League: I really didn't tank!

Chapter 147 They've completely lost all sense of shame!

After leaving the venue, the QG team had another meal in high spirits, as this match was truly of great significance to them.

"You guys think SKT has already lost two games in a row, will they lose again tomorrow?" Xiangguo said excitedly while picking up a piece of braised pork.

"The chances are slim," Banbazi glanced at the schedule. "Their opponent tomorrow might actually be a possibility."

Tomorrow is the third day of the group stage, a day that marks the transition from the previous stage to the next.

The third day marks the end of the first round of the group stage and the beginning of the second round.

SKT's last opponent in the first round was North American CLG, and their first opponent in the second round was Flash Wolves.

Leaving CLG aside for now, if it were Flash Wolves, they might actually have gotten a double kill from SKT.

"What do you think?" Xiangguo nudged Chen Dongqing, who was fiddling with his phone.

"What do I think?" Chen Dongqing replied casually, "SKT losing four straight games is the best outcome, what else can I say?"

As someone who's been through it all, he's certainly familiar with the plot.

SKT did indeed suffer a four-game losing streak on the second and third days of the group stage at the MSI in S6, almost failing to advance.

Fortunately, they eventually got serious and Faker pulled out his 100% win-rate Zilean, leading the team to rediscover their defensive counter-attacking tactics and crush their opponents to win the championship.

"What are you looking at? Why are you staring at your phone?" Xiangguo turned his head and saw the screen on Baidu Tieba.

"Tieba, I'm used to fighting maggots." Chen Dongqing grinned.

Xiangguo wasn't interested in this stuff, so he turned his head back and focused on the braised pork.

He always gets angry every time he browses the anti-Japanese forum, so he stopped browsing it a long time ago.

At this moment, the anti-Korean fan forum was almost like New Year's Day. Today, not only did QG beat SKT, but SKT also suffered two consecutive losses. It was practically the end of the Korean fandom. Fans from all walks of life were running rampant in the forum, causing chaos everywhere.

At the same time, there are also rating posts.

Since Chen Dongqing received hundreds of replies to a rating post, a rating post craze has emerged, with many netizens following suit.

However, in this rating post, you can still see quite a few people being stubborn.

For example, the floor below Faker's:

[I got dragged down by the top laner, I should switch to a different top laner]

[Do your best]

It's okay, we'll come back tomorrow.

SKT lost, but Faker didn't!

[We only won one game in the group stage, and we don't even know what those Chinese bastards are called yet. We'll show them what a champion is once we get to the knockout stage.]

Chen Dongqing couldn't help but laugh as he read the replies.

Is the term "mixed Chinese" something a normal person could come up with?

Don't get too cocky.

Tomorrow will be your real doomsday!

He left the rating thread and then started editing a new one.

[A Collection of Korean Quotes]

Immediately afterwards, he slowly posted the quotes he had saved as screenshots before the match.

[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?]

[QG? They're just a smurf account of ROX. Even ROX got beaten 3-1 by SKT, how can QG possibly win?]

[Will Faker achieve a Grand Slam after winning this championship?]

[Faker's status as the number one player in League of Legends is now definitively established!]

【.】

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

This time he had more time, so he posted some screenshots more slowly, and there were countless people laughing and commenting on each floor.

This experience is completely useless.

Chen Dongqing felt great.

By posting and stirring up trouble in the anti-government forum as the person involved, he had an unusual, almost surreal, feeling of being out in the dark.

After sending the pictures, Chen Dongqing finally put away his phone and began to focus on preparing the dishes on the table.

"Our opponents tomorrow aren't strong, but the schedule is a bit tough, with the first and sixth matches," Park Un-yong said. "So, get some rest today and get up early to go to the stadium tomorrow."

Back in the hotel training room, QG reviewed the two games from the day as usual.

"This match really isn't very useful for reference," Banbazi said as he reviewed the game. "SKT didn't use their best tactics at all today."

SKT's decision to engage in a head-on battle with QG today demonstrates their ability to exploit their opponent's strengths.

Although SKT, as the champion team, has top-notch fighting ability, it is clearly at a disadvantage against a top-tier fighting team like QG.

