League: I really didn't tank!

Chapter 485 Enjoy the Game

8 month 11 number.

The spectacular International 8 (TI8) has finally come to an end today.

In the afternoon Vancouver time, the three teams that have made it this far will face off in a series of matches, from the lower bracket finals to the grand finals, giving DOTA2 viewers around the world an exhilarating viewing experience.

Around noon, Chen Dongqing boarded a bus and slowly made his way to the competition venue.

Sitting down, Chen Dongqing closed his eyes and recalled the content of last night's meditation training.

It's rare to face OG again, and the two teams are very likely to meet again in the finals, so Chen Dongqing had some special training last night.

However, it must be said that because the two games yesterday were won too easily, the special training was not very effective, and Chen Dongqing even struggled to find a single defeat all night.

As it turns out, it wasn't that OG was unprepared, but rather that there was a clear gap in skill between the two teams.

Towards the end of the special training, Chen Dongqing even went so far as to deliberately sabotage the team, first trying to put them at a disadvantage, and then leading them to a comeback victory while his teammates watched with barely suppressed anger.

The special training didn't bring much improvement. The only thing worth mentioning is that Chen Dongqing learned a lot about OG's match habits during this training, which increased his win rate.

If the two teams were to face off again, unless OG also had some kind of meditation training or something similar, their chances of winning would be practically zero!

"Brother Shu, Brother Shu, look at this post!" Maybe's voice came from Chen Dongqing's ear. He opened his eyes and looked at it, and found that Maybe's phone was displaying the Baidu Tieba interface.

Chen Dongqing took the phone first, then laughed and said, "Didn't you say you didn't read Tieba?"

"What's there to be afraid of? We're riding the wave right now!" Maybe replied cheerfully.

Indeed, who would refuse to team fight when they have the upper hand?

He used to avoid browsing Tieba because he found it very uncomfortable to see people calling him "Brother Chao" everywhere.

Now that things are going smoothly, the nickname "Brother Chao" sounds much more natural.

There was no way around it, because he was really going to surpass it.

And it's happening today!

Chen Dongqing glanced at the content on his phone and then couldn't help but laugh.

[Rational discussion: Can QG defeat OG seven times today?]

The first post contains two photos, showing the matchup between OG and QG in this year's TI.

QG secured two easy and decisive victories in both a best-of-two (BO2) and a best-of-three (BO3) series.

If the two teams meet again in the finals today, it will be a best-of-five series.

If QG continues their clean sweep, they will achieve an impressive 7-0 victory.

Countless members of the DOTA2 forums discussed and debated the issue.

Some tech-savvy netizens have even photoshopped images, putting Chen Dongqing's face onto the body of the Prime Minister in the Three Kingdoms Kill game, and then adding Notail to Meng Huo to emphasize the abstract nature.

But Chen Dongqing scrolled down and found that the consensus among the audience was that the possibility of capturing the enemy seven times was not very high.

There's no way around it; judging from OG's performance yesterday, they might not even be able to get past EG.

After being utterly crushed like that yesterday, even getting a pentakill while being fountain-camped, it's possible that the OG players' morale would collapse.

Who knows, after all that, our opponent in the finals might be EG. That would be really interesting.

Chen Dongqing handed the phone back and asked with a smile, "Who do you think will be in the finals?"

"That's hard to say," Ame said from the side. "I think it'll probably be OG again. They won the last time they played each other."

But Fy then said, "But matches are all about form. OG was in pretty good form before, but now... it's hard to say."

Chen Dongqing agreed with FY's statement. He nodded and said, "Indeed, it depends on their form. Let's wait and see the result. I still hope OG can win; they are easier to beat."

Upon hearing this, everyone in QG laughed.

indeed.

OG is still a good opponent; I hope OG wins.

Soon, everyone entered the venue.

At this point, we can see that the first game of the lower bracket finals has reached the mid-game. EG has a 12,000 gold lead, and OG is struggling to hold on.

Chen Dongqing raised an eyebrow, somewhat surprised.

Why are we at such a disadvantage right from the start?

Could it be that his Dao heart has really been broken by the beating?

Fortunately, it's not that bad.

OG was indeed at a disadvantage in the early game, but that was mainly because they chose Spectre as their carry, a hero that is bound to be slightly disadvantaged in the early game.

It can only be said that the strong can change the version. After these two days of competition, especially after Chen Dongqing's crazy fountain-camping pentakill performance yesterday, Spectre's priority has inexplicably increased a lot, and it has reached the same first priority as the Airplane and Io combination.

