League: I really didn't tank!

Chapter 142: The Scars on the Back are the Top Lane's Shame

"One game 13-0, the other 11-0!" Commentator Guan shouted from the commentary booth, "Two consecutive victories in the Linglong Tower match! QG has demonstrated extraordinary dominance in today's group stage!!"

"With this result, QG will be tied for first place in the group with SKT with a 2-0 record. The suspense of when the two teams will be decided will continue until tomorrow's second match! Stay tuned!"

Meanwhile, on the other side, the commentators from Europe and America were also going crazy.

"Oh shit! After today's match, I think the whole world will know this upstart team called QG! Their early-game aggression is top-notch, and now I'm already looking forward to their big battle against SKT tomorrow!"

After a day of competition, QG has gained countless fans, leaving many European and American viewers amazed.

There's nothing else to it, it's just that the abuse was too severe.

They're all champions from their respective regions, so why is QG able to deliver such a dominant performance? Has the LPL's level really reached this high?

That's not right! Last year at the World Championship, LPL only managed to reach the quarterfinals at best, and they lost to our FNC!

How come there have been so many changes in just six months?

Chen Dongqing received the most attention because he was the MVP in both of the games he won.

One game he played a godlike Fiora, the other a cannon-wielding Jayce; his presence was always on full display.

Finally, both commentators turned their attention to tomorrow's match.

In the second match of the second day of the group stage, QG will face off directly against SKT.

If QG can still win, their popularity will reach another level!

After the match, the QG players got up and went to SUP to shake hands.

When Chen Dongqing shook hands with the opposing top laner, he clearly heard the other person say a phrase with a hint of barbecue flavor: "thank you."

What's going on? Why are you saying thank you even though you lost?

Chen Dongqing was completely puzzled and didn't know what to say for a moment. After a long while, he finally said, "It's nothing."

In the subsequent interview, Chen Dongqing was pulled over to the English stream. He openly praised the SUP team, saying that the team was very resilient and easy-going, which earned him a collective thumbs up from countless viewers in the Twitch live stream.

What an elegant and approachable handsome man from the East!

After the match, the QG members quickly left the venue and took a bus to the restaurant. Except for Chen Dongqing, the other players were quite hungry.

This time it was a very famous barbecue restaurant. The chef grilled the large skewers of meat live on the spot. When they were served, they were bright in color and smelled delicious.

After the meat skewers cooled down a bit, Chen Dongqing took a bite. The juices from the grilled meat burst out, and combined with the aroma of the grilled meat, it was an absolutely amazing experience.

Even Chen Dongqing, who was already 80% full from eating fried chicken, easily finished a whole portion.

After a satisfying meal, everyone returned to the hotel.

"Get a good rest tonight! Play well tomorrow!" Standing in the hotel training room, the manager said, "Losing to the Korean team will get us a lot of flak!"

"OK!"

Doinb's response was the loudest. He was not very satisfied with his performance today and planned to play two ranked games before taking a break.

Chen Dongqing immediately began training.

Hmm. Training in PUBG.

It has to be said that this kind of day-to-day training is really effective. After killing so many people, Chen Dongqing felt that his PUBG skills had improved a lot.

the next day.

QG members have perfect routines, getting up promptly at nine o'clock and then starting to prepare breakfast.

Their first match is at 3 PM, so it's just right to fill their stomachs now that it's past 9 PM.

On the way to the venue by bus, Chen Dongqing took out his phone and browsed Tieba (a Chinese online forum).

With the world anticipating the first major group stage match between LPL and LCK, there has been a great deal of discussion surrounding this game.

[If you don't understand, just ask: What is QG's win rate?]

[30/70 split!]

【How come it's only 70% complete?】

[70% of it belongs to someone else! And even then, they still have to depend on Faker's opinion!]

[That's enough, you Korean troll upstairs. QG's crushing defeat yesterday still hasn't shut you up?]

[You think you're superior just because you've beaten a few noobs? What makes you think you, QG, can compare to last year's champions?]

[You brought the World Championship title to defeat the MSI team? How impressive!]

[The thing is, a champion is a champion, haha. Where was QG when SKT won last year? What champion are you, QG? Stop trying to piggyback on my success, okay?]

[Hilarious, just waiting for QG to get crushed by SKT]

Watching the two sides exchange a barrage of insults, Chen Dongqing felt a pang of sadness.

