League: I really didn't tank!

Chapter 425 A Money-Stealing Enthusiast!

IG and QG have something in common. This might also be a common problem for fighting teams—they don't like to build wards.

During the S7 World Championship, Shi Senming had the most wards placed by all players, far ahead of the others, but QG's overall vision score was still below average.

This shows just how little QG's key players care about warding.

However, IG's vision score is even weaker than QG's.

The overall reason for this, besides IG's general lack of warding, is that Baolan is also not very good at warding. His ward placement and removal counts are far lower than Shi Senming's.

Shi Senming and Xiangguo scanned the upper river channel and actually spotted an ward at the entrance of the Big Dragon Pit!

Shi Senming was shocked.

Is the visibility really that bad?

"Come on, they haven't seen you, you can attack directly!" Shi Senming hurriedly said, "They won't be able to react!"

Chen Dongqing raised an eyebrow and nodded, saying, "Come on, let's fight!"

QG is known for their decisive and ruthless style. When they say they're going for Baron, it means all five of them will go all in!

As expected, due to the lack of vision, IG didn't notice it at first.

This is a scene that is almost impossible to see in professional competitions, but now it has actually appeared in the LPL finals, which can only be described as bizarre.

Although IG's awareness was still sharp, they suddenly realized when they saw the QG players disappearing all the way back to base to replenish their health. They then made a farsighted move and spotted the Baron pit.

But what they saw was Baron Nash, who was down to only half health.

The cheers from the audience surged in like a tidal wave, crowding into the ears of the IG members and making them restless.

In fact, the audience's voices had been heard long ago, which could even be considered a reminder to them, but they were completely unaware of it until now.

That was clearly too late.

They rushed toward the Dragon Pit, but it was too late.

They had barely stepped onto the river when they saw the news on the screen that QG had secured Baron Nashor.

All five members of IG are together and in top form, so their economic deficit isn't too significant.

Seeing QG's weakened state after taking down Baron Nashor, their thoughts were quite unanimous.

"Damn it!" Prince Ning shouted into the voice chat, "Don't let them get away!"

A 5v5 team fight broke out unexpectedly!

TheShy and Ning, two melee champions, charged forward decisively with Rookie's Cassiopeia providing protection.

JackeyLove stood with Baolan, hanging at the very back of the group.

He had no problems and farmed well for over twenty minutes, becoming the farmiest player on the team.

As long as he doesn't die suddenly and deals enough damage, they can win the team fight.

With Tahm Kench protecting him, JackeyLove knew he had room to maneuver.

On the other side, Xiangguo's pure meat barrel was not afraid at all. He poured wine into his mouth and charged forward, using his E to stun both the weapon and the Lee Sin!

Chen Dongqing seized the opportunity, used a basic attack to extend his passive ability, and successfully triggered Conqueror.

Seeing the situation, Chen Dongqing immediately shouted, "Use your ultimate on the AD carry! Don't let the enemy AD carry deal damage!"

Xiangguo understood this principle. He looked at Tahm Kench and Varus who were following from behind and threw his ultimate ability at them!

With Xiangguo's ultimate move, the entire team fight immediately fell into chaos!

The weapon, activated by E, was blasted into the center of QG's team. TheShy unleashed an E, looking every bit like a war god!

Unfortunately, it didn't work.

Control without harm is meaningless.

Xiangguo's ultimate move landed right between Varus and Tahm Kench, successfully separating the duo that had been stuck together for twenty minutes!

Chen Dongqing saw this scene and sensed a fleeting opportunity!

He decisively shifted his focus from the weapons beside him to Varus!

"Shi Senming, give me the shield!" Chen Dongqing shouted in the voice chat, and then charged forward without hesitation!

"Ionia, may your spirit never die!"

Irelia's voice is passionate and powerful, as if it can take you back to that night in Navori.

During the ultimate skill's casting animation, Chen Dongqing flashed forward and used an R-flash to throw the ultimate skill's blade at JackeyLove's Varus!

At that very moment, Rookie's Cassiopeia ground swung right over.

