LOL: Can’t I play other games professionally?

Chapter 532 How can we fight GRF in this state?

They were right.

The second game was equally exciting.

Even after switching back to a more conventional lineup, EDG still failed to deliver a dominant performance in the early game and showcase their strength as the top team. Instead, they once again engaged in a back-and-forth battle with VIT in the early to mid-game.

The two sides engaged in a chaotic brawl for a full 25 minutes, with the number of kills exceeding 30 at one point. Mistakes were made one after another, and the main strategy was to fight as soon as they met.

There's absolutely no operation involved, or rather, they simply don't want to operate at all.

Since the F6 camp was invaded early on, Lin Ruo, the most consistent jungler in EDG, has stopped pretending.

The strategy is to counter the enemy jungler's every move, including feeding a few times in the early game. The only goal is to counter the enemy's F6 camp.

"Do all players who pick Graves do this?" Remember asked this intriguing question from the commentators.

He noticed that from the moment Lin Ruo picked up Graves, he started to play like Sofm, making counter-jungling a must and annoying the enemy jungler a must.

As for arresting people, that ranks third.

This is why there were so many skirmishes in the early stages, most of which took place in the jungle.

Because EDG will coordinate their invasion, while VIT will also defend, a top-level chaotic battle with back-and-forth action ensues.

Don't ask if it's chaotic or not, just tell me if it was exciting or not.

"It feels like EDG, or rather, Lin Ruo, has let himself go."

Guan Zeyuan was a little puzzled, but considering that EDG still won the game later, there was nothing more to say.

Ultimately, there's a difference in execution. Even without focusing on macro-management, and even though VIT gained a slight advantage in the early game, EDG managed to turn it around in just a few plays.

The result was still a slightly tortuous match, but EDG still managed to win without any major setbacks.

Since then.

Leading 2-0.

"It's a pity for VIT this game. They actually had a chance to win, but in the team fight at 18 minutes, Scout showed off his positioning and iboy showed off his reaction to stabilize the situation."

On the LCK commentary booth after the match.

The two Korean commentators felt it was a real shame, as VIT clearly had a chance in this game, but they were just a little lacking in the finer details of their play.

So much so that they were completely outplayed at a crucial moment.

At this point, it's impossible to expect VIT to be relaxed. If the opponent can play so freely, VIT will obviously be even more relaxed subconsciously.

This is a tradition of European and American teams.

If you're going to do operations with me, then I'll do some operations too, no problem.

If you want to fight me, then I'm sorry, I'm 200% ready to fight you with both hands.

It's impossible to manage the operations properly.

So the two Korean commentators were practically having a heart attack. If our LCK teams were in this situation, they would have won long ago with their superior strategy.

So here's the question: what was EDG's form like in these two games? They didn't seem to be doing very well.

Although they won, EDG played very poorly, even performing worse than VIT in the early game of both matches.

[Look at Lin Ruo's performance, Xiba. He really seems clueless about what he's doing these two games; he was completely lost in the early game.]

[Has their true colors finally been revealed? They even managed to beat a European or American team like this.]

With this kind of playstyle, GRF's chances of making it to the semifinals are even greater. They could have said they were practicing their lineup in the first game, but in the second game, even a standard lineup would have been enough to stop them.

Korean viewers were somewhat skeptical, but it seemed to be true that EDG was in poor form; at least the first two games weren't much better.

If the first game was for practicing team compositions, then what was the reason for the second game?
Having a blast?
It seems possible, at least Lin Ruo's performance leans towards that, often treating the game like a ranked match when picking Graves as his first pick.

However, after the third game, it seemed that the first two points were no longer valid.

In this game, EDG didn't give VIT any chance in the early game, seemingly returning to their usual unstoppable rhythm, leaving VIT with no chance to fight back.

However, things changed as the story progressed into the middle of its development.

Yes, this time EDG started to make mistakes after the mid-game, around the 20-minute mark.

Incredibly, two players were caught out of position and VIT caught them, putting them at a disadvantage. They even lost Baron Nashor, causing the favorable situation built up in the early game to suddenly return to a 50/50 situation.

For the rest of the time, the two sides remained deadlocked, going back and forth for more than 30 minutes.

