League: I really didn't tank!

Chapter 447 The Finals Begin!

Chapter 446 The Finals Begin!

5 month 20 number.

MSI Final Day.

Because the pressure of the match wasn't too great, all the QG players got a good night's sleep last night and woke up promptly at nine o'clock this morning.

The final match will start at the same time, 11:00 a.m.

For those lazy club members who usually get up around noon or even in the afternoon, this time is actually a bit early.

But for QG, who are used to getting up at nine o'clock, this is the golden time!

The QG team skipped breakfast, only ate some sugary food to tide them over, and then boarded the bus directly to the venue, ready to engage in the final battle.

Sitting in the car, Chen Dongqing took out his phone and casually glanced at the messages on it.

As always, with the finals approaching, friends and family from all walks of life sent messages of support, including classmates from his school days, teammates from the past two years, and even Doinb himself.

[Today's match should be a 3-0 victory, right?]

Doinb's message was quite straightforward: "Flash Wolves played casually."

Chen Dongqing smiled and replied, "Just watch how I kill them."

Doinb's message was also quite straightforward, consisting of only one short message: 【OK】

Although Doinb left QG after winning the S6 championship, it was actually more because Doinb wanted to prove himself.

If we're talking about proof, his role in leading FPX to the semifinals last year and handing QG their only loss of the entire World Championship is enough to prove himself.

There's actually no real animosity between Doinb and the QG team members.

Even during the semi-final commentary session the day before yesterday, Doinb didn't hold back in praising Chen Dongqing.

Chen Dongqing smiled and replied to each of the encouraging messages one by one. Then, unexpectedly, he also received a message of encouragement from AME:

[Brother Tree, let's cheer each other on today!]

AME is the carry player for the DOTA2 division, and today they will begin their SuperMajor lower bracket finals.

If they win the match, they will directly enter the finals today.

That's right, the Dota 2 tournament schedule is that tight, with the lower bracket finals and the grand finals taking place on the same day.

Compared to the relatively easy schedule in the LOL division, the DOTA2 division faces a much tougher challenge, needing to defeat two strong opponents in a row to win the championship.

Chen Dongqing also sincerely said: 【Let's work hard and win the championship together!】

If both LOL and DOTA2 can win the championship, QG Club's reputation will undoubtedly expand further, allowing them to maintain their position as the world's number one club.

After replying to the messages, Chen Dongqing finally launched the Baidu Tieba forum and started browsing it.

Because the results of this year's MSI tournament were so dreamlike, the semifinals of the past two days have been full of talking points. So even today, there are still many netizens discussing the semifinals of the past two days.

[Wow, they just swept KZ 3-0 in the semifinals!]

Indeed, I also thought we could win, but I really didn't expect it to be 3-0.

[There's nothing we can do. In the second game, Tree Bro picked Jayce mid and completely dominated BDD. In the third game, he picked Vel'Koz and started feeding.]

Haha, I really didn't expect them to call 2200 directly.

[At QG's victory celebration yesterday, BDD didn't come, and none of the QG players dared to touch their chopsticks!]

Chen Dongqing couldn't help but laugh when he saw this.

Victory celebration jokes never go out of style.

But it must be said that yesterday's BDD was indeed abstract.

A Ryze with 2200 rating, is that really something a professional player can achieve?

Chen Dongqing continued refreshing the post and soon found something good.

[Here it comes! A post from a Korean online forum!]

Chen Dongqing perked up and immediately clicked on it.

Every time we beat the South Korean team, this Korean online forum post is always a must-have!

Seeing the anguish and lamentations of South Korean netizens always makes Chen Dongqing feel much better!

[Damn it, what is KZ doing? They can't even make it to the finals?]

【There's nothing we can do; it's very difficult to advance when facing QG, right?】

【What nonsense are you spouting? If KZ hadn't flopped in the group stage, finishing 5-5, would they have faced QG in the semifinals?】

KZ is truly the worst LCK team in MSI history!

[It is recommended to strip this team of their World Championship qualification, so they don't embarrass themselves at the World Championship at the end of the year!]

Amidst the widespread condemnation, a small group of barbecue stall fans were still trying to summon the spirits of SKT, saying things like "SKT come and kill them all."

Of course, saying such things always gets you a scolding.

In addition, there's the indispensable swimming joke about KZ swimming home.

Scrolling down further, there are even Koreans pinning their hopes on Flash Wolves, hoping they can defeat QG.

But clearly, this is unrealistic, and even most South Koreans commented below that it has no chance.

Many Koreans hope that QG will also beat Flash Wolves 3-0, so that LCK can still stubbornly claim that they are tied for second place based on their strength.

