League: I really didn't tank!

Chapter 277 The Finals Are Approaching!

"Wow, a total stomp?" Sun Yifeng was shocked. "Ilex hasn't played for a month, how come he's still so strong?"

The comments section was filled with laughter.

What's Ilex? Call him Tree Bro!

I think you completely misunderstand the value of Brother Tree's expertise!

Do you even know what MSIFMVP is?

At this moment, in the live broadcast, Chen Dongqing also stood up with a smile and shook hands with his opponent in the center of the stage.

Scarlett didn't seem to have much to say about the match, simply stating in English, "Well played, very skillful spearman control."

When Chen Dongqing saw his opponent up close for the first time, he confirmed that she was indeed a woman and was filled with admiration. He smiled and replied, "You too."

This win was far too easy, but Chen Dongqing attributed it to his opponent's lack of understanding of him.

Domestic Zerg players all know not to use Banelings when facing him, but his opponent doesn't.

That obviously means there's no way to win.

If the opposing team could react quickly in the second game, change their strategy, and defend until they reached 200 population, then they are already considered very strong.

Chen Dongqing turned around, put away the keyboard, and quickly returned to the backstage area, where he was greeted by Coach Park and the other three as expected.

"Awesome! Awesome!" Macsed immediately gave a thumbs up. "You won way too fast!"

"So-so," Chen Dongqing chuckled, "I guess you didn't embarrass the home crowd?"

"Definitely, that's awesome!" Li Peinan exclaimed in admiration. "It's a good thing you were here, otherwise I would have been thoroughly roasted when I got back."

Chen Dongqing said cheerfully, "If you don't want to get criticized, you have to be good yourself. Let's do our best in the upcoming matches and try to advance to the next round!"

The other three hesitated for a moment, but nodded nonetheless.

The competition continued for the next few days.

Chen Dongqing's schedule is quite easy.

After getting past Scarlett, the remaining two opponents in the group were relatively unknown players. Chen Dongqing easily defeated them both, quickly bringing the score to 3-0 and essentially securing a spot in the next round.

But everyone's joys and sorrows are different.

Chen Dongqing's team had a smooth run, but the other three struggled considerably, basically winning one game and losing the next, making their chances of advancing quite uncertain.

The round-robin tournament quickly moved to its second round.

After the second round, the order of the matches was completely disrupted.

Chen Dongqing made his first appearance on the fourth day, and his opponent was still Scarlett Gag.

This confrontation reveals that Scarlett has conducted in-depth research on Chen Dongqing and has developed more tactical strategies to counter him.

But it still didn't work.

The Zerg cannot defeat Chen Dongqing until they solve the problem of Marines.

However, this is something that requires technical skill, and Scarlett still has some shortcomings in this area.

Chen Dongqing struggled a lot this time, but still managed a clean and decisive 2-0 victory.

At this point, his score had reached 4-0, making him the first player to secure a spot in the next round!

On the contrary, Scarlett, whose score has fallen to 2-2, needs to step up their game.

As one of the six gentlemen of Shanghai handpicked by Poisonous Milk Color, if he falls directly in the group stage, wouldn't that be a slap in the face to me, Old Immortal Xudong?

Following them, iA and Time also took to the stage, but unfortunately, both of them suffered defeats, bringing their scores to 1-3, putting them in a very precarious position to advance.

On the contrary, Macsed, who had a surprising loss at the start of the game, performed much better, winning the game and bringing the score to 2-2.

After the fourth day of competition, domestic e-sports forums were abuzz with discussion, analyzing the chances of the four CN players advancing.

Chen Dongqing, who has already secured his place in the next round, needs no further explanation; just keep praising him.

Macsed is also in a 2-2 draw. His opponents in this group are not strong, and as long as he doesn't cause any more trouble, it shouldn't be difficult for him to advance.

As for iA and Time, who are down 1-3, fans analyzed their next two matches and concluded that Time has already lost, but iA still has a chance.

Because in Time's next two matches, he will be playing against the Finnish Zerg King, Serral.

Like Chen Dongqing, Serral has never lost a game so far, with a record of 4-0.

For Time, this was almost a guaranteed loss, and even their own fans weren't optimistic about their chances.

