LOL: Can’t I play other games professionally?

Chapter 521 First Battle of the World Championship

It has to be said that Riot Games attaches great importance to the release of K/DA, and without hesitation, it was featured at the opening ceremony of the World Championship.

There will even be an even bigger KDA debut ceremony in the later finals.

But no matter what, it seems better than the LPL opening ceremony.

After all, they are a girl group. Watching LPL dodging the issue and doing cosplay, and a bunch of masked men dancing wildly, Lin Ruo felt that although KDA had some personal bias, it was definitely watchable.

Tell me, isn't this dance amazing? Isn't this music electrifying?

Moreover, the S8 theme song "Rise" followed, and its release undoubtedly brought the opening ceremony to a new climax.

If we had to point out a drawback, it would be that there were too few audience members, resulting in a lack of genuine response in terms of cheers.

With only about 3000 people, it seemed far from having the overwhelming momentum of a large-scale rally, so naturally, the response and support were somewhat lacking.

Looking at the scene from a distance, it didn't seem very big, which prompted many viewers in the LPL live stream chat to complain.

[Couldn't they find a large venue in Busan? I'd think League of Legends wasn't as popular in Korea as it is in Europe and America, otherwise why would they choose such a small venue?]

[Perhaps they're worried that if the venue is too big, a large number of Chinese people will buy tickets and join in, fearing they won't have a home-field advantage.]

It's possible that the Siba people are the most petty and calculating.

Tucao returns to Tucao.

However, the appearance of the host, the Roaring Emperor, at the end of the opening ceremony did restore much of the momentum.

As the loudest commentator and host in the League of Legends scene, and with Faker not making it to the World Championship, the Roaring Emperor is probably one of the few remaining prominent figures in the LCK.

The LPL viewers in the live stream quickly shut up and began to marvel at how loud the voice was.

I can't even imagine how many loudspeakers I ate.

"If I stood next to the Roaring Emperor, my ears would probably be deafened."

In the lounge, Mingkai thought to himself.

Lin Ruo shook her head, disagreeing, "To be honest, that's an exaggeration. At most, it'll just cause bleeding from all seven orifices."

Ok?
Mingkai tilted his head, quite doubtful as to which one was the most exaggerated.

After a brief discussion, the group prepared to go on stage and make their appearance. Following the opening ceremony, there was a segment where all the teams would make their appearances.

However, considering the large number of people, each team only needs to send one person to represent them. EDG sent Tianye, who plays the support role.

As the highlight moments of each team were frequently played on the big screen, the 16 teams participating in the group stage of this World Championship took the stage one after another according to their respective groups.

First, there's Group A, led by EDG with four teams, followed by Group B, then Group C and Group D.

The South Korean audience clearly showed a different attitude, which was understandable given the home advantage. Many fans were even gearing up to cheer for Gen.G's starting lineup.

This inevitably increased the pressure on the Gen team members who had just arrived backstage.

If the first match were against G2 or TL, the entire Gen.G team would probably be laughing and joking, their passion and fighting spirit at their peak.

Unfortunately, the team we'll be facing after the opening ceremony is EDG.

Crown Bro felt an overwhelming urge to lean against the wall: "I wonder if I can hold on."

"Good afternoon, everyone! Welcome to the 2018 League of Legends World Championship. This is Busan, South Korea!"

"The first match to begin is EDG vs. GEN."

The shouts had already reached backstage.

On the stage, the Korean host roared as he began introducing the players: "First, let's welcome GEN, the third seed from LCK."

The voice just fell.

Cheers erupted from the crowd. The five Gen.G starters, along with their coach, who seemed a little guilty, went on stage and tried their best to greet their fans.

Seeing how high the expectations of the fans at the scene were, the Gen team members were even more afraid to think about how severe the backlash would be if they lost the game.

Fortunately, the opinions on Korean online forums were not too exaggerated at this time. Although they had the home advantage, in the face of the real difference in strength, Korean viewers still held the view that losing by a small margin was a victory.

As long as they can play their own style, and as long as they don't lose too badly, they can accept it.

"Next up, let's welcome last year's world champions, EDG!"

Inside the Busan venue.

As the host shouted, EDG's starting five players plus their coach slowly walked onto the stage. The audience responded, but it was far less explosive than when Gen.G took the stage.

