League: I really didn't tank!

Chapter 416 Crazy Winning Streak! Tell me loudly who's in the first team!

Before the end of the regular season, the league had already officially announced that the playoffs would be held at QG's home stadium in Shanghai.

This can be seen as a form of support for QG, the dominant force in the League of Legends.

But for teams that hold home games in other cities, it's clearly a torment.

Because they had to go back to Shanghai specifically to rent a hotel near QG's home stadium, and they also had to solve the training problem.

But QG's players have it much easier; they can relax and wait while the other teams are busy and exhausted.

But it's not too bad; there are actually only two teams that have their own home court and made it to the playoffs.

One is Snake Esports in Chongqing, and the other is WE in Xi'an. These two teams will have to start from the first round, so it won't be too long and they'll probably be going home soon.

April 12th, the first day of the playoffs.

Today's match has nothing to do with QG, because QG is the top team in the East, which is Group A, so they will have a bye for two rounds and will wait for their challenger in the semifinals.

In the afternoon, the QG team arrived at the training room in the new base—this training room was not used for gaming, but for physical training.

After stretching, the QG team did their usual incline training on the treadmill.

After more than half a year of training, the QG starters, who have been with the team since 17, have all greatly improved their cardiopulmonary function and have developed a good tolerance for treadmill use.

Even Uzi can now complete a 40-minute treadmill cardio session with considerable effort.

All I can say is that the thief got ripped off.

As for Chen Dongqing, he was even more relaxed; he didn't even pant heavily.

As Chen Dongqing climbed the slope, he also placed his tablet on the treadmill and reached out to browse Tieba (a Chinese online forum).

With the regular season over and the playoffs underway, there's so much to discuss during this time that the posts on the forums are incredibly diverse and varied.

The hottest post recently is undoubtedly "The Sound of Anti-Japanese War," a love story between a good brother from the Anti-Japanese War forum and a deaf-mute girl, which has caused countless forum members to collectively drop their "little pearls" (a virtual gift).

Phrases like "If you touch the scissors again," and "This chicken wing isn't fresh, let's go!" have even become popular memes.

Chen Dongqing read through the post carefully, a smile playing on his lips.

This post was also deleted when the Anti-Japanese Bar was shut down in 2020. Chen Dongqing was a little disappointed at the time. It's good to be able to see it again now.

Chen Dongqing read the post to the end, then exited and refreshed it again.

The playoffs are starting today, and many netizens are discussing the upcoming big match between BLG and EDG.

[Is EDG really going to fail without Clearlove? Are they starting from the first round already?]

Even if Clearlove were still there, EDG would still have to start from the first round. Don't you even know who the top two teams in Group A are?

Below this reply, the original poster also posted a picture showing the team rosters and matchups for the 2018 LPL Spring Playoffs.

It has to be said that it is really outrageous. EDG's group has two teams with a record of 18-1 ahead of them. It is a pure group of death. EDG is actually doing very well to be ranked third.

In contrast, the Western group is much simpler, with FPX almost dominating and the rest being a bunch of weak teams fighting each other.

In the second round of the inter-group round-robin, QG and IG were dominating in the East, and losing even one game was considered shameful.

As for today's match between BLG and EDG, there's no need to say much. Chen Dongqing scrolled through the replies and found that the forum users unanimously favored EDG to win.

Although EDG has been a bit off this year, you don't really think they'll lose to BLG, do you? This team is always top-notch at taking down familiar opponents.

Furthermore, due to the rules, EDG, who are ranked higher, also have an extra win, giving them a huge advantage that makes it difficult for them to lose.

Chen Dongqing exited the thread and continued scrolling down.

Breaking news! The All-Regular Season Team has been announced!

Chen Dongqing raised an eyebrow slightly and clicked into the post.

Every year at the end of the LPL regular season, an All-Star team is selected, which is divided into three teams: Team 1, Team 2, and Team 3.

This should have been a well-deserved honor. Even if you only made the third team, it would still be a recognition of your performance in the Spring Split.

