League: I really didn't tank!

Chapter 502 The Finals Begin!

9 month 12 number.

The LPL Summer Split third-place match has begun.

It's still QG's home ground. The losers of the first two semifinals, EDG and FPX, will meet today to compete for third place.

FPX players are quite confident about this match.

Reversing the version is one thing, but it only affects their potential ceiling. Even if they're reversing the version, their floor is still there.

How could we possibly lose to EDG?

EDG isn't just going against the meta anymore; with their current roster, they're not good in any version.

In today's BO5 battle, both sides won one game each, tying the score at 1-1. Then FPX suddenly surged ahead and won the game 3-1.

At the very end of the fourth game, Doinb excitedly pushed aside his gaming chair and started punching the stage with a monkey-like gesture!

This is the second time QG and IG have met in the finals this year. Both teams have enough points, and regardless of who wins or loses, they will secure the first and second seeds.

Other teams will need to compete in the qualifiers for the final third seed.

FPX, who finished third in both spring and summer, have the third-highest points in the LPL. They are in the best position in the qualifiers and will be at the bottom. They only need to win one BO5 to qualify for S8!

Doinb believes that even if FPX performs poorly, they will still be qualified for the World Championship.

Meanwhile, the fans in the audience were all quite emotional.

The piglets were even more somber.

Since its inception in S4, EDG has never achieved any significant results in the World Championship, consistently finishing in the quarterfinals, but they have still made it to the World Championship every year.

If we can't handle external wars, we should at least address internal conflicts, right?

But this year, they were crushed by QG, ​​humiliated by IG, and utterly defeated by FPX.

It seems unlikely that EDG will make it to the World Championship this year.

At this time, Chen Dongqing had already arrived in Nanjing with the team, and the finals would be held in Nanjing.

In the hotel's training room, Chen Dongqing watched the entire match and felt a little wistful.

Many people say that EDG is the benchmark for the LPL; when they dominate the LPL, it's when the LPL is at its worst. Conversely, when they underperform, it's when the LPL is at its peak.

This statement is somewhat of a sarcastic remark and doesn't really constitute a conclusion, but it is indeed a pattern summarized from the historical performance of LPL and EDG.

After all, EDG's playstyle and management style limit both the team's potential and its limits; they won't be too weak, but they also won't be too strong.

If this team can reach the top of the LPL, it means that the overall strength of the LPL this year is indeed not very good.

If EDG fails to qualify for the World Championship this year, then the overall strength of the LPL this year should not be underestimated.

This year's World Championship will likely see a major push from the LPL.

Chen Dongqing closed the webpage, took out his phone, and started browsing Tieba again.

As soon as I clicked in, I saw many netizens showing off their confidence in this year's European and American lineups.

Because of the training camps and competition schedules for the Asian Games, the summer tournaments in several Asian regions have been delayed to varying degrees.

In North America and Europe, their matches have already ended, and even the spots for the World Championship have been decided.

The three European teams representing Europe at the World Championship are FNC, VIT, and G2, while the North American teams are TL, 100T, and C9.

The netizens