Chen Dongqing settled down in the lounge, opened a can of soda, and waited for the competition to unfold.

At this point, we can see that Ana's Spectre has already completed the Radiance and Manta Style build, and its combat power is beginning to take shape. It has the third highest gold in the game, closely following the enemy's top two carries.

With Spectre around, we might not necessarily lose this game.

The game turned around even faster than Chen Dongqing had imagined.

Not long after Spectre completed his two core items, a team fight broke out between the two sides!

Ana's strategy was clear: first, he let his teammates go in to bait out the enemy's key skills and then, after weakening the enemy, he used his ultimate to enter the fray with the buffs from Enchantress and Treant Protector!

The timing of this ultimate skill release was absolutely fatal. First, it took down the enemy's fleeing low-health carry, and then with a swap, it took down two enemy support heroes!

Finally, Ana, with the help of her teammates, managed to kill the enemy's second-in-command while still low on health, achieving a quadra kill!

After killing the enemy, Ana had a clear mind. She immediately went into the woods and teleported back to town.

Although he didn't have much health left, the remaining offlaner on the other side had neither damage nor control, so there was really nothing they could do with this Spectre who teleported away. They could only watch as Spectre teleported away!

This team fight ended with a three-for-four exchange.

At this moment, cheers erupted from the audience, and countless people applauded!

Although overall, OG didn't gain much from this wave, the economic difference between the two sides is still over 10,000.

However, in the overall economic rankings, the order has quietly changed.

The Spectre who secured a quadra kill has now become the top earner in the game!

On stage, OG's number one player, Ana, wiped the sweat from his forehead and secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

He was utterly crushed by QG in two games yesterday, which almost made him doubt himself. He didn't sleep well at all last night.

The disadvantage at the start of today almost brought back the fear of yesterday's disadvantageous situation!

Fortunately, not every team is as monstrous as QG.

At least EG doesn't have that.

Despite EG's advantage, their weaknesses were obvious, and Ana only needed to exploit them slightly to win a team fight.

Ana is confident that she can turn this game around!

Next, the game returned to Spectre's rhythm.

Since Ana became number one in the economy, his leading position has never changed, and his advantage continues to expand.

Ultimately, the game went on for sixty minutes, and OG managed to win thanks to Ana's solid performance with Spectre.

The moment Ana destroyed the enemy base, he breathed a sigh of relief. He stood up with a serious expression and went back to the backstage with his teammates.

In esports competitions, form is extremely important.

Sometimes when you're not in form, you might even ruin the entire game or lose the championship because of a tiny mistake.

Through this first game, they could already sense that they were not in good form today.

They have a lot of tasks to do today, and they need to get back into the swing of things quickly.

Backstage at this moment, in the QG rest room.

Chen Dongqing watched as the match finally ended, and couldn't help but yawn.

That's the downside of DOTA2. The Roshan's Aegis has a very low presence, far less so than Baron Nashor in LoL. You can just let it go and that's it. It doesn't force team fights or speed up the game. Plus, there's no Baron buff to counter the turtle. In games that drag on and on, it really does drag on and on, with one-hour games being commonplace.

Fortunately, QG's matches are always fast.

Even if the game drags on, it usually ends in about forty minutes.

Chen Dongqing only hopes that the next match will be over soon.

Unfortunately, it won't be any faster.

In the second game, the two sides fought for 45 minutes, but OG made a fatal mistake in the last team fight. Both supports and the mid laner were all caught by Enigma's ultimate and instantly killed!

And the most fatal thing is that this wave of deaths came too suddenly, even the OG members did not expect it, so Topson did not have any money left to buy back!

Taking advantage of OG's numerical disadvantage, Enigma quickly crafted a Refresher Orb, used the refreshed skill to launch a powerful attack, and once again killed Ceb and position 5 N0tail!

The mystery's two big jumps directly secured the victory!

Ana, who hadn't died once in the game, stood in the fountain, watching EG take down her inhibitor turret. She was filled with despair but helpless, and could only watch the game slip away in defeat.

Ana glanced to the side and saw that N0tail's face had turned the familiar purplish-red, and could only sigh helplessly.

Backstage, Chen Dongqing watched the OG players' expressions through the screen and couldn't help but shake his head inwardly.

It's clear that N0tail is not in a good state today; he seems rather dazed and confused.

They've even stopped sending voice prompts.