At the same time, a purple magic shield appeared around Irelia. This was Morgana's E, which can provide the hero with immunity to crowd control!

Relying on the power of the shield, Chen Dongqing ignored the ground binding beneath his feet and used Q to charge directly at Varus!

During the flight of his Q skill, Chen Dongqing quickly pulled the mouse and threw out two Twin Blades.

A fully healed Irelia with Trinity Force is undoubtedly a devastating threat to AD carries. Just by using Q to land and then quickly landing a basic attack, she can reduce Varus's health bar to half!

On the other side, Baolan saw Varus's health and immediately panicked, but he was blown away by Gragas's ultimate and couldn't get to Varus's side even if he used Flash!

But just then, Irelia's super long E skill was completed, and a long line of Twin Blades that stretched across the entire battlefield engulfed Varus and Cassiopeia!

Although Chen Dongqing's main target was Varus, he didn't forget to limit the damage output of the Cassiopeia!

All of this stems from his top-notch ability to analyze team fights.

IG's two carries are both incredibly skilled players; they used Flash almost simultaneously to dodge Irelia's E!

Unfortunately, it's still very difficult for Varus to escape.

Chen Dongqing followed up with a Q to catch up with Varus who had used Flash, and then unleashed two basic attacks, emptying his health bar!

"Wow! Tree Bro just single-handedly picked off JackeyLove!" Wawa could barely contain herself, exclaiming, "What's going on? This Irelia is ridiculously overpowered!"

No matter the situation, if the ADC is the first to fall, it will be very difficult to win the team fight.

In particular, JackeyLove's Varus was the farmiest champion on the team this game.

This is a devastating blow to IG!

After killing Varus, Irelia immediately suffered a devastating blow from IG.

Rookie's Cassiopeia used her ultimate ability to bring the enemy over, allowing his teammates to focus fire!

IG fought for a long time and finally reduced Irelia's health, but then a Bloodthirster shield was triggered. Irelia then pressed W to enter a defensive state, and her health bar never changed again from that moment on, highlighting her as solid as a chicken soup!

With Irelia tanking in front, the other four members of QG were naturally very relaxed. Uzi and Xiaohu's output environment was practically invincible, and a single weapon could not pose any threat to them.

The two carries only need to play their roles methodically to eliminate IG's top and jungle players one by one!

Chen Dongqing charged up his W skill until the very last moment, waiting for the Bloodthirster shield to dissipate before using it to stab the Cassiopeia, hoping to coordinate with his team to kill her.

Rookie went all out and managed to cripple Chen Dongqing and Xiangguo, but the next second Zoe used a flying star to wipe out his health bar!

"Team wipe!" Miller's voice echoed throughout the arena. "After QG secured the Baron buff, they executed a perfect 0-for-5 exchange. They might have a chance to end the game!"

Of course, Miller's conclusion was premature.

QG was in poor condition and had no minions. They pushed the lane and had only just destroyed one of IG's high ground towers when IG's players were already close to respawning. QG had no choice but to retreat quickly and split into two groups to wipe out IG's top and bottom jungle.

Fortunately, it's not a big problem.

Breaking through one high ground is enough.

With the Dragon and a team wipe, this wave directly widened the economic gap between the two sides by more than 6,000, breaking the 10,000 mark.

Next, it's just a matter of pushing things forward.

At 28 minutes into the game, IG initiated a team fight. This time, things were slightly better, and the team focused their fire and managed to kill Xiangguo's Gragas. However, the price they paid was that all five of them were wiped out again.

After this wave passes, a bright and sunny road lies ahead.

QG pushed forward and won the first game!

"Alright, let's congratulate QG!" Wawa shouted from the commentary booth, "They've won the first game in 29 minutes!"

"This is another victory for individual heroism!" Miller couldn't help but sigh. "The key to this victory is obvious: it's that Irelia in the top lane!"

"IG practically gave it their all in the draft to counter Irelia! But unfortunately, it had little effect, and Irelia still managed to find a weakness!"

At this point, Miller exclaimed, "Although everyone says the designers have always been targeting QG, I can only say that the designers really gave QG a huge gift with this rework of Irelia!"