It has to be said, you'll never understand the thought process of a Korean fanatic.

Don't be fooled by the fierce infighting among the various factions, such as the 60E and 59E, that was just internal strife. In reality, when it comes to external battles, they all spontaneously shout the slogan of uniting against external enemies.

Only this group of two extreme Korean traitors, who only respect their Korean fathers, can't wait for their own region's teams to be utterly crushed.

Not only did he kneel himself, but he also wouldn't let others stand.

Chen Dongqing put in some effort to screenshot and save the comments from pro-Korean groups on the forum.

He will make his move today.

They arrived a little late this time, and by the time they entered the court, the first game had already begun.

Today's first match was packed with fun, a direct clash between CLG and G2, a European vs. American showdown.

This kind of competition is fine for Asian viewers, but for European and American viewers on Twitch, the significance of it is no less than that of LPL playing against LCK.

This involves historical hatred.

As soon as the two teams took to the field, the viewers' comments on both sides were fierce. But it has to be said that, given the situation this year, CLG is indeed stronger.

As the team that ultimately made it to the finals in the original history, they were definitely stronger than the teams eliminated in the group stage, so they were destined to disappoint European audiences. This time, North America emerged victorious.

After their victory, the CLG players raised their arms and cheered from their seats, extremely excited!

It's highly likely that neither of their teams will make it to the knockout stage, so winning against each other in the group stage is roughly equivalent to taking a 2-0 lead in the knockout stage!

If they win the second round again, they'll be the champions!

At this moment, in the backstage lounge, the players of QG and SKT were no longer paying attention to the situation on the field; both sides were sitting and preparing.

QG is certainly on high alert.

Everyone was giving it their all and taking this match very seriously.

"Come on, brothers!" Uzbekistan, who had lost to the South Korean team many times, was the most serious: "Come on, Liu Qingsong! Let's beat the 'wolf pack' today!"

Liu Qingsong didn't reply; he was genuinely nervous this time.

Every time he faced Wolf in a training match, he learned something from him, which showed that his opponent was indeed much better than him.

Liu Qingsong was still slightly intimidated by this encounter in the main competition.

"Heh, SKT is nothing!" Xiangguo said frankly, "Chen Dongqing, let's just crush their top laner today!"

Chen Dongqing, quite boldly, waved his hand and said, "No need to help. Go help those two young guys in the bottom lane. I'll solo kill the top lane myself!"

Behind them, Park Unryong and Banbazi exchanged a glance, unsure whether to offer some advice or let things continue.

It's certainly a good thing to be confident. They were initially quite worried that their own players would be intimidated before the battle even started, after all, the opponent was a newly crowned champion team, and one that had won by overwhelming force.

But now, isn't he being overconfident?

Meanwhile, on the other side...

Kkoma also gave the team members a pep talk: "Don't underestimate QG. As your scrim opponents, you should understand their strength!"

The SKT players all nodded in agreement. They were certainly not people who underestimated their opponents, but it wouldn't be accurate to say that they took their opponents seriously.

Their status as champions naturally made them the superiors waiting to be challenged. Even when the media promoted this China-Korea battle, they mostly used the phrase "QG challenges SKT".

Korean forums overwhelmingly favored SKT, completely disregarding QG.

Soon, staff members arrived at both teams' rest areas and notified the players to prepare to take the stage.

When the contestants from both sides took the stage, the audience immediately erupted in a terrifying cheer and applause!

QG and SKT, one the host and the other the world's number one team, together have fans who make up 99.9% of the audience. The cheers from all directions almost lifted the roof off the stadium!

"Alright, we can see that both competitors have taken the stage! The match is about to begin!"

The commentary team for this episode includes Guan Zeyuan, Jide, and special guest Clearlove.

Having honed his skills through the Spring Tournament, Guan Daxiao has established himself in the commentary team with his exceptional ability to recite menu items and his clear commentary style, becoming the top choice after Wawa and Miller.

Therefore, he is now qualified to sit in the center position of the commentary booth.

"This match is extremely important for QG!" said Guan Dajiao. "Because if they win this match, QG will move into first place in the group!"

Remember immediately chimed in, "And if they can maintain their top spot in the group until the end, they'll be eligible to choose their own semi-final opponent when the knockout stage begins!"

