League: I really didn't tank!

Chapter 324 An Unexpected Solo Kill!

cheers from the stands

As soon as the scene changed, Chen Dongqing's official makeup photo, along with a series of data, was displayed in front of everyone.

Number of regular season MVPs: 14 (1st)

KDA: 7.7 (1st)

Damage per minute: 707 (1st)

Number of solo kills: 32 (1st)

Average economic lead: 2200 (1st)

All the data points show that he is number one in all positions in the league!

The audience was amazed by what they saw, and the live stream chat erupted in cheers.

[Holy crap! A tree!]

Is this data real or fake?

[It's clearly an AD meta now, so why is this B's damage higher than Uzi's?]

These numbers are absolutely insane!

[Fun fact: This data isn't actually that high. Look at last year's Summer Split data, that was truly astonishing.]

What that last person said made sense.

Season 6 was a version where damage was overflowing; everyone was killing each other instantly.

However, in this version, almost all top laners build tanky items, except for Chen Dongqing who plays ranged champions and fighters.

Last year alone, Chen Dongqing racked up damage against tanks like A Guang, Tong Yang, Holy Gun Bro, and 957 by playing in lane, with his average damage per minute even approaching 800 at one point!

Compared to last year, the data has indeed declined this year.

Even with the decline, he was still far ahead of the other contestants, and he still won all the MVP votes without any suspense, winning unanimously!

This is the best interpretation of dominance.

On the side of the stage, Chen Dongqing, wearing his team uniform, strode onto the stage.

Simultaneously, a hostess walked onto the stage from the other side, carrying a heavy trophy.

Lin Yuanhua was responsible for acting as a relay station, taking the trophy from the hostess and then handing it to Chen Dongqing.

At this moment, an untimely commotion arose from below the stage.

Lin Yuanhua blushed slightly, but she didn't back down. After handing over the trophy, she stood confidently next to Chen Dongqing.

Chen Dongqing exchanged a glance with his girlfriend, then turned his attention to his grand prize trophy.

This year's MVP trophy is quite elaborate, as it is entirely cast from a certain metal and is very heavy.

However, there's not much to say about the trophy's design. It's just a very ordinary cylindrical stage, thicker at the top and thinner at the bottom, with the LPL logo engraved on the front and the words "2017 Summer Regular Season MVP" engraved on the back.

Below that is the uppercase ID "ILEX".

Not bad, Chen Dongqing will have one more thing on his trophy wall.

Lin Yuanhua stood to the side, watching Chen Dongqing carefully examine the trophy, her eyes practically glazing over.

The boy is looking at the trophy, and the girl is looking at the boy.

Watching this scene from below the stage, Ichimura was suddenly moved and saved the moment, planning to post it later under the official Weibo post about the regular season MVP.

Seeing her boyfriend finally raise his head, Lin Yuanhua smiled and asked, "This is Ilex's second time winning the regular season MVP trophy. How do you feel right now?"

Chen Dongqing seemed prepared, and he replied with a smile, "I'm very happy and honored, because this is clearly a recognition of my personal abilities."

Chen Dongqing spoke at length, but it was all just official jargon. He's become quite the seasoned award recipient, able to rattle off all sorts of acceptance speeches with ease.

Lin Yuanhua smiled and asked again, "So, what are your expectations for QG's upcoming playoff journey?"

Chen Dongqing raised an eyebrow and said with a smile, "Well, what you need to know is that we at QG are already studying our opponents in the finals. If I remember correctly, FPX has never beaten us before."

As soon as he finished speaking, a burst of laughter erupted from the audience.

Countless FPX fans did not disagree with Chen Dongqing's words, but instead let out a friendly chorus of boos.

There's no way around it, FPX's fans are all split off from QG, so they can't bring themselves to dislike Tree.

Backstage, the FPX players, seeing Chen Dongqing's bold words, all slammed their fists on the table and stood up, filled with righteous indignation.

"Damn, this guy's so arrogant!" Lin Weixiang's eyebrows twitched with anger. "We'll have to target him a few times later, okay?"

