Believe me, I really am a professional League of Legends player.

Chapter 159 Guaranteed Top Four! The Last Battle of the Regular Season!
The news that Li Fan had officially registered for the Douyu Fighting Cup sparked a media frenzy, briefly shifting the focus of the esports community to this upcoming fighting competition.

For many people, the fact that a fighting competition can be organized on such a large scale is quite appealing.

Of course, the companies that are most comfortable with this situation are Street Fighter and Tekken... Their game downloads have increased significantly recently.

However, the League of Legends professional competition schedule continued, and everyone's attention quickly returned to the tense and exciting arena.

After all, the inter-group battles are very important for every team.

Getting those points is real... it's a very important part of the scoring process.

However, for EDG, who have already achieved a seven-game winning streak, the second half of their regular season schedule is seen by many as a completely stress-free and very easy one.

With the single round-robin format unfolding across different groups, EDG might face an upset in Group A.

However, apart from WE and OMG, who have already faced each other and still have a fighting chance, the remaining four teams in Group B – NB, Suning, JD Gaming, and LGD – do indeed have a significant gap in strength compared to the red-hot EDG, based on the initial assessments and their performance in the first half of the season.

On various forums and live streams, the focus of discussion among viewers has long shifted from whether EDG can win to how quickly they can win.

They didn't treat the members of these four teams like human beings at all...

It's exaggerated to this extent, but that's how esports is. Skill reigns supreme, and those without skill get whipped around like tops and ridiculed like this.

If you want people to respect you, you must have that kind of ability!

[Guys, let's not bother guessing whether EDG will win today, it's pointless. Let's just guess whether EDG can finish get off work in an hour!]

I bet five cents that today's two games against NB will last no more than 55 minutes in total!

[Is CoCo in mid lane doing alright for NB right now? Maybe he can put up a fight? I feel like the average game time is around 30 minutes.]

[Meituan's inflated coupons have probably blown you away, right? The average duration is now 40 minutes, how could it possibly end in an hour?]

[What's the point of struggling? Look at Unreal's recent performance, they're unstoppable. CoCo probably can't keep up.]

Indeed, EDG's mid and jungle are currently suffocating in the early game. Against weaker teams, it's basically a stomp, and against stronger teams, it's a complete push.

What's the difference between a one-sided victory and a complete rout?

It was amidst these discussions that the match between EDG and NB took place as scheduled on July 19th.

In the first game, NB chose a lineup that leaned towards mid-to-late game team fights in an attempt to stabilize the situation.

However, EDG clearly did not intend to drag the game into the late game, but rather planned to quickly crush NB.

The factory manager locked up the excavator, and his clear objective for this round was to occupy the middle lane and thoroughly develop it.

After the match started, the factory manager's excavator frequently visited the middle lane.

CoCo's plane was already being very cautious when facing Li Fan's Taliyah, but under Clearlove's almost frantic attention, it still suffered repeated heavy blows.

After gaining a kill advantage, Li Fan's Taliyah was able to fully unleash her lane-pushing and roaming abilities, working with Clearlove to continuously invade NB's jungle and snowball the game.

In twenty-seven minutes, the economic gap had widened to over 10,000.

With their huge equipment advantage and Baron buff, EDG easily pushed down NB's base in one fell swoop and won the first game cleanly.

The MVP award undoubtedly went to Clearlove, whose rhythm was perfect. His stats in this game were also very impressive, with maximum damage taken...

The factory manager feels like he's back to his form from seasons 5 and 6.

After a short break, the second game began.

Perhaps feeling that the first game wasn't a satisfying victory, EDG locked in Syndra as a counter pick in this game.

"Syndra! Unreal's signature champion is back. There are just too many mid laners we have to ban." Commentator Miller exclaimed.

CoCo picked Azir this game, hoping to rely on the hero's unique characteristics to survive in the later stages.

However, CoCo felt immense pressure right from the start of the laning phase.

Li Fan's Syndra skill release was extremely precise, and every time the Dark Orb forced him to give up last-hitting minions.

Once Syndra levels up, her burst damage makes even farming minions under the tower a nerve-wracking experience for CoCo.

This is Tsar facing off against Syndra.

Although he felt pressured, he genuinely didn't expect the gap to be so large.

Can I really be this bad?
CoCo really can't laugh anymore.