Hearing this, the factory manager raised an eyebrow slightly, recalling some of his glorious days at this time last year.

As the three were talking, both teams were ready. After the referee's confirmation, the draft phase began!

"Alright, the draft phase has begun! Let's see how the coaches perform! We can see that SKT is still on the blue side, and they immediately banned Rumble as their first pick! Meanwhile, QG on the red side banned Ryze!"

Faker's Ryze deserves some respect.

"For their second ban, SKT picked Sivir, while QG immediately banned Poppy! And then, SKT quickly banned Fiora!"

Seeing this, I remember laughed: "It seems that Ilex's Fiora yesterday left a deep impression on SKT!"

Beside him, Guan Zeyuan glanced at the memory.

He is indeed new.

You wouldn't even call him Brother Tree.

Next, in the final ban phase, Banbazi, on the red side, chose to hold down Alistar and enter the champion selection phase.

"Alright, blue side, SKT's pick is exceptionally aggressive, they've directly chosen Nidalee!"

Guan Zeyuan nodded and said, "SKT rarely picks Nidalee as their first pick in the league. It seems they have made a change in their playstyle at this MSI."

After finishing his statement, he turned the question to the guest: "So, Clearlove, what do you think prompted SKT to make those changes?"

"Um," the factory manager organized his thoughts and explained, "Actually, this version is slower, which is more advantageous for SKT. The way they played in the group stage can only be explained by the fact that they simply wanted to hide their tricks. After all, their team is strong enough that they can advance no matter how they play."

This version of MSI only has six teams in the group stage, with four advancing, which is indeed easy for SKT.

"Aww," Ji De nodded and laughed, "But no matter what, SKT will probably choose to play aggressively this game. Let's see how QG responds!"

When Banbazi saw SKT pick Nidalee as their first pick, he raised an eyebrow slightly and said, "So what do we say about this? Are we going to go all-in with them?"

"Let's go for it! Why not?" Xiangguo blurted out, "We're definitely not afraid!"

If SKT plays defensively and counter-attacking, they might be a little in trouble, but if SKT wants to go head-to-head with them, they are definitely not afraid!

QG's players are all quite aggressive; even ROX might not be able to beat them!

"Alright then!" Banbazi nodded. "Let's go bot lane first, pick Lucian, and then use Nautilus as a flex pick."

With their first two picks secured, SKT immediately followed up with another move, directly acquiring Ezreal and Karma. This combination, relying on Karma's wave clear ability and Ezreal's tower poke ability, has consistently held a T0 position for many years.

Clearly, their draft picks were exactly the same as before: to ensure the mid-jungle and bot lane advantages as much as possible, and then use those advantages to initiate fights and end the game.

At the same time, this pick can also prevent Nautilus from coming to the bottom lane, because Nautilus and Lucian in the game cannot fight against Ezreal and Karma.

The pace of professional matches is different from that of ranked matches. In ranked matches, a Nautilus can still make a comeback with his hook, but in professional matches, it's rare to get a chance to hook him, especially if the enemy AD is an Ezreal.

In professional matches, Titan players usually focus on pushing lanes and roaming, but when facing Karma, Titan can't push lanes and ends up in jail.

"Shall we pick Nautilus for mid lane?" Banbazi suggested. "How about Braum for bot lane? Braum counters both of their bot lane duo, and he's strong with Lucian too. Then we can pick Gragas as a jungler to counter Nidalee. Our jungle and bot lane are pretty strong."

"No problem." The QG members all nodded. The choice was reasonable and also included in their hero pool, so there was no problem.

Next, SKT continued to select heroes, this time choosing their mid and top lane lineup.

They decisively picked Crystal Maiden to lane against Nautilus in the mid lane, and then locked in Maokai in the top lane.

"A matchup between Crystal Maiden and Nautilus is quite unpredictable," Ji De analyzed from the sidelines. "Since Crystal Maiden and Nautilus have similar roles, both playing a role in setting the pace of the game, this match will come down to the individual skill of the two mid laners."

"This game is going to be interesting," Guan Daxiao chuckled from the side. "Because Faker has always given us the impression of being a mid-laner with extremely strong individual skills, we never expected him to pick a champion like Lissandra!"

"The suspense now rests on Tree Bro; let's see which hero he chooses to fight against the Great Tree!"

QG is also discussing this issue.

