My buddy is actually a Cao Cao type top laner?

Chapter 364 Is it a case of kings not meeting kings, or avoiding my sharp edge?
From then until the knockout stage, Luo Ji was frantically playing ranked games in the "National No. 1 Tournament" he organized, while also scheduling practice matches with various MSI participating teams.

All the participating teams were very enthusiastic towards Luo Ji and his teammates, who were last year's S-series champions.

of course.

The role of "gifts" naturally plays a part in this.

As the initiator of the "Holy Grail War," Luo Ji naturally didn't forget to send his gifts to various clubs before the MSI tournament. Moreover, he chose a good pretext: it wasn't "gift-giving," but rather "trial and promotion of new products."

They've given off the impression that they're going to sell this thing all over the world.

Don't underestimate this thing.

According to data, China produces 70% of the world's adult products, but the main consumers are North America (37%) and Europe (34%). Despite having over a billion people, China's market is simply not big enough to compete with other countries.

Because China is still at a point in time where there is a stark polarization between extreme reserve and frightening openness.

In response to Luo Ji's invitation for [endorsement and promotion].

The players from various clubs only hesitated briefly before accepting the gifts without batting an eye and hiding them away.

at the same time.

The top tournament in the Chinese server has come to a perfect end as the MSI knockout stage draws to a close.

While Luo Ji expanded the business and shared the profits with the various talented players, these players also privately agreed to become personal sparring partners for V5 players.

Anyway, each person only gets half an hour a day, or they might not even get a turn at all.

This needs to be considered?
Compared to clinging to someone like Luo Ji, who can make everyone rich just by casually participating in a competition.

Everything else is no big deal~
"Wow, if your tournament hadn't ended, the MSI might not have generated as much buzz as the tournaments you organized privately."

Looking at the heated discussions online.

Nofe was also quite surprised.

He thought that this kind of recreational competition would at most have the same level of popularity as the Demacia Cup, but when he looked at the video views and the push notifications he casually scrolled through on his phone, almost all of them were about this competition.

At this point in time, discussions about V5 have reached an unprecedented high.

Both Luo Ji and Emperor Chi understood this.

Whether they can achieve their short-term goals depends on this MSI.

then
Inexplicably, the trio of FOFO, Wweiwei, and Jwei in the team started getting pushed to higher levels by the two older members of the team.

Especially Jwei.

This Ruler player keeps using Uzi's account to drag him into ranked games. Lately, he's been getting ganked so much in ranked games that he's almost driven to a nervous breakdown. What's with all this ganking at level 2 and level 3?
That's all outdated.

Have you ever seen five level 1 players camping in the grass, relentlessly squatting on you?

He's really seen it for himself this time.

soon.

As the date drew near, the group stage draws finally began.

Not surprisingly.

This time, the group assignments were indeed unexpected.

Before the match, Luo Ji stated in interviews with official media on more than one occasion that he hoped to encounter an LCK team before the finals.

Let me mention this here.

The teams that won the S12 World Championship do not need to participate in the Play-In Stage at this year's MSI.

Right now.

In the original world, LCK's second seed was exempt from the competition. In this timeline, V5 and JDG are both exempt from the competition and waiting for the group stage to begin.

Simultaneously.

Due to the format reform, this year's MSI will also adopt a double-elimination mechanism.

Losing doesn't mean you've completely lost.

Huh~
You still have a resurrection item.

Even after falling into the loser's bracket and fighting their way up, they still have a chance to win the championship.

To put it simply, it's the current LPL format, but with a change to double-elimination for BO3 and BO5, meaning the best and worst players play less, while the average players play more.

As for the grouping.

That's only natural.

V5 is facing C9, and JDG is facing GG. Neither of the two LCK teams nor the two LPL teams managed to secure a matchup.

Obviously.

Someone tampered with the signature.

Can also understand.

If the exciting matches end too early, the second half of MSI will lose viewership. What's the point of the tournament organizers putting so much effort into organizing the competition?
It's just about ratings and popularity.

If we can get our hands on these two things, we'll do anything, let alone tamper with them; we'll even let them change the rules directly.
Like FIFA.

Do you know how much effort they put in to get the Chinese national football team into the World Cup? (Image attached)
just.

The C9 players were still somewhat dazed when they saw this group assignment.

"Shall we play against V5?"

"So fast!?"

Here's a brief overview of the current configuration of the C9.

Top laner Fudge is a low-budget version of Letme who talks trash in the interview booth. His passive ability is that his team is always placed in the group of death, but they always manage to advance.

Blaber, the jungler, is the team's star player.

Mid laner Emenes, a low-tier coward.

Berserker and Zven are the top laners in their respective LCS leagues, but their AD carry performance is heavily reliant on the support's performance, similar to Elk and ON.

With their configuration.

Ideally, they would be matched against a team from outside the LCK and LPL regions, but after seeing the draw, they all realized that they had been tricked by the organizers.

"Since we've already matched up, we should at least have a proper battle with them."

My suggestion is...

"We'll take a risky approach and go all out. We'll do whatever we're most confident in, since we probably can't win anyway. We'll just consider it a proactive way to increase the intensity of our training."