But esports competitions are full of upsets.

Against all odds, Li Peinan suddenly unleashed his full potential, winning three intense rounds and taking down the Finnish Bug King 2-1!

This match managed to excite and wake up the audience!

This victory not only means that Chen Dongqing has become the only undefeated player.

This also means that Li Peinan's score has reached 2-3!

Could it be that...

Is there really a chance?

On the sixth day of the group stage, Li Peinan took to the stage again, carrying everyone's hopes, and then transformed into a chef, sending himself away happily with a 0-2 defeat.

The title of "Mentally Disabled Emperor" has been confirmed.

They can beat the undefeated Serral, but they can also lose to an unknown team that's at the bottom of the group.

"."

Everyone remained silent.

It's a real shame.

Fortunately, Li Peinan was not alone in his elimination. His father, iA, also suffered a defeat and was eliminated, meaning the father and son were both knocked out of the game.

On the contrary, Hu Xiang performed much better, winning all the later matches and ultimately advancing as the second-place team in the group with a score of 4-2.

Soon, the group stage came to an end.

The sixteen teams advancing to the knockout stage have been finalized, and the matchups were quickly produced after the draw.

Chen Dongqing also saw his opponent in the round of 16 – Showtime.

It's worth mentioning that this person is also one of the "Six Gentlemen of Shanghai" and a formidable opponent that Coach Park singled out before the match. He is known as the "German God King".

In addition, Chen Dongqing also noticed that Macsed was in the same quarter partition as himself.

If both players win, they will meet in the quarterfinals.

On the day the group stage ended, Chen Dongqing even bumped fists with his opponent, saying goodbye until the quarterfinals.

Teacher Sed maintained a cool expression, nodded, and turned to leave.

Time, however, showed a hint of regret on his face. He added Chen Dongqing as a WeChat friend, then wished him good luck in the competition before sighing and leaving.

After a short day of rest, June 5th arrived quickly.

The knockout stage has begun.

The event will last for three days.

Day 1, Round of 16 to Round of 8.

The next day, the quarterfinals and semifinals will be completed together.

The third day, the ultimate showdown.

Chen Dongqing was once again the first to appear, facing off against the German god king.

Matches against the Protoss are indeed much more troublesome.

Even though Chen Dongqing and partinG have undergone special training, their skills can only be considered top-tier domestically. To dominate internationally, they still need to improve.

It would be best to find an even better target.

PartinG is a world champion from four years ago, and his strength has declined somewhat. It would be better to find someone who is currently at their peak.

In this match, Chen Dongqing initially played steadily and quickly won the first two rounds. However, in the third round, he was caught off guard by his opponent's sneaky tactics.

But it wasn't a big problem. Chen Dongqing kept the reasons for his defeat in mind and then came back strong in the fourth game, winning it in one fell swoop!

After this wave, only five of the "Six Gentlemen of Shanghai" remain.

"Alright, let's congratulate Ilex! They defeated Showtime 3-1 and advanced to the quarterfinals!"

The voice of the official female host for domestic StarCraft esports tournaments rang out on the scene, and the audience applauded and cheered continuously!

As expected of Ilex! The hope of CN StarCraft!

All Macsed needs to do next is defeat his opponent, and the two will meet in the quarterfinals, which means at least one of them will reach the semifinals!

Not to be negative, but for domestic StarCraft viewers, reaching the semi-finals is already a very successful result.

Last year at the Shanghai tournament, domestic players didn't even make it to the knockout stage; they were all eliminated in the group stage.

Then Macsed did not disappoint the audience's expectations. In the BO5 match against his opponent, he fought hard for five games and finally won the fifth game, thus advancing to the quarterfinals!

At this moment, domestic StarCraft forums are celebrating like it's Chinese New Year!

The atmosphere felt just like when Zhang Jike and Ma Long met in the men's table tennis final at last year's Rio Olympics.

Looking at the jubilant scene on the forum, Chen Dongqing finally understood the attitude of those wildcard regions towards competition.

Knowing that winning the championship was impossible, I set my sights on taking each step forward as I could, and every step forward was something to be excited about.

But Chen Dongqing could not agree with this way of thinking.