"No problem! Let's take them down!" The rest of FPX also stood up, full of bold words, and even Liu Qingsong joined in.

There was only one exception.

Everyone looked at Zoom, the only one still sitting.

"What do you mean, Zhang Xingran?" Doinb craned his neck and asked, "Are you not giving me face?"

Zoom rolled his eyes: "You guys aren't even going to lane against him, just sitting here making sarcastic remarks, huh? You want to take him down? Then you guys go play top lane, I'll just sit back and watch you guys have fun!"

FPX members: "."

The team's morale had already collapsed before the game even started.

As soon as Chen Dongqing returned backstage, he was urged by the staff to prepare to go on stage.

Chen Dongqing casually stuffed the MVP trophy into the mesh pocket on the side of his backpack, just like he would casually stuff his water bottle in when he was in school, without caring at all.

Immediately afterwards, he followed his teammates and quickly walked onto the stage.

"Alright, welcome to the 2017 LPL Summer Playoffs! As you can see, the members of QG and FPX have taken to the stage!"

Guan Zeyuan's voice echoed throughout the venue. He first quickly recited the sponsors' "GG" message, then swiftly steered the conversation back on track: "This match is extremely important for QG!"

"That's right!" Remember nodded emphatically beside him: "For QG, the Spring Split champions, they only need to win this match to secure a spot in S7."

"FPX is under immense pressure in this match because they finished fourth in the Spring Split. If they finish fourth again in the Summer Split, they'll have to start from the first round of the Regional Finals, making it extremely difficult for them to qualify for Worlds!"

At this point, today's special guest, PDD, bluntly exclaimed, "But there's nothing we can do! QG's strength is undeniable. They haven't lost a single BO5 since they were formed in S6. It's going to be extremely difficult for FPX to win today!"

As one of QG's biggest fans, PDD clearly supports QG unconditionally.

Guan Zeyuan, now a seasoned veteran, added some conciliatory remarks: "But it must be said that FPX's recent performance has actually been quite good, and we can look forward to their performance!"

As the three were chatting, a message from the director suddenly came through their earpieces.

Colonel Guan promptly changed the subject, announcing loudly, "Alright, we've received word that both teams' preparations are complete. Now let's hand the camera over to the coaching staff to see how the drafting and banning (BP) battle unfolds in the first match!"

As soon as Colonel Guan finished speaking, the red and blue panels suddenly switched to the screen, and BP started!

At the top of the BP panel, you can clearly see the line of characters 7.16.

In this version, a number of heroes have been changed, but few of them have had an impact on the game.

First and foremost, we must talk about the new hero, Chieftain, who has been reworked and is now the Dreadnought.

However, according to Riot Games' management, new heroes cannot be used in competitive matches, so this hero is temporarily unrelated to professional leagues.

In addition, Cho'Gath's reworked E skill has been nerfed as expected, with reduced base damage and reduced percentage damage. It can no longer be chased down and killed at level one like TheShy used to do with A-Guang.

Then, the base damage of Cho'Gath's ultimate ability was also reduced by 30%. It goes without saying who this nerf is targeting; it's just quite painful.

In addition, there are a series of hero changes. As for what kind of sparks they will ignite on the field, that remains to be seen in the matches.

But in any case, the business plan strategies on both sides haven't changed much.

"QG had the right to choose sides in this BO5 series because of their higher regular season ranking, and they chose the red side in the first game!"

"We can see that FPX on the blue side acted quickly, banning Jayce, Fiora, and Caitlyn! This is still the classic three-ban strategy against QG, while QG banned Poppy, Janna, and Thresh!"

QG has also done extensive research on FPX, after all, this team has many former teammates.

They knew that support players like Liu Qingsong, known for their tanky support play, were extremely unsuitable for this Ardent Censer meta.

Asking him to take Lulu is practically killing him!

Even if he plays a support champion, it's usually a champion like Janna or Karma who can push the lane and synergize. If he really has to play a tank support, then the Ardent Censer will have to be filled by Doinb in the mid lane.

