League: I really didn't tank!

Chapter 501 The Playoffs Begin!

Although the Asian Games have concluded, many issues have arisen since then, all of which require Chen Dongqing's attention.

After returning to Shanghai, Chen Dongqing didn't rest. In the following days, he trained while also attending various social events.

On September 3rd, Chen Dongqing took a car home in the afternoon and handed over his three gold medals to his parents.

My mother held the gold medal in both hands and examined it carefully.

"This gold medal is so heavy!" Mom exclaimed in surprise as she looked at it.

Actually, these three gold medals are exactly the same, but that didn't stop her from looking at them one by one.

In my mom's eyes, this is better than any World Championship Cup, The International Aegis of Champions, or StarCraft Cup!

When relatives come to visit again, he will take out the gold medal and show it off to them!

"It's just an exhibition gold medal," Chen Dongqing said casually. "See if your son brings home an Olympic gold medal someday!"

"An Olympic gold medal, please!" Dad chuckled from the side. "Let's talk about it again if we can win a gold medal in the main competition next time!"

Mom carefully stored the gold medal in the cabinet before calling out, "Come on, let's eat!"

After lunch, Chen Dongqing slept at home for the night. On September 4th at noon, he had just finished lunch and rushed back to the base to participate in the filming of the documentary.

QG Club has made great contributions to this Asian Games. In LOL, DOTA2, StarCraft 2, and Arena of Valor, QG members are the main force!

The club certainly wouldn't miss this opportunity for publicity and marketing. The documentary has already been almost finished, and now all that's needed is to record a few interviews with the players before it can be edited and uploaded.

After recording, it was dinner time again, and Chen Dongqing and his teammates got into the car and headed to a hotel on the Bund.

Tonight, Mr. Huo hosted a celebratory banquet for all Chinese esports athletes to celebrate the winning performance of the Chinese esports team at this Asian Games.

Many leaders also attended the banquet. With Mr. Huo's introduction, Chen Dongqing met with these leaders. Countless leaders exclaimed that Chen Dongqing was a promising young man!

Chen Dongqing kept smiling and went through all the required procedures before finally sitting back down to enjoy a hearty meal and replenish her energy.

These trips today have really exhausted him.

I wasn't this tired even after playing for five days straight!

But this is just the beginning!

Another night passed, and it was September 5th.

The League of Legends Summer Playoffs have begun, with the quarterfinals starting immediately!

QG's performance in this summer's regular season was not ideal. After being defeated twice by IG, QG could only finish second in Group A.

It has to be said that finishing second in the group is QG's worst result in recent years.

According to the rules, the second-place team in the group needs to start from the round of six, so today's match has nothing to do with them. Their match will have to wait until September 7th.

But Chen Dongqing can't be idle either.

In the afternoon, Chen Dongqing finished his training match with the team, and then left the base alone to find his girlfriend.

From the International Games to the Asian Games, and now, I haven't met Lin Yuanhua in person much. We've only communicated via WeChat and phone calls, and we've almost become online friends!

Chen Dongqing certainly couldn't let his girlfriend neglect him, so he had to spend the afternoon with her.

Seeing her boyfriend's slightly tired appearance, Lin Yuanhua smiled and said, "I told you, I don't mind. You can spend time with me after you finish the playoffs."

"That's definitely not going to work. The summer season won't end until September 14th, how can I make you wait that long?" Chen Dongqing said righteously, "I can skip spending time with anyone else, but I definitely can't neglect you."

Lin Yuanhua didn't reply, but just chuckled and hooked her arm around Chen Dongqing's, slowly walking forward.

On September 6th, Chen Dongqing returned to the base and resumed training and match preparation.

The Summer Playoffs used version 8.16, which doesn't have much to talk about; there weren't many changes.

Aatrox has been slightly nerfed; the healing effect of his E skill on minions has been reduced, and the cooldown of his ultimate has been slightly increased, weakening Aatrox's laning ability. Zoe's passive and W damage have been reduced.

A series of damage-dealing talents, such as Aery, Electrocute, Malicious Injury, Sudden Impact, and Scorch, have been slightly nerfed.

These changes only have a minor impact on the game version. The competition format remains largely the same as the Asian Games.

There is only one change worth noting.

Sion's passive ability to increase health has been buffed.

Maximum health bonus from enemies: 3 → 4.

