You've only been playing for half a year, and you've already reached the finals?

Chapter 259 Keeping the Championship in LPL
The MVP of the first game undoubtedly goes to Poppy.

Poppy not only maintained a perfect tempo in this game, but also dealt and absorbed damage at the top of the team, which is quite rare for a tempo-oriented jungler.

In the current version, most tempo-oriented junglers automatically transition to playing a control utility role in the mid-game, but Poppy can still deal considerable damage.

This is also related to the fact that this hero has full control and runs very fast. Most people really don't want to waste their skills on this kind of hero.

As everyone was chatting, the second game began not long afterward.

Undoubtedly, RNG also realized the strength of Poppy, and they chose to ban her.

In this match, RNG finally started to make their moves.

As we all know, RNG's mid laner Cryin has an excellent proficiency with Twisted Fate, so it's no surprise that Twisted Fate is a top-tier ban.

In this match, RNG surprisingly locked in Annie as a substitute for Twisted Fate.

Annie possesses the same point-and-click control attributes as Twisted Fate. Although her roaming ability is significantly weaker, her combat power is stronger, which helps her gain an advantage in mid-jungle skirmishes.

"Flame cards?" Ming Jing glanced at RNG's lineup. "Let's see what they have to say."

There are some theories, but not many.

It's less about the good choice of Annie and more about the brilliant overall team composition.

Annie can synergize very well with Xin Zhao and Jayce in the early game, creating a significant advantage in the top half of the map.

In late-game team fights, Annie can synergize with Miss Fortune and Alistar to unleash an incredibly high damage potential!

And RNG really lived up to their theoretical potential in this game.

At 28 minutes, in the Dragon Soul team fight, RNG, with a 4,000 gold lead, took the lead and started the fight.

Taking advantage of the opportunity when the dragon was low on health and T1 tightened their lineup to try and steal the dragon, Annie and Alistar coordinated perfectly, controlling three members of T1's top, mid, and jungle!
The female gunslinger's ultimate skill barrage was also delivered simultaneously. With perfect coordination, RNG easily crushed the team fight and sealed the victory!
"One to one!" Wang Duoduo shouted from the commentary booth, "RNG has tied the score, and the suspense continues!"

This match was quite a treat for Wang Duoduo.

After two rounds, both sides displayed their unique skills, clearly treating this match as if it were their last.

The MVP award was given to Shi Senming for his Alistar performance, in recognition of his excellent roaming in the early game and his perfect performance in team fights in the late game.

In the third game, the match reached a crucial showdown.

This time, it seemed like neither side had much to play, resulting in a fairly even draft game.

T1 was clearly exercising their right to choose sides as the loser in this game, but they took an unconventional approach and chose the red side.

This idea is quite bold and initially even seems puzzling, but after reading the draft, the deeper meaning of T1 becomes clear.

After the draft phase of the first two games, although the score was tied 1-1, RNG's draft strategy had already shown signs of weakness.

In the first two games, RNG consistently banned Graves on the blue side.

Because Xiaohu simply can't pick Graves, or rather, RNG's playstyle doesn't allow Xiaohu to play Graves.

Graves is a champion you pick out and play solo. Playing him alone ensures you won't be at a disadvantage, but you also won't gain any significant advantage.

RNG needs Xiaohu to stabilize the situation and set the pace.

Of course, if it's just Graves, it's not a big problem, since there's only one ban slot. That's how we got through the first two games.

The problem is that not only is Xiaohu not used to the version, but Cryin is not used to it either.

Ultimately, Cryin is only good at playing Twisted Fate. After Twisted Fate was gone, his Annie pick in the last game was a pleasant surprise.

But that's all.

He doesn't have a high level of proficiency with popular champions in Worlds like LeBlanc, Ryze, and Zoe.

In this situation, T1 can certainly lock in the red side, allowing Faker to use his vast champion pool to execute Cryin.

It can only be said that RNG's strategy of not studying the version of the game during the group stage and choosing to rely on their most familiar playstyle to the end ultimately backfired on them.

This strategy allowed them to thrive in the group stage, advancing as group winners, but it also made them suffer greatly in the knockout stage when facing teams like T1, who had an exceptional understanding of the current meta.

In the third game, RNG still locked in Lucian for top lane and Galio for mid lane. Even though Lucian is stronger in the duo lane this patch, RNG still insisted on picking him for top lane.

Although it's extremely unconventional, it's actually what they excel at.

However, T1 was well-prepared, having locked in a three-core lineup of Yasuo in the top lane, Azir in the mid lane, and Aphelios in the bot lane, and were able to deal with it calmly.

The top lane Yasuo ensures that he won't be too disadvantaged against ranged AD carries, which is probably a preparation for the top lane Graves, but it's also fine to use him to deal with RNG's Lucian.