It's funny, really. Since the rework of Irelia, she's only played in two matches, both times picked by QG, ​​and both times the victims were IG.

The members of IG took off their headphones and listened to Miller's words, expressing their deep agreement!

Designer, are you even human?

What does it mean to temporarily remake Irelia in the playoff patch? Who can master that in a short time?

Are you sure this kind of flashy, lightly armed warrior wasn't tailor-made for Ilex?

And it's really strange how his grandmother did it.

Why is this guy able to master heroes so quickly? These are high-difficulty heroes, doesn't he need to practice at all? He seems to have all sorts of tricks up his sleeve?

Filled with questions, the IG members hurried back to the rest room.

At this moment, many people in the live stream chat were arguing endlessly.

[What does this son of a bitch have to say? Does he still dare to boast about taking down QG?]

[Let me state this clearly: as long as IG's top laners are still TheShy and Duke, they have no chance of beating QG, who have Tree.]

[Getting completely crushed every game on the top lane is really ridiculous]

There's nothing we can do; TheShy's skill level is still there, he's just too inconsistent. If only he could be more consistent.

"TheShy, can you play a little more steadily?" Coach Kim's tone was full of helplessness in the IG rest room.

TheShy listened to the coach's words, and even the usually optimistic TheShy couldn't smile anymore. He stood in the corner with his head down and scratched the back of his head.

Actually, he's already very stable.

QG's offensive was too fierce, he couldn't stop them!

Coach Kim stared at TheShy for a long time, and seeing that the other remained silent, he turned his gaze to Duke, who was standing to the side.

Duke's body trembled.

Seeing this, TheShy became somewhat anxious.

Fortunately, Coach Kim turned his attention back to his work.

Constantly changing the starting lineup isn't a good thing for the team.

Replacing players every time they lose a match is a mental torment for both players, and doing it too often is really bad.

Coach Kim may like to control his players, but he certainly doesn't act arbitrarily.

"TheShy, I'm giving you another chance, but you absolutely must play well next game!" Kim Jung-soo said. "When you're laning, you need to be more thoughtful and absolutely cannot be reckless again! Can you do that?"

Although Kim Jeong-soo did not substitute TheShy, his tone was quite serious, clearly intending to put some pressure on TheShy and make him play more steadily.

When TheShy heard that he hadn't been replaced, he looked up, nodded, and said, "Okay!"

After giving instructions to the top laner, Coach Jin turned his attention to the bottom lane: "Bottom lane, you guys did a great job this game, keep it up, but you still need to be careful in team fights."

To be fair, JackeyLove and Baolan actually played very well in the early and mid-game laning phase. They didn't die at all and even coordinated with their teammates to start a bot lane gank.

Of course, in the end, they couldn't hold on in the team fight and were killed by Irelia alone.

Kim Jung-soo then turned his attention to the jungler.

But Prince Ning remained calm, shrugging on the sofa and asking, "Am I alright?"

Kim Jung-soo didn't answer, but finally looked at Rookie and said, "Yijin, the other team gets the right to choose sides in the next match, so we're most likely on the blue side. Are you going to pick Zoe first, or go for Counter as a second pick?"

Rookie hesitated for a second, then said in Chinese, "I don't need to pick the mid laner first. The enemy mid laner will definitely pick early. We can first pick Ezreal or something, pair it with an enchanter support to stabilize the bot lane, and then give me a counter-pick. That way, our two carries will be very stable."

Kim Jung-soo considered it for a moment, then nodded: "Okay, let's talk about the draft for the second game."

On the other side, in the QG lounge, the atmosphere was relaxed and pleasant.

"Wow, see my economic lead?" Chen Dongqing shouted, pointing at the number, "4396! Hahaha, just one Mingkai ahead!"

Chen Dongqing's words were so weighty that even inexperienced players like Xiao Hu and Xiao Ming didn't dare to respond and could only chuckle on the sidelines.

Uzi, who had a good relationship with the factory manager, chuckled and said, "You're finished. I'll tell Mingkai later and have him deal with you."