It wasn't until 35 minutes later that EDG finally secured the Elder Dragon in a narrow team fight. With the buff and a team wipe, they pushed down VIT's base, winning 3-0 and securing the last qualifying spot.

Although they advanced, they did so with a score of 3-0 without losing a single game.

However, his performance in these three games was visibly inferior to his previous performances; in short, it was rather average and he didn't seem to have the dominance he expected.

As a result, the South Korean audience was naturally pleasantly surprised and couldn't help but get excited.

Again.

The first game was a problem with the lineup, the second game was because we were too excited and looked down on our opponents, so what about the third game?
In the third game, EDG gave it their all, but still made mistakes and remained deadlocked for a long time. They almost suffered an early comeback defeat against VIT before finally managing to secure the victory.

If EDG's current form is considered good, then wouldn't other teams be dominating?

Okay, it's confirmed that EDG is in bad form.

The match had just ended, and the Korean netizens, who had initially had no expectations, couldn't help but feel excited.

Although VIT lost, it at least confirmed the current state of EDG.

If EDG is still at this level in the semifinals, GRF will obviously have a higher chance of winning, after all, the LCK champion is not the unknown VIT.

In the eyes of South Korean viewers, defeating EDG would be enough to secure the world championship.

As for IG, they were just defeated opponents.

So EDG's performance in this quarterfinals has made them extremely happy.

However, no one can guarantee that with only three days of rest before the semifinals, EDG will find its problems and return to its initial form.

After all, everyone knows they didn't play well today. EDG will definitely look for the problems when they get back, and what if they make adjustments and come back stronger?
However, having problems is better than having no problems. In League of Legends, if problems could be addressed and resolved quickly, there wouldn't be so many instances of teams performing poorly.

EDG's performance today was a very unexpected surprise for Korean viewers.

The same applies to GRF.

The entire GRF team, who watched the entire match today, suddenly breathed a sigh of relief for some reason.

Especially when you see that EDG is also suppressed and makes mistakes, it shows that no team is completely invincible.

Thinking back to the scrims before the group stage, GRF was completely outmatched and couldn't find a single weakness in EDG's play.

However, there were too many flaws today.

So EDG's form is indeed a bit poor. Of course, even so, GRF cannot afford to underestimate them; they have simply established a point of view.

The team has a very good chance of defeating EDG, so they should focus all their efforts on preparing for the next match.

These days, no matter what form their opponents are in, they absolutely must bring their best performance.

… “You played really badly today, Brother Lin.”

Meanwhile, in the EDG rest room after the match, everyone was doing a brief recap of today's game.

However, this review is more of a joke.

Lin Ruo also had something to say about why he didn't play well today. The opposing jungler kept wanting to have a real 1v1 battle with him, and of course he was willing to play along.

There was nothing he could do if the opposing jungler repeatedly called for reinforcements to deceive him.

cough cough.

However, Lin Ruo had a better excuse: "I've carried so many games, can't I enjoy giving away a few kills?"

Mingkai thought that made perfect sense.

This is my older brother, I can't say anything about him.

Moreover, they never intended to be 100% focused on the game from the very beginning today.

Yes, if other positions might only have given 60% of their focus, then Lin Ruo only gave 6% of her focus.

the reason is simple.

Let alone Lin Ruo's performance today, he barely spoke more than a few words throughout the three games.

If Lin Ruo isn't the commander, then it's impossible to expect EDG to put on an invincible performance.

After all, Lin Ruo is the brains of this team.

The reason Lin Ruo couldn't command was simple: his throat had been a little sore for the past two days.

The reason is very simple, but to outsiders it appears as EDG being in poor form today.

That's true, they didn't play very well today.

Of course, this adjustment is obviously quite easy; Lin Ruo's throat will be better in a couple of days.

Lin Ruo's voice had improved considerably before today's match, but to be on the safe side, and since they were facing VIT, there shouldn't be any problem without Lin Ruo's command.

So things got a bit messy.

In the post-match interview, Mingkai, who was representing the team for the first time, was inevitably asked about the team's condition.

Who can blame us when EDG, a team that's always been reliable, is so unreliable today?

Even Wang Jide and Guan Zeyuan said on stage at the end of the match that they did not approve of EDG's performance today, at least not the level of LPL's number one seed.