With the addition of the Azir and Aphelios as the two super late-game carries, this three-carry combination is like a sharp blade pressed against the chest of RNG, forcing RNG to accelerate the pace of the game!
But if the pace is accelerated too much, it will become chaotic.

Under immense pressure and facing the experienced T1, RNG completely lost their strategy in this game.

Hasty decision-making, chaotic operations, and a series of mistakes—they didn't look like a team for the World Championship.

In just 18 minutes of the dragon fight, Canna's Yasuo used a crucial Wind Wall to block GALA's Miss Fortune's fatal ultimate. Then, Faker's Azir drifted in and pushed Xiaohu and GALA into the fray, sealing the game's outcome early.

T1 has a 2-1 lead and holds match point!

Both players hurried back to the rest room.

As the competition progressed, the rivalry intensified.

RNG is undoubtedly a formidable opponent, and although T1 holds the advantage, they dare not relax at all.

The same applies to RNG.

After the draft phase in the previous game, RNG players naturally understood that their weaknesses had been exposed.

This isn't their current version. If they don't make changes, T1 can simply capitalize on version-specific factors, and their draft picks won't have an advantage!

It's no exaggeration to say that this is a dead end.

In the context of the World Championship, all teams are top-level. Who can defy the meta and win the championship?
Even last year's Mingjing only found Ghost as a breakthrough point within the jungle carry meta and then kicked that bad leg hard.

There is only one way to break this deadlock: to return to the current version.

It's alright, they have a great sparring partner.

After playing so many scrims against EDG, they're not standing still.

They have also been trying to stay close to the current version and select lineups that fit the meta.

But this means they need to change their lineup and playstyle from start to finish, so they have always felt that they haven't practiced enough and therefore haven't selected them.

It seems now that there's no way to avoid choosing it.

In the fourth game, RNG remained on the blue side, and T1 continued with their previous draft strategy. RNG could pick the meta heroes, but they insisted on using the red side's second pick to lock in a lane-advantageous lineup and drag the game into the late game.

This time, RNG still chose Lucian as their first pick. T1 didn't think much of it, feeling that RNG was being stubborn and still locked in Yasuo for the matchup, without even banning Nami.

But when RNG suddenly locked in Nami in the second round and picked Renekton to counter Yasuo, they suddenly became alert.

This lineup means that RNG has completely changed its playstyle, choosing to make Xiaohu a utility player and instead focusing on the bottom lane.

This undoubtedly disrupted their plans.

After all, Luna needs a strong laning duo to suppress her, and in this game they still locked in Aphelios, which meant their suppression was limited.

If you can't pressure Luna in lane, Aphelios will become Luna's toy in the mid-game!

This time, T1 can't afford to drag the game into the late game as leisurely as they did in the last game!

And that was indeed the case. Although this wasn't RNG's preferred playstyle, their surprise attack caught T1 completely off guard.

Relying on Luna's mid-game lane control, RNG flexibly changed their strategy again, returning to their original jungler-support gank top lane mode, turning Yasuo into a troll.

Taking advantage of the gap in the top lane, RNG steadily exerted their strength in team fights and successfully won the game!

"Two to two! The match has reached the final decisive game!" Today's match was exceptionally exciting, with both sides revealing their trump cards and constantly making moves to counter each other. Even ordinary viewers could clearly feel the strategic battle. Amid the tense situation, the match's popularity reached a new peak since the start of the world championship.

Countless LPL viewers are eagerly anticipating RNG becoming the first team to defeat Faker in the S-series knockout stage.

In the last game, RNG won, but it was mainly due to information advantage.

Now that the information gap is gone, the biggest challenge is how to win the game.

The live stream camera alternately switched between the two rest areas.

The RNG players remained tense, with jungler Wei constantly wiping sweat from his forehead, listening to the coach's advice, and expressing his nervousness.

Entering the World Championship for the first time in my life, and going to a decisive game against T1, anyone would be nervous.

But the key question is whether tension is an asset or a hindrance for you.

On the other hand, the T1 players were naturally nervous, but their performance was not bad.

Guamyusi, who was also making his debut in the competition, pointed to himself in front of the camera and then made a three-pointer, indicating that they were the winners.

Keria, on the other hand, had a resolute expression, as if she was preparing something.

In the fifth game, both players returned to the court.

T1 didn't try any fancy tricks this time either. They went back to the blue side as the loser and banned all the meta picks like Lucian and Twisted Fate. Then they continued with their previous strategy, picking the Aphelios-Azir double carry combination to drag the game into the late game.

RNG certainly didn't want to drag the game into the late game, so they picked a Kennen, Jarvan IV, Ryze, and Kassadin combo to increase the intensity of the fight.