However, there will always be arguments among fans. If you win an award in the regular season but falter in the playoffs, then that All-NBA Team selection will become a boomerang coming back to haunt you.

Chen Dongqing scrolled down and quickly saw the first lineup.

Top Laner: ilex, Jungler: mlxg, Mid Laner: Rookie, Bot Laner: Uzi, Support: Ming

Except for Rookie, the other four are all from QG.

Chen Dongqing found the selection process quite interesting.

No cake this time?

However, it makes sense. Given QG's current dominance in the LPL, giving IG even one Rookie would be the limit.

Even if Rookie's selection of mid laner is justified, there will still be extreme QG fans who criticize him.

If one of the four undisputed positions (Ueno, Shimo) were to be given away, the fans would likely collectively rebel.

Of course, you can never please everyone.

Right on this floor, quite a few IG fans were expressing their dissatisfaction.

They're all 18-1 teams, so why do you get four spots?

It's all a cover-up!

At this point, QG fans will chime in with their classic line: "What championship?!"

Now, IG fans are silent.

In the current competitive landscape, QG has the absolute upper hand, since good results make everything easier.

Before IG defeated QG, they couldn't speak loudly.

Chen Dongqing continued scrolling down and saw the second lineup.

[Top Lane: TheShy, Jungle: Ning, Mid Lane: Doinb, Bot Lane: JackeyLove, Support: Meiko]

This lineup is quite commendable, with no major flaws.

I believe that these five people coming together will create quite a chemistry.

TheShy has achieved career-high stats this year, with 20 solo kills, an average 14 CS lead in 15 minutes, and 650 damage per minute – all impressive numbers for the top lane, placing him second by a significant margin.

Then, due to a significant disadvantage, he fell behind Chen Dongqing.

It's simply outrageous.

Then there's the third lineup:

[Top Lane: Flandre, Jungle: Karsa, Mid Lane: Scout, Bot Lane: lwx, Support: Baolan]

Upon seeing this lineup, Chen Dongqing raised an eyebrow. He chuckled and saved the three images, then sent them to QG's group chat, saying, "Look at the group, the best lineup is out."

Upon hearing this, the teammates who were exercising nearby all took out their phones to take a look.

The four people other than Xiaohu were indeed satisfied when they saw that he was indeed a bit surprised, and they all nodded in satisfaction.

No problem, this is exactly how QG should be!

Then they continued reading.

Second lineup, third lineup.

Xiangguo couldn't hold back any longer and burst out laughing, "Hahaha, Xiaohu, you've got an eighteen-game winning streak and you didn't even make the third team? Hahaha, ugh!"

Xiangguo was already exhausted, and this laugh almost made him choke. He quickly stepped back and took a long time to catch his breath.

Needless to say, Xiaohu, as a newcomer to QG, hadn't yet adapted to the training intensity and was already exhausted. He didn't even have the energy to retort to Xiangguo's taunts and could only lie down and let the mockery continue.

It wasn't until training ended, after he had rested and showered, that Xiao Hu sat down at the table to express his dissatisfaction.

"Why can't I even get a third-team spot?" Xiaohu said, his face full of indignation. "My stats are fine, right?"

"You don't have enough MVPs, huh?" Xiangguo said with a grin. "What version are we in now? Other teams' mid laners have the most MVPs, and you have the fewest. How can you compare to them?"

Little Tiger fell silent.

He's just like an IG fan now.

When your grades aren't good enough, you lack confidence when you speak.

"Damn it, I'm going to slap them in the face in the playoffs!" Xiao Hu angrily finished his meal and then quickly returned to the training room to get into training mode.

The remaining members of QG looked at each other and laughed.

Good.

Since joining QG, Xiaohu has indeed become too reliant on his teammates and played too comfortably. He has lost the edge he had as a star player in RNG last year.

If it weren't for Xiangguo constantly bickering with him, making Xiaohu play more intensely, he probably wouldn't have won an MVP award throughout the entire regular season.

If this All-Star lineup can make Xiaohu take things more seriously, that would be a good thing.

