LPL History

Chapter 127 A Smile Locks the Night Hunter's Vow to Avenge His Defeat; Zhou Yu's Sacrifice to Ezreal Provokes Public Outrage
"I didn't use any cheats."

"I, Lu Benwei, did not use cheats."

"I was really frustrated during that period because I was terrible at the game. My viewers were criticizing me every day. I basically died as soon as I landed in the game; it was commonplace for me."

"I heard all sorts of nasty words, like 'trash,' 'noob,' and 'useless.'"

“I really wanted to get stronger, and coincidentally, my friend was at my house that day. I discussed this with him about how I could improve my Jedi skills.”

He said that if I don't have the foundation, it will be difficult for me to become stronger.

"Unless you're using cheats."

"I told him to get out right then and there! I blocked him as a friend and never contacted him again!"

"Because I always remember something Brother Zhou told me back then!"

He said, "Lu Benwei, there are some red lines you can't cross! You're a former professional player, you need to have your professional ethics!"

"I started practicing diligently day and night!"

"I, Lu Benwei, didn't cheat! If you still don't believe me, OK, look at this! EDG_White!"

"I am Lu Benwei, now a professional player for EDG's PUBG division!! My debut is in the match the day after tomorrow!"

"Hey hey hey hey!"

"All rise!"

—Excerpt from Lu Benwei's Live Broadcast Highlights

The scene of the game.

The players from both sides have taken their seats.

In the live stream, besides cheering for WE, there were all sorts of vicious insults directed at EDG.

The online support rates for both teams reached a terrifying 95 to 5.

Miller glanced at the EDG players' bench and said with a smile:

"We see that the team made a roster change today. They replaced UZI, who had been starting for many games, with Lion, who impressed us at the beginning of the regular season, in the AD position!"

The doll analyzed:
"It feels like EDG's substitution was somewhat targeted. I saw some netizens analyze that Lion has a very thorough understanding of the WE team! During the regular season, he led EDG to defeat WE, and there were even reports that IG was able to defeat WE because they invited Lion to provide a lot of guidance."

Joker pursed his lips and said:

"To be honest, I don't really like this person. He's too eager to ride on WE's popularity. When WE was popular, he frantically tried to capitalize on their fame."

Hearing Joker's words, Miller and Doll exchanged a glance, almost laughing.

When it comes to freeloading, who can compare to you, Joker? It's like the pot calling the kettle black.

Zhou Li's appearance quickly triggered a reaction from the 60e fans, who once again began attacking the official Weibo accounts of EDG and LPL.

They questioned why the authorities didn't ban the Zhou rituals.

If people like Zhou Chu aren't banned, Chinese esports will be doomed sooner or later.

[Laughs, EDG is the national team, you know.]

[Ban Zhou Li! Otherwise, I'll never watch LPL matches again!]

[Zhou Chu should just die already!]

When will the LPL ban EDG?

[This team is trash; they just freeload off our WE!]

[I have depression. If WE loses today, then these five players from EDG have no reason to exist in the world.]

These outrageous remarks left LPL officials completely bewildered.

There must be a reason to ban the Zhou rites, right?
You can't just ban someone because they beat your WE team, can you?

EDG player seats.

It's impossible to say that the various insults and abuse from the audience had no impact on the EDG players at all.

Fortunately, thanks to Zhou Li's continuous training and Zhu Kaiping's daily encouragement, everyone's mental resilience has improved considerably.

And there were no puppies in this game.

Otherwise, the temperature on the EDG players' bench would already be over 40 degrees Celsius.

Meanwhile, the WE players' bench.

A tense atmosphere permeated the crowd.

He smiled, his face was somber, and he remained silent.

For some reason, whenever he sees Zhou Li's ID, he gets a kind of stress response, and the image of Vayne reaping kills in front of him that day flashes into his mind.

Looking back on that day's match, he was completely dominated by the opposing team, from online play to team fights.

Although WeiXiao also knows that with the popularity of League of Legends among the general public, more and more talented young people will join the LPL.

Those who inevitably benefited from the era's advantages will gradually be buried as they age.

Take OMG, this year's dark horse, for example.

He can accept newcomers and gradually weed out the veterans.