Or to put it another way, if SKT can beat QG in a fight, then what's the point of playing in MSI? Just give them the championship!

"Let's see how the game goes tomorrow," Banbazi said. "If they lose two games today, maybe SKT will take it a bit more seriously tomorrow."

"Perhaps," Chen Dongqing smiled, indicating his disagreement.

Meanwhile, the LCK training room is located in the same hotel.

It was time to rest, but Kkoma was still sitting in his seat, working on something on his computer.

To his left is the Baidu search engine, and to his right is TGP. Together with Kkoma, a Korean, the combination creates an extremely bizarre atmosphere.

This time, Chen Dongqing's crazy performance finally caught Kkoma's attention, and he decided to thoroughly study this top laner.

Through Baidu search results, Kkoma learned that Chen Dongqing's Ionia ID was ilex.

So Kkoma skillfully opened TGP and searched for this ID's stats.

After obtaining the results, Kkoma fell silent again.

Rank: Platinum I, 100 LP

Soon, the third day of the competition arrived.

In the first match, the host team QG took to the stage to face their last opponent in the first round of the group stage, Flash Wolves.

Flash Wolves, who also defeated SKT yesterday, seem to be in high spirits and are not afraid of QG at all.

Meanwhile, the underworld forums on the other side of Taiwan were already buzzing with discussion.

Honestly, I feel like we really have a chance in this match! After all, our mid and jungle players are absolutely not afraid of QG!

[Relax, there's no chance! If they really fight, Ilex will crush Mimi's balls!]

[Damn it! Why are you guys siding with outsiders? At a time like this, you should be supporting your own team!]

Due to some historical reasons, people in Taiwan are not friendly towards LPL teams; they are in a hostile relationship.

Even people from Taiwan are not optimistic about the outcome of this match.

The main reason is that everyone understands that FW's weakness lies in the top lane.

Their top laner, MMD, nicknamed Mimi Egg, is not even considered top-tier in the LMS region.

Their championship win was mainly due to the small size of the LMS region and Karsa's overwhelming dominance, essentially forcing him to rise to the top.

The reason why FW was able to beat SKT yesterday was mainly because the team styles matched. Since it was a clash between the two mid and jungle leaders, Mimi only needed to pick Ekko and Duke to play in the top lane, so Flash Wolves' weaknesses were not exposed.

But now.

QG's top laner, ilex, is notoriously ruthless.

If she can get crazy solo kills and become godlike against Duke, then what about against Mimi?

The match started quickly.

All I can say is that the process was completely predictable.

Just six minutes into the game, a solo kill occurred in the top lane.

Chen Dongqing once again showcased his classic Riven vs. Ekko matchup, securing a level 6 Flash and closing in on Ekko, then executing a beautiful combo to secure a solo kill.

Immediately afterwards, Mimi Egg revived and TP went online, and then Xiangguo's excavator happened to appear again, and he was directly overtaken again.

The game was completed immediately upon starting the journey.

Karsa had anticipated that Xiangguo would gank top, so his counter-gank was in place. However, QG's top and jungle players acted quickly, and Ekko was gone in less than two seconds, so Karsa couldn't help at all.

But before the top lane fight was over, a solo kill suddenly occurred in the bottom lane.

Liu Qingsong initiated with Braum's Q-Flash-A combo, followed by Uzi's dual pistols stunning the enemy, and the two of them took down the Flash Wolves' AD carry in one combo.

In the end, QG undoubtedly won the game, finishing the first round of the cycle with a perfect 5-0 record, and delivering a heavy blow to the LMS region!

The QG team returned to the rest room with great satisfaction, where they were about to enjoy another long break.

Immediately afterwards, the second match began.

CLG vs. SKT.

Despite losing two games yesterday, SKT didn't change their tactics today, still opting for the Kindred and LeBlanc offensive combination.

It can only be said that the six-to-four format in the group stage is too lenient. Even though SKT's current record is 2-2, they are not worried about failing to advance, so they are still mainly keeping their strategies hidden.

But then, the entertainment value came into play.

CLG played too steadily in this game. With Aurelion Sol banned, mid laner Huhi chose to pick Azir to counter LeBlanc.