The four players who were single two days ago beat Snake Esports, but now they've been brought back to reality when they face EDG.

Although the factory manager didn't show up as frequently as in the previous game, his presence was still ubiquitous, putting immense pressure on NB's side lanes and preventing NB's jungler from effectively supporting the mid lane.

Before the laning phase was even over, Li Fan's Syndra had already secured a solo kill on CoCo!

"What a beautiful solo kill! Unreal's Syndra is completely different from everyone else's Syndra. Her dominance is just too strong, and the damage calculation is too precise! CoCo never expected to be one-shotted!" As Miller shouted this, the atmosphere at the scene became heated.

Syndra, having gained the advantage, became NB's nightmare.

In team fights, a Syndra who is ahead of the game in development is like a nuclear bomb.

Every time Li Fan precisely executed a weakling retreat followed by an energy outburst, he could instantly eliminate NB's key carry.

With such burst damage, even an incense burner wouldn't be able to absorb it at this moment.

That's the charm of Syndra.

Extremely high burst damage!
At 25 minutes, EDG once again stormed NB's high ground, ending the game with overwhelming force.

Syndra ultimately achieved a godlike performance and undoubtedly won the MVP award for this game.

"Let's congratulate EDG! They easily defeated NB 2-0, extending their winning streak to eight!" Wawa shouted in celebration.

The last time I saw such a dominant team in the league was EDG...

They achieved a perfect 16-game winning streak.

However, they were eliminated in the quarterfinals of the World Championship.

Will this year be different?

Wawa was momentarily distracted in the commentary booth, but quickly snapped back to reality upon hearing the screams from the audience.

Including the ten-minute break in the middle, the total time for this BO3 match was sixty-two minutes.

[Haha, what a pity! Just two minutes short! EDG almost achieved the "one-hour workday achievement"!]

[NB struggled a bit in the first game, otherwise it really might have been possible.]

[Unreal's Syndra is terrifying; she seems even more oppressive than his Kassadin. Lane-dominating champions are truly ruthless in her hands.]

[The factory manager's first game with the excavator was also a textbook example of protecting the carry and counter-ganking; the mid-jungle synergy was amazing.]

Watching EDG play against these teams now is like adults playing against children—utterly boring…

This year is truly the most promising year ever! I've never said this before! But this year I just can't hold back anymore. Go EDG!

After the match, the EDG players looked relaxed and chatted and laughed as they packed up their peripherals.

The factory manager patted Li Fan on the shoulder: "Not bad, Brother Fan. Syndra went all out. CoCo is going to have nightmares tonight."

Li Fan smiled and said, "Actually, I didn't want to be so ruthless, but I don't know why he always seems to be targeting my skills."

"You're really not afraid of getting challenged to an offline duel!"

"Um, the last player to get banned in an offline PK was NB's mid laner Cool, right?" SisterCon chimed in with a laugh.

"Shh, everyone be serious, we're going to shake hands."

For them, defeating an opponent like NB seemed like a given...

There's really no need to say so much here.

The regular season is no longer their main focus; their attention is now definitely on the World Championship. Clearlove's previous statement has come true, and they have already begun studying their opponents for the World Championship.

Because of EDG's outstanding performance, people's attention was not as focused on the match itself.

Because if EDG wins all their matches in group A, they will basically be first in the group. First in the group means the semifinals. With the points from the Spring Split, they are guaranteed to be the second seed and advance to the World Championship.

[EDG's last few regular season matches seem pretty predictable; I'm more looking forward to the Fighting Cup in August.]

Indeed, watching EDG dominate is satisfying, but watching Fan challenge various masters in fighting games is even more interesting. Just thinking about our League of Legends pro players wreaking havoc in various games makes me very happy.

[Huh? I'm a QQ Speed ​​fan, but you guys didn't say that before. Why the sudden change of heart?]

Things are different now... Why not support a game that wins and brings glory to the league players?

I wonder if he's been secretly practicing Street Fighter and Tekken lately?

[Of course! How long has it been since you watched Fan Ge's stream? He's always practicing with the controller, and he's improving incredibly fast.]

However... even so, I don't think we can win the championship. Top fighters from both China and abroad are here; making it to the quarterfinals would be a success.

Back at the EDG base, after a brief review and tactical meeting.

