.

Therefore, it's not unreasonable to think that the senior brother will definitely be eliminated.

Most viewers felt the same way about G2; they thought G2 might be slightly better than TL, but not by much.

After all, the group includes EDG and Gen.G, so although it is a group of death, most viewers felt that the spots for advancement were predetermined from the beginning.

If anyone disagrees, it's most likely G2's Perzk, who tweeted after the group stage ended that he believed he could make it to the quarterfinals.

As expected, amidst widespread ridicule from Western audiences, Lin Ruo was the sole supporter who gave a thumbs-up and left a confident comment:

"I think G2 can advance to the quarterfinals as the second-place team in the group. Don't ask why, Perzk says it's okay, so it's okay."

Lin Ruo had never been so certain before, for a simple reason: Gen.G in the 18 World Championship would show the world just how terrible they were.

While it's not to say they can't beat all the group stage teams, they certainly can't beat most of them. After all, achieving a 1-5 record in two rounds is unprecedented and almost drove the home crowd of West African fans crazy.

"Good brother, good brother for life."

Perzk was deeply moved upon seeing the message and vowed to give his best performance.

Lin Ruo smiled but didn't say anything. Was he going to save his best performance for his good buddy RNG?

With the other draws completed and the remaining three qualifying teams finalized, the actual group stage draw was officially concluded.

C9 moved into Group C, GRX joined Group D, and DFM became a member of Group B.

With that, there were only three days left until the start of the group stage.

To boost the publicity, Riot Games released the player power rankings again that night, which is the familiar top 20 players in the world.

GimGoon has successfully secured the 20th place ranking, despite being the most resilient top laner and having the deepest champion pool.

Upon learning of the situation in the training room, Lin Ruo could only say that fists are judged by their feet.

However, upon seeing that he was in first place, Lin Ruo immediately gave a thumbs up, proving that Riot Games' judgment was absolutely spot on.

"And these comments are really well written," Lin Ruo couldn't help but recite them aloud with great emotion in front of everyone who was queuing up.

"We can't imagine that the world's number one ADC will still be number one after switching to jungle. As the man who led the LPL to break the legend of no championships as soon as he debuted, we still don't know how strong Lin Ruo is. No one is not looking forward to his future, another legend of League of Legends."

"Come on, look at how much you're bragging." Mingkai, who was also playing ranked matches, felt a wave of disgust.

He at least played four or five ranked games in Korea, unlike Lin Ruo, who didn't play a single ranked game in Korea.

Although Mingkai knew that ranked matches wouldn't affect Lin Ruo's performance at all, he still wanted to say, "Are you here on vacation in Korea? You don't even play a single ranked match."

In comparison, he is completely different from GRF's jungler Tazan.

Mingkai had never seen a man who could climb the ranks so well. Not only did he hold the top spot in the Korean server's rank, but he also had two other accounts in the top ten.

Yes, Tazan controlled three accounts and managed to climb into the top ten on the Korean server. It's unbelievable that ranking up is probably easier than breathing.

so horrible.

"I've actually come in fourth place! That's an amazing improvement."

Beside him, Tian Ye, who was ranked in the teens last year, looked at himself jumping to fourth place and could hardly believe it.

He knew better than anyone what other reasons there were besides good grades.

It's highly likely that he just plays support and blindly follows Lin Ruo around all day to get things done, which is why his stats and in-game performance are both outstanding.

Honestly, if you ask yourself honestly...

Compared to last year when Lin Ruo played the bottom lane, Tian Ye believes he has put in a lot of effort, but this year, after Lin Ruo switched to the jungle,

All Tianye can say is that he tried, but not much.

After all, there's no need to worry about laning in the bottom lane anymore; all you need to do is roam, and roaming with Lin Ruo is fine.

"Wow, Scout is second." Tianye couldn't help but be surprised as he looked further. One team had taken three spots in the top five. EDG was truly invincible this year.

Those who don't know the situation might think Riot Games is sucking up to EDG.

"It feels like the Fist is jinxing us." iboy, who doesn't talk much but is quite witty when he does, thinks this is not a good thing.

There was absolutely no objection to the fact that they occupied three of the top five spots.

Tianye smiled, not worried about the issue at all: "With Brother Lin around, you're not afraid of poisonous milk? You're kidding, it's good enough if Brother Lin doesn't poison them to death."

