LOL: Can’t I play other games professionally?

Chapter 528 Quarterfinals Draw Ceremony
With EDG's successful victory over G2 in the final round, the Group A qualifying rounds of the World Championship have officially come to an end.

EDG advanced with a near-unbeatable record, followed closely by G2, while TL and GEN were eliminated in the group stage (group 3 and group 4 respectively).

Perhaps thanks to GEN, even though TL was eliminated in the group stage again, they did not receive much criticism on the international stage.

Because GEN became a top star with 100% attention, he entered the field of discussion among all viewers.

At this point, who would still care about TL?

Has the LCK really gotten this weak? The third seed couldn't even make it out of the group stage.

This topic is being discussed in Europe and America, and even in the LPL.

The LCK, which used to dominate the top spots in the World Championship, had one player eliminated in the group stage this year. Has it deteriorated that quickly?
If we evaluate based on the performances of GRF and KT, then it's not that exaggerated.

In the other three group matches that continued over the next three days, KT in the non-Korean group did not face much challenge and easily defeated FW and VIT.

As the vanguard against Korean teams, FW failed to win a single game against KT this time, and also fell behind in their match against VIT.

Ultimately, the group stage elimination format was reinstated once again.

VIT has advanced.

This was not surprising to Lin Ruo, after all, VIT had also achieved a double victory over GEN and upset RNG in another timeline.

Although they ultimately failed to qualify due to their loss to C9, their strength is still undeniable.

In Group C, GRF had a very thorough understanding of the game's meta, and IG's performance seemed to have declined in the second round. Ultimately, GRF secured first place in the group and advanced to the next round.

IG could only repeat history and finish second in their group to advance.

The difference in Group D is quite significant. RNG, like last time, experienced a fluctuation in performance in the second round, but unlike before.

This group not only includes C9, who can compete with RNG, but also FNC, the European champions. This caused RNG to fall behind in the second round against both European and American teams.

Fortunately, with a perfect record in the first round, RNG only needs to defeat the last-placed wildcard team to qualify for the group stage.

However, they weren't so lucky in the battle for first place in the group.

FNC, with a perfect record in the second round and two wins in the first round, ultimately overtook the group to take first place with a record of five wins and one loss. RNG was very surprised to only get the second place in the group and advance.

This is unbelievable to most LPL viewers.

They won 3-0 in the first round of the non-Korean group, but couldn't beat a single European or American team in the second round, shamefully finishing second in the group and advancing to the quarterfinals. They can only say that they are very sorry for the group and the expectations.

This has inevitably led to a shift in the opinions of LPL viewers.

I thought our LPL was the number one region in the world, but now it seems that's not necessarily true. It seems only EDG is truly number one.

[I'm speechless. I can accept IG losing to GRF, but RNG losing to European and American teams one after another is just too outrageous.]

[Hmph, I feel sorry for C9 after they were eliminated. If they had played another tiebreaker, RNG would probably have gotten another beating from C9.]

[These aren't the main points. The main point is that the two second-place teams from each group advanced, while EDG finished first in their group. This means it's very likely that one of them will be eliminated in an all-Chinese quarterfinal.]

...

Although there can only be one world champion, as teams from the same region, many LPL viewers are obviously not willing to see the result of an all-LPL quarterfinals match.

First, it will drain the resources of the region; second, since the World Championship is played in the same way as the LPL league stage, it will indeed receive much less attention.

Most viewers still prefer watching international battles, especially the China-South Korea showdown, rather than internal conflicts like fighting among themselves.

However, the most frustrated team should actually be C9, as they didn't even get a chance to connect this time.

This resulted in none of the three North American teams participating in this World Championship advancing, with even North America's pride, C9, suffering a defeat.

North American viewers suddenly felt that it didn't matter whether they watched the World Championship or not.

Oh right, what about the teams from our own region? They didn't even participate in the World Championship. Oh, that's alright then.

In contrast, the European region experienced a sudden surge in popularity.

Because all three teams from their region advanced to the quarterfinals without exception, and FNC even defeated RNG to advance as the top team in their group, sharing three quarterfinal spots with LPL.

Is the European region about to experience a revival?

European viewers might not be so sure, but it's almost certain that they'll be openly mocking the North American region for a year.

After the final round of the group stage, all three LPL teams gathered at the Busan venue to await the quarterfinals draw.

The RNG team was quite disappointed after losing their final match, while the IG team, which also finished second in their group, didn't seem too pessimistic.

