League: I really didn't tank!

Chapter 375 Kalista Top Lane!

Following the surging crowd, Chen's parents walked all the way to the central area of ​​the Olympic Park.

Looking at the countless steel trusses crisscrossing around the Bird's Nest stadium, the two elders felt a slight pang of sadness.

Their family was quite well-off, after all, they were true Shanghainese. Although they weren't rich, they had no worries about food, clothing, housing, or transportation.

Back in 08, they were planning to take advantage of Chen Dongqing's summer vacation to travel to Beijing with their family.

But Chen Dongqing was in elementary school at the time. His parents were persuaded by his homeroom teacher to say that the summer vacation between fifth and sixth grade was the most crucial time, and so on. They thought it made sense, so they enrolled Chen Dongqing in a bunch of tutoring classes, and the plan to travel to Beijing was ultimately put on hold.

What's even more infuriating is that Chen Dongqing didn't attend the classes properly, often skipping them to play World of Warcraft online, which infuriated his parents.

But nine years have passed in the blink of an eye, and thanks to Chen Dongqing, the two elders finally came to the Bird's Nest.

This time, the champions competing in the Bird's Nest are not those unattainable athletes, but the elementary school student who used to skip school to play Warcraft.

It just goes to show that things are unpredictable.

"Uncle and Aunt!" The two elders were sighing when they heard a familiar female voice beside them.

The two turned their gazes and saw Lin Yuanhua wearing a white QG autumn team uniform and dark denim pants.

Lin Yuanhua pulled her black baseball cap down low and immediately leaned against Chen Dongqing's mother, saying in familiar Shanghainese, "Follow me, we'll go straight in from backstage!"

"Alright!" Chen's mother pinched Lin Yuanhua's arm and said, "Oh dear, why are you only wearing a single jacket? It's so cold in November!"

"You guys don't understand, do you? We have to wear this today! And this jacket is very warm, and I'm wearing a thin sweater underneath, so I'm not cold!" Behind Lin Yuanhua, the "QGilex" logo printed on the white team uniform was quite eye-catching.

Lin Yuanhua quickly led Chen Dongqing's parents through the crowd to the backstage entrance.

Lin Yuanhua said with a grin, "Want to go see Chen Dongqing? They just came in not long ago."

"Never mind, just take us to our seats." The parents shook their heads. "Wouldn't we just be causing trouble?"

"Okay." Lin Yuanhua nodded with a smile and led Chen Dongqing's parents to the relatives' viewing area and settled them in.

Looking around at the bustling crowd, Chen's mother sighed, "There are so many people!"

Because the Bird's Nest is an open stadium, it certainly cannot have a four-sided stage and a suspended water drop screen like the closed stadiums of the past.

This time, the Bird's Nest was designed with one side left empty to place a large screen, and the audience on the other three sides allowed to watch.

In addition to the three outer stands, there is also an inner stand. Several thousand more stands have been added on the track and field and the central football field. With the inner and outer stands combined, the number of spectators is around 70,000 to 80,000.

"Of course! There must be seventy or eighty thousand people this time!" Lin Yuanhua responded enthusiastically, then took out her phone, took a picture with the two elderly people next to her, and sent it to Chen Dongqing.

Mr. Chen didn't talk much with Lin Yuanhua. He looked around and then made eye contact with a young man next to him.

"Hiss," Chen's father looked at the thick eyebrows of the person in front of him, and then said, "Weren't you Dongqing's teammate last year?"

"Yes, Uncle," Lin Weixiang said cheerfully, "I'm Chen Dongqing's little brother!"

Meanwhile, Chen Dongqing was making final preparations in the lounge when his phone suddenly rang. He opened it and saw a group photo sent by Lin Yuanhua, as well as photos of the venue sent by his mother.

Chen Dongqing replied with a smile, then turned off his phone with peace of mind and entered the final adjustment phase.

There is now only half an hour left before the start of the match.

If we also include things like going on stage for the opening ceremony, then there's really not much time left to prepare.

Banbazi didn't need to say anything at this point. He quickly organized his thoughts and then began, "Today is our last BO5 of 2017. Everyone's achievements this year are evident to all. In this final game, I hope everyone can give it their all and achieve a good result."