He might have worried before, but now he thinks Riot Games should be the ones who are really worried. They've underestimated the rankings; four of the top five should be EDG.

What achievements does Tazan have? How come he's ranked fifth right after arriving? What, are three Challenger accounts so great?

And then there's Semb, ranked third. Is this what Riot considers the best top laner in the world right now? He can't even win a so-called league championship.

Well, it's good enough that it wasn't given to the Sword Emperor.

...

After the initial shockwaves from the top 20 subsided, and with only two days to prepare, the situation improved.

10 month 7 day.

Compared to previous years when the World Championship started a week later, the S8 League of Legends World Championship group stage has finally begun amidst much anticipation.

The venue for this group stage is the main hall of the Busan BEXCO Exhibition and Convention Center, a very important conference venue with a maximum capacity of 2800 people.

It's much better than the 500-seat studios in Europe and America, but compared to the LPL, the so-called large venue is still quite ordinary.

Especially compared to last year's World Championships in China, where massive stadiums with tens of thousands of attendees were a common sight.

Around 2 PM Korean time, the EDG team arrived at the rest room inside the venue to begin their final preparations for the match.

The competition will be held from 16 PM to 21 PM, with six group matches played each day.

To boost the excitement of the World Championship opening day, LCK dropped a bombshell by scheduling the Group A match between EDG and Gen.G as the first game after the opening ceremony.

The China-Korea match is always the most popular, and the LCK officials aren't stupid.

Furthermore, considering that when the World Championship was held in China last year, almost none of the three LPL teams performed poorly on home soil, and EDG even broke the monopoly and won the final championship.

This demonstrates the immense confidence that playing at home brings to a team, significantly raising the skill ceiling for many teams.

Therefore, the LCK officials have always believed that although the Korean region's overall performance this year has been less than satisfactory, they believe that with the home advantage at the World Championship, the three teams will definitely be able to unleash their potential compared to the past.

This is also why the LCK officials dared to bring Gen.G up to face EDG in their first match.

With the majority of the audience being from South Korea, it's time for Gen.G to show their home-field advantage.

The LCK officials and most Korean fans had high hopes for this match.

In this regard, it is clear that the LCK officials have forgotten another very important issue.

Playing at home can certainly raise a team's ceiling, but everything has its advantages and disadvantages. It can also put a lot of pressure on the team, which may significantly affect their subsequent performance.

Gen seems to favor the latter.

At this moment, the expressions on everyone's faces in the Gen.com lounge were far from pleasant.

They were well aware of how strong EDG was, so when Crown learned that they would be facing them right from the start, he almost complained.

"They should have let us play against weaker teams like TL or G2 first to get into form. How could they start by playing against EDG? What if we can't get a winning start for the region..."

Crown Bro is already imagining what it will be like when they get furiously criticized by Korean netizens for starting a fight.

Even though he usually disliked hearing people boast about others, Sect Leader An surprisingly agreed this time.

It's not that they're afraid of EDG, but EDG is just too strong. They're really not afraid of suffering a terrible defeat if they start fighting right from the beginning.

Even now, Ambition still has dreams, but as he gets older, Haru is already the starting jungler for the team, and he can only sit on the bench and watch most of the time.

Then, watching the upcoming match, Master An's expression remained anything but pleasant.

To be honest, the team's performance in scrims has been poor for some reason these past few days. Do they really have even the slightest chance of winning against EDG?
"Be confident, we might not necessarily lose to EDG. There are so many fans supporting us here." Corejj, also a senior member of the team, tried to lighten the mood. This is likely his last year with Gen.G.

Corejj has decided that regardless of his performance at the World Championships this year, he will choose to go to North America next year to make money.

"Then good luck."

Now that things have come to this, Gen.G has no choice but to fight back aggressively and pull out all the stops to fight to the death.

In contrast to the atmosphere here, the rest room of EDG on the other side was completely ordinary.

Lin Ruo was playing on her phone, wondering whether she should post a Weibo message to spice things up before going on stage.

Tianye calmly picked at his fingers; dealing with Gen was nothing new to them.

Even the youngest, iboy, didn't show any emotional change; he was just thinking about getting some more sleep before the match.

This is what's happening on the large screen in the center of the lounge.

The opening ceremony took place as scheduled at 15:30 p.m., and the first act was the K/DA girl group that Riot Games had just launched. The energetic music instantly ignited the atmosphere.

(End of this chapter)