Chen Dongqing finished his meal with a smile and returned to the training room.

Back in his seat, he didn't forget to check the results of today's game.

In the match between EDG and BLG, EDG, who started with a win, unsurprisingly lost the next two games, winning 3-0 and successfully advancing to the top six.

If EDG can win again in the round of six, they will advance to the semifinals and become QG's opponent.

At that point, Xiaohu, without a team on the roster, will be able to challenge Scout, who is on the third team.

We'll see how things develop from here.

Without much thought, Chen Dongqing started the live stream and began his CS:GO session for the day.

He's already at 2200 points, and his score is steadily improving.

Time flies, and the LPL playoffs are still in full swing.

On April 13th, the quarterfinals of the lower bracket began, featuring WE and Snake, who had traveled a long distance to compete.

The current League of Legends meta clearly shows a return to a top-jungle-mid meta, and WE is the biggest victim of this meta.

957's shortcomings as an older player were clearly exposed in this version, and he repeatedly fell behind in matches against a series of younger top laners.

In today's match, 957 was once again mercilessly captured by Flandre.

While the mid-jungle duo of xiye and condi fit the needs of this version, the top lane was too weak, and the bottom lane was too far away to help, so they could only watch the game gradually decline.

Although they were third in the group and had a one-win advantage, the two sides quickly reached a decisive game with a score of 2-2 after a few games.

The fifth game began with the sound of battle songs.

In the decisive game, Flandre stepped up once again, securing a solo kill in the top lane.

The huge hole in the top lane forced WE's mid and jungle to focus all their efforts on the top lane.

But SofM is also known for his cunning; he counter-ganked the top lane twice in a row, successfully disrupting WE's rhythm.

In the final 28 minutes of the match, at WE's base, Snake achieved a 3-for-5 exchange, and the remaining two successfully destroyed WE's base, thus advancing to the top six!

4 month 14 number.

The top six teams advance to the next four.

The two teams in this match are EDG, who advanced from the previous round, and JDG, the second-place team in the West.

Against a team that isn't even top-tier, EDG can win the game simply by relying on Scout's individual rhythm.

In today's match, Scout dominated both LeBlanc and Lissandra, giving Yagao a thorough lesson in both offense and defense, helping EDG defeat their opponent 3-1 and advance to the semifinals!

"Alright, let's congratulate EDG! They defeated their opponent 3-1 and advanced to the semifinals! They will now face off against QG, the top team in the East, as the challengers in the semifinals!"

The audience couldn't help but laugh as soon as they heard the commentator's words.

It's another classic EDG vs. QG matchup; you could say this duel has a touch of destiny about it.

EDG has been supporting QG for so many years, whether it's Clearlove's fault or not, we'll know when the semifinals start.

4 month 15 day.

Snake, who also advanced from the quarterfinals, faced off against IG.

It can only be said that both teams are advancing from the top six to the bottom four, but their situations in the bottom two brackets are quite different.

In the upper bracket, EDG faced JDG, and the lower-ranked teams were even stronger.

However, in the lower bracket, Snake encountered IG, a team with an 18-1 record and whose fighting strength ranks among the top in LPL history.

This alone is enough to demonstrate the gap in skill level between the East and West groups.

As for the result of this match, it can only be described as extremely brutal.

The guy who was still pooping on 957's head the day before yesterday, Flandre, encountered a seasoned top laner like Duke and didn't get any advantage.

After the top laner went into hiding, IG's mid and jungle players made their move and easily won the first game.

In the second game, the mid laner was still putting up a strong performance.

Although this version of LeBlanc isn't considered strong, Rookie played her without any awkwardness. He first used LeBlanc's poke ability to cripple Snake's mid laner, and then, taking advantage of Duke pushing the lane into the tower, he and Ning dove the top lane tower, taking down both Flandre and SofM!

2-0, IG holds three match points.

Fortunately, the Snake team is characterized by a wide range of performance levels.

In the third game, Flandre displayed his prowess, achieving a solo kill against his opponent.