From the moment Chen Dongqing embarked on his professional career, his goal has always been to win the championship.

Since you like surprises at every turn, then I'll keep surprising you all the way through.

Day two of the knockout stage.

Chen Dongqing and Macsed took to the stage.

This is not the first time the two have clashed.

From the GPL group stage to the finals, and now to the tournament, this is the third time the two sides have faced off.

"Go for it, Sed teacher." Chen Dongqing wasn't under much pressure; he was even encouraging his opponent before the match.

Macsed took a deep breath, nodded, and said, "Good luck."

Both sides quickly took to the stage.

Macsed once lost to Chen Dongqing, and was swept in a best-of-seven series. He could feel the huge gap between the two players at that time.

However, this time, Chen Dongqing has not played StarCraft for a long time, but has been preparing for the League of Legends league, so his StarCraft skills have inevitably declined.

This is his only chance.

Macsed played with more seriousness and focus than ever before.

Unfortunately, Chen Dongqing is a cheater.

A 3-0 victory, an easy sweep, was almost a replay of their last encounter.

We'll lose the same way we lost last time.

But after losing the game, Macsed did not feel discouraged or frustrated. Instead, he felt more relaxed and relieved than ever before.

The more crushing the defeat, the stronger the opponent.

The stronger the opponent, the greater their chances!

Macsed, as the former number one player in StarCraft, was happy to see this, and he was also happy to see his successors step on his shoulders to reach even greater heights.

"Good luck in the next game," Macsed said sincerely during the handshake. "I hope you bring back the championship."

"Don't worry." Feeling the strength coming from his right hand, Chen Dongqing smiled and nodded. "Definitely."

[Go, Tree Bro!]

Just one more win and we'll be in the finals!

[They've truly become the hope of Chinese StarCraft, wow!]

At this moment, the viewers in the live broadcast room were all of one mind. They all had almost the same idea: they hoped that Chen Dongqing could go as far as possible, preferably win the championship, and get that ticket to BlizzCon!

Backstage, iA and Time, who had already been eliminated, came over to cheer Chen Dongqing on.

Of course, they also felt a bit strange inside.

When did the glory of CN StarCraft have to be brought about by a League of Legends player?

Chen Dongqing's heart raced slightly as he looked at the screen in front of him.

Meanwhile, another quarter-final match was underway.

The scene depicts the civil war among the "Six Gentlemen of Shanghai".

Coach Park pointed out before the match that American god Neeb was in the same group as iA and had personally eliminated iA's uThermal.

Because this group is in the same half of the bracket as Chen Dongqing, the winner of this group will be Chen Dongqing's opponent in the semifinals.

But as it turns out, Coach Park's judgment was indeed spot on.

He's at least much more ruthless than Huang Xudong.

Neeb ultimately won the match and advanced to the semifinals.

Meanwhile, the results of the other two quarter-final matches were also announced.

Scarlett and Serral, the Finnish botfighting champions, unsurprisingly won in the lower half of the draw.

Thus, the top four have been determined, and the semi-finals to the second round will begin immediately!

Because StarCraft matches don't have much rest time before the finals, and the matches are very short, many best-of-five (BO5) matches can be played in a single day.

Chen Dongqing, carrying everyone's hopes, once again steps onto the stage!

As soon as he stepped onto the stage, cheers erupted from the audience!

The tour is not a super big stage, and it is not worth foreign audiences coming to Shanghai specifically to watch the game.

Therefore, at this moment, the audience in the stands were almost all home fans!

With their team's last hope having made it to the semi-finals, the audience naturally wanted to give them their biggest cheers!

At this moment, Huang Xudong and Sun Yifeng were also watching the screen intently in the StarCraft Old Boys live stream room, their eyes glued to the screen.

"If they win one more game, Ilex will be in the finals, right?" Huang Xudong said, frowning. "This B guy seems to be in pretty good form!"

Sun Yifeng suddenly remembered something and asked, "So what are you going to do?"

Huang Xudong retorted, "What? How am I supposed to do it?"

"You said you wanted CosD.va."

Upon hearing this, the viewers in the live stream started typing "hahaha".

They all recalled the "Six Gentlemen of Shanghai" that Huang Xudong had mentioned before the competition.

