League: I really didn't tank!

Chapter 482 It's all luck

In the following matches, Spectre was still struggling to get Radiance.

Meanwhile, VP's players were putting in all their effort, trying every possible way to cause trouble for Spectre.

But for some reason, just like the previous two waves, every time they grouped up and coordinated, QG would catch them red-handed. Their attacks would either miss or hit the bait. They might gain something temporarily, but QG would immediately take things back from another place.

Instead of narrowing the gap, their economic disparity has widened!

What is a counter-attack? This is what a counter-attack is!

From 2013 to 2015, LCK teams in the League of Legends scene completely dominated LPL teams.

Using a defensive counter-attack to deal with a reckless person is the perfect solution!

Now, under Chen Dongqing's command, this game strategy has been applied to DOTA2, and the victim is none other than the Russian bear, whose tactics are the most aggressive!

During this time, Chen Dongqing paid no attention to his teammates' fighting. He just verbally directed his teammates to exchange resources, while he hid in various dark corners to clear jungle monsters and minion waves.

Only once did Chen Dongqing manage to secure a kill on the opposing team's position 5 player, who was low on health and still had his ultimate ability available. After securing the kill, he didn't linger in the fight and immediately switched positions to continue farming jungle camps.

Sixteen minutes quickly passed.

The little donkey, carrying the Radiance recipe and the Gloves of Haste, trotted happily to Spectre's side and handed the equipment from its pocket to Spectre.

Two pieces of equipment were added to the inventory and automatically combined. The Saint's Relic and the Radiance Crafting Book combined to create [Radiance], a sacred weapon whose blade radiated a blinding holy light!

In addition, the Acceleration Gloves were synthesized into Power Shoes.

Sixteen minutes in, Radiance + Power Treads, we usually only use two words to describe this kind of Spectre – "fishing".

The appearance of Radiance signifies the initial end of Spectre's weak period. At this point, Spectre already possesses relatively good combat capabilities, and one ultimate ability in team fights can deal massive AOE damage.

Of course, this is just the beginning.

While Radiance excels in team fights, for Spectre, it's primarily a farming item.

Development is the most important thing!

Next, Chen Dongqing's development entered a high-speed mode. Utilizing Radiance's large-area AOE, Chen Dongqing swiftly roamed the jungle, devouring the jungle and both lanes of minions. Then, with the help of Phoenix, he cleared the accumulated ancient jungle camps, and his economy once again took off.

While farming the jungle round after round, Chen Dongqing didn't forget to anticipate VP's moves. He was constantly directing the team's movements and guarding against VP's attacks.

Nineteen minutes in, VP once again targeted him. The team activated Smoke of Deception and grouped up to enter the jungle, hoping to use Storm Spirit's Orchid Silence to keep Spectre at bay.

This scene left countless viewers wide-eyed.

Backstage, everyone in OG couldn't help but squint.

This is crucial!

Before Spectre made Manta Style, he had no way to deal with Storm Spirit. If he was silenced by Orchid, he would definitely die!

If they can disrupt Spectre's farming rhythm, then VP still has a chance to survive!

But Chen Dongqing reacted incredibly quickly. The moment he heard the Blue Cat's skill sound effect, he immediately turned around and darted into the nearby grove, using the shadows between the trees to hide for the time being, and then decisively unleashed his ultimate skill!

On the other side, after landing, VP's Storm Spirit used his ultimate to dash into the grove, found Spectre, and pulled him over!

But as soon as he pulled it over, he realized something was wrong.

Why is it so fragile? Is this a clone?!

At this point, the camera cuts to the top lane.

Then we saw that Spectre had switched positions and moved to the top lane. A Shadow Path slowed down and held VP's only carry who wasn't grouping up!

On the side of the screen, FY's Tusk rolled up in a snowball, followed by a stun, and then a powerful punch that sent the enemy flying, maximizing the crowd control!

Chen Dongqing relentlessly attacked, eventually using Radiance to burn VP's carry RAMZES666 back to the fountain!