Snake seemed to have discovered IG's weakness. SofM made a brilliant move, appearing at the crucial moments of two top lane skirmishes and killing Duke twice in a row.

This time, the Snakes pulled back a point!

A comeback from 0-2 to 3-2?

The idea had barely formed in the minds of the audience when it was immediately extinguished by IG.

It's impossible to catch up at all.

In the fourth game, IG's top-tier top, mid, and jungle synergy kicked in again. The most interesting thing was that SofM really pulled it off this game. At level three, he coordinated with Flandre to tower dive top, but instead of killing Duke, he ended up staying under the tower himself.

Saint Gun turned to look at SofM, and he was completely stunned.

Dude, are you kidding me?

The richest man glanced at Saint Gun and smiled mysteriously.

That laugh sent the Snake team into the Summer Split with a bang.

IG advances to the semifinals with a score of 3-1!

With this, the four semi-finalists have been determined!

Upper bracket: QG vs. EDG.

Bottom bracket: FPX vs. IG.

"Okay, let's take a three-day break and regroup. We'll still be at Shanghai Super Hopson One, let's witness the birth of the finalist team together!"

4 month 18 number.

April weather is approaching spring, and Chen Dongqing has finally gotten rid of the bulky cotton-padded coat. Although it is still a little cold, the journey is short. Chen Dongqing took two steps into the backstage of the venue and soon felt countless warm air coming from all directions.

"How about it, are you nervous?" Chen Dongqing said with a smile to Xiaohu beside him, "We're going to be laning against Scout again today. He's the third-string mid laner!"

Upon hearing the name Scout, Xiaohu couldn't help but become a little serious.

Although Xiaohu didn't carry the team much in the regular season, he also didn't collapse much, showing great consistency.

The only time he messed up was when he was solo killed by Scout, but luckily he was saved by Mlxg in that game.

"It's okay, Li Yuanhao." Xiangguo stopped being sarcastic and instead joked with a grin, "If all else fails, just call me Dad, okay? I'll definitely come to help you."

"No need!" The account closure officer waved his hand. "I was careless last time, there definitely won't be any problems this time."

"That's good." Banbazi smiled. "EDG is still a good opponent, don't put too much pressure on yourself."

After quickly tidying up their appearance in the dressing room, everyone sat down in the lounge to discuss the draft picks for the next game.

"Anyway, EDG is still the same old team," Banbazi said. "The top lane is always the one playing the defensive role, with the mid and jungle rhythm as the core, mainly protecting iboy in the bottom lane to get the momentum going. We are very familiar with this playstyle, and it's the kind of playstyle we are best at countering."

Everyone laughed when this was mentioned.

This is true.

QG has been a team that focuses on the bottom lane all the way, and they have crushed countless opponents.

With Uzi's laning ability in the bot lane, focusing on the bot lane is bound to encounter a lot of resistance.

In this situation, QG can easily win whether they engage in a fight in the bottom lane, let Chen Dongqing play the top lane by himself, or choose to exchange half of the map and concentrate their firepower on the top half. This is the natural contribution that an excellent top laner brings to the team.

So today, all we need to do is pass the ball to Chen Dongqing, create space for him, and let him dribble and break through on his own!

At the same time, on EDG's side...

The group was also discussing their strategies for today's match.

"Our old approach definitely won't work," head coach Nofe shook his head and said. "If we continue to focus on the bottom lane, the top lane will most likely collapse."

This was a blatant statement that their top laner was no longer up to par, but no one in the audience objected, not even the top laner himself.

There's no way around it; when facing QG, no one can guarantee that the top lane won't collapse.

"Let's play mid and jungle today," Nofe said. "Lee Ye-chan, you are the absolute core of our team today."

The junior student adjusted his glasses and nodded.

There is only one way to beat QG: win through the mid and jungle, since the mid and jungle have always been the weakest link in the QG team.

After Xiaohu was brought in, the weaknesses in the mid lane seem to have become more and more obvious.