Chen Dongqing said directly, "How about we stop hiding it today and show them what we've got? Remember my hero that's really good at taking down trees?"

"I do remember," Banbazi asked, "but is it really appropriate to use it now?"

Chen Dongqing replied matter-of-factly, "Why wouldn't it be appropriate? The outcome of this match is very important! This is precisely the time to boost morale!"

"Well then, you choose! Anyway, the pick rate for Treant Protector isn't very high right now."

As they were talking, after both sides finished their discussion, Liu Qingsong received confirmation and chose a hero.

This time, the hero comes from the mid lane.

"You want me to eat them?"

A cute fishman image suddenly appeared on the screen, startling everyone.

"Fizz?" Colonel Guan asked, somewhat surprised. "Is this Fizz mid? Top lane Nautilus? But this doesn't fit QG's style!"

If it's a choice between Fizz and Nautilus, the three commentators are more inclined to believe it's Fizz top lane.

At this point, both sides had finished selecting their heroes, and the players switched positions.

Everyone could clearly see that QG directly moved the Fizz to the top lane.

"It really is Fizz top lane!" Guan Daxiao's tone was filled with an "I knew it" feeling, and then he said, "This game is going to be quite interesting!"

The top lane Fizz strategy was obviously not Chen Dongqing's original creation. This strategy appeared as early as Season 5 and was quite popular.

So when the Murlocs appeared, the three commentators didn't immediately start yelling, but they were still somewhat surprised.

Tree Bro has pulled out another new hero!

Is there anything he can't do?

At this point, the three commentators also began to discuss the history of the top lane Fizz.

Back in Season 5 last year, top lane Fizz was still using Teleport and Smite, building Cinderhulk jungle item. His wave clear and combat power were ridiculously high, and he had an extremely high pick rate in professional matches.

Overall, he's somewhat similar to the current top laner Ekko; he's basically a jerk. But the difference is that Fizz is more aggressive in fights, while Ekko is more passive.

The FMVP of S5 was known for his exceptional Fizz.

Moreover, since then, Murlocs have been an excellent counter to Treants.

However, Riot Games later nerfed Fizz, reducing his base damage and increasing his AP scaling, weakening his tank build (similar to the nerfs to Ekko), and then further nerfed Cinderhulk, making it impossible for Fizz to clear waves, and the top lane Fizz finally disappeared.

"So, with Ilex bringing Fizz to the stage again today, has he gained some new understanding of this hero?"

Remember to keep us in suspense from the start: "We'll find out the specific details when the match begins!"

The players' seating area.

"There's not much to say about this game, just wait for me to carry," Chen Dongqing said cheerfully. "No one in this world can beat my Murloc."

"Awesome." Banbazi said in perfect Chinese, then added, "Then it's up to you."

After saying that, he patted Chen Dongqing on the shoulder, and then went to the center of the stage to shake hands with Kkoma.

Chen Dongqing knew he bore a heavy responsibility, but he remained calm as he quietly searched for the rune pages.

The rune page for the Fizz is pretty standard, it's the classic AD top lane rune setup: red for attack damage, blue for magic resistance, yellow for armor, plus three attack speed quintessences.

As for his talents, they are somewhat unique. Although Fizz is built as a tank top laner, he does not choose Grasp of the Undying.

First, Grasp of the Undying has been weakened, which has hindered the current dominance of tank top laners. Grasp of the Undying now only has a 2.5% damage reduction, making it a rune that even a dog wouldn't choose.

It has to be said that among all the runes now, only Undying is inferior to the runes of later generations. As for the rest, Thunderfury and Wind Rider are far superior to Electrocute and Phase Boots.

Of course, that's secondary. The main reason is that the Murlocs with War Fever are just too powerful.

Because of W, the Murloc's basic attacks will passively deal additional skill damage, which means that a single basic attack can directly stack four layers of Fervor of Battle.

Furthermore, because the active W and passive W of this version of Fizz deal damage separately, if you activate W and use a basic attack, it will be even more powerful, stacking six layers in one basic attack.

If you use Q to poke an enemy while W is active, it's an even more lethal strike, hitting eight layers in one go!

Now, War Fever has a maximum of eight stacks, which can be fully stacked with one click, instantly granting a significant damage boost!

This kind of hidden strategy can definitely change the balance of the top lane ecosystem, which is Chen Dongqing's unique understanding.