Perhaps it's because a day has passed, and all the sadness has already subsided.

Backstage at the venue.

As the representative who went up to draw lots and shake hands, seeing that the other two teams were in Group 2, Lin Ruo, as always, put on an arrogant face: "You better pray that you don't draw our EDG, otherwise you're guaranteed to be in the quarterfinals."

"It's incredibly unlucky to have been drawn by you guys; we can only blame ourselves for being so weak."

Xiaoming, who was RNG's representative in the draw, sighed, clearly very disappointed with his team's performance today.

Lin Ruo smiled and still advised, "Don't be so fixated on the 'four-protect-one' strategy. Have you any idea whether the 'four-protect-one' strategy is even viable now?"

That's true, but...

Xiao Ming, who was hesitant to speak, also understood that in this version, it was obvious that the top laner had to carry, but Letme simply didn't have the ability.

So, when it comes to the top laner taking on pressure, in most cases they have no choice but to support one laner even if they don't want to.

"We can carry in the top lane, but he won't listen to us."

Ning suddenly blurted out a comment and then laughed, showing a very open-minded attitude. His problem was clearly the opposite of RNG's problem.

TheShy can play any damage-dealing champion in the top lane, but he just loves playing them so much that he doesn't really care about teamwork.

In some games, you should have picked Sion, but instead you get Jayce instead.

Even with the coach around, it doesn't help, although most of the time it's actually quite delicious.

However, this does not change the fact that Coach Kim considers TheShy to be rebellious, which is why the top lane is often rotated, because Coach Kim believes TheShy is disobedient.

So after one game, Duke will be brought in for the next game.

However, since TheShy was in better form, he played most of the games, so Kim eventually chose to turn a blind eye.

Lin Ruo was certainly aware of TheShy's capricious nature; otherwise, why would he have been so abruptly substituted in the fourth game against KT back then? It was because he had taken it upon himself to pick Fiora.

In the later semifinals, there was even a time when he didn't play tanky champions but picked Jayce himself, and then against G2, he pulled off a famous play where he used Jayce to dodge Irelia's ultimate and get a kill.

"Isn't this a good thing?" Lin Ruo patted Ning on the back. At least in S8, it's definitely a good thing for the top lane to have autonomy.

Ning smiled but didn't say anything. He had to admit that many times when he picked a champion like Jayce that he couldn't synergize with at all, he was genuinely shocked, but later he also found it surprisingly good.

The three only stopped chatting when staff came to announce that they were ready to go on stage. Meanwhile, on the Busan stage, the host, known for his loud and dramatic style, began his usual barrage of shouts under the spotlight.

"Good evening, everyone. After eight days of competition, the group stage of the League of Legends 2018 World Championship has come to an end. Eight teams have advanced to the quarterfinals. The draw for the quarterfinals will be held next."

"Before we begin, let's give a warm round of applause to welcome the representatives from each team to the stage."

After saying that, the Roaring Emperor raised his arms and shouted: "First are EDG and G2 from Group A, then KT and VIT from Group B, GRF and IG from Group C, and FNC and RNG from Group D."

Soon, the eight representatives took to the center of the stage and stood on the left and right sides according to the order of first and second place in their respective groups.

Next up was the guest of honor for this draw, once again the eldest princess Flame, who was in charge of the group stage draw.

Besides paying attention to the draw results, LPL fans watching from their computers undoubtedly hoped that no internal conflict would occur.

Korean viewers, on the other hand, were hoping for an internal conflict within the LPL.

With one group finishing first and two groups finishing second, the probability of an internal conflict is obviously very high, unlike in the LCK where there are only two groups finishing first, so there is no possibility of an internal conflict.

As the match draw began, the battle of wits between the two sides' spectators also seemed to have started.

The eldest princess drew a royal flush in the first two draws of the first half of the group, which was very clever.

Because the first draw resulted in EDG, and the next draw was GRF.

In other words, EDG and GRF will both be in the upper bracket, and if they advance, they will face each other in the semifinals, with only one team able to enter the finals.

While Korean netizens have great faith in GRF's abilities, they still feel quite worried about this.

They would have preferred GRF to reach the finals first, and then be fully prepared to face EDG, but now it seems unavoidable.

Then we have no choice but to give it our all.

On the other hand, LPL viewers were filled with excitement.