Of the initial impressive group of six, only Neeb, Scarlett, and Serral remain.

It's like a death note; whoever's name is written in it will die.

"Get lost, get lost, what are you cosplaying as D.Va for?" Huang Xudong quickly stopped the dangerous topic: "Let's talk about it after the match, okay?"

In the live broadcast, Chen Dongqing listened to the cheers and waved to the audience with a smile.

Although he had seen large stages with 60,000 people before, this small stage with 2,000 people gave him a different feeling.

Soon, Chen Dongqing sat down and saw his opponent for the day in the custom room.

Neeb, the American God-King.

Seeing that his opponent was once again the Protoss, he couldn't help but sigh.

This is too much trouble.

From the round of 16 until now, every opponent he has faced has been a Protoss player; he has already defeated three in a row.

The Protoss are the ones who are working the hardest, and there's a real risk of them losing the game, so it's still a bit uncertain.

Can I have a few Zerg players to beat up?

Chen Dongqing was practically drooling with envy watching the Zerg civil war in the other half of the zone.

Such is reality, and Chen Dongqing can only regretfully choose to face it.

Fortunately, Neeb's strength wasn't particularly outstanding; he was only slightly stronger than Macsed in the quarterfinals and about even with Showtime in the round of 16.

Chen Dongqing continued to use the same playing style he had practiced with PartinG – no fixed approach, adapting to any situation, with the main focus on defending against the dog's moves.

Whether the opponent can beat him depends on whether they can come up with some dog-like moves he's never seen before.

In the Round of 16, Showtime stole a kill from him with a surprise jungle stealth attack.

Now, Chen Dongqing certainly won't give the other party that kind of opportunity.

This time, Chen Dongqing implemented his strategy in the first two matches, making his development and defense flawless.

In the first game, both sides initially engaged in skirmishes, testing their scouting and fundamental skills. However, this was precisely Chen Dongqing's forte; he had a significant advantage in skirmishes against the Protoss. He easily won the first game!

In the second game, Chen Dongqing noticed the opponent's strategy and decisively launched two ships of soldiers to attack the third base!

The opposing team clearly hadn't anticipated this move, and their defense was a bit slow to react, allowing them to create a significant gap in one fell swoop, and then they were thoroughly tormented and defeated!

Two to zero!

The spot in the finals is within reach!

Applause and cheers erupted from the audience, with almost everyone cheering for Chen Dongqing!

The pressure from the live audience, the pressure of being down 0-2, all weighed on Neeb. He listened to the cheers from the audience and broke out in a cold sweat.

But the break was too short; he only had time to drink some water before the third game started.

He could only force himself to adjust his condition and prepare for the match.

However, his strength was already inferior, and now that his condition has declined, he is clearly even less likely to win.

This time, he didn't fall behind much in the early stages, and even had a slight advantage, because his almost gambling-like judgments at the beginning of the game were correct, and he made the right key decisions.

But this situation is somewhat dependent on luck.

If he cannot turn this correct decision into an advantage, then luck will eventually turn against him.

Soon, fifteen minutes into the game, the backlash began.

Neeb made a fatal mistake in his judgment; he misjudged the combat strength of Chen Dongqing's frontal forces, and there were insufficient troops available for defense on the front.

Chen Dongqing displayed the style of Chang Wei this time. After winning the head-on battle, he used the remaining two ships of gunners to wipe out the entire Neeb family in one fell swoop!

Three to zero, a swift and decisive victory!

Three best-of-five series, one 3-1, two 3-0, totaling a score of 9-1, showcasing Chen Dongqing's terrifying winning percentage against top teams!

But who could have imagined that at the very beginning, the Protoss were Chen Dongqing's weak point, and he was even taught a lesson by Macsed.

And now, he is able to defeat the top Protoss races from abroad!

Huang Xudong, watching the live broadcast, felt inexplicably flustered as he looked at the scene before him.

He really didn't expect that Ilex, who had returned from a month of MSI, would be able to make such a splash in StarCraft!

Of the six people he named, only two remain, and those two are now locked in a civil war.

Could it be that Ilex actually won the championship?

Xu Dong Lao Xian is truly panicked this time.