Therefore, Banbazi went all out this time, giving two bans to Liu Qingsong to limit his roaming ability.

Next, the two sides proceeded with the draft and ban process extremely quickly.

FPX first picked Karma as a flex pick, and QG countered by picking Varus and Lulu. FPX then followed up with Xayah and Rakan, a very reasonable champion selection.

"Okay, QG then picked Lee Sin as their third pick, it seems they're saving their mid and top laners for the second round!"

In the second round of ban/pick, Banbazi had a clear strategy, directly banning champions like Gragas and Rek'Sai, which are difficult to counter with Lee Sin.

The opposing team only has their top and jungle unpicked, so just ban the jungler.

On the other side, FPX cleverly banned Vayne and Cassiopeia, two champions that are very effective against Cho'Gath. After QG picked Galio as their fourth pick, FPX then picked Cho'Gath.

Including the bans on Fiora and Cassiopeia in the first round, FPX banned a total of four top laners in this game, all to protect Zoom's Cho'Gath pick and hopefully stabilize the top lane.

However, FPX also knows that this is difficult.

After picking Cho'Gath, FPX added Zac as a jungler, thus finalizing their lineup.

At this point, the suspense shifts to Chen Dongqing.

"Well then, let's see which champion Brother Tree will use to counter Cho'Gath." Colonel Guan said, squinting, "To be honest, FPX's lineup seems a bit short-ranged."

PDD's game sense was still sharp. Looking at the lineup, he instantly came up with a few ideas: "If that's the case, I think picking Vladimir or Rumble for damage, or Malphite to initiate team fights, are both viable options. If you want to focus on the laning phase, Olaf is also a good choice!"

As soon as PDD finished speaking, QG's final lineup was confirmed.

A muscular, super-sized man appeared on screen, causing a stir among the audience.

It really is Olaf!

Seeing this kind of reckless hero appear on screen, coupled with the ID "ilex", naturally brings a lot of entertainment value!

Colonel Guan smiled and said, "Alright, the lineups for both sides are now finalized! Let's take a look at the hero selections on both sides!"

Blue side FPX: Top lane Cho'Gath, Jungle Zac, Mid lane Karma, Bot lane Xayah and Rakan.

Red team QG: Top lane Olaf, Jungle Lee Sin, Mid lane Galio, Bot lane Varus and Lulu.

Chen Dongqing squinted at the lineups on both sides and nodded in satisfaction.

His final pick, Olaf, was clearly not a random choice.

The reason is simple: they took a liking to FPX's lineup because their overall range was relatively short and their damage output was relatively lacking!

If you pick a Blademaster and activate Highland Bloodline, the opponent won't know how to deal with it.

Unfortunately, it's not an option.

So, as a second-best option, pick a similarly mad dog like Ralph and just keep chasing and hacking at the enemy!

Banbazi patted Chen Dongqing on the shoulder: "This round, no problem, right?"

"Don't worry," Chen Dongqing rubbed his hands together like flies, grinning, "Absolutely no problem!"

"It's up to you now."

Banbazi confidently walked to the center of the stage to shake hands, and then quickly walked back to the backstage dressing room.

He needs to hurry back and keep an eye on things.

Banbazi believes he did a pretty good job with this lineup. The bot lane Varus and Lulu have top-tier wave clear, and the mid lane Galio is a roaming champion and a mage counter. The top lane Chen Dongqing was a counter pick and had an advantage in the laning phase.

In other words, their laning phase was somewhat impressive across all three lanes, and they were clearly inferior to their opponents in the late game, making the laning phase particularly crucial.

If the matchup is over, then this one is over too.

When he returned to the lounge, he saw that the match had already started, and the lounge was filled with a cacophony of conversations.

In the first-level team fight, both sides lined up in a straight line, neatly defending their top and bottom jungle areas.

Once the two sides' lanes clashed, the tension instantly escalated.

The director first switched the camera to the middle of the screen.

The mid lane matchup was really not very interesting.