But how could this person be Zhou Li?

This guy was one of the people who entered the esports industry at the same time as them, and he was initially a team manager who hadn't played much League of Legends.

In just two months, someone who has never played ranked games can become a top-tier ADC. That's fucking outrageous!
Is the difference between people really that great?
Smiling, she didn't want to admit that she wasn't as virtuous as Zhou Li.

So he said:

"Promise, keep an eye on the bottom lane this game."

Upon hearing Xiaowei's words, the factory manager didn't say anything more.

This isn't the first time that the bot lane has tried to kidnap him, the jungler.

Both sides have entered the stage of trying to subdue each other.

As the blue side, WE had no choice but to use a ban to give EDG's mid laner Lu Benwei a ban on his Shadow Master.

Big Nose can't play Zed well himself, but he also can't deal with Lu Benwei's Zed.

In that previous winning match, WE almost lost to Lu Benwei if EDG's bot lane hadn't collapsed so badly.

WE then used their two bans not on the AD position, but instead banned Rumble and Renekton.

WE's strategy of banning players is actually not problematic. Whether they ban the right player or the wrong one, it's all about making up for the team's two weaknesses.

The bottom lane is the core of WE, and in this game, WE has already decided on a strategy to focus on the bottom lane.

In that case, we must reduce the pressure on the mid and top lanes by adjusting the number of players, so as to avoid the collapse being too severe and creating two "fathers" (players who are overpowered).

However, this kind of manipulation is viewed differently by the 60e.

See? We're not afraid of Zhou Chu at all when we smile.

[WE's confidence lies in not banning even one AD carry!]

To be honest, anyone who's watched the matches knows that winning a single best-of-one match is practically meaningless.

[It was simply a matter of being caught off guard.]

The 60e immediately resorted to psychological victory tactics.

EDG, on the other hand, opted to ban Twisted Fate, Shen, and Evelynn.

This inadvertently raised the quality of their team's performance.

This excited the 60e generation for a while.

Both sides have entered the selection phase.

The blue team WE immediately locked in Thresh on the first floor.

Thresh is currently a very strong champion in the support role.

After losing to EDG that day, WE also conducted a thorough review and analysis.

They believe that if Thresh had been chosen instead of Blitzcrank, the outcome of many engagements would have been completely different.

The right to choose has fallen into the hands of EDG.

EDG first picked Jarvan IV, and then picked Zyra.

Upon seeing EDG's champion selection, Joker remarked:

"Hey! EDG's two picks are quite interesting. You can't even tell which position they'll play. Jarvan IV can jungle or top, and Zyra can mid or support."

On WE's side, after seeing that the opponent had chosen Prince, WeiXiao spoke with a slightly determined tone:

"Give me Vayne!"

Vayne is, to a certain extent, an ADC that Jarvan IV finds very troublesome.

After all, sometimes when you use your ultimate, Vayne can counter with her E skill, and Jarvan IV's ultimate can become a cage that imprisons him.

Furthermore, Vayne, once her ultimate is activated, can use her Q skill to roll out of Jarvan IV's ultimate.

Aside from that reason, another reason is that Zhou Li used Vayne to completely destroy him.

Upon hearing Wei Xiao's words, Ruofeng did not hesitate and replied:

"Get Vayne!!"

When WE locked in Vayne, cheers erupted from the crowd.

Everyone knows what it means when Smile wins the Vayne pick.

【666666! 】

[Smile is going to get her revenge today!]

[Go for it, Smile! Beat up Zhou Chu!!] Joker also chimed in, "To be fair, in that match, EZ was indeed not a good matchup against Vayne; the champion was somewhat countered."

After locking in Vayne, WE added Elise, the Queen of Pain, to their jungle position.

When the election results returned to EDG, they didn't hesitate for a moment; they immediately locked in Ezreal!

"Oh!!!"

A chorus of boos erupted from the audience!
In the commentary booth, Miller and Doll's eyes lit up.

"EDG! They locked in EZ immediately, that's a split-second decision, no hesitation whatsoever! It feels like after seeing WE lock in Vayne, they already decided to lock in EZ!"