"Congratulations Ilex!" Even the female host's voice betrayed a hint of joy as she excitedly shouted, "A 3-0 victory over Neeb! Advancing to the finals!"

This seemed to be a historic moment, with countless spectators clapping and cheering excitedly. Some even started shouting "Tree Bro is awesome!" clearly coming from the League of Legends side.

Chen Dongqing smiled and waved to the audience, then shook hands with Neeb, whom he didn't know, indifferently, before striding off the stage.

As soon as he retreated backstage, he saw Serral and Scarlett already standing ready, prepared to go on stage and fight.

Compared to the initial lively scene of thirty-six people gathered together, there are now only a few people left backstage.

The Finnish Insect King and Sister Ga both focused their attention on Chen Dongqing, their expressions differing.

Serral nodded, gave Chen Dongqing a thumbs-up, and said, "Well done!"

After so many days of competition, Chen Dongqing's individual performance was undoubtedly dominant. Even Serral had to acknowledge that this LOL world champion was also at a top level in StarCraft.

Ga Jie, however, said seriously, "Wait for me, I will definitely win back in the finals."

"OK, good luck." Chen Dongqing smiled and nodded, brushed past the two of them, and sat down in the spectator seats.

Actually, it doesn't matter who the opponent is in the final, because the two people in front of us are both Zerg.

He has considerable experience in dealing with the Zerg.

But that didn't stop him from staying on the field to see who would win this Zerg civil war, and to study the Zerg strategies of both sides.

The Zerg civil war is the bloodiest, and can be described as monotonous and infighting.

The monotony lies in the fact that in the Zerg civil war, the two sides are almost always engaged in chaotic battles from beginning to end, and it is unknown how many eggs will be hatched in a single round.

The key to involution lies in the chaotic battles, which demand extremely high hand speeds from both sides. In spawning, building, and head-on combat, whoever has the higher APM (Actions Per Minute) has the advantage!

A top-level Zerg mirror match like this in the semifinals would definitely be a visual feast.

In the first game, Scarlett had the upper hand in the swarm battle and took the lead, but the Finnish Zerg King was not at all inferior and quickly won the second game.

Chen Dongqing, watching from behind the scenes with an omniscient perspective, found it quite amusing and kept some of the details of the two sides in mind.

However, it must be said that Serral, the Finnish Zerg King, seems to be a step ahead. As a top player who will win the world championship in the future, even though he has not yet reached his peak, he already has considerable strength.

Even if he were to face off against a South Korean player, he could still fight to the death.

Serral won the third game again.

In the fourth game, Scarlett used the same Mutalisk/Banelock strategy she used to win the first game, gaining an advantage in the early to mid-game. However, Serral countered with a combination of Spikeweed, Mutalisks, and Hydralisks, turning the tide. Ultimately, Scarlett's overconfident push led to her switching to a Great Elder Dragon, which was then countered by the Finnish Zergling's Spikeweed, resulting in a decisive Spikeweed attack that took her down!

Three to one, the winner is decided!

It must be said that the Finnish bug king was still superior in strength, winning three games after being down one.

Moreover, judging from the last game, the Finnish Bug King seems to be a player who is growing very quickly. He found a way to break the strategy that he had failed with in the first game in the fourth game and won the game.

They're all geniuses.

Chen Dongqing clicked his tongue in amazement, stood up, and left the scene with Coach Park.

On the taxi ride back to the base, Park Un-yong casually asked, "How's it going? Feeling confident for tomorrow's match?"

"I'm still confident, but not absolutely certain." Chen Dongqing thought for a moment and said, "Let's practice together tonight so I can familiarize myself with the tactics."

Park Unryong frowned slightly: "I'm only at the 4000-point level right now, how can I practice with you? Should I call a Korean player over to practice with you?"

Chen Dongqing waved his hand: "No need, I'm just familiarizing myself with the gameplay. Four thousand points is enough."

"So what tactics do you want to practice?"

Chen Dongqing turned his head and said with a wicked smile, "You'll find out soon enough."

Sorry I'm a little late.

I originally planned to finish this interstellar competition in two chapters, but it turned out to be a bit longer than I expected.

See you tomorrow, guys.

(End of this chapter)