With Scout, a top-tier mid laner on par with Rookie, Doinb, and GodV, EDG certainly has the theoretical possibility of making a breakthrough.

Of course, it will be a little bit more difficult.

Now, let's see what the two players have to say.

"Alright, welcome to Shanghai Super Hopson One! This is QG's home ground!"

Today's host, Yu Shuang, stepped onto the stage, first drawing the attention of the entire audience, and then smilingly opened the match: "What is about to begin is the 2018 LPL Spring Playoffs semi-final match between QG and EDG!"

Just as it was time to invite both players to the stage, Yu Shuang changed the subject, smiling as she said, "Before the match begins, we have an awards ceremony! Let's all welcome this year's regular season MVP, Ilex, to the stage!"

The MVP of the regular season was decided a few days ago, but it was only awarded today during QG's match.

Although Chen Dongqing had one-third less of the game schedule, he still won the MVP honor thanks to his MVP count, which was second to none, and his top-tier statistics in the top lane.

Amid cheers from the QG home crowd, Chen Dongqing smiled as he stepped onto the stage and accepted the trophy from Yu Shuang.

At this moment, the large screen behind him also displayed Chen Dongqing's data for this regular season.

He played 25 games, winning 24, for a win rate of 96%.

Received MVP 9 times (3rd time)

KD average 7.77 (1st)

Average output per minute: 734 (1st)

24 solo kills (1st)

A series of data points, all at a dominant level!

Chen Dongqing smiled as he accepted the trophy and microphone, and delivered his usual acceptance speech.

It's nothing more than that awards don't mean anything, and he's about to prove his strength with a victory, which just highlights his arrogance.

At this moment, the live broadcast room was filled with comments.

OK, go wild!

[Tree Bro has genuinely never taken EDG seriously]

[Nonsense, you'd be arrogant if you kept winning.]

[Here it comes! QG vs. EDG, my kid's favorite episode!]

[Is EDG trying to break the speedrun record again?]

[Stop the harsh criticism, I bet EDG will win at least one game today.]

[You're kidding me, how do you think EDG can beat QG? A win would be considered a victory if the three games combined lasted over 90 minutes!]

After the awards ceremony, Yu Shuang invited Chen Dongqing off the stage, and after a short break, invited both contestants back on stage in turn.

With that, Yu Shuang's task officially ended. After she left the stage, the audio switched to the commentary booth, and Guan Daxiao's voice began to ring out: "Here it comes! QG vs. EDG! This match is a classic staple of our LPL!"

"Yes." Beside him, commentator Wang Duoduo, number three for the day, immediately chimed in: "From S6 until now, the playoffs have always featured clashes between these two teams!"

"But unfortunately, EDG seems to have never beaten QG in a best-of-five series," the second commentator said with a smile. "Hopefully, they can break that impression today."

At this point, the director also switched to the regular season statistics of both teams.

QG's stats are as impressive as ever, ranking among the top in all categories, including kills, team KD, and more.

It's worth mentioning that QG's average game time has dropped to second place this year.

The main reason is the rise of the IG team.

QG at least occasionally plays in the late game, but IG is different. In the 30-minute mark, it's either you die or I die, which results in them having the highest kill count and game duration in the league.

On the other hand, EDG's data is rather dismal.

Because they were in the same group as QGIG, they were crushed in two rounds without winning a single game, which made it difficult for their stats to improve.

As they were talking, Guan Daxiao heard the director's voice in his ear. He immediately changed the subject and shouted, "Anyway, the match isn't over yet, so the outcome is still uncertain. We've received news that both teams are ready. Let's take a look at the first round of draft picks!"

"In this match, QG had the first choice of side, but they still chose the red side, which they were more comfortable with. At this point, we can see that EDG, on the blue side, had already banned Irelia in their first pick!"

After the removal of the green jungle item and warding stone, even the ecosystem of the LPL has undergone significant changes.

The most significant change is that split-pushing champions like Jayce and Gnar, who rely on vision protection, have been somewhat restricted. Since split-pushing is no longer as easy, the significance of picking such champions has been greatly diminished.