Li Fan ordered takeout and started a live stream. Instead of playing a couple of rounds of QQ Speed ​​as usual to practice, he skillfully connected the joystick controller and opened Tekken 7.

Compared to Street Fighter 5, which has a Brazilian regional championship background, his experience in Tekken 7 is much weaker.

Although his exceptional reaction speed and hand speed allow him to quickly master basic combos and frame rates, the essence of fighting games—distance control, positioning strategies, familiarity with different character routines, and psychological warfare in real-time—requires extensive practical experience to hone.

It requires experience; if you haven't played enough, you definitely won't succeed.

Just like in League of Legends, I can always maintain a good level of performance. It's just endless training mode every day. I don't even know how many games of League of Legends I've played when I wake up in the middle of the night.

If you can't practice until you're proficient and maintain your form, then you'll truly become useless.

So with more than a month to go before the Douyu Fighting Cup starts, he must make the most of every minute to master Tekken 7.

As soon as viewers entered the live stream and saw this scene, they immediately started typing.

[It's here! Fan Ge's extra combat training session!]

Are you still playing Tekken today? I feel like Tekken is harder to pick up than Street Fighter. I've practiced Tekken for so long and I still feel like a noob, but when I opened the game, I found that the people I was matched with were even worse...

[Fan-ge, which character are you planning to use today? Mishima Kazuya?]

[I feel like Grandpa Heihachi is even more powerful, his electric wind is devastating!]

Li Fan glanced at the comments and said, "Yeah, that's right. Today I'll focus on practicing Tekken. As for the character... I'll try out Jun Kazama for now."

He chose Jun Kazama, a female character who was relatively flexible and had impressive combos, and entered the online battle mode.

The first opponent I was matched with had a high rank, and was using the classic Mishima Kazuya.

From the very beginning, the opponent displayed a seasoned and domineering style, starting with an electric wind attack and smoothly executing a series of aerial combos, catching Li Fan off guard... He was easily defeated in the end, losing the first round.

Oh dear, what a bad start!

[Wow, that guy on the other side is a veteran, his electric wind attack is so accurate.]

[Fighting games are a very complex field, and even Fan Ge (Fan Ge) can't fully grasp it. Winning one Street Fighter championship is already quite an achievement. Don't be too greedy; just focus on winning the Street Fighter championship first. Participating in two competitions would put too much pressure on you.]

Yes, practicing two game-like mindsets can easily lead to problems, which isn't a good approach.

Li Fan's face remained expressionless; he simply clicked his tongue softly.

Then, he quickly reviewed the previous match in his mind, including his opponent's starting moves and his own recovery options after being hit.

At the start of the second game, Li Fan became noticeably more cautious.

He no longer makes moves easily, but instead observes his opponent more by moving and making small shifts.

When the opponent tried to rush in with the electric wind again, Li Fan seized the opportunity and successfully neutralized it with a precise low cut, and quickly countered with a set of basic combos that he had practiced many times to win back the point.

[Beautiful! This cut!]

[That's a really fast reaction! How could they even react to that?]

[You've learned this, but it's useless. As long as your reaction is quick enough, you can break it like this.]

Ultimately, all fighting games rely on reaction time, and Unreal Engine's reaction time is probably among the best of all professional players.

The following matches became a stage for Li Fanfei to learn at a rapid pace.

While dealing with the opponent's fierce offensive, he constantly tried to understand the performance limits of the character Jun Kazama.

Although he still loses more than he wins overall, viewers in the live stream can clearly see that his positioning is becoming more and more methodical, and the stability and damage maximization of his combos are improving at a visible rate.

Sometimes, even after losing a match due to a spectacular combo from his opponent, he would go back to training mode to practice more...

Holy crap, they're learning on the spot?

This learning ability is outrageous!

While others were stunned by the beating, Brother Fan recovered.

After several hours of intense fighting in Tekken 7, Li Fan's forehead was slightly sweaty.

Fighting games demand extremely high levels of instantaneous reaction and sustained focus, resulting in significant mental strain.

As the viewers in the live stream watched Li Fan intently staring at the screen, with fine beads of sweat even appearing on his forehead, the comments section quietly changed.

Honestly, Fan Ge's training attitude deserves his success. He's incredibly dedicated; who trains more seriously than him?

[Just finished a match, several hours of high-intensity punching, I admire their stamina.]