"Of course," Banbazi said with a smile. "I believe we are very well prepared, and winning the coin toss before the match proves that luck is on our side today! So I have a lot of confidence in you guys today."

As Banbazi was speaking, a staff member knocked on the studio door, signaling the QG members to prepare to go on stage.

"Come on, everyone!" Linko gestured for everyone to stand up. "Let's get this going one last time!"

The QG members also stood up and put their right hands together.

"Like I said, let's aim for a 3-0 victory!" Linko shouted. "Three, two, one! QG!"

"Go for it!" everyone shouted in unison, pressing their hands together heavily!

The peripherals had already been taken away and set up by the staff. QG only needed to walk to the backstage passage and wait to be called up on stage.

Chen Dongqing stood at the front of the line. When he reached the end of the passage, he stood on tiptoe and looked around. The place was packed with a sea of ​​black spectators.

And there was even a surprise at the end of this passage.

Suddenly, footsteps sounded beside him, and someone walked up to him. Chen Dongqing turned his head and was immediately startled.

"Jay Chou!" Chen Dongqing excitedly shook hands with the other person. "I'm your fan!"

"Oh, what a coincidence! I'm a fan of yours too," Jay Chou joked with a smile. "Good luck in today's game!"

Chen Dongqing patted his chest, "Definitely!"

As the two were talking, a commotion suddenly came from the stage.

Chen Dongqing sensibly stepped back two steps, giving Jay Chou some space.

After the countdown reached "1", Jay Chou quickly took a big step and stepped onto the stage.

As the song's intro began, Jay Chou stepped onto the stage, effortlessly energizing the audience before commencing his performance.

The song he performed this time was, of course, a brand new track he specially created for League of Legends – "Heroes".

"You can spin and jump with your eyes closed, but after Carter finishes spinning, he'll make you close your eyes too."

Well, as for the quality of this song...

As a die-hard fan who had just shaken hands with Jay Chou, Chen Dongqing declined to comment.

Fortunately, the atmosphere in today's final was indeed intense, and the cheers from the audience were quite enthusiastic!

The overlap between LOL viewers and Jay Chou fans is already high. With both fans ecstatic, even if Jay Chou were to play basketball on stage, there would still be people cheering him on.

After finishing the song, Jay Chou walked to the piano in the center of the stage.

Sitting on the piano, with two fingers pressing the keys, a familiar melody slowly flows out.

Amidst a grand piano melody, the main act of the second song also took the stage!

This time, the song is S7's theme song, "Legends Never Die"!

"Legends never die, When the world is calling you!"

Halfway through the song, a scream suddenly came from the speakers.

Then another burst of cheers erupted!

Xiangguo stared wide-eyed at the stage, puzzled, and asked, "Why are you shouting all of a sudden? There's nothing there!"

Chen Dongqing said with a smile, "Look at the screen."

Everyone turned their attention to the large screen on site, and then quickly got a fright.

On the stage, a lifelike ancient dragon is circling the venue, roaring from time to time!

Mature AR technology can even project an ancient dragon into the sunlight on the screen!

"Wow, awesome!" Xiangguo exclaimed repeatedly, "This fistfighting tournament is getting better and better."

Soon, another song ended, and the opening ceremony performance officially came to a close.

At this moment, Ren Dongcai finally stepped onto the stage and shouted loudly, "Alright, this is Beijing, China! Welcome to the 2017 League of Legends World Championship! Summoners, show your enthusiasm and let's welcome the teams to the stage!"

"First, let's welcome the LCK's third seed, the undisputed dark horse of this tournament—Samsung Galaxy!"

A loud cheer immediately erupted from the audience. From another backstage exit, the Samsung team players stepped onto the stage and took their places in the center.

"Top laner Cuvee! Jungler Ambition! Mid laner Crown! Bot laner Ruler, support CoreJJ! And substitute Haru and coach Edgar! Welcome them!"

Every time a name was announced, the 70,000 spectators in the audience would give enthusiastic applause and cheers, showing their boundless enthusiasm!