[Great draw! They've kept GRF out of the finals. I heard they're the strongest team in Korea, so you might as well not make it to the finals.]

[Haha, then the viewership ratings for the World Championship in South Korea must have dropped drastically.]

[Congratulations to GRF for being eliminated in the semifinals. Did they really think they could beat EDG? No way, no way.]

[Can you guys please stop being so arrogant? Don't forget that EDG and GRF still have to make it to the quarterfinals. What if GRF doesn't even make it to the quarterfinals?]

...

After the first-place teams from all four groups were determined and assigned to their respective halves of the bracket, the next step was the most anticipated draw for the second-place teams.

As usual, Flame randomly took one of the four black balls from the glass tank, opened it, and displayed the ribbon inside to the audience and the cameras.

First up is VIT from the European region.

"Then EDG's opponent is confirmed: VIT, the second seed from Europe!"

On the LPL commentary booth.

Miller breathed a sigh of relief. It was good that neither IG nor RNG were drawn, which meant that they had completely avoided an internal conflict.

[Great draw, Princess! You truly are LPL's lucky charm.]

[Haha, the second-place team from the weakest group has been drawn first. That's it, EDG is going to coast into the semifinals.]

LPL viewers were also overjoyed, since EDG needed to avoid an internal clash while also avoiding being in the same group as G2, so the only opponent EDG could face was VIT.

If you actually draw it, you'll definitely make a huge profit.

On the contrary, the expressions of the Korean netizens immediately turned sour.

[Hey, Flame, what's he doing? This could prevent an internal conflict within the LPL!]

Don't invite Flame next time, what bad luck! He drew such an absurd number.

EDG's luck is just too incredible.

This is our home turf! Can't we pull some tricks or something to make them fight amongst themselves?

Clearly, no matter how much the LCK viewers complained, it was no use. At this moment, Lin Ruo had already walked to the center of the stage and shook hands with the representative mid laner of VIT.

The VIT mid laner, who drew the worst possible draw, could only manage a bitter smile, inwardly thinking, "It's over."

If they had drawn one of the other three groups, they might have had a chance to compete, but what's the point of playing against EDG? They don't even look at how badly their own region's G2 has been beaten.

The drawing of lots will continue.

Because of the principle of avoiding teams drawn from the same group, G2, the second team to be drawn, could not be in the same half of the bracket as EDG, and was directly assigned to FNC in the lower half of the bracket.

Ironically, RNG, the third team to emerge, became GRF's opponent.

As the LPL's second seed, RNG, despite losing to European and American teams in the second round of the group stage, is really not weak when they regain their form.

Korean netizens are naturally worried that even if RNG can't beat GRF, they might still manage to force out something, which could help EDG, who are aiming for the semifinals, to prepare for the game.

After all, GRF has shown a very good tactical reserve since the group stage, which is probably the only area that can be utilized to deal with the EDG who are in explosive form.

If we can't deal with RNG, we'll have to be worn down first.

So I can't help but want to curse again. What a terrible draw! Not only were we put in the same half of the bracket as EDG, but we also missed the chance to play against G2.

Now I can't even access VIT.

The team had to choose one of three teams to avoid facing IG, the second-place team in their group. Even though there was only one LPL team they could potentially face, they still ended up with one team with a one-in-three chance.

Unfortunately, EDG has a two-thirds chance of not facing an LPL team.

Sure enough, without comparison there is no harm, and the image of the eldest princess in the hearts of Koreans is destined to decline significantly.

"Good draw! Xiaoming, if your RNG plays like GRF, then if EDG wins the championship, you'll get a third of the credit."

With IG destined to face KT as the last team to be drawn, the draw officially ended. As everyone left the stage, Lin Ruo started joking around again.

In fact, apart from EDG, the LPL's draw wasn't great; RNG and IG weren't particularly strong. However, considering the group stage situation, as long as they can avoid internal clashes, playing against any team is actually the best outcome.

So LPL viewers didn't complain. After all, RNG and IG both qualified from the second group. Since that's the case, let's give it our all in the competition against the Korean teams.

"It's good that we weren't drawn against EDG in an internal battle. We will do our best against GRF."

Xiaoming thought so too.

The second-place team in the group will inevitably have to face the South Korean team. Although he knew Lin Ruo was joking, he really believed that as long as he could play something similar to GRF, it would be a success.

Given RNG's recent form, without a significant adjustment, advancing to the semifinals will be extremely difficult.

(End of this chapter)