The doll then looked at the Joker and egged him on:

"Coach, you just said that EZ is not good against Vayne, but now EDG has locked in EZ as a counter-strategy. What do you think is the reason?"

Upon hearing the doll's words, the Joker spoke up:

"To be honest, this doesn't make sense! It feels like EDG's pick was completely impulsive! We all know EZ is very strong in the early game, but you still need to rely on your Q skill to deal damage and stack your passive! But Vayne is such a mobile champion, it's very difficult for her to land a Q! With this pick, I can only say that EDG is a bit arrogant. For WE, EDG playing like this is definitely a win."

Unfortunately, with the establishment of the LPL and the increasing formalization of the competition, the noise isolation of Zhou Li's headphones became somewhat inadequate.

Otherwise, if he heard Joker's outrageous remarks, he would definitely kick him a couple of times.

When Vayne faces Ezreal, she can only hide under the tower.

Even in a one-on-one situation in the late game, Vayne can easily chase down Ezreal and keep attacking him relentlessly.

But if we only consider the laning phase, why should Vayne compete with Ezreal for lane priority?
He made a perfectly normal selection process, but it turned into acting on impulse.

This only made the 60e members at the scene curse even more fiercely.

After locking in Ezreal, EDG then picked Orianna.

"Oh! In that case, Zyra is the support! EDG has picked an ultimate-heavy lineup! If Jarvan IV's ultimate combined with Zyra and Orianna's ultimates can be coordinated well, the effect will be terrifying! And they've also reserved their last counter pick for top laner Shenchao!"

The right to vote has come into WE's hands.

WE quickly picked Crystal Maiden, and then in the final tier, they picked Nautilus.

This Titan is clearly meant to be walked on.

Miller began:

"WE also picked Nautilus for Strawberry. Nautilus is still quite strong in the top lane in the current version. And we can see that WE's lineup has a lot of crowd control! The combination of Thresh and Nautilus's double hooks is so strong that anyone hooked will die! Even Ezreal, if he gets caught in the crowd control, he really can't even use his E skill."

Seeing WE's player selections, Zhou Li smiled and said:

"Shenchao, let's get Dragon Girl, shall we?"

Upon hearing Zhou Li's words, Shen Chao immediately burst into laughter.

"Wow! That's great! This game is going to be awesome!"

The commentators were still a bit confused when they saw EDG lock in Shyvana.

In the current version, Shyvana is not considered a mainstream champion, whether in the top lane or jungle.

The lineups for both sides were thus finalized.

Blue side: WE Esports Club VS Red side: EDG Esports Club.

Top Lane: (caomei) Nautilus vs. (godlike) Shyvana.

Jungle: (torrl) Elise Queen VS (lucky) Prince of Demacia

Mid Lane: (Misaya) Crystal Maiden VS (white) Clockwerk.

ADC: (wx) Night Hound VS (lion) Ezreal.

Support: (fzzf) Thresh VS (tabe) Zyra.

When some loading screens appeared, Miller's eyes widened and he couldn't help but shout:
"Hey! Did EDG bring the wrong Summoner Spells?! Why are there two Smite spells? Is it Jarvan IV or Shyvana jungling?!"

The doll thought for a moment and then said:

"It must be Shenchao playing top lane, but he brought Smite...did he make a mistake?"

Only the EDG players knew that Factory was about to suffer this time.

Under Zhou Li's training, EDG has practiced many different and unusual lineup combinations and playstyles.

This top lane Smite Shyvana is one such example.

This is also one of Shenchao's favorite ways to play.

This playstyle allows him to become a farm-farming machine in the Rift.

As soon as EDG's lineup was picked, Zhou Li knew that Shenchao's top lane role was definitely going to be left to fend for himself.

Since the factory manager chose a Spider, he can't farm too many jungle camps; he'll most likely be planning to stay in the bottom lane.

Furthermore, when it comes to matchups, the chances of securing a kill in lane against a champion like Nautilus are relatively small.

Therefore, top lane Shyvana with Smite is undoubtedly the best choice.

This version of jungle items is incredibly overpowered. Both the Egg Knife and the Egg Rabadon's Deathcap provide heroes with jungle clearing capabilities as well as extremely high stats.