At that moment, the audience erupted in a deafening roar!

Countless international viewers were awestruck by this performance, exclaiming "Amazing!"

Countless domestic viewers were even more astonished, shouting, "Brother Shu! A god forever!"

Despite being surrounded by four enemy players, he not only survived but also calmly ducked into the woods, using the shadows to buy himself a moment to use his ultimate ability to reposition himself!

With this ultimate ability, Spectre not only escaped the encirclement of four enemy players, but also cooperated with his teammates to kill VP's carry!

The reversal can happen in an instant.

RAMZES666 never expected that his four teammates would team up to catch someone, only to kill him instead.

If QG's previous rhythm relied on defensive counter-attacks to win, then this time it was purely due to Spectre's reaction and individual skill!

That's a terrifying man.

After that, the game took a turn for the worse.

Because Spectre gained another wave of development time, when it reappeared, the time had already reached twenty-two minutes.

At this point, you can see that Spectre's equipment inventory has been updated with a Manta Style.

The brief disappearance and crowd control removal effect of the Manta Style active ability allow Spectre to ignore all of VP's initiation moves.

The appearance of the Doppelganger indicates that Spectre's period of weakness has come to an end.

It's impossible for VP to kill him now.

From this moment until the end of the match, this game will be shrouded in the shadow of Spectre!

In the following period, the situation reversed. Whenever Spectre had his ultimate ability, QG would start grouping up and looking for opportunities to engage in team fights.

Chen Dongqing didn't join the team fight; he just pushed the lane on the side. Since he had his ultimate ability, he could cross mountains and rivers and instantly arrive behind the enemy at any time.

While he was pushing the lane on the side, he was also directing his teammates to group up.

"You guys head this way!" Chen Dongqing pointed to a patch of shadow in the nearby jungle and said, "They're definitely camping here. If you come to help, they'll just die!"

The QG team members were extremely obedient to Chen Dongqing's commands. The four of them quickly activated their fog of war and rushed over, slowly finding their way to Chen Dongqing's location.

"Have we arrived?"

Upon seeing his teammates in position, Chen Dongqing activated his ultimate skill, [Ghostly Shadows], without any hesitation!

Sure enough, the five clones appeared exactly at the dark location he had pinged earlier. The five VP players were crouching in the jungle, waiting for Spectre to push the creep wave so they could make their move.

But Chen Dongqing saw right through it!

Chen Dongqing curled the corners of his mouth and immediately switched positions, joining the VP five-man lineup!

Only Spectre can pull off a one-versus-five combo with just two pieces of gear.

Of course, QG's teammates weren't going to sit idly by either. Seeing that their star player had already been substituted in, they acted swiftly as well. FY started a snowballing attack, leading Charles and xNova into the enemy ranks!

Once xNova's Phoenix enters the team fight phase, it begins to showcase the overpowered mechanics unique to this champion.

The laser shot forward, and the health of friendly units within the area visibly increased, including Spectre's clones. At the same time, the enemy's health dropped rapidly!

Once the laser's duration ends, Phoenix flies to the center of the enemy forces and unleashes its ultimate attack, transforming into a giant phoenix egg in mid-air.

As mentioned earlier, Phoenix has a powerful ability that forces others to deal with it.

This egg will slowly descend to the ground, causing burning damage to surrounding enemies. Upon landing, everyone nearby will be stunned!

Moreover, this stun has extremely high priority, so even a control-immune skill like Black King Bar (BKB) won't work.

To retaliate, the phoenix egg must be broken before it falls to the ground.

VP's team fight coordination is still good. The moment the Phoenix turns into an egg, all five players simultaneously unleash basic attacks. After two rounds of basic attacks, the Phoenix egg is shattered and the rebirth fails!

A phoenix that fails to undergo rebirth will perish instantly.

But as a position 5 player, even if Phoenix fails to land, he still uses a full set of skills and forces a taunt on the enemy, so his role is already maximized.

He has already fulfilled the role that a center should play.

The rest is up to the older brother!