The MVP of this game undoubtedly belongs to Irelia.

Besides the impressive 4396 gold lead, Irelia also had the second-highest damage output and the highest damage taken in the game.

Of course, QG was not surprised by Chen Dongqing's performance, after all, Chen Dongqing had the same performance in all three games in the semifinals.

With four consecutive games showcasing such dominant performances, Chen Dongqing's recent form seems to be demonstrating a breathtaking truth.

Even though Chen Dongqing earned the title of the greatest player in LOL history through his performance in S6 and S7, this was still not his peak.

In Season 8, this greatest player in history was still improving!

That's just too much.

Xiao Hu couldn't help but praise Chen Dongqing's recent performance, filling the lounge with a cheerful atmosphere.

Finally, Banbazi stopped the mutual praise and said, "Alright, alright, half of the break time is already over, let's talk about the draft for the next game!"

"What's there to talk about in the next draft? The other side has absolutely no chance." Chen Dongqing's mind is always quick. With just a little thought, he can figure out IG's current predicament and some possible solutions.

After losing the first game, and now being relegated to the blue side, IG still wants to do a good job with the draft?

It's very blue!

At this point, QG only needs to reveal one of their trump cards to press their advantage and push IG to the brink of defeat!

Halftime passed quickly.

Before long, the draft phase for the second game had already begun.

The three commentators immediately got into the zone as soon as the draft panel popped up.

"Alright, we can see that the first three bans for both sides are set. On the blue side, IG has chosen to ban Irelia, Caitlyn, and Fiora!"

"On the other side, QG on the red side banned Draven, Rakan, and Camille! Hey, we can notice that QG's traditional ban, Poppy, has been allowed this time! Let's see what happens in this game!"

Poppy was released, but it didn't cause much of a stir.

Although Poppy has been a ban pick for QG, in terms of champion strength alone, she is really not worth mentioning and is not a meta champion, so IG certainly wouldn't pick her first.

They continued with their initial strategy, picking Ezreal and Lee Sin.

On the other side, QG didn't seem to be picking Poppy either; they quickly locked in two rather unusual champions.

"Nightmare and Victor?" Miller hesitated for a moment, unsure what to say when he saw these two options: "This seems alright."

Nightmare needs no introduction; he's a hero who received an epic buff in this version, so there's definitely a reason to choose him.

As for Viktor, there's no need to elaborate. Ever since Chen Dongqing pulled out Viktor in the top lane and delivered a dominant performance in the semifinals, this champion has swept across major servers worldwide like a fission effect, quickly rising to the top of the T0 tier of top laners.

In this version, all the physical warrior heroes who rose to prominence because of Conqueror were completely crushed by Viktor.

If you use Viktor in the top and mid lanes and pick Nocturne, the meta pick that's good against Lee Sin, then there's nothing wrong with that.

But these two choices are still pretty strange!

This choice was clearly unexpected by IG. The other side thought about it for a long time before finally choosing Morgana as support to pair with Ezreal, replicating QG's top and bottom lane duo.

QG, on the other hand, selected Varus for the bottom lane and entered the second round of draft.

In the second round of bans, both sides had clear objectives. IG continued to ban top laners, blocking Darius and Riven, while QG targeted the mid lane, banning Zoe and Orianna.

"Then it's QG's fourth pick. If nothing unexpected happens, they should roll Viktor last, so they'll pick support first."

As soon as he finished speaking, a Lulu icon lit up on the fourth floor of QG.

To counter a hero like Morgana with magic, you need to pick a support that provides enchantment and a late-game carry to fight her. Just drag the game into the late game, and Morgana will become useless.

Now it's IG's turn to finalize their lineup. On the other side, after much discussion, they finally settled on a mid-top duo of Ryze and Jayce.

Chen Dongqing nodded in approval as he watched IG pick Jayce for the top lane.

TheShy's most prominent characteristic is his drive and ambition.

Even if he gets crushed in the top lane countless times, he will still choose a carry-type top laner without hesitation in the next game.

Combining Jayce and Ezreal to form a double poke composition is indeed a good combination, and their team fight ability in the mid-game will definitely not be bad.