No wonder they can win championships in multiple events; their level of effort is unmatched by most people.

He seems really ruthless to himself... and ruthless to the league's fans too.

Amidst the exclamations of praise, some die-hard League of Legends fans watched this scene with mixed feelings, their emotions running high.

Sigh, this doesn't feel good.

[If... I mean if, he had poured all the time and energy he spent practicing Doomfist and Street Fighter into League of Legends, would his skills have improved even further? Would his dominance be even stronger now?]

[Yeah, even though he's already a top mid laner in the league, I still feel like he hasn't reached his true full potential yet. He could be the next Faker the moment he stops getting distracted!]

[They're still trying to get the next Faker; how many games have they lost to Fan Ge this year?]

[Won't being distracted by other games eventually dilute your focus on League of Legends?]

[Perhaps this is the capriciousness of a genius, but we League of Legends fans really just want to see him create an unparalleled dynasty in Summoner's Rift.]

[That's a bit greedy. I want him to be invincible in the league, but I also want to see him slap people in the face in other areas. But you can't have your cake and eat it too.]

Seeing the comments in the live stream, Li Fan said, "First of all, thank you all for your concern. However, regarding your condition, I think you might be worrying a bit too much."

"For me, practicing different esports games is not entirely a distraction; in some ways, it's more like cross-training."

"For example, fighting games demand extremely high levels of instantaneous reaction, prediction, distance awareness, and psychological warfare skills. These abilities are equally crucial in League of Legends, such as laning, judging the timing of team fight engagements, and dodging skills."

"I can lift people up with Taliyah, stun people with Syndra, and calculate the kill threshold with Kassadin. Do you think these micro-operations and instantaneous decisions are fundamentally different from the confirmed combos, timing attacks, and throw breakers in fighting games?"

He paused, giving the audience a moment to process his thoughts, before continuing, "Moreover, playing only one game for a long time can sometimes lead to a fixed mindset and a sense of burnout."

"I've said it many times: changing to a different game is like giving your brain a new track, a kind of relaxation and a reboot of your thinking. When I return to League of Legends, I often have new understandings and inspirations."

"So please rest assured, I know what is most important. League of Legends is my root, my main battlefield. I yearn to reach the pinnacle here more than anyone else and win the World Championship trophy that every professional player dreams of."

[Got it! Cross-training! Advanced!]

But I have a question: when did Brother Fan ever train with League of Legends...?

【Does training through matches not count as training?】 【Well, what you guys are saying actually makes a lot of sense. We really are training through matches, no doubt about it. What training intensity can be higher than a match?】

[As long as Brother Fan knows what's going on, we believe in you!]

Indeed, he hasn't underperformed in league games; in fact, he's getting better and better.

[Alright, alright, enough with the sentimentality, Fan-ge, go for it! I want both the league championship and the fighting championship!]

"Alright, enough chit-chat, let's get back to practicing. I feel like that combo from earlier could have its damage optimized a bit..."

Li Fan's explanation regarding cross-training temporarily quelled the concerns of some League of Legends fans in the live stream.

But the esports world is ultimately a place where results speak for themselves.

All eyes quickly turned to EDG's upcoming schedule in the other group.

As most people expected, EDG demonstrated absolute dominance against SNG and JDG, whose strengths were significantly inferior.

In the first game against SNG, Li Fan picked LeBlanc, and his agile movements tormented SNG's mid laner fenfrn, easily ending the game in 34 minutes.

This shocked everyone...

Wasn't Enchantress supposed to be nerfed to a crisp? Why is she still being used so overpowered?

League of Legends designers, look! This champion is still usable. I suggest you remove him!

In fact, within Riot Games in the US, League of Legends designers also saw footage of Li Fan carrying a game using LeBlanc...

If it's been nerfed to this extent and it still works, then shouldn't the W skill be nerfed again?
They really don't plan to release LeBlanc in the World Championship.

In the second game, the factory manager picked his signature Jarvan IV, and together with Li Fan's Galio, the mid-jungle synergy completely pushed the pace of the game, and they destroyed the base in 24 minutes.

The two matches combined lasted less than an hour, allowing me to finish get off work in an hour.

They showed no mercy when facing JDG.

In the first game, Li Fan's Twisted Fate flew all over the field, tearing JDG's defense to shreds...