With the phoenix drawing fire, Chen Dongqing's ghost roamed freely within the formation.

His strategy was quite clear. Taking advantage of the moment when the opponent was dealing with Phoenix, he switched directly behind the opponent's position 5 and used the double burn effect of Radiance and Phoenix's ultimate to quickly reduce the enemy's position 5's health. After getting there, he threw out Dark Path and killed him with two hits!

Then, taking advantage of the last second left of his ultimate ability, he switched to VS and dealt with the enemy's position 4!

By this time, VP had finished dealing with the Phoenix eggs, and Spectre's ultimate ability clones had all dissipated, allowing everyone to finally pinpoint Spectre's true form.

VS immediately delivered a close-range hammer strike!

At this moment, the two are facing each other, and this hammer is equivalent to an instant-cast point control, which is almost impossible to dodge!

But some people just react quickly.

Chen Dongqing observed VS's raised hand gesture and decisively pressed down with a clone axe, using the clone axe's brief disappearance mechanism to directly avoid this point control.

Immediately afterwards, two clones appeared on either side of Spectre, groping VS and sending him back to the fountain with three slashes!

In a single encounter, two of the five VPs were gone!

Meanwhile, the rest of QG were also busy.

FY found VP's leader, and Tusk immediately unleashed a Walrus Fist, sending him flying high into the air!

Maybe Fire Girl seized this opportunity, followed by a combo of skills and her ultimate move, [Godslayer Slash], to easily finish off the enemy!

Charles's role is to keep the enemy's offlaner in place, and once his teammates have dealt with the person in front of them, he can follow up and send the enemy's offlaner away as well!

In less than ten seconds, VP's complete five-man squad was reduced to just one Blue Cat.

Blue Cat is unstoppable. As long as he has mana, he can teleport infinitely and is invincible during the teleport. So QG didn't bother chasing Blue Cat and turned to group up and push the tower, easily taking down the opponent's bottom lane second tower.

With a 1-for-4 exchange and the destruction of the second tower, QG achieved another great success in this team fight!

The audience was stunned once again.

They had a feeling that this might turn into a 5v5 team fight, but they never expected that Spectre's ultimate would be the first move!

What's going on here?

VP's players didn't miss any vision, did they? Why does your Spectre dare to throw out a big attack right away?

However, it must be said that Spectre's ultimate ability is too crucial. The appearance of five clones directly exposes the positions of the five enemy players at the same time, leaving them nowhere to hide!

At this point, VP's people were completely dumbfounded.

Why was their arrest operation predicted again?

For some reason, the five VP players always felt that they were living in QG's shadow, that every move they made was being observed and perfectly countered!

What's the point of playing games like this?

Just send it!

After this team fight, QG continued to group up, invade, and engage in team fights, further expanding their advantage!

What followed was a one-sided affair with no suspense whatsoever.

In 30 minutes, Chen Dongqing crafted the Butterfly, a key piece of equipment for Agility Core. It provides high Agility, attack power, attack speed, and crucially, a 35% dodge attribute. Combined with the dodge effect of Radiance, it allows Spectre to dodge most of the normal attacks.

Taking advantage of the Butterfly's strong early game, Chen Dongqing secured the Aegis of the Immortal. Relying on Spectre's tankiness and the Aegis of the Immortal's resurrection, he relentlessly pushed high ground, easily destroying VP's two high ground towers with his teammates.

At this point, the VP players finally couldn't hold back any longer and typed "GG" in the public chat to surrender.

Chen Dongqing grinned and typed "GG" with a smile to show his respect.

One to zero!

The moment they won the game, Chen Dongqing immediately took off his headphones, stood up, and went backstage with his teammates.

The rest of QG excitedly took off their headphones and rushed to Chen Dongqing's side. Everyone was incredibly excited!

"Wow, my Tree Bro!" Maybe exclaimed excitedly as she approached, "You were absolutely amazing this time!"

"Not bad, right, Brother Chao?" Chen Dongqing said with a grin. "I told you I've researched VP."