Lin Ruo calmly walked at the front, holding last year's world championship trophy and placing it on the central stage. The trophy was once again in the competition for everyone, which also marked the official start of the global finals.

Please wait a moment.

After taking their places, both players immediately sat down at their respective battle seats and began their pre-match preparations.

On the high platform at the scene.

The LPL commentators who accompanied the team to the tournament also arrived at the venue. Guan Zeyuan and Wang Duoduo were responsible for commentating on the first match.

As a die-hard Gen.G fan, Guan Zeyuan couldn't wait to start his jinx: "Based on EDG's current performance, I think they should be able to win this match without much trouble."

Hearing this, Wang Duoduo disagreed. Although Guan Zeyuan's "jinx" tendencies were starting to show, it was true that EDG was able to win without much effort.

Even if LCK's number one seed GRF came, they would probably tremble with fear, not to mention Gen.G, whose performance has been very average all year, until they suddenly burst into action in the gauntlet and made it to the World Championship.

With such a powerful EDG team, Wang Duoduo doesn't think they'll be jinxed at all.

"I think that's the case. There were a lot of rumors about scrims before the World Championship started. We've seen how EDG performed, so we can be absolutely confident in their form. I also believe that EDG will definitely be able to secure a winning start."

"Yes, I trust EDG."

Guan Zeyuan echoed.

He secretly hoped that Gen wouldn't lose too badly in this match.

As an LPL commentator, he definitely supports EDG, but at the same time, he also hopes that Gen.G can perform at their best and deliver the expected results.

This will give us more confidence when facing other teams in the group later on.

Guan Zeyuan, a die-hard fan, had been following Gen.G's recent training matches through some channels and could sense that their form wasn't particularly good.

Although training matches are not official matches, they can still reflect a team's condition to some extent. Historically, it is rare for a team to perform poorly in training matches but then perform well in actual matches.

This is not a positive proposition.

Therefore, today's match will undoubtedly be an immeasurable challenge for Gen.

After a brief pre-match analysis, the draft phase between the two sides quickly began amidst great anticipation.

"The match has begun. In this first round, Gen is on the blue side, which has the advantage of starting first, while EDG is on the red side."

"Gen's first three picks eliminated Camille, Xin Zhao, and Trundle."

As soon as he finished speaking, Wang Duoduo looked at the three bans and immediately showed an expression of utter shock.

Almost all of them are jungler heroes. In this top-mid-jungle meta, they are facing EDG, who mainly play top, mid, and jungle, especially with Lin Ruo playing jungle.

Gen knows better than anyone what the best choice is.

"This is giving them way too much respect. They directly shut down three junglers who are good at getting ahead in the early game. It seems that Gen.G really knows what they should do."

Guan Zeyuan didn't think this was the best method, but it seemed to be the only way to restrain Lin Ruo.

To defeat EDG, they really need to control Lin Ruo in every aspect.

However, with only three ban slots, Guan Zeyuan had a vague feeling that it might not be enough to completely limit Lin Ruo.

There are still many junglers with strong tempo out there, like Taliyah. Even though she's been nerfed, her skills are still there, and she's still good at ganking.

"Let's take a look at EDG's side. They've banned Rakan, Jayce, and Kindred in succession. It's obvious that these are the three OP picks for this patch."

Cuvee has a relatively strong carry potential, so banning Jayce is a safer option.

Kindred is one of Haru's best champions, and Lin Ruo didn't want to play a jungle carry or farm passively in the early game, so he thought turning it off was the best option.

As for Rakan, he is the support player who has been banned the most times this year.

"So neither Aatrox nor Urgot pressed the button."

Wang Duoduo keenly noticed this problem. Since no one pressed the button, there was a high possibility that two overpowered top laners would appear in the game at the same time.

Therefore, Gen.G, who are on the blue side and have made their first pick, are faced with the choice of whether to pick Urgot or Aatrox first.

Based on the current version's performance, Urgot is clearly superior to Aatrox, so GEN did not hesitate at all and prioritized locking in Urgot on the first pick of the blue side.

Naturally.

On EDG's side, Aatrox was also picked as the first pick and locked in immediately.

"As for the second pick, EDG is sticking with their familiar strategy of picking Taliyah."

Guan Zeyuan was in a so-so mood. He knew that EDG would definitely prioritize securing the jungler position. As long as GEN didn't finish their rotation, EDG would definitely take down whoever was left.