It makes everyone sigh, if Twisted Fate can appear on the field, then what mid laner can't be picked?

In the second game, he directly picked Lucian for mid lane and completely dominated JDG's mid laner Doinb in lane. The gold difference between them once reached a terrifying 3,000 gold, and the game ended in 26 minutes.

Doinb was completely dizzy when he finally sat down in his seat.

Why?
Why is the enemy mid-laner AD so strong that I can't counter him at all?

The difference in hero pool was what led to the loss...

Xiba!

Ten consecutive wins! EDG's winning streak is unstoppable, like a snowball rolling downhill, and it seems that there is no one left in the league who can challenge them.

On forums and social media, the phrase "EDG is invincible" began to appear frequently.

However, just when everyone thought EDG would finish the intergroup round with a perfect record, an unexpected event occurred.

Their final opponent is LGD, who have been in poor form this season and are currently ranked last in Group B.

Before the match, almost everyone thought it would be a one-sided crushing defeat.

"Does anyone really think LGD can beat EDG in a single game? Really? Really?"

"I bet EDG will win 2-0, and the two games will not last more than 60 minutes in total."

"LGD only has Imp who's still somewhat viable right now, but in this bot lane meta, can an ADC really be overpowered?"

However, the allure of esports lies precisely in its unpredictability.

In the first game, LGD seemed to have let go of all their burdens and chose an extremely risky late-game four-protect-one lineup, putting all their bets on their core ADC Imp's Twitch.

EDG failed to put enough pressure on LGD in the early game, and the match was stubbornly dragged into the late game by LGD.

When Imp's Twitch was fully equipped and unleashed his "full power" under the heavy protection of his teammates, the poison arrow that pierced the battlefield became the foreshadowing of EDG's defeat.

Despite Li Fan's attempts to unleash a perfect ultimate with Orianna several times, LGD's protection was impeccable.

At 48 minutes, after a fierce team fight, LGD narrowly destroyed EDG's base crystal!
Holy crap! LGD!

[Imp! Is this the true value of a champion AD carry?!]

EDG has lost?! Even though it was just one game, they really lost!

[LGD is awesome! LGD doesn't take down nobodies!]

[I told you EDG couldn't keep winning forever, and look, they've shown a weakness!]

[LGD only beats strong teams! Even a strong team like EDG couldn't withstand them]

The audience at the scene and in the live broadcast room went wild!
Who would have thought that the bottom-ranked team in the league would actually upset the invincible league leader? Although it was only one game, it was enough to break EDG's undefeated myth!
The atmosphere in EDG's backstage lounge was somewhat somber.

The Quickstar coach didn't look too good backstage either. They had indeed underestimated their opponents and paid the price for it.

Scout sat in the corner and started chuckling to himself...

After the short break, EDG's voice chat was no longer filled with lighthearted banter and laughter, but rather with seriousness.

"My bad, my bad, I didn't manage the pace well in the early stages." The factory manager took the initiative to take responsibility.

"Be careful with the next group, don't let the rats steal anything," Meiko reminded them.

Li Fan didn't speak, but moved his fingers and looked at the screen with a fighting spirit in his eyes.

The LGD players were all very excited. Putting everything else aside, the last-place team had the advantage against the strongest team right now.

In the second game, EDG switched to the blue side.

Facing LGD's potential late-game strategy in the counter position, Li Fan made a choice that surprised both the commentators and the audience: Tristana!

"Mid lane Tristana! Is Unreal going to go all out against LGD in the late game? Or are they going to end the game in the mid-game?" the commentator exclaimed.

This move undoubtedly shows EDG's attitude: we are not afraid to drag the game out, but we want to gain enough advantage to end the game in the early to mid-game!

At the start of the match, Li Fan's Tristana played extremely aggressively during the laning phase.

The damage output and tower-pushing ability of his E skill, Explosive Spark, made the Mage suffer greatly.

The factory manager also learned from the previous game's experience and frequently focused on the mid lane, helping the small cannon establish an equipment advantage.

With its superior equipment, the Tristana demonstrated terrifying tower-pushing and team fight cleanup capabilities in the mid-game.

The rocket jump refresh mechanism allows her to leap like the Grim Reaper in team fights.