Charles, standing nearby, burst out laughing and said, "What kind of research is that? You think you can figure it out completely just by doing it?"

"It's alright, anyone with hands can do it." Chen Dongqing smiled as his teammates walked back to the door of the rest room, where they saw the coach and substitutes already waiting for a long time.

Xiao Ba's mouth was practically stretched to his ears as he clapped and nodded repeatedly, he was incredibly happy.

Meanwhile, substitute Ame stared intently at Chen Dongqing, his mind filled with a mix of emotions.

No matter how many times he watched it, he was always amazed by Chen Dongqing's talent.

The idea that he could learn to fly after watching just one game, or that he could understand VP after studying it a bit, sounds a bit abstract, but he actually did it!

It has to be said that his decision to step down and make way for a more capable person was absolutely the right one!

If there's one person who can guarantee CNDOTA's consistent championship wins this year, it's Chen Dongqing.

"Brother Shu is awesome!" Xiao Ba looked at Chen Dongqing as if he had found a treasure, led him back to the sofa, and even helped him massage his shoulders.

"Hey, you guys, stop doing this," Chen Dongqing chuckled. "Isn't this a bit over the top?"

It's funny, despite Chen Dongqing's impressive titles like "the greatest player in LOL history" and "StarCraft champion," he's actually just a handsome 21-year-old.

His teammates and coaches were all older than him.

"What's so exaggerated about that?" the eldest, Xiao Ba, laughed. "You're so awesome today, you're practically the boss!"

Chen Dongqing didn't refuse. He readily accepted the title of "father".

Simply put, he is very experienced.

On Weibo, many of his fans call him "Tree Daddy." Chen Dongqing actually has some reservations about this nickname, but he's gotten used to it after seeing it so often.

"How so? The next round should be fine, right?" Xiao Ba asked again.

"Don't worry, there won't be any problems." Chen Dongqing patted his chest. "Just listen to me next round, I guarantee we'll win!"

Soon, the second game began.

After their defeat in the first game, the VP players seemed to realize that they had rushed things in the first game, so they decided to take it slow.

They still opted for a strong, aggressive lineup, but they weren't as impatient as they were in the first game, preferring to play it safe.

This led to several of their minor decisions catching Chen Dongqing off guard, causing FY and xNova's attempts to ambush someone to ultimately fail.

But it's not a big problem.

Logically speaking, Chen Dongqing's prediction of VP's attack was mainly based on counter-ganking against VP's offensive. If his prediction failed, he would at most miss the counter-gank, which wouldn't be a loss for them.

The fact that the opposing team chose to play it safe is a good thing for them.

Moreover, Chen Dongqing adjusted very quickly. After missing twice, he quickly understood VP's general strategy for this game and made adjustments accordingly.

Soon, VP's actions were back under his control.

The game had reached the mid-game stage. Chen Dongqing was still farming while switching screens to direct his teammates to group up in various ways. He would either initiate a gank on the enemy carry or have his teammates counter-gank and protect him. Every decision he made was successful!

As the two sides pulled back and forth, the economic gap between them widened, while Chen Dongqing's development continued to be far ahead, striding towards victory!

Seeing this, many knowledgeable people would know that the match is over.

The reason why QG was able to win the game today is actually quite simple.

Regardless of the players' individual skills, QG completely dominated VP on a tactical level.

The maturity of QG's defensive counter-attack strategy displayed today can only be described as breathtaking!

In the history of DOTA2, there has almost never been a team with such an outrageous level of skill!

In contrast, VP, known for its offensive prowess and having reached the semifinals in every major tournament this year, thus becoming the top-ranked team in the standings, seems somewhat naive.

It's hard to believe that VP actually beat QG once in the group stage.

Backstage, the OG players watched the footage of the VP base exploding for the second time, their expressions becoming somewhat grave.

After today's match, they might need to reassess QG.

Of course, if they want to reunite with QG, they need to get through the upcoming upper bracket semifinals first.

After the current match ends, it's time for them to take the field.