Although Faker's individual skill is outstanding and he dominated Azir in the laning phase, .CLG still has a jungler.

In this game, CLG's jungler actually picked Nidalee, who farmed around the mid lane and would occasionally heal Azir, acting as a human healer!

And judging by the amount of milk produced, it seems like the student has learned two levels of E-grade milk.

Despite the constant flow of milk, Huhi managed to create a slight advantage over Faker!

It wasn't until the sixteenth minute of the game that Faker, taking advantage of Azir's recall to replenish his equipment, quickly roamed to the top lane with his jungler, finally killing Darshan's Poppy at the second tower.

However, Darshan took a long time to die, which caused Faker to return to lane later than expected.

Meanwhile, CLG's bot lane quickly switched lanes to the mid lane, farming the wave and pushing down SKT's mid lane tower.

This flexible lane-swap strategy allowed CLG's AD carry to take off quickly.

The two sides continued to clash. Although SKT had an advantage in kills and gold, CLG's lineup was more late-game focused, so they remained calm and focused on farming.

The game dragged on until the 42nd minute. At this point, CLG was slightly behind by 3,000 gold, but seeing that their carry's gold was in place, they didn't hesitate and immediately started the dragon!

All I can say is that the North American guys are really casual when it comes to their playing style.

Although I endured the pressure for over forty minutes to finally achieve this slightly unfavorable laning phase, they still dared to go all-in on Baron Nashor!

Come on, whoever wins the team wins the game!

Faced with this unreasonable playstyle, SKT had no choice but to grit their teeth and engage in team fights. However, CLG won this fight by using Smite.

The Baron buff instantly ignited CLG's counterattack, and the two sides engaged in a fierce battle!

Faker's LeBlanc appeared out of nowhere and quickly eliminated CLG's AD carry, but CLG's mid laner Huhi became the key player in this play!

With his four-piece set, Tsar commanded his army, and his sand soldiers relentlessly stabbed and stabbed, eventually sending SKT players back to their fountain one by one, resulting in a miraculous one-for-four exchange!

A one-for-four exchange in just over forty minutes was enough to end the game!

"Huh? They really lost to the US?" Everyone in the QG rest room was incredulous.

Chen Dongqing couldn't help but smile as he watched things unfold as they were indeed progressing along the expected path.

All I can say is that timelines do converge. Although his time travel changed many things, some fixed things still cannot be changed.

The third match was a major battle between SUP and G2.

This year's MSI features two teams in a league of their own: QG, undefeated with a 5-0 record, and SUP, currently 0-4 and winless.

As expected, G2 won the game in 38 minutes, marking the end of the first round of the MSI group stage.

G2 also surpassed SKT with a score of 3-2, moving up to second place in the standings!

The second round of the group stage then began shortly thereafter.

The show is being produced by yesterday's opponents, FW and SKT.

Clearly, the SKT players had never experienced the novelty of three consecutive losses in the group stage, and when they returned to the stage, their expressions clearly showed that something was wrong.

After the ban/pick phase, the match began.

In this match, Flash Wolves lived up to their reputation as "anti-Korean heroes".

In this match, Karsa continued his art of crouching in front of Xiaohai, but this time he did it even better, leading his team to a 3,000 gold advantage in just 15 minutes, ultimately handing SKT another crushing defeat!

"Four consecutive losses! My God!" Miller, the commentator, was shocked. "Is this really the SKT we know?"

The doll, standing nearby, was also somewhat surprised: "Really? Has the S-series champion curse started to take effect so early?"

The "champion's curse" has always been a popular topic of conversation.

S2 champions TPA won the championship, but at that time the LOL league had not yet really taken off, so the benefits of winning the championship were minimal. In addition, due to some internal team issues, the top and jungle players left the team, and the team quickly faded into obscurity.

SKT, the S3 champions, didn't even make it to the World Championship in S4. Samsung, the S4 champions, were even more audacious, disbanding immediately after winning the title.

Looking at all these factors, SKT's current four-game losing streak is truly a Waterloo-like defeat.

Are we going to repeat the mistakes of Season 4?

In this shot, the SKT players looked dejected, clearly having suffered a significant blow.

Xiangguo, however, was gloating in the break room, saying, "Looks like one team is going to be eliminated."