However, due to the lack of in-depth study and game understanding among players in Season 6, Fervorful Murloc remained a niche playstyle until the latter half of Season 6 when Trinity Force and Wit's End were discounted and became truly popular.

Today, Chen Dongqing is changing history once again.

Chen Dongqing's proficiency with the hero Murloc isn't actually that high; if we were to quantify it, it would probably be around 80.

It's unrealistic to expect him to pull off some beautiful kiting moves, but he's confident that he can defeat all the world's top heroes. This comes from a hero mechanic that's like a dimensional reduction attack.

At this point, the lineups for both sides have been officially finalized.

Blue side SKT: Top lane Maokai, Jungle Nidalee, Mid lane Lissandra, Bot lane Ezreal and Karma.

Red team QG: Top lane Fizz, Jungle Gragas, Mid lane Nautilus, Bot lane Lucian and Braum.

"I have to say, SKT's lineup is really walking a tightrope," Guan Daxiao couldn't help but say. "Because looking at their entire lineup, they don't have any solid damage dealers at all."

The factory manager shook his head at this point: "But for SKT, this weakness is not a problem at all. Because their operational ability is too strong, they don't even need team fights to slowly grind down their opponents."

As they were talking, the match between the two sides began, and the heroes from both sides emerged from the fountain.

It wasn't until this point that the three commentators noticed something was wrong with the fishman.

"The Murloc's choice of the Fervor of Battle talent is somewhat unexpected!"

Colonel Guan said with some surprise, "And there's another rather unusual point: he brought Teleport and Ignite this game! He didn't bring Flash!"

"But it's understandable that he doesn't take Flash." Clearlove added from the side, "After all, Fizz in Season 5 also took Teleport and Smite. This hero is very mobile and doesn't rely heavily on Flash."

However, regardless of the circumstances, the Ignite brought by the Fizz has added a touch of tension to what should have been a friendly, unwavering top lane matchup.

The three commentators are now already looking forward to the upcoming episodes.

And Chen Dongqing is also looking forward to it.

He continued to guard the jungle as usual, and then followed the minions to the lane as soon as they spawned.

This match will most likely be a battle between the mid and bot lanes, leaving the top lane as an isolated island, giving Chen Dongqing a huge stage to perform on.

As soon as the minion waves met, Chen Dongqing saw that the big tree still dared to come up and last-hit minions, and he immediately got angry and walked up to deliver a basic attack!

On the other hand, Duke understood perfectly. Seeing that the fishman was inclined to attack him, he used his Q skill in advance!

If all goes well, this Q will interrupt the Fizz's basic attack, and the aftershock of the skill will also hit three melee minions, thus helping to push the lane.

But life is always full of surprises.

Just as the tree raised its hand, the fishman used a pole vault to leap up, perfectly dodging the tree's Q attack.

Once the E skill landed naturally, Chen Dongqing used his right mouse button to guide the direction, and the Fizz stomped directly between six minions and the tree!

Not only did they push the lane to its maximum potential, they also managed to whittle down the enemy's health.

Immediately afterwards, taking advantage of the tree slowing down, Chen Dongqing deliberately drove over it, once again pretending to be ready to assault someone.

Seeing this, Duke naturally seized the opportunity to try and trade basic attacks with the fishman!

But at that moment, Chen Dongqing suddenly turned his head and abandoned his normal attack.

Seeing this, Duke didn't press the matter and turned away as well.

But as soon as he turned away, the fishman turned back and approached again, seemingly wanting to attack again!

Trying to pull me away?

Duke frowned. Of course, he had no reason to back down, so he immediately turned back. But the merman reacted very quickly and ran away again!

Isn't that annoying!

Duke could only turn around and pull away again. He had already made up his mind that he wouldn't care what the fishman did next.

But just then, the fishman raised his trident and stabbed it into the back of the tree.

Duke immediately turned around to retaliate with a basic attack, but the Murloc ran away after attacking, and Duke's basic attack failed to catch up.

Duke's blood pressure immediately spiked.

The scars on his back are a disgrace to the top laner!

Damn it, you just wait!

That's all for today, brothers. It's a long chapter of 7,000 words. This match against SKT in the group stage was a small climax, so it will be a bit long.

See you tomorrow, guys!

(End of this chapter)