On stage, Chen Dongqing took off his headphones and let out a slight sigh of relief, looking somewhat relaxed.

It has to be said that he was quite tired after these two games.

After all, in the past when he played Dota, he was always the carry, not involved in team decisions. He just needed to farm himself and then carry the game.

But as it turns out, this unhealthy playstyle didn't work, forcing him to integrate into the team's decision-making. Today, he even took over the reins, once again becoming the number one Azir in the Chinese server, directing his four teammates in two games.

This is quite tiring, almost as tiring as playing StarCraft.

But it's okay, as long as we won.

Chen Dongqing smiled and punched his teammates in celebration, and then they walked together to VP's player bench.

VP's five bears were thoroughly tormented by these two games and are currently in a bad mood.

They looked at Chen Dongqing as he walked over, and their faces were naturally not very friendly.

Chen Dongqing didn't seem to mind. He smiled and shook hands with RAMZES666, the opposing point guard, then said in English with a smile, "See you in the finals?"

In a double-elimination format, losing doesn't mean being eliminated. VP still has a chance to fight their way out of the lower bracket, and the chances are quite good.

RAMZES666 rolled his eyes and said helplessly, "I hope so."

The two teams shook hands briefly. Chen Dongqing walked through the VP players' bench and then returned to the center of the stage, bowing with his teammates.

Off the field, the cheers from the audience began to surge, and countless people were extremely excited, with applause coming one wave after another!

Today, QG's perfect performance once again won over the audience, and their fan support has increased even more!

If this is the case for foreign audiences, then it goes without saying that it's even more so for domestic audiences!

Meanwhile, the live broadcast rooms of various domestic esports events were already filled with celebratory comments. Countless Chinese players were thrilled to see QG advance to the winners' bracket finals!

With all the other teams eliminated one after another, QG, who were fighting alone, showed extraordinary dominance in this match, which was really satisfying!

Who said CNDOTA has fallen? As long as the last team is still around, we haven't lost yet!

This moment is just like that moment back then. Looking at QG's lonely yet proud and forward-moving appearance, countless Chinese DOTA players feel like they are in a dream, because it reminds them of 2016.

The same situation occurred at TI6, where the brother team was eliminated early. Wings, who were not initially favored by everyone but came from the grassroots, stepped up and crushed their way to the championship, continuing the myth of CNDOTA's dominance and creating the mysterious rule that CNDOTA always wins the championship in even-numbered years.

The TI6 is so similar to the TI8 we have now.

It's another even-numbered year, and another lone team fighting on.

They are even equally invincible!

I'm getting the hang of it.

Although the competition has only reached the semifinals of the winners' bracket, the audience feels that QG is already very close to the championship.

On stage, Chen Dongqing packed up his mouse and keyboard and turned to walk towards the backstage passage of the venue.

Unexpectedly, at the entrance of the passage, we saw that the VP's burly men had not left yet and were still waiting at the backstage entrance.

Chen Dongqing was startled when he saw it.

What's going on? Did you just get thrashed and now want to have a real-life showdown with me?

Seeing QG leave the stage, RAMZES666 quickly approached and said, "Can I ask you a question?"

Chen Dongqing raised an eyebrow as he watched the other person's actions.

He had a vague idea of ​​what the other person wanted to ask, but he still replied, "What question?"

RAMZES666 asked seriously, "How exactly did you manage to do that today?"

RAMZES666 got angrier and angrier the more he thought about it after stepping down.

He still couldn't understand what QG had done today!

They had practice matches and group stage matches with QG before, and QG's playstyle was clearly not the same as today's!

They were clearly just passively taking hits, waiting for their carry to develop and then turn the tide in team fights.

After three or four days, QG suddenly changed and started to fight back!

This is absolutely outrageous!

Because she couldn't resolve this inner conflict, RAMZES666 could only ask in person at the entrance of the passage.

Hearing the question, Chen Dongqing thought to himself, "Just as I expected," and smiled as he replied, "You should know that we might meet again, right?"

RAMZES666 was speechless for a moment, not knowing what to say.