"Chen Dongqing, what do you say?" Banbazi asked at this moment, "Want to play Viktor?"

Viktor can certainly fight Jayce, but he'll still have some trouble, since Jayce is still a lane bully in this version.

It would be much more comfortable to pick a top laner who is easier to play. Viktor can just be left to Xiaohu to farm, as this champion is a standard mid lane pick anyway.

"What else is there to say?" Chen Dongqing laughed. "Not picking Lu Bu this round would be idiotic!"

Several veterans of QG laughed upon hearing this.

QG's last pick—Lucian, locked in!

Seeing Lucian's choice, the three commentators even analyzed which lane Lucian should play.

The three commentators only got excited after the hero swap was completed and Lucian appeared in the top lane.

"Lucian vs. Jayce? This matchup has a history!" Miller, a veteran supporter of Lucian, immediately chimed in: "Back at Staples Center in 2016, in the first game of the last BO5 of 2016, Lucian played against Smeb's Jayce, ultimately winning MVP and helping his team secure a resounding victory!"

"That's right!" Wawa nodded. "When Brother Tree picked Lucian, he said something classic, but it's not convenient to say it on the commentary stage, so I won't say it, but you guys should understand."

At this moment, the audience below the stage erupted in laughter.

Meanwhile, the live chat was flooded with comments like, "Not picking Lu Ban this game? What an idiot!"

These were the words Chen Dongqing said when he picked Lucian, and they were later played out on the microphone during a match, which sparked a wave of enthusiasm for Lucian vs. Jayce.

However, players who have tried it themselves know that Lucian doesn't have an easy time against Jayce; at best, he only has a slight advantage.

Now, Chen Dongqing has chosen Lucian again, which seems to be his way of telling countless fans: I'll play him once, and you can film it.

This alone is enough to whet the audience's anticipation.

Soon after the two coaches shook hands, the camera switched back to the game, and the match had begun.

While the heroes from both sides rushed out of the fountain, Wawa took one last look at the lineups of both sides.

Blue side IG: Top lane Jayce, Jungle Lee Sin, Mid lane Ryze, Bot lane Ezreal and Morgana.

Red team QG: Top lane Lucian, Jungle Nocturne, Mid lane Viktor, Bot lane Varus and Lulu.

After watching, Wawa crossed her arms and laughed, "Judging from the lineups, this game in the top half of the bracket is going to be very intense."

The next second, the director switched to show the rune selection on both sides.

Jess - Ariel

Lucian - Omen of theft

"Lucian stealing money?" Miller laughed immediately. "Alright, alright, you steal from everything, huh?"

[Hey, why do I have this feeling that whenever Tree Bro plays a ranged top laner, he always takes Kleptomancy?]

He's too fond of growing big.

[A penny-stealing enthusiast, huh?]

The main issue is the laning phase skill level. If they can win even with a talent advantage, then it's definitely better to use Kleptomancy and speed boost.

[It feels really fun to steal gold with Lucian, one combo and you've got maxed out!]

But actually, the laning phase with Kleptomancy isn't weak either, and the sustain is quite good.

At this moment, in QG's voice channel.

Chen Dongqing's teammates were a little stunned when they saw him stealing money.

This doesn't make sense, does it?

Isn't a strong offensive strategy against Lucian?

Chen Dongqing explained seriously, "Don't make fun of me. Stealing money can keep me stealing medicine and cookies. I have a lot of stamina."

My teammates are too lazy to reply.

Then why don't you drink the medicine?

If you hoard medicine and biscuits to sell at home every day, how can you sustain your business?

Chen Dongqing didn't explain, but just happily bought the Doran's Sword and left.

Lucian vs. Jayce, this is a lane matchup that Chen Dongqing hasn't played for quite a while.

But it's not a big problem.

Compared to the previous Lucian vs. Jayce matchup, Chen Dongqing's mechanics improved from 96 to 99, and his reaction time also improved from 95 to 99, demonstrating a significant leap in his individual skill.