But facing RNG's aggressive lineup, T1 subtly revealed their trump card.

Guardian of Time – Kieran.

The EDG team was shocked to see this.

Another trick up your sleeve?
"This is bad." Maokai's brows furrowed. "This time is too much of a counter to RNG."

The Time Elder's ultimate skill is arguably the strongest protective skill in the entire game. The unconditional resurrection, coupled with near-full health upon standing up, renders any attempt by the opponent to charge into battle meaningless.

Clearly, the Time Warp was a countermeasure that T1 had prepared long ago, but RNG just handed it to them willingly this time.

The familiar feeling is back.

For RNG, there is almost only one way to win: crush T1 in the early to mid-game.

If RNG's two carries are allowed to develop to the late game, under Zilean's protection, RNG will have no chance of winning.

In the blink of an eye, twenty-seven minutes had passed.

RNG actually has a significant advantage, having accumulated a 5,000 gold lead, and is currently focusing their efforts on securing the Baron Nashor.

However, RNG failed to achieve the desired result in this crucial Baron fight.

RNG successfully secured the Baron, but at the cost of a 4-for-1 trade, with the bounties of their three carries being given away.

Ming Jing looked at the situation and sighed helplessly.

Sent.

One bad move.

After surviving the Baron fight, T1 maintained stable operations, giving up the Earth Dragon Soul in exchange for the bounty of two turrets, almost leveling the economic gap.

When the two sides clashed again, it was already 36 minutes into the Elder Dragon team fight.

At this point, T1's carry players had all their items completed. Under the protection of Zilean, the two maintained stable output. After a difficult team fight where three were exchanged for five, T1's remaining bot lane duo used the mid lane minions to push and end the game!
T1 defeated RNG 3-2, advancing to the semifinals with a hard-fought victory!
With this, the semi-final matchups were finalized.

Upper bracket: DK vs. T1.

Bottom bracket: EDG vs. GEN.

The moment the match ended, the European audience erupted in applause.

Although the two teams on the field had nothing to do with them, it didn't stop them from applauding the two teams on stage.

All the spectators witnessed a fantastic match today.

Meanwhile, in the commentary booth, the Roaring Emperor's chest was filled with excitement!

"T1 truly lives up to their name!" Roaring Emperor roared from the commentary booth, "They've become the third Korean team to advance to the semifinals!"

This match truly allowed the Roaring Emperor to vent all the pent-up resentment he had been holding in.

After all, HLE's crushing defeat in the first quarterfinal match was a significant blow to Roaring Emperor.

He genuinely believed that the Korean region was truly finished and that the LPL would continue to win the championship this year.

It seems that HLE alone isn't enough!
Three of the four semifinalists are South Korean teams, how could they possibly lose?
The camera panned to the players' benches, where Lee Sang-hyeok had already stood up and followed his team to RNG's side, giving them a fist bump.

His expression remained completely unchanged, just like when he won against RNG the previous times.

The RNG players' faces showed a deep sense of resentment.

It was just a little short.

If the version had been more favorable to them, if they had had more time to prepare, perhaps the outcome would have been different.

But alas, the World Championship is just that cruel.

Glory and regret may be separated by only a fine line.

RNG packed up their peripherals and turned to leave amidst cheers that didn't belong to them.

Coach Tabe had been waiting for a long time at the backstage entrance.

Tabe was equally heartbroken after losing the crucial match.

After all, when Faker first defeated Royal Club, Tabe was the team's support.

Now that he's a coach, he naturally hopes his players can help him get revenge.

"It's alright, let's come again next year," Tabe forced a smile. "We'll be even stronger next year."

RNG's performance this year was something even the club itself didn't expect.

After all, apart from Hu Ming and the other two, the other three in the team were all unknown fringe players.

Being able to play a full five games against the world-renowned T1 has far exceeded the team's expectations at the beginning of the season.

When they return next year, fully prepared and stronger, they will surely win back everything.

The RNG team returned to the hotel by car and happened to run into the EDG players who had arrived earlier, put their things down, and were about to go for dinner.

"What a pity," Meiko said, going up to greet them. "It was just a little bit short."

Xiao Hu sighed upon hearing this.

The last time I faced Faker was in the semifinals of 2017.

He was just a little short that time too.

But it was this small difference that he could never overcome in his lifetime.

“We should stay in Iceland until after the finals,” Tabe said. “If you can’t get a practice match, you can contact us.”

"Thank you." Abu nodded from the front. "That was a great help."

Currently, three of the four semifinalists are Korean teams. Given the Korean style, these three teams will most likely team up, so it's normal that EDG can't get any scrims.

"Keep it up!" Xiaohu said sincerely, "Let's keep the championship in the LPL."

(End of this chapter)