Although LGD's Imp once again picked a strong ADC and tried his best, this time, EDG did not give LGD a chance to drag the game into the late game.

At 37 minutes, thanks to Li Fan's godlike performance with Xiao Pao, EDG pulled back a game, tying the score at 1-1!

It has to be Brother Fan!

[That Tristana jump was so cool! The last time I saw Tristana do a quadruple jump was with Uzi...]

The pressure is on LGD now. Can Imp still carry the team?

In the decisive game, the entire EDG team showed a significant improvement in performance, their eyes filled with a strong desire for victory.

On LGD's side, after two games of high-intensity gameplay, Imp's performance inevitably declined, with his reaction time and operational finesse decreasing.

With the balance of power shifting, the deciding game turned into a one-sided massacre.

The factory manager controlled the pace of the game, and Li Fan's Taliyah once again demonstrated its powerful map-wide influence, blooming in both the top and bottom lanes.

Although Imp is still trying to find a way to contribute, it can't do it alone.

At 28 minutes, EDG, with the Baron buff, pushed down LGD's base in one fell swoop, securing a narrow victory in this BO3 series!
"Congratulations to EDG for defeating LGD 2-1, extending their winning streak to eleven! Although the process was a bit bumpy, they ultimately proved their strong ability to adjust and their strength!" commentator Changmao summarized.

Although they won the game, the smiles on the faces of the EDG players were not as relaxed as before.

The loss in one game served as a wake-up call for them; they had become too relaxed and careless in the first game.

Thankfully it was a best-of-three series; if it had been a best-of-two series like before, we would have only gotten one point.

We won, but not completely.

[The fact that LGD managed to take a point from EDG shows that EDG is not invincible!]

[It seems there's hope for other strong teams; EDG's performance has been inconsistent!]

Imp really tried his best, it breaks my heart...

[But it's good, it serves as a reminder to EDG that there are no weak teams at Worlds. If they are too careless, they can only wait for defeat.]

This unexpected loss in the first game was like a bucket of cold water, waking up the somewhat overconfident EDG players and giving other strong teams in the league an opportunity.

EDG is not invincible!

With the right tactics and the players in good form, we have every chance to take the victory from them!

The landscape of the league seems to have become delicate again because of the outcome of this small match.

LGD's somewhat embarrassing victory served as a timely wake-up call for the somewhat complacent EDG team.

In the post-match review, QuickStar unusually magnified the problems in the first game, such as underestimating their opponent, being overly aggressive, lacking vision, and hesitating in decision-making!

Everyone except Li Fan got scolded...

"We're not strong enough to just casually win!" QuickStar's slightly broken Chinese echoed in the training room. "Any lapse in concentration can be fatal on a higher level! Think about last year's World Championship, think about how you all fell before!"

Everyone nodded very seriously, indicating that they recognized their mistake.

Li Fan watched the replay of the team fight that led to the defeat in the first game on the screen.

It also acknowledges that after a series of victories, a subtle sense of complacency had crept in deep within him.

This defeat came at just the right time.

During the five-day break, EDG's training atmosphere became noticeably more focused and intense.

Everyone was giving it their all, determined to turn that hard-won victory into motivation for the rest of the game.

However, a hot patch update announcement released by the official League of Legends team has once again stirred up a huge uproar online, and at the center of the storm is none other than Li Fan!
The announcement regarding the changes to LeBlanc, the Deceiver, was simple and straightforward.

Shadow Step (W): Damage to minions reduced from 40% to 20%.

"20%?!"

When Li Fan and his teammates saw this update, a collective gasp filled the training room.

"Holy crap! Has the designer gone mad?" Meiko was the first to exclaim. "How the hell are we supposed to clear the lines now?"

"Reducing it from 40% to 20%? What's the difference between that and completely removing the wave-clearing ability of this skill?" The factory manager frowned as well.

Li Fan was somewhat prepared as he read the text, since the fist itself had already made that move.

After the Mid-Season Invitational, her stats dropped to 40%, and before the World Championship Finals even started, they plummeted to 20%, rendering LeBlanc completely useless... She never played again at the World Championship Finals.

The S8 was completely redesigned.

Because of this nerf, LeBlanc can no longer clear lanes quickly, which means she can't roam or put pressure on the side lanes, and will be permanently locked down in the mid lane.