Chen Dongqing only needs to hold onto his E skill and dodge any of Jayce's Qs in either hammer form or cannon form, then trading blows will be a piece of cake!

With top-notch reflexes, this difficulty level isn't particularly high.

So just go ahead and steal it.

As soon as the minion wave appeared, Chen Dongqing played extremely aggressively. He first used his Q ability to whittle down Jayce's health by passing through minions, and then decisively pushed forward to steal a gold.

Although the price for stealing the money was getting hit by Jayce's AQ attack, it wasn't a big deal, and it wasn't a loss.

Next, Chen Dongqing used his Q skill as soon as it was available, trying to reduce Jayce's health as much as possible while passing through minions.

If you hit Q, then go up and steal money; if you don't hit Q, then don't go up, making sure you don't lose money when you trade blood.

Thanks to Lucian's Q skill's wave-pushing power, Chen Dongqing didn't have to put in much effort to reach level two ahead of everyone else.

Chen Dongqing leveled up to level two with a single basic attack, and then quickly pushed forward, determined to drive TheShy out of the experience zone.

Although TheShy was a level behind, he wasn't scared. He stood next to the minions and boldly traded blows with Lucian!

Backstage at IG, Kim Jung-soo watched the top lane scene, his fists clenching in anger.

Why did you change your blood again? What happened to being more cautious?

In the video, Jayce and Lucian exchanged an AQ combo, and then Jayce switched to his ultimate and unleashed a devastating hammer attack!

But Chen Dongqing reacted quickly, almost the instant Jess jumped, he used an E slide to pull away, fired two shots backhand, and stole another hit from Jess.

An eye appeared above Lucian's head, and a large red potion appeared in his pocket.

After a moment's thought, Chen Dongqing gritted his teeth and decided to drink the big red medicine.

Fortunately, Jayce had the support of Aery and minions, so this exchange of blows was only a minor loss.

TheShy drank the red potion, and after leveling up to level two, he fired a speed boost shot at close range, bringing both of their health to the same level.

Backstage at IG, Coach Kim breathed a sigh of relief as he looked at the situation in the top lane.

It seems alright?

"To be honest, TheShy played really well in the laning phase this game!" Wawa couldn't help but say, crossing his arms. "In these two laning phases, TheShy didn't actually lose either!"

"But the main reason is that TheShy took Aery, a pure laning talent, while Maokai took Kleptomancy," Miller said, arms crossed. "If I understand correctly, when Maokai goes back to base for the first time and converts the economic advantage from Kleptomancy into combat power, the top lane matchup might be decided."

At this moment, Chen Dongqing couldn't help but lick his lips as he looked at his health points.

Jayce is still pretty strong in lane. TheShy's Jayce proficiency is obviously top-notch. When he comes at me like this, I'm actually at a disadvantage.

Chen Dongqing drank the red bottle in his hand and continued the battle.

Although there was some resistance in the laning phase, Chen Dongqing did not back down and maintained his fierce laning intensity.

The defining characteristic of someone with a talent for stealing is having ample supplies. Chen Dongqing, clutching cookies and a stolen medicine bottle, was thoroughly enjoying his theft.

Although his health was still dropping, Chen Dongqing remained calm and focused on his finances.

At four and a half minutes, both top laners had only 30% health remaining.

Because Lucian had the initiative in the laning phase, TheShy dared not continue laning. He retreated to base, bought two Long Swords, and then teleported back to lane.

Thanks to a brief equipment advantage, TheShy regained control of the lane.

Chen Dongqing hummed a little tune and returned to the spring.

As soon as he returned, he pressed the money pouch in his hand and received 77 gold coins. Then he sold all the biscuits and potions he had, and his gold coins came to 1000.

Chen Dongqing curled the corners of his mouth, TPing to log in while pressing P to open the shop.

With a thousand dollars, you can buy a lot of equipment, such as a vampire scepter and a reusable potion, or two longswords and one shortsword.

But none of this was what Chen Dongqing wanted.

Chen Dongqing clicked on the [Armor] section and found a gray suit of armor covered in thorns.

Spiked vest, buy it!

(End of this chapter)