On stage, the Samsung team had never seen such a scene before. In South Korea, they would consider a team of over 10,000 people to be the maximum.

Some people shyly extended their hands and waved with smiles.

Ren Dong smiled, put down his cue cards, and continued, "Next, let's welcome the 2016 Mid-Season Invitational Champion, the 2016 World Championship Champion, the 2017 Mid-Season Invitational Champion, and LPL's number one seed, QiaoGu!"

Ren Dong drawled out his words, shouting towards QG's direction, "First up, the top laner iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiilex!"

At that moment, almost without exception, all 70,000 spectators in the audience erupted in an explosive cheer!

This outcry was deafening, piercing the sky and could be heard for miles around; even those on stage felt a sense of shock!

Chen Dongqing strode onto the stage, facing the camera and holding up three fingers to make a "three".

Just as everyone was wondering what it meant, Chen Dongqing changed his hand gesture, turning "three" into "zero".

At that moment, the cheers from the audience reached another level!

The live chat exploded instantly!

3-0!

Holy crap, that's insane!

[Opening the champagne early, huh? Easy peasy!]

[Brother Tree is always a dragon before the game but a worm after the game, which is completely opposite to everyone else]

Ren Dong waited until the cheers gradually subsided before introducing the other team members.

"Jungle, Spicy Hot Pot!"

"Mid laner, GodV!"

"Bottom lane, Uzi!"

"Support, Ming!"

Without exception, every time someone stepped onto the stage, they were greeted with thunderous shouts!

As the host's only hope, QG enjoyed immense success at home!

After the contestants finished introducing themselves, Ren Dong secretly breathed a sigh of relief and then said, "Alright, please take your seats, both contestants. The competition is about to begin!"

Chen Dongqing waved to the audience one last time before walking into the soundproof room on the side of the stage. This soundproof room was a new feature this year, used to control the contestants' perceived temperature and noise levels, providing them with a comfortable competition environment.

During the preparation time, the final director switched to the promotional video for the final.

The aerial camera swept over Beijing and finally landed at the foot of the Great Wall. Master An appeared with his arms crossed and said, "Perhaps everyone thinks this will be a match without any suspense. Nobody is optimistic about Samsung, just like the quarterfinals and semifinals."

Cuvee's chubby, round face appeared on the screen. He put his hands in his pockets and said seriously, "But we won both the quarterfinals and the semifinals, and both were 3-0."

"I believe this final will be the same."

The screen switched abruptly, revealing the game screen.

That was in Chicago in 2016. QG defeated SSG 3-0 to advance to the semifinals.

Then, a completely new scene unfolded: Wuhan, half a month earlier, where QG defeated SSG twice in the group stage.

"Any team that tries to take down QG will ultimately fail." Uzi sat at the entrance of the Bird's Nest and slowly stood up. "As for Samsung, they are just stepping stones on QG's path to advancement."

Ruler quickly responded, "It's fantastic to have come this far this year! I'm so glad we have this opportunity to get our revenge! I believe we'll play even better than them today!"

The scene shifts, and the camera finally focuses on the top floor of a skyscraper.

A plane roared overhead.

Chen Dongqing stood in the center, arms crossed, and said, "Unless League of Legends is gone, we will always be the world's number one team."

"After today, another star will be imprinted on this place."

This provocative promotional video amplified the tension of the finals.

After the promotional video ended, the camera cut back to the Bird's Nest stadium, rotated around the center of the stage, and then quickly cut to the commentary booth.

As commentators for the finals, the guests were of course Wawa Miller, plus Guan Zeyuan, the undisputed trio of gods.

The three of them analyzed the data provided by the director for both teams.

"Yes, we can see that the data of both teams has its own characteristics. QG's dragon control rate and average kills per game are significantly ahead."

"On the other hand, SSG has a slight advantage in metrics such as ward placements, average game length, and average gold difference."

The three of them analyzed the situation for a while, and then soon heard a sound coming from their earpieces.

Wawa immediately spoke up, "We've received word that both teams are ready, and the draft phase is about to begin! In this match, QG won the pre-match coin toss, so they have the priority to choose sides in this round, and they proactively chose the red side in the first game!"