These LCS players actually understand this very well.

They knew they had no chance of beating the LPL and LCK regions. It wasn't about individual player talent; the LCS and LEC regions actually have many talented players, but their promotion channels were blocked.

In the LCS, if you don't perform well, or to put it more bluntly, if your KDA is too bad and you lose too many times, you'll be relegated to the bench.

No matter if you're a veteran or a Korean player, you'll be eliminated without exception. In this atmosphere, almost every player wants to keep their job.

As a result, the playing style became more conservative, and KDA became increasingly important.

Everyone is occupying their spots and refusing to leave.

The newcomers below will never be promoted.

However, it's fine to play like this in the league, but if you play like this in the World Championship, then you don't want your job anymore. After discussing it for a while, C9 simply decided to go all out.

It doesn't matter what kind of fire it is, or which side it's burning.

As long as there's fire, that's all that matters.

Around the same time.

V5 and others, who learned about their opponent a little later than C9, seemed quite dejected, mainly because they lacked the motivation to play against C9.

Luo Ji was looking for T1 to hone his skills, and Ruler Emperor was looking for GENG to slap him in the face.

Like that thing.

I lit the aromatherapy, brought the glasses case, and even drank the cold drink in front of you, but at the last minute you said your brother invited you to play games together?

When emotions are running high, why are you doing this?
Wouldn't that make the other person feel stifled?

At this moment, Luo Ji and Emperor Chi were just like that. They had considered all the possibilities, but they never expected that what would stop them from venting their anger was the despicable officialdom.

a few days later.

With the start of the group stage.

The long-awaited audience finally got to watch the match start, only to be immediately met with a tough challenge from G2 in the upper bracket.

It was an almost one-sided crushing defeat.

G2, a team considered a substitute seed for the LPL, was completely outmatched in every way when facing GENG. Chovy, in particular, seemed to have possessed the left hand, leaving a mark of weakness, marking Caps from the start to the end.

The other side of the upper half.

T1's match against MAD was similar; both teams started to collapse in the mid lane. However, unlike GENG, it was clear that only Faker was performing well for T1, while the others seemed to be under the influence of alcohol, resulting in a lackluster performance.

but.

Two consecutive BO5-level crushing victories.

This inevitably caused some anxiety among LPL viewers.

[Oh no, the dominance of LCK teams.]

I'd imagined T1 beating MAD, but I never expected GENG to beat G2 like this. Is G2 really that bad now?

[G2 was truly dominant only in 2019 at MSI. At other times, you can only rely on G2 at Worlds; they'll probably eliminate one CJB (Crossfire) team, or even G2 themselves.]

As expected, MSI is essentially a regional competition between LCK and LPL; the other teams are just extras.

back-court.

Luo Ji and his group, who arrived at the competition venue early, successfully met the C9 players backstage. Because of the goodwill they had gained from receiving gifts, the two sides had a friendly and animated exchange offline.

Although neither of them understood what the other's hand gesture meant.

but.
As long as the meaning is conveyed, that's fine.

As the competition officially began, the moment Luo Ji appeared on the big screen, it was like a star holding a concert, with the entire venue filled with the crazy screams of the audience.

Even he himself didn't expect that he would have so many fans overseas.

"That's a bit of an exaggeration, that's how popular he is with the audience."

JDG here.

369 glanced at the screen with a hint of envy.

Being handsome is awesome.

While both are top laners, his appearances don't feature the exaggerated spectacle of Luo Ji's arrival.

"It's alright, don't worry, Ninth Brother."

Xiao Yan saw this.

He quickly stepped forward to comfort her.

"Although you're not as handsome as him, you don't earn as much money as him, and you don't have as many honors as him. He was a champion at eighteen, while you didn't have any achievements at eighteen. If you think about it this way, don't you completely lose the desire to compete with him?"

"I"

All I can say is that Xiao Yan knows how to finish off an opponent.

of course.

It's not entirely about ability. Foreign audiences tend to admire the strong, and Hollywood movies are mostly about individual heroism. What makes Luo Ji special is that while he was on his way to the championship last year, he also tacitly created the title of "arch-rival" with Zeus.

and.

The two players' abilities also match this argument.

Foreigners love this kind of fatalistic thinking.

"See that, Fudge? Look at the cheers here. If you can beat them today, at least half of the female fans here will change their opinion of you."

Seeing Luo Ji's terrifying popularity, the C9 players were somewhat taken aback.

Wow, so many female fans!!!

Isn't this supposed to be Da Ying's home ground?
The cheers made it seem like they were at the home stadium of the LPL's home region. The way those foreign women were dancing made even the fans jealous.

Fudge, who was initially somewhat wary of Luo Ji, finally became completely enraged at this moment.

"You're right."

Fudge nodded earnestly.

“I don’t think I have no win rate against Mebius. Statistically, he has never faced me in an official match, and our win rate is only about 50/50.”

"in other words."

"He's been in the industry for over a year and hasn't touched me. Whether it's because he's avoiding me or just trying to keep me out of the limelight, we don't know yet."

The remaining four members of C9: ? ? ?
No, man.

We were just joking around before the match.

Are you serious?

(End of this chapter)