After this, SKT's record will be 2-4, falling behind CLG's 2-3 record and ranking fifth in the group.

If they lose another game, they might actually secure one of their elimination spots early.

"Let's just forget about it," Chen Dongqing said cheerfully. "SKT isn't so bad that they can't even make it to the knockout stage."

banbazi nodded and said, "But then again, they'll definitely be in a hurry next."

Midway through, they experienced another major battle between CLG and SUP.

These two teams fought in the last match yesterday, but QG was already preparing to leave at that time, so they didn't observe the details and only knew that CLG won.

This time, the Turkish team finally broke their losing streak and won their first group stage match against CLG.

At this point, even the commentators on the TV station burst out laughing, shouting:

"Okay, so SUP's losing streak has been broken. Now we need to look forward to seeing if G2 can break QG's winning streak!"

Next, QG and G2 took the stage again.

But this time, Western audiences are destined to be disappointed.

In this game, Chen Dongqing once again delivered decisive blows, leading his team to a six-game winning streak and maintaining their lead in the standings!

Back at the hotel, Chen Dongqing continued to browse Tieba to read public opinion. After today's competition, it was clear that Han's supporters could no longer maintain their stubbornness.

After losing to QG, we lost to FW, then to FW, and finally to CLG! After losing to CLG, we lost to FW again!

If this continues, we're going to lose to Turkey!

They've lost all sense of shame!

In this environment, Chen Dongqing's post yesterday calling for the killing of Han Kuo-yu supporters remained at the top of the forum for a long time, causing Han Kuo-yu supporters to flee in terror!

Immediately afterwards, the group stage entered its final two days of intense competition.

Currently, QG remains the top team, while CLG and Flash Wolves are vying for second place, and SKT and G2 are competing for the last qualifying spot.

As for our Turkish brothers, they've long since gone.

This time, SKT, standing on the edge of the cliff, finally stopped holding back. Faker decisively picked Zilean on the fourth day of the match and started playing a defensive counter-attack!

I don't know what kind of magic potion Kkoma gave the players, but now we can see that the SKT players have a determined look on their faces. In the following games, SKT's defense was watertight. They first defeated CLG, then SUP, and pulled their points back to fourth place in the group!

As for QG...

Do we even need to watch QG's matches? They woke up to two more victories.

The final day of the group stage.

QG once again made their debut in the first match, winning against SUP and securing their ninth victory in the group stage.

SKT continued their phenomenal run, securing their place in the next round after winning a crucial match against G2.

At this point, the group stage is no longer meaningful, since the four qualifying spots have already been secured, and the top two teams are already in control. The ranking of the third and fourth teams is essentially irrelevant.

"So, what's the outlook for the next game?" Banbazi laughed. "Are you going to play seriously or just have some fun?"

"It's just for fun, winning or losing doesn't matter, why reveal our tactics?" Chen Dongqing raised an eyebrow and said, "Let me go up and play a round with Irelia, how about it?"

Upon hearing Chen Dongqing's words, the coach hesitated slightly: "Your Irelia?"

Chen Dongqing has been practicing the champion Irelia in scrims recently, and his proficiency with her is improving rapidly.

However, since it's almost starting from scratch, no matter how fast you climb, the actual effect in real combat is quite average.

So the QG team members kept joking with each other, saying that finally there was a hero that Chen Dongqing couldn't play.

"What's wrong with my Irelia?" Chen Dongqing glared. "I've almost mastered this champion recently, I'm just one step away from that final push. Let me play a game in a tournament, I'll definitely dominate in the next one!"

"Really?" Banbazi immediately thought it was nonsense.

But then he thought that the child in front of him was indeed very talented, and maybe there was some truth to it?

So, in the last game, with Fiora and Fizz both banned, he picked Irelia for Chen Dongqing to counter Duke's Maokai.

Then Faker went quite ruthlessly.

This time, Faker picked Ryze and focused on the top lane, ganking with Flash at level 3 and tower diving at level 7.

Chen Dongqing, who wasn't particularly skilled with Irelia to begin with, was relentlessly ganked by SKT's top, mid, and jungle trio, and was immediately disqualified from laning!