As soon as the doll finished speaking, the BP panel switched in!

The final round has officially begun!

When you switch to the panel, you can see that the first three picks and bans for both sides have ended.

"On the blue side, SSG chose to ban Camille, Fiora, and Jarvan IV, while QG opted to ban Poppy, Janna, and Xayah. It's clear both sides have their own strategies!"

SSG's bans this round were extremely targeted. In addition to the usual Fiora, they didn't even ban Caitlyn, and directly banned Jarvan IV and Camille, two strong engage champions!

Clearly, they believed that QG's Caitlyn push strategy couldn't break through their defenses, but Jarvan IV and Camille could.

"Now it's SSG's turn to make the first choice!" Doll said, arms crossed. "The skateboard shoes are outside, want to choose?"

SSG would definitely not choose it; their tactics don't require the offensive capabilities of skateboard shoes at all.

Of course, even if QG picks skateboard shoes, they won't be afraid; they're confident they can defend against them.

Therefore, in their first pick, SSG decisively locked in Sejuani, securing the strongest jungler available!

"So here's the question: QG's bot lane is definitely on the offensive side, and with Kalista and Caitlyn currently outside, which bot lane champion should QG choose?"

"Skateboard shoes, isn't that a bit inappropriate?" Miller couldn't help but shake his head upon hearing this. "Skateboard shoes haven't won a single game in the elimination rounds!"

In the knockout stage, skateboard shoes appeared in three matches, losing all of them.

So far, Skate Shoes has a win-loss record of 1-3 in this round of the World Championship, with a winning percentage of 25%.

As the team that personally brought down SkateShoes from its pedestal, Miller doesn't think QG would actively choose SkateShoes.

But the words had barely left his mouth.

QG's first two picks were Kalista and Karma, a sure win!

The camera pans to Uzbekistan, where he is seen laughing and chuckling.

"Huh? They locked it out right away!" Guan Zeyuan couldn't help but exclaim, "So decisive? The policewoman didn't even choose it! Will SSG choose it then?"

SSG will not be selected either.

In both the first and second rounds, SSG made their choices swiftly, quickly locking in the Varus and Lulu bot lane combination.

They still follow the same strategy: select a strong core player and a soft support, focusing on stalling!

He believed that his bot lane duo could withstand the Kalista's attacks.

Of course, this is also why QG banned Janna and Xayah.

If SSG gets a bot lane champion with strong self-preservation, their offense will be ineffective.

After some deliberation, QG decided to lock in the excavator as their third pick, thus entering the second round of draft picks.

In the second round, QG on the red side banned Jayce and Kennen, leaving only Gnar out of the top lane.

SSG, on the blue side, understood perfectly and immediately banned Yasuo, and then banned Syndra.

In their fourth pick, QG added another Galio. In their third and fourth picks, QG locked in two front-line champions while reserving the counter pick for last, creating a comfortable environment for Chen Dongqing's top lane carry.

Now it's SSG's turn to finalize their lineup.

Since Yasuo is banned, their top laner will undoubtedly lock in Gnar.

As for the mid lane, they added Taliyah as their final addition.

They still use their classic strategy: split push in the top lane, utility mid laner and jungler setting the pace, and a carry bot lane to dominate in the late game.

"It's time to watch Tree choose his champion again," Miller said with some anticipation. "Let's see what character Tree will pick against Gnar!"

In that instant, many choices flashed through everyone's minds.

Against Gnar, Kled? Riven? Nasus?

But as the saying goes, QG's last move always surprises you.

At this crucial moment in the finals, if QG doesn't reveal their trump card in the first game, then they wouldn't be QG.

At this moment, everyone in the QG players' booth was rubbing their hands together nervously.

Uzi laughed and said, "Chen Dongqing, this round is up to you."

"Don't worry," Chen Dongqing patted his chest, "This time, if I don't carry, I'll just eat it!"

Chen Dongqing rarely has confidence in a hero.

But today, this hero is just too fierce; it's hard for him not to be confident.

The final move was to reveal the true intentions behind the scenes.

Policewoman from Piltover, locked on!

(End of this chapter)