N0tail bears the main responsibility for the sudden collapse of this game. He was the only one who could interrupt Enigma's ultimate ability with Black King Bar, but he was repeatedly jumped on, resulting in the team having no one to break the deadlock.

As the position 5 player who could save the team, being targeted repeatedly is truly fatal.

As before, the OG members quickly returned to the backstage area, their pace even faster than last time.

Upon seeing this, Chen Dongqing couldn't help but laugh and said, "The OGs are in a bit of a predicament now; the atmosphere feels a bit off."

The QG teammates nearby nodded in agreement.

They had all experienced such perilous moments on the edge of a cliff.

In the last SuperMajor lower bracket final, they were even at a huge disadvantage in the third game against VP.

Fortunately, they maintained a good mentality and pulled through. Ame's Morphling managed to take on four opponents at once, turning the tide of the battle.

At times like these, it's often the team's leader who needs to step up and stabilize the situation, either through words or actions.

If the team's eldest member, Hong Wen, is withdrawn, then all we can say is "I'm giving him a huge gift."

Who is the leader of OG?

It's hard to say. Although Ana is the most carry in the team, in reality, the team leader can only be Notail.

But the reddest temperature is also N0tail.

In this situation, can the team really recover its form?

The atmosphere in the OG lounge was incredibly tense; everyone had their heads down and remained silent.

Ana looked at her teammates, wanting to say something, but not knowing what to say.

In the past, when they lost a game, N0tail would come out to preside over the trial, judge the players, and stabilize the team through high pressure.

But this time, whose court can he preside over? His own?

Hey guys!

At this moment, N0tail finally spoke up: "I admit that I had a lot of problems in these two games."

Upon hearing this, the OG members all looked up.

N0tail, who was on the verge of elimination, seemed to have woken up and continued to speak: "After losing the game yesterday, I haven't been in the right state of mind. I've been thinking about how to beat that damn QG."

Upon hearing this, the rest of the OG members all grinned.

Team veteran Ceb chimed in, "Hey, aren't you overthinking it? Our opponent right now isn't QG!"

"Yeah, right," JerAx said with a laugh. "Didn't you say that we don't need to do anything else at this TI, just send that damn EG home? We can't let EG eliminate us!"

Remembering the nonsense he had uttered before the match, N0tail inexplicably laughed.

Yeah, why worry about winning the championship? Just focus on the present.

Let's get rid of this damn EG first!

After a short break, both teams took to the stage for the third time.

Chen Dongqing specifically looked at the OG players' expressions.

Unexpectedly, after resting for a few minutes, the OG members looked much better and started chatting and laughing again!

Chen Dongqing couldn't help but feel a little surprised.

As expected of Europeans, they have such a great mindset!

Just a few minutes ago, it felt like the team was about to disband, but suddenly things got better?

Along with their improved mentality, OG's early game situation also improved.

In this game, OG finally stopped being at a disadvantage.

It must be said that OG's raw strength is indeed unquestionable. Once they gain an early advantage, their push strategy and formidable team fight ability will completely tear apart the opponent's defenses!

In this match, N0tail's voice wheel finally revived. He and Ceb filled the screen with voice wheel messages, and with various tips at crucial moments, they dealt a huge blow to their opponents' morale.

The match ended at 43 minutes, when Ana's massive monkey army pushed forward and destroyed EG's base in one fell swoop!

Thunderous applause erupted from the audience. N0tail, who had personally sent away the traitor, began to beam with joy. He walked arrogantly to the EG players' bench and shook hands with them.

Just like last time, after defeating EG, QG followed closely behind.

Moreover, this time, defeating QG will allow them to lift the Aegis of Champions.

But unlike last time, this time N0tail no longer makes any grand pronouncements about itself.

After the first two rounds of the competition, N0tail was well aware that QG was very strong and their chances of winning the championship were not high.

It is precisely because he is aware of this fact that he is so anxious and uncertain today, and even lost his composure at one point, almost causing him to make a fatal mistake.

But so what?

Just focus on the present and enjoy the game!

Backstage, Chen Dongqing looked at the scene before him, closed his eyes, and made final adjustments.

After the loser's bracket matches ended, it meant that the finals were now in their final hour countdown.

He is ready.

Ready to lift the Aegis of Champions?

Double-elimination format is really not suitable for writing books, since a team playing twice in a row doesn't really have much to write about.

I originally planned to finish writing about the final today, so that the emotions of the decisive battle and the final would be more coherent, but I just couldn't squeeze out the content for the final after trying for ages.

That's all for today. I'll finish the final chapter tomorrow.

(End of this chapter)