Doinb sticks to his usual laning style – pushing the lane and not trading blows.

Doinb believed that only young mid laners would get caught up in trading blows in lane, so as soon as he went online, he stood in the middle of the minions and hit six minions with an RQ combo, pushing the lane aggressively.

Even though Galio's push speed was already considered fast, Karma was a true monster at level one, so he could only watch helplessly as the minion wave was pushed over.

After pushing the lane, Doinb placed a ward at QG's F6 camp and spotted Xiangguo farming the jungle.

"Yeah, Xiangguo's jungle route has been exposed," said Colonel Guan. "This is a big problem."

"That's right!" Remember said, "If it's confirmed that Xiangguo is going top, then Zoom can adjust his laning strategy accordingly to ensure he doesn't get tower-dived!"

Cho'Gath is a pretty strong champion under the tower, especially against QG's top and jungle duo of Olaf and Lee Sin who lack crowd control. They really need to think twice before diving down a full-health Cho'Gath.

The director switched the camera to the top lane and found that neither of the top laners had any special reaction, so he switched the camera to the bottom lane.

The bottom lanes on both sides were exchanging blows quite intensely, with Uzi frequently pushing forward to take advantage of Varus's range and look for opportunities to steal points.

Meanwhile, FPX's bot lane didn't hold back either. Liu Qingsong took advantage of Varus's basic attack and used his W to dash straight to Varus's feet!

But at that moment, Uzi had a sudden inspiration. Varus canceled his upcoming basic attack and immediately moved forward!

This forward movement was actually quite dangerous, because if Varus hadn't dodged W, those two steps forward could very well have killed him on the spot!

But that's not possible.

Varus took a step forward, narrowly avoiding the W attack!

"Counter-attack!" Uzi's voice echoed backstage.

Lulu used her Q, and Uzi followed up with a barrage of auto-attacks, then used his E skill to slow down and inflict grievous wounds!

Liu Qingsong's heart sank. After a moment's thought, he had no choice but to dodge and escape, thus saving his life.

However, he still lost a lot of health in this wave, and he lost his eligibility to lane in the bottom lane. Before the jungler arrives, they will have little say in the game.

Below the stage, countless spectators applauded and cheered for the bot lane's advantage!

But just as the applause began, the camera abruptly switched!

This time, we've arrived on the road!

The timing of this screen switch was perfect. As soon as I switched over, I saw Olaf hit the first low-health melee minion of the second wave with his Q [Reverse Throw]!

hum!

A burst of light suddenly emanated from Olaf, indicating an upgrade!

Meanwhile, Olaf's axe continued flying, hitting the giant Cho'Gath who was standing to the side to finish him off!

Without any hesitation, Olaf flashed forward, used an auto-attack followed by his E [Reckless Swipe] on Cho'Gath, and then landed another auto-attack!

That one moment alone sent chills down Zoom's spine.

A classic Flash initiation! It's obvious he's already got the kill in mind!

But he's only at level one yet, and he hasn't learned Q yet!

With this in mind, Zoom tensed up and kept a close eye on Olaf's movements.

Olaf then took a step forward, picked up the axe, and threw it again!

It's now!

Zoom decisively pressed Flash, trying to dodge the slow effect.

If it's a flash for a flash, then he wouldn't lose out.

The giant insect flashed with golden light and moved forward a short distance.

But Olaf's axe seemed to have eyes, flying straight at the worm and hitting it again!

Zoom felt a sudden chill run down his spine.

It was predicted!

Chen Dongqing's sense of smell in this area is always incredibly sharp.

Seeing the giant bug slowed down again, Chen Dongqing rushed forward, auto-attacked to pick up the axe, and then used Q to attack!

From this moment on, the giant worm was already a dead man.

Knowing that his opponent had no room to maneuver, Chen Dongqing chased after him relentlessly, using his Q skill to reliably slow him down. He chased him all the way into the tower, and finally used his A and E to kill the giant Cho'Gath on the spot!

"First blood!"

(End of this chapter)