Having learned many polite phrases, Mingkai didn't mince words this time either, saying exactly what needed to be said.

First of all, the first team did not play well today, and that's enough.

Secondly.

Let's briefly analyze the reasons and take responsibility.

The team was indeed too relaxed today, which led to a lack of focus in the game. Also, Lin Ruo's throat was not feeling well, so his command was a bit chaotic during the game, which may have resulted in some poor decisions and problems.

LPL viewers readily accepted this; it turned out Lin Ruo hadn't participated in the command at all today, so there was no problem.

It's not like nobody knows what EDG was like before Lin Ruo.

Various hesitations and various reversals.

So it seems quite easy to accept that Lin Ruo was able to perform like this even without command today.

Don't think that just because their opponents are European and American teams, EDG has been beaten by European and American teams before, and quite a few times, not just once or twice.

The matter passed, and the LPL still maintained absolute confidence in EDG. However, on the Korean LCK website, a wave of mockery arose.

[Using a sore throat as an excuse? If you didn't play well, you didn't play well; why won't you admit it?]

[It's not just Lin Ruo who's hoarse; didn't you all see Ming Kai say the team was too relaxed and playing too casually? There are too many excuses.]

Indeed, every team has its off days; there's really no need to make so many excuses.

[Try to lull their Chinese fans into a false sense of security. After all, they'll be facing GRF in the semifinals. What if the fans can't sleep if they know EDG's performance has suddenly declined, hahaha.]

I don't think EDG's performance has suddenly declined; I'm hoping the semifinals will be more exciting.

...

"Huh, are all Korean fans this shameless?"

On the bus back to the hotel, Lin Ruo habitually checked his phone for news. He knew that the team's poor performance and Ming Kai's many practical reasons would definitely cause a lot of discussion on Korean online forums.

So I opened a Korean online forum app on my phone and browsed it, but I didn't expect the discussions to be so extreme.

This must be because LCK players were really frustrated by EDG, for all sorts of topics have emerged even though their performance in today's match wasn't great.

Just like finding a rare opportunity to belittle someone, you can't let it slip by, for fear that you'll never have a similar chance again.

"No, we just had a slightly rough time, but we still ended up with a 3-0 score. And now you're starting to play dirty tricks?"

The iboy behind him just felt it was hard to stay calm.

EDG hasn't lost a single game this year, so why would they need to make any excuses?

That's obviously an exaggeration, like the top student in the class suddenly not doing well on a test and saying it's because they're not feeling well, only to be seen by the other students as an excuse.

So... is this reasonable?
Hmm, that's clearly not reasonable at all.

Lin Ruo could only smile and say, "Are you making excuses? We'll know the answer when the semifinals come together. Besides, I almost used up all my deaths in a year today."

Sigh... I really can't eat spicy food when I go back. I'm not from the South. Lin Ruo strongly suspects that her hoarse voice is due to eating spicy food the day before yesterday.

Oh, no doubt about it, it's 100% guaranteed. After all, we can't just eat meat and be mute, can we?

There's nothing else to do right now.

There's still time before the semifinals; they have to play after IG and FNC in the lower bracket, meaning there are at least four days left.

Lin Ruo estimated that it wouldn't take that long; she felt her voice would be completely healed by tomorrow.

Besides, having a hoarse voice today isn't necessarily a bad thing; it just means I'm not comfortable lying down today.

In the past, EDG players would talk hundreds of words in each game, but today they didn't open their mouths more than 20 times in three games, which was really easy.

On the contrary, Tianye, who hadn't been in command for a long time, suddenly felt a bit tired after starting to command again today.

Having commanded so many times before, I don't actually experience any physical fatigue.

Compared to Lin Ruo's command, the fact that these three games didn't go smoothly today shows the difference in command.

This made Tianye absolutely unwilling to command anymore. He didn't have the ability, you know? If he commanded a few more games, he felt that his operation would be ruined again, which would be a complete loss.

The truth is that Lin Ruo was right; he was suited to focusing on operation and not being able to give instructions.

If you get distracted, you'll be punching the river.

What does "fighting in the river" mean? Tianye had no idea why Lin Ruo would say that. "I'm not playing Chu Yuxun, so how can I fight in the river?"

(End of this chapter)