Maximum health bonus from large enemies: 10 → 15.

Professional players' last-hitting habits are well-known; following the timeline for last-hitting is a basic skill. With this bonus, Sion can gain nearly 400 more health than in the previous version, based on a base of 300 CS, which is a considerable boost.

After this patch, Sion top lane will re-enter the scene.

Although Chen Dongqing rarely plays tanks, he is actually quite skilled at it. He has now begun to think about how to integrate Sion into QG's tactics.

On September 7th, QG's matches finally began.

In the lower bracket, QG faced off against TOP, the third-place team from Group B, in the round of six.

QG is actually playing in the semifinals, which is the first time in recent years, and countless fans are extremely excited about it.

They weren't worried at all that QG would run into any problems because of playing an extra BO5 game; they were just happy that QG could play an extra BO5 game!

Wow, a fully-formed QG team is a rare sight this summer!

There's not much to talk about in this match. TOP is a strong team with a lot of youthful energy, but they're no match for QG these days.

Three to zero, an easy win.

The next day was a rest period. On September 9th, QG advanced one step and faced FPX, the top team in Group B, in the semi-finals.

On FPX's side, Lin Weixiang couldn't help but feel bitter when he saw that he would be facing QG in the semifinals.

Damn it, we worked so hard for two months in the Summer Split, and we even managed to get first place in Group B, just so we could meet you guys in the semifinals?

If I had known it would end like this, I would have deliberately played a few games and come in second, and then played against IG!

Playing against IG will be very difficult, but it's at least better than playing against QG!

But Doinb didn't seem to care.

He's never afraid of losing; at worst, he'll just give up!

It turns out that it was indeed sent.

FPX is definitely a strong team, ranking among the best in the world.

But that didn't stop them from being swept 3-0.

In the first game, Chen Dongqing's Irelia skillfully weaved through the enemy lines, first defeating Letme with the help of Xiangguo, and then repeatedly taking down FPX players in the ensuing chaotic battle, successfully winning the first game!

In the second game, FPX showed more strength this time. Their mid, bot, and jungle lanes coordinated closely, helping each other out, and within ten minutes they brought Uzi to a dismal 0-3 score!

The temperature in Uzbekistan skyrocketed after the outbreak, but it didn't turn red and remained under control at a yellow temperature.

Because Chen Dongqing is also the same size.

At this point, we can see that Chen Dongqing's Akali has reached a terrifying 5-0 score.

Lin Weixiang's Kai'Sa had just cut into the mid lane when Chen Dongqing's Akali appeared from the side, landing a Flash-RE combo that was guaranteed to hit, followed by a Hextech Gunblade to slow down the enemy and then a QER combo to finish them off, directly taking down Lin Weixiang's Nasus!

In the second game, QG easily won thanks to Akali's unstoppable split-pushing and even more unstoppable team fight initiation!

In the third game, FPX didn't put up any decent resistance this time. The two sides fought a 4v4 battle in the bottom lane for ten minutes, and Uzi eventually took control of the situation.

Meanwhile, Chen Dongqing dominated Letme in the top lane, picking Jayce and dominating him with a 30-CS lead in ten minutes. He fed up with Kleptomancy and eventually won the game in 26 minutes.

The three games were clean and efficient, lasting just over ninety minutes in total. The total number of kills for both sides exceeded 100, showcasing the ultimate in LPL's brutal art!

Another 3-0 victory, QG is the first to advance to the finals!

Seeing how quickly the match had progressed, countless spectators secretly lamented the disappointment.

FPX, why aren't you guys putting on a show? Show some strength!

Seeing the word "Failure" pop up on the screen, Doinb knew that his team had been eliminated.

He stood up, pursed his lips, his mind filled with many thoughts.

FPX had a smooth summer, finishing first in Group B of the regular season, defeating the number one seed from South Korea in the Rift Rivals, and adding in half of their 16 championship roster and the 17 semi-final lineup.

Judging from their accolades, they are definitely a strong team with the potential to contend for the championship.

But Doinb himself knew that they were not a strong team at all, and their chances of winning the championship were slim.

Because the version doesn't take them into account.

Since joining QG in 16, Doinb has consistently employed a bot lane gank strategy that emphasizes jungle-support synergy.

This playstyle is indeed powerful, earning Doinb many accolades, but in reality, it is also inseparable from the help of the designers.