Within minutes of the announcement, Li Fan's Weibo account and major gaming forums were flooded with angry fans and viewers.

[Designer, please! Do you even know how to balance?]

[80% reduced to 20%? Why the hell didn't you just delete LeBlanc?]

[Hilarious! Just because Brother Fan won a game with LeBlanc, he's going to stomp him to death, huh?]

[Targeting! Blatant targeting! Do the League of Legends designers not want to see strong mid laners in the LPL?]

[First Kassadin was nerfed, now LeBlanc is being nerfed, will Syndra, Taliyah, and Twisted Fate be nerfed next?]

[Fan Ge's Hero Pool: Danger!]

This is disgusting, is this game even playable anymore?

The hashtags "Feeling sorry for Fan Ge," "#LeagueofLegends designers target Unreal Engine," and "#LeBlanc has been nerfed to oblivion" quickly trended on Weibo, sparking widespread discussion and protests among players.

Many people felt sorry for Li Fanming, believing that his outstanding personal abilities had become the original sin that caused the hero to suffer. If that's the case, then this game is too cruel.

As expected, this nerf, which can be described as execution, is clearly intended to completely shut down LeBlanc and ensure that she cannot appear on the World Championship stage.

The designers used the most direct method to declare that this hero's gameplay did not meet our expectations, so she had no reason to exist.

The five-day break passed in the blink of an eye.

Having learned from their embarrassing victory against LGD, they displayed a dominance that struck fear into the hearts of all their opponents when they returned to the same group.

In the next four matches, IM, IG, Snake, and DAN, regardless of whether their opponents were experienced veteran teams or rising new forces, all appeared to be no match for EDG.

In the first game against IM, Li Fan picked Viktor, completely dominating the lane and sweeping through team fights with his laser, ending the game in 30 minutes.

In the second game, the factory manager's Sejuani had perfect rhythm, and Li Fan's Ryze drove his teammates to victory everywhere, pushing the game to a standstill in 26 minutes.

Against IG, even though Duke was in the top lane and Ning was a very talented rookie jungler, they still had no chance to fight back.

In the first game, Li Fan used Taliyah to lock down Rookie's Syndra in the mid lane and helped establish a huge advantage in the top and bottom lanes by constantly roaming.

In the second game, they even brought out Jayce in the mid lane, and crushed IG's mid and jungle in the laning phase. By the time it was just over 20 minutes, IG was already 8,000 gold behind. Jayce's barrage completely overwhelmed them.

Against Snake, EDG demonstrated greater resilience and operational capabilities.

In the first game, they won with a steady defense and counter-attack, and in the second game, they used a more aggressive offensive to directly break through the opponent's defense.

DAN, the newly promoted team, was completely outmatched by EDG. Both games were like tutorial matches, and they were easily defeated.

All four best-of-three matches ended 2-0, with the total time all kept to around one hour!

EDG's dominant performance in one match after another demonstrates their return to form and their absolute dominance.

Holy crap! Did EDG go into seclusion for the past five days to train?

[They seem even stronger than before the LGD match! The pressure is immense!]

[It's over, it seems like the other teams have no hope left.]

[Unreal's champion pool... if LeBlanc is gone, they can just pick Viktor or Jayce and still carry. How do you counter that?]

Public opinion has reversed again, and the notion that "EDG is invincible" has made a comeback with even greater momentum.

EDG has extended their winning streak to fifteen games!
As a result, all the suspense of the entire regular season is focused on the final match between EDG and WE on August 15th!
This is not just an ordinary regular season game, but also a test of whether EDG can match their own record of sixteen consecutive wins.

As for the playoffs, it's already confirmed that they're first in Group A, so there's not much to say about that. That means they're guaranteed a spot in the semifinals, which gives them a huge advantage based on points. Advancing to the finals will secure them a place in the World Championship...

The day before the match, the related discussions exploded!
Tomorrow is the final battle! Can EDG achieve a 16-game winning streak?

Go WE! Stop them!

I bet EDG will win 2-1. WE is still very strong; winning even one game would be a victory.

[I feel like it's 2-0, EDG's current form is terrifying.]

Can Condi raise pigs in the Factory Manager's jungle? Can Xiye withstand the pressure from Unreal Engine?

The major forums, online communities, and Weibo trending topics were almost entirely dominated by analysis posts about this match...

(End of this chapter)