Chen Dongqing couldn't help but laugh heartily as he read the comments.

South Koreans these days are truly somewhat defeated.

In the past, when they lost a game, they would get excited and say that they must win next time.

Now, such news is no longer seen, presumably because they themselves feel there's no hope, just like the LPL after S5 just ended.

Chen Dongqing turned off his phone, turned his head to look at the scenery outside the window, and thought about the remaining matches this year.

Let's not even talk about MSI; the Korean team has already left.

There will be subsequent Intercontinental Cup and World Championship in the second half of this year.

This year, in addition to established powerhouses QG and FPX, the LPL also has the unexpected rise of IG.

With these three teams around, it will be difficult for the South Korean team to turn things around, right?

If we're lucky with the draw, we might just see the spectacular sight of two LPL teams meeting in Incheon!

Thinking of this, Chen Dongqing couldn't help but lick his lips.

Koreans, the best is yet to come!

Soon, the bus slowly drove to the entrance of the Tianzheng Gymnasium.

Chen Dongqing got off the bus with a backpack on his back and was unexpectedly greeted by a large crowd of fans.

Looking around, I was surprised to see a lot of European faces, and many of them were holding up QG signs and shouting "ilex" as their ID.

After QG chose KZ at the end of the group stage, QG's already high reputation in Europe was further enhanced.

Now that Flash Wolves have eliminated their home team FNC and advanced to the finals, European viewers have naturally sided with Flash Wolves' opponents, namely QG.

This led to a further increase in QG's support.

On the other side of the parking lot, the Flash Wolves players also stepped off the bus.

Clearly, they wouldn't get the treatment QG would provide. After getting off the bus, the surroundings were desolate, with only a few Riot Games staff members around.

Maple glanced enviously at the bustling scene on QG's side, then quickly lowered his head and stepped into the arena.

This overwhelming support from the live audience was maintained well until the opening ceremony.

This year's opening ceremony was meticulously planned by the Europeans. They first invited a well-known DJ in the industry to play exciting electronic music.

As the music played, the large screen in the arena began displaying footage of the Mid-Season Invitational champions lifting the trophy over the years.

EDG in 2015, QG in 2016, QG in 2017.

In the three years since the Mid-Season Invitational was launched, the LPL has won the championship in all three years, never letting anyone else win!

As the footage of QG lifting the trophy twice more was played, the cheers from the audience grew louder and louder, reaching a peak when QG finally took the stage!

Chen Dongqing stood on the stage, smiling and waving to the audience.

Along with QG reaching the pinnacle, the cheers of "ilex" from the audience also resounded.

It's no exaggeration to say that the vast majority of the audience members who supported QG at the event were actually only supporting Chen Dongqing.

This is the first person in history who is slowly reaching the peak, a living legend, and it is only natural that he receives the majority of the team's attention.

After the five QG players took the stage, the bearded host invited the Flash Wolves team onto the stage as well.

The cheers at the scene vanished instantly, leaving the room resembling a library in Paris.

The faces of the five Flash Wolves players inevitably darkened, deeply feeling the malice from the Parisian audience.

But deep down, they didn't care.

There's no other reason than that I had already anticipated this.

For Flash Wolves, making it to the finals was already a favor from QG, representing the highest achievement their LMS region had ever reached.

Reaching the finals is a success!

So even though they didn't get the audience's support or win the game today, they are still satisfied.

Chen Dongqing, however, was quite satisfied. Looking at the audience below the stage, he even saw his girlfriend in the front row.

Today, Lin Yuanhua was dressed casually and holding two light sticks in her hands.

In his left hand was a white light stick with a little figure of the Peerless Swordswoman drawn on it, and in his right hand was a gold one with a red figure of the Steel Shadow drawn on it; both were clearly part of Chen Dongqing's collection.

There seemed to be some kind of sticker on Lin Yuanhua's face, but Chen Dongqing couldn't see it clearly. He could only make out the outline and see the QG team logo on the left.

Chen Dongqing waved happily in his girlfriend's direction, then turned around and sat down in the players' seat, rubbing his hands together in anticipation of the final warm-up!

"Okay, welcome to the Zenith Arena in Paris. This is the live broadcast of the 2018 Mid-Season Invitational Finals!"

Wawa's voice was quite loud as he shouted, "As we can see, both teams in today's finals, QG and Flash Wolves, have taken their seats, and the draft phase is about to begin!"

At this point, the director presented data, providing a clear overview of the performance of both teams in this year's MSI.

During the last semi-final, the director showed QG's data, and QG, who had a 10-0 record, completely dominated KZ in terms of statistics.