Given that both sides could potentially be adversaries, asking about such classified information is indeed inappropriate.

"But I don't mind telling you," Chen Dongqing smiled and continued in English, "It's nothing special, just pure luck. We've been trying to guess your behavior, but we've just been lucky and guessed right every time."

Upon hearing this, all five members of VP widened their eyes.

Sukabul! What are you saying!

But Chen Dongqing seemed unwilling to say more, and turned to walk towards the rest room with his teammates.

You're still angry because you lost, huh? Well, I'll make you all furious!

Maybe leaned over and asked, "What were you talking about just now? You were speaking so much English."

Chen Dongqing raised an eyebrow and said haphazardly, "He said he thinks we were just lucky today, and they'll definitely win the next final."

"Huh?!" Maybe's eyes widened immediately. "They're talking about Jβ! Let them go to the finals first!"

Chen Dongqing nodded vigorously: "Exactly!"

xNova, who understands English, looked at Chen Dongqing, then at Maybe, and then at the Russian behind her, unsure of what to say.

Behind them, the Russians were also watching the departing figures of the QG team closely, their hearts seething with resentment.

luck?

Three minutes to counter-gank mid lane, seven minutes to switch lanes to prevent tower diving, and then use ultimate to initiate team fights in the mid-game. You're telling me this is all just luck?

Although the word "luck" sounds a bit absurd, considering QG's huge turnaround today, using the word "luck" to explain it seems to be both absurd and reasonable!

Did they win against us with luck?

Sukabul!

We must win next time!

Filled with anger, the VP team returned backstage to continue watching the next match.

Now that we've entered the loser's bracket, we need to get to know our opponents better.

They need to see who the loser of the other semi-final is.

The match then continued.

After the competition ended, staff came up to clean up the venue, and soon two more teams took to the stage.

This time, OG and EG will be on stage, and they will be responsible for the other half of the semi-final match.

The two players stepped onto the stage and stared at each other across the distance. If you paid attention to N0tail's expression, you could see that he was extremely serious at that moment, as if he were not going to play a game, but to participate in the Battle of Stalingrad.

This match can be described as a battle of hatred.

A few months ago, OG suffered a major blow that nearly led to their disbandment.

Due to the team's dismal performance, OG's captain and position 5 player, Fly, along with position 3 player s4, decided to leave the game that very night, leaving the OG team nearly falling apart just three months before TI, and even unable to participate in the competition.

They had no choice but to have N0tail, the team's original carry, transition to position 5, fill Fly's position, and bring in Ana and Topson to serve as the dual cores. After many twists and turns, they have gone through a lot of adjustments and growth before finally getting to where they are today.

The two traitors who caused their team to fall apart are now anchoring the EG lineup, playing the roles of offlaner and center.

Both professionally and personally, N0tail really wants to win this game!

But thankfully, he did it.

In the first game, the two sides were very evenly matched, with neither able to gain the upper hand.

Ultimately, they seized an opportunity and won the game in one fell swoop thanks to Enigma's perfect jump!

In the second game, OG's offensive pace was even faster, accumulating a huge advantage during the laning phase. In the following game, the voice wheel of OG players never stopped, and every time they got a kill, various wheel wheels and rewards flooded the screen, constantly disrupting EG's mindset.

In the end, OG launched a fierce attack in the 28th minute and won the game!

OG defeated their opponent 2-0 and advanced to the next round!

During the post-match handshake, N0tail deliberately walked first and shook hands with S4 and fly with a disdainful expression.

Seeing the two distraught traitors, N0tail deliberately increased the pressure in his hand, declaring himself the victor.

After the handshake ended, N0tail stood in the center of the stage, enjoying the cheers and applause from the audience.

They came to TI8 with two purposes in mind.

Beat EG, and lift the trophy.

But after the group stage started, another objective was added: to take down QG.

And now, the first initial goal has been achieved.

As for the remaining two targets, they should be within our grasp as well!

Next up, the winners' bracket final!

(End of this chapter)