On the other side, Xiangguo and Doinb focused their attack on the bottom half of the map, but achieved little success, managing to take down only one bottom lane tower.

The destruction of the bottom lane tower signifies that the game has entered the mid-game. After the two sides swap lanes, SKT's terrifying macro-management ability begins to show. Their defense is watertight, and they often catch off guard by ganking the side lanes, frequently securing kills.

Although QG managed to get some kills through coordinated encirclements and counter-ganks, the effect was clearly minimal.

As the game progressed into the late stages, SKT's advantage grew larger and larger. It was clear that they could end the game directly with a team fight, but they insisted on playing it safe and continued to operate slowly.

It wasn't until the 46th minute, after SKT secured the five dragons, that they finally ended the game with a team fight.

"Damn, this game made me sleepy!" Chen Dongqing rubbed his eyes, somewhat speechless.

"Indeed." Xiangguo was also a little numb. Seeing his own base explode, he got up and stretched his limbs.

Due to their team style, QG rarely plays games that last more than forty minutes. Even when they do, it's usually a close-quarters battle between the two sides, keeping the suspense until the very end.

This was the first time they had ever seen something run for over forty minutes.

"Alright, alright, let's wait for the handshake." Chen Dongqing sighed. "Let's go eat after we shake hands."

Despite losing the match, the QG players were not discouraged at all.

After all, they never really intended to win from the beginning.

Regardless of winning or losing, they are first in the group, so what makes them so good at winning?

Even the comments section of the match expressed understanding.

[QG even pulled out Irelia, which means they really didn't want to win this game!]

[This is probably the last game, so I'm not planning to play seriously and I'm holding back.]

I guess so too.

[Stop criticizing her, Irelia got buffed this patch, she's really strong.]

Even if it's incredibly strong, it's useless; this hero just doesn't seem suited for competitive play.

Indeed, even Brother Tree got jailed for playing this hero, which means it's really not good.

Of course, because of the results of this competition, a few Korean fans have resurfaced, but it's not important.

With this match over, the group stage finally came to an end.

QG ultimately secured first place in the group with a decisive 9-1 score.

Following closely behind is CLG with a 7-3 record. They have a high ranking because they won a game against SKT and defeated Flash Wolves twice.

Following closely behind are Flash Wolves and SKT, both teams with a 6-4 record and finishing third in their group.

If it were the group stage of the World Championship, there should have been a tiebreaker match between the two teams, but since it's not the group stage of the MSI, there's no need for that.

Because the third and fourth place are the same.

According to the tournament rules, the top team in a group has the right to choose between the third and fourth-placed teams as their opponent in the knockout semifinals.

There's really nothing to say about this choice. Riot Games didn't even give QG a chance to choose; a high-level executive came over and told QG to choose Flash Wolves.

While stopping SKT in the semifinals might sound cool, it would make the finals less exciting. Riot Games isn't after coolness; they're after viewership and the US Dota 2 hype.

Of course, this was also QG's original intention. Coach Banbazi went on stage and, in response to the host's question, chose the FW team.

The group stage has now concluded after six days, and the semi-finals will begin on May 13th, five days from now!

As usual, QG went out for a small celebration dinner together before returning to the hotel to rest.

"Although we lost the game today, because of our excellent performance in the group stage, I have decided to cancel tonight's review and move it to tomorrow. Also, there will be no rules or regulations tomorrow."

Park Unyong began speaking, and just as he saw the players' faces light up with joy, he quickly poured cold water on their enthusiasm: "But don't get too cocky, tomorrow's practice match will still be the same!"

"Ouch." Xiangguo nodded in disappointment, planning to go to the training room to play a couple of ranked games before getting some rest.

As for Chen Dongqing...

This time, however, he acted out of character and went straight back to his hotel room. After washing up, he lay down on the bed.

It wasn't that he was sleepy, but rather that the things he was about to do were more comfortable to do while lying in bed.

He lay on his side on the bed and opened a magical software.

Soon, a sound came from the phone.

TIMI

The knockout stage should be starting tomorrow.

See you tomorrow, brothers!

P.S.: Thank you to Xiao Chen for the 300 Qidian Coins donation!

(End of this chapter)