In the second half of 16, the designers made several sweeping changes to the game, completely eliminating the lane-swapping strategy that was popular in professional leagues by setting up a top lane turret for protection and a first-blood turret.

The original intention of this change was certainly good, but Doinb's four-man gank strategy in the bottom lane became the biggest beneficiary.

The addition of the first tower greatly increased the benefits of a four-man gank on two opponents, ultimately helping QG lift the trophy at Staples Center.

In 17, needless to say, with the Ardent Censer patch and Galio's rework, Doinb was still a beneficiary of the patch, allowing FPX to eventually reach the semifinals and even take a point from QG!

But in 18, the situation was different.

In the second half of 18, the designers' direction of change was quite obvious. The rework of three solo lane champions, Irelia, Aatrox, and Akali, greatly increased the priority of the top half of the map.

Doinb can actually play all three of these heroes, but the problem is that he can play them but that doesn't solve the problem.

These three champions primarily provide buffs to the top lane, and their top laner is Letme.

Meanwhile, marksman equipment has been nerfed, significantly reducing the dominance of ADCs in the early and mid-game. This is undoubtedly another heavy blow to the 4v2 gank strategy! (Infinity Edge has been nerfed from burst damage to true damage conversion)

Each strike landed squarely on FPX.

Doinb felt deeply that the tide had turned and this year no longer belonged to him.

Do we have to wait until next year?

Will things get even worse next year?

At this moment, Chen Dongqing had already walked up to him.

Chen Dongqing greeted the other person with a smile: "Good luck in the qualifying round, let's make it to the World Championship together."

Doinb nodded reluctantly.

Chen Dongqing didn't talk much, patted the other person's arm, and then walked towards Lin Weixiang.

"Holy crap, your Akali is way too much!" Lin Weixiang complained while giving Chen Dongqing a light hug. "Are you trying to leave me no way out?"

"That's not my fault. Who told you to be so fat? If you hadn't developed properly, I wouldn't have cared about you anymore," Chen Dongqing replied with a laugh. "Stop talking nonsense, good luck in the qualifying rounds!"

Lin Weixiang patted his chest: "Don't worry, we'll definitely make it into the qualifying rounds!"

Chen Dongqing shook hands with Liu Qingsong, and the two nodded to each other. Then he led his teammates to the center of the stage and bowed to the audience.

The playoffs, all the way up to the finals, were held at QG's home stadium. The stadium was packed with QG fans. Seeing their team win, the audience naturally applauded and cheered, creating a lively atmosphere!

After the semi-finals, the finals will be held next week!

The only question now is, who will QG's opponent be in the finals?

Another day passed, September 10th.

The upper bracket semifinals have begun, with IG and EDG facing off.

This match was less bloody than yesterday's, but more violent.

It was less bloody because the total number of heads produced today was not as high as yesterday.

The violence was a bit more intense because today's game ended much faster than yesterday's.

Today's three games were almost all one-sided stomps. Poor EDG had no chance against IG, falling into a huge disadvantage from the very beginning in all three games!

The three games lasted a total of 81 minutes. IG racked up 60 kills in the three games, cruelly eliminating EDG!

During the handshake, the EDG players looked dejected, seemingly unable to accept the outcome of the match.

They had considered the possibility of losing, but they never expected to lose so badly.

This IG team played incredibly aggressively in all three lanes, and their attacks were absolutely fearless.

This style of play even gave the EDG players a sense of déjà vu when they were playing against QG.

Without making a sound, IG seems to have grown into a behemoth.

The five members of IG were all smiles, extremely excited after securing a resounding victory.

Some are happy about the version changes, while others are sad. FPX went against the version, while IG quietly became the version's chosen one.

In this meta that emphasizes the top, mid, and jungle, IG's top three-man top lane trio is thriving.

Over the past six months, their top, mid, and jungle trio have consistently held an advantage against any team!

Through these six months of victories, the IG players have developed a strong momentum and a sense of confidence.

Who says we can't beat QG?

The updates in the last few days have indeed been a bit slow. There are many reasons for this: the game is too fun, the flowers are too beautiful, and transitional storylines are difficult to write, etc.

Fortunately, this transitional storyline is finished, and I'll try to resume 7,000-word updates tomorrow.

(End of this chapter)