In today's match, it's foreseeable that Shenchao will definitely feed the factory's jungle, at least the upper half of the jungle.

Of course, the reason Shenchao is given the Smite buff is not because he must have the Smite buff to get the Warglaives of Azzinoth; there is no such mandatory restriction in this version.

It's just so that the Dragon Girl can clear the jungle faster and then return to the battlefield to farm lanes.

In fact, Zhou Li had prepared some new things to selflessly contribute to the LPL in this match.

Just thinking about how EDG's equipment would burn everyone's CPUs, Zhou Li was already feeling great about himself.

Both sides enter the game.

WE's five players grouped up and charged straight into EDG's jungle.

It's the same lineup as the previous game, which is extremely strong at level one.

Similarly, WE's five players grouped up and invaded EDG's jungle.

Similarly, EDG left their bottom half of the map completely undefended.

But this time, after reviewing the situation, WE took a different approach.

They decided to swap jungle areas with EDG.

EDG had already placed vision in their jungle, and seeing that WE wasn't planning to leave, they immediately decided to start in WE's blue buff area.

In the commentary booth, Joker's eyes lit up, and he said:

"We see that EDG has absolutely no intention of defending, so if that's the case, both sides have swapped jungles, and WE has really come out ahead this time!"

Miller asked:
"Did you make a fortune?"

After working with Joker on several matches, Miller got to know his commentary style.

A huge loss is equivalent to a small loss.

A small loss is equivalent to no loss.

Breaking even is the same as making a profit.

Making a small profit is equivalent to making a big profit.

"They've definitely made a huge profit! With this lineup, it's obvious that Shi is going to build around WeiXiao's bot lane! Now that the jungle has been swapped, EDG can be said to pose no threat to WE's bot lane at all. On the other hand, EDG has to constantly worry about ganks from NuoYan!"

"And we saw that Nuoyan picked Spider this game. If EDG's bot lane doesn't handle this well, I can just come over and dive you!"

Fortunately, in the current map, the opening in the red team's bottom lane wall is behind the turret, instead of being moved to the front as it was later.

Otherwise, Zhou Li really wouldn't dare to go forward in this situation where the jungle area has changed.

As soon as he logged on, Zhou Li spoke:

"Tabe, go to the triangular bush and provide vision."

Upon hearing Zhou Li's words, Tabe hesitated:
"Oh, so early?"

In Tabe's opinion, using the wards so early means that by the time the jungler finishes clearing the jungle monsters and arrives, it will be just the right time.

"Don't question your dad, just do what he tells you to do."

Upon hearing Zhou Li's words, Tabe quickly ran to the bushes to provide vision.

At this time, WE's bot lane duo was still helping Clearlove farm jungle monsters.

In this version, the three wolves will spawn before the blue buff. With the help of the bot lane duo, after defeating the three wolves, they arrive at the blue buff, which has just respawned.

At this point, the minion wave in the bottom lane had just reached the turret.

Until the two sides' lanes met, Zhou Li did not choose to attack that lane first.

Based on his understanding of the factory manager, he knew that this guy would definitely try to disgust him.

If you push the minion wave forward at this point, you'll lose at least several minions, and maybe even experience.

WE's bot lane duo practically helped Clearlove clear the blue buff, and the three of them set off together towards the bot lane.

"Hey! We see! WE has chosen to move in groups of three. Does that mean they have something on EDG's bot lane?"

"But EDG's bot lane handled it well. EZ didn't even auto-attack a minion. With this minion wave, it feels like it'll be hard for Clearlove to find an opportunity!"

However, even though the factory manager knew it was impossible to catch EZ this time, he still followed the bot lane duo to the lane.

After clearing EDG's jungle, Clearlove knew that his lower jungle was very safe and he could farm at his own pace.

The reason he followed Smile to the online are not to gank, nor is it simply to annoy Zhou Li.

Instead, the goal is to put pressure on EDG's bot lane duo and help WE's bot lane duo reach level 2 first!
The factory manager's approach was very skillful; he merely peeked out from the bottom lane and forced Zhou Li back from his position.

He then immediately turned and left, just as Smile A's soldier died, he walked out of the experience sharing area.

(End of this chapter)