In addition, Jayce is a champion who lacks a suitable rune, so after all the calculations, he can only barely use one Aery.

But now Aery has also been nerfed several times, with its level 1 damage reduced from 20 to 14. Aery is no longer effective, which makes things even worse for Jaxnar, who is now essentially a discarded character in this version.

The old Jess, who used to trigger Wind Rider with a single shot, then step on the acceleration gate to switch forms and take off in third gear, is now a thing of the past.

This directly led to a significant drop in Jayce's priority, at least not as high as before. EDG released him from the first round of bans, banning the more difficult-to-deal-with Irelia instead.

Fortunately, Chen Dongqing has never been a one-trick pony when it comes to champions. Jayce is out of meta, so he can just not force it. It's all up to him.

He followed the coach's advice and chose to ban Poppy.

On the other side, EDG quickly banned Fiora as their second pick. There's not much to say about this champion; she must be respected.

Banbazi thought for a moment and then chose to ban the Captain.

This is the enemy top laner GimGoon's signature move; he can survive in the early game and carry in the late game, so he deserves respect.

"Then, as the last pick, EDG chose to ban Camille! Three bans on light fighters? That's insane! Then QG, they chose to ban Ornn! The bans on both sides are outrageous, six top laners were banned at the start! Are they going to compete on the champion pool of their top laners?"

Chen Dongqing was somewhat helpless when he saw that the opposing team had banned Camille as their third pick.

Banning Irelia, Fiora, and Camille? That makes no sense!

But EDG didn't really have any solutions.

The first two picks, Irelia and Fiora, were too overpowered and unstoppable. The next pick, Camille, was strong in lane, but she's a top/jungle flex pick, which would be disastrous for Xiangguo to get, so she had to be banned. That's how this situation came about.

With six top laners banned, the champion choices for both top lanes are obviously severely limited.

After much deliberation, EDG finally chose to pick Swain as their first pick.

Raven is a hero who received a major buff in this version, and he performed quite well in the first few rounds of the playoffs.

Unfortunately, GimGoon's hero training speed is too slow, and he has not yet mastered it perfectly.

But now that all the heroes have been banned, they have no choice but to pick them.

There's a possibility that Swain will be a mid-jungle duo, so QG isn't in a rush to pick a top laner, but instead locks in Ezreal and Karma first.

There's not much to say about dual-wielding EZ; it's Uzi's current best defense against pressure.

Now, when Uzi plays other heroes to withstand pressure, it feels like ants are crawling all over him.

On the other side, EDG locked in Morgana and Caitlyn, focusing on pushing and pressuring the bottom lane. They clearly intend to leave the mid and jungle to be revealed at the end.

Banbazi didn't think much and quickly locked in the buffed Lee Sin for Xiangguo, entering the second round of draft.

"Alright, for the second round of bans, EDG has banned Vladimir and Jayce, another classic five-ban top lane! Showing them respect!"

"On the other side, QG banned Zoe and Cassiopeia, two mid-lane bans, which shows great respect. Let's see QG's fourth pick!"

EDG's mid and jungle players have not yet been selected, and the position of Swain is still undecided.

There was no other way, so QG had to let Xiaohu pick his hero first. On their fourth pick, they locked in Ryze.

At this point, EDG's lineup was finally finalized.

The final answer was Syndra in the mid lane and Jarvan IV in the jungle, which means that Swain was also flexed to the top lane.

"Now let's see what Shu-ge will use to counter Swain," Guan Daxiao laughed. "Both sides banned a total of eight top laners, and then EDG picked one too, so Shu-ge doesn't have many options left!"

Not many targets to choose from?

Chen Dongqing didn't think so.

The moment QG received their tenth pick, a hero was selected and confirmed!

I will never tolerate such cowardly behavior!

"Darius!?" The three commentators exclaimed in surprise at the same time!

Wow, you're using the Hand of Noxus to kill the Noxian leader, right?

(End of this chapter)