Hesitating for even a second would be disrespectful to Lin Ruo.

Taliyah is definitely a strong ganker in the early game. Even if she gets nerfed, her damage output won't be reduced too much; that's just how champions are.

"Let's lock down the bottom lane first. We must put enough pressure on the other side and not back down."

On the GEN player bench, Edgar, as the coach, believed he knew EDG very well.

He had watched many EDG matches, and Lin Ruo only paid attention to the bottom lane in one out of ten matches, which meant that the EDG bottom lane was an absolute sacrifice position.

That being the case.

The team should naturally put enough pressure on EDG's bot lane to indirectly alleviate the pressure on the mid and top laners.

Knowing everything, Ruler confidently pulled out his signature Varus, and with Corejj as support, paired with a solid Tahm Kench, they formed a very dominant bot lane duo.

Especially in the mid-game stage, from 15 minutes into the game.

With Urgot and Varus, their team's damage output is undoubtedly top-notch. Add Tahm Kench, and GEN's lineup becomes quite solid and reliable.

The choice is back in EDG's hands.

Edgar then realized that EDG was also changing their playstyle according to their lineup, for example, picking Alistar directly for the support position.

The intention to engage in a direct confrontation is self-evident.

After the first three selections, both sides immediately entered the second round of ban selection.

Seeing that GEN had not yet chosen a jungler, EDG naturally turned the tables and banned Olaf and Sejuani as their junglers.

Olaf, in particular, has a high chance of dominating Taliyah in the jungle, because his ultimate, which grants immunity to everything, is too easy to counter Taliyah's Rock Scatter and Rock Smash.

GEN was no exception, targeting LeBlanc in the mid lane and then decisively eliminating Kai'Sa, a strong diver, in the bot lane.

On the EDG player bench.

When it came time to choose on the fourth floor, Mingkai stroked his chin and said, "The enemy team has already picked LeBlanc, so picking Syndra first should be the best option for us."

"Crown also has Malzahar as a trump card." Lin Ruo's reminder made Mingkai pause for a moment.

The opposing team might be planning to let them pick Syndra, then use Malzahar to push the lane aggressively. It's indeed quite difficult for Syndra to push past Malzahar in the early game.

If you want Lin Ruo to do things, then controlling the central route is of absolute importance.

"Then let it go, and see if they take it or not."

After careful consideration, Mingkai decided to wait and see, first locking in the Bounty Hunter on the fourth floor, his main strategy being to turn the tables and suppress the bottom lane.

Varus is strong, but sorry, I'm stronger with Miss Fortune and Alistar in front of him.

"The other team didn't pick Syndra, so we'll pick her then."

On GEN's side, after observing the draft situation, Edgar chose to go with the flow.

He did initially intend to use Malzahar to counter Syndra's push lanes, but the opponent didn't pick him, so it didn't really matter if they did.

After all, Syndra's laning ability has always been top-notch, and Edgar doesn't really think EDG will let Scout play Malzahar as a supporting role.

After the fourth floor position was finalized, the final jungler position on the fifth floor was secured by GEN, who, as always, opted for the tanky and engage-capable Skarner.

Their previous lineup already had Urgot in the top lane, and with the current Syndra and Varus, they absolutely don't lack damage in the mid-game.

Therefore, with Tahm Kench as the support, this lineup actually needs to initiate team fights, and Skarner, who can both be the front line and initiate, is naturally the best answer.

Once the lineup was selected, Guan Zeyuan in the commentary booth nodded repeatedly.

Even he felt that GEN's lineup selection was very organized, even much better than EDG's.

Why is it much better? Because this is based on EDG's last move.

Guan Zeyuan never expected that Tian Ye would actually lock onto Sion on the fifth floor. With Aatrox in the top lane, Sion's move was clearly aimed at the mid lane.

"Is it because the jungler is a mage-carry Taliyah, so they're picking Sion in the mid lane?"

GEN's coach, Edgar, felt inexplicably unwell.

He thought EDG wouldn't pick Malzahar, but it turns out they still have Sion even without Malzahar.

Sion going mid was a popular pick during the Spring Split, and Scout had already practiced it back then, so it naturally came in handy at Worlds.

If Sion is indeed facing Syndra in the mid lane, then the one pushing the lane will definitely be Sion.

There's a saying that goes, "Sion can push lanes mindlessly against all magic-based champions."

(End of this chapter)