But no one expected that QG's performance would improve even further after the semifinals.

"After another impressive 3-0 victory in the semifinals, the average gold difference has reached 13,000, and the average game time has been shortened by one minute to 27 minutes."

Miller laughed at this point: "Are you padding your stats against KZ? QG, you're something else!"

As for the other side, Flash Wolves' stats are even worse than KZ's from the day before yesterday. In the semifinals, which were a five-game battle, their stats even declined.

Looking at the data, both commentators couldn't help but shake their heads.

If someone were to open a betting pool right now, the odds for Flash Wolves would be incredibly high.

In a live stream room on Douyu, a Chinese live streaming platform.

The host, Ruozi, is watching the game live as usual.

But for some reason, he seemed rather uninterested in the outcome of this match.

"Watching the game, guys." Shan Ni Ruo looked like he was just here to kill time, leaned back in his chair, and proudly showed off his KFC.

At this moment, his friend next to him asked, "Which side did you buy from?"

"I'm live streaming, stop barking like a dog!" Shan Ni Ruo said righteously, "Reject gambling, brothers! This is a positive energy live stream!"

After saying that, Shan Ni Ruo quickly turned off the microphone.

Beside me, my friend continued, "Seriously? You really didn't buy it?"

"Why not bet on QG?" Shan Ni Ruo shook his head. "Who doesn't know QG is going to win? The odds for Flash Wolves have skyrocketed. What's the point of betting on this kind of handicap?"

Because of Chen Dongqing's appearance, Shan Niruo seems to have embarked on the right path.

At this point, Shan Niruo restarted the microphone and turned her attention back to the live broadcast of the match.

At this moment, the first round of ban/pick has begun!

"Our QG won the coin toss before the match, so they rightfully had the right to choose sides in games one, three, and five! And in the first game, they even chose the red side for themselves!"

"We can see that both sides have completed their first three picks. On the blue side, Flash Wolves have chosen to ban Irelia, Fiora, and Viktor!"

On the other side, Poppy, Malzahar, and Graves were quietly placed in QG's top three ban slots.

This version of Flash Wolves is actually quite similar to the previous one, still centered around the mid and jungle. The jungler often picks jungle carry champions such as Graves and Kha'Zix, so banning mid and jungle is definitely not a problem.

"Hmm, we can see here that Ezreal and Kai'Sa, both AD carries, are available," Miller said. "Flash Wolves are probably doing this to pick one of each, which will also relieve some of the pressure on their bot lane draft!"

As soon as the words were spoken, Flash Wolves cleverly locked in the stronger EZ on the first floor.

It's always been hard to say whether EZ or Kai'Sa is stronger in the bot lane, and even their laning phase advantage is unclear; it mainly depends on the support.

Whichever side's support can push the lane will have a stronger laning phase, and that side's bot lane will gain the initiative.

Based on this situation, Uzi and Shi Senming locked in Kai'Sa and Karma. The Karma pick was purely for the purpose of securing bot lane priority, and also to break up the EZ-Karma combination.

On the other side, Flash Wolves were not afraid either. Without Karma, they directly targeted Janna!

On one side is Ezreal and Janna, and on the other side is Kai'Sa and Karma. In order to control the lane, both sides have picked two abnormal bot lane combinations!

This series of moves felt like a throwback to the S6 World Championship, a time when everyone was scrambling for the first tower in the bot lane, even resorting to Zyra and Miss Fortune support builds, all for a distorted version of lane control.

"With this bot lane duo, the outcome is really hard to predict," Miller shook his head and said, "Both bot lanes lack initiative, so it mainly depends on their laning abilities. But clearly, that's precisely our strength!"

When it comes to laning fundamentals, that's clearly Uzi's area of expertise.

Don't you even look at the S6 meta where lane priority was key, and the S7 meta where Ardent Censer was key? Who were the champion AD carries then?

Uzi is itching to get started and is already thinking about his laning strategy.

Following that, both sides quickly advanced their business plans.

On the blue side, after locking in Janna, FW immediately locked in Ornn.

Although FW has changed from Mimi Egg to Hanabi, the style of the top laner hasn't changed much; he's still a player who withstands pressure.

After discussing for a while, QG decided to lock in their top laner and give the counter pick to Xiaohu.

"How so?" Banbazi asked, "If you're going to play against Ornn, which champion should you pick?"

After thinking for a moment, Chen Dongqing quickly came to an answer.

He thought of a hero that is rarely seen in professional esports.

But this hero appeared in the match two days ago.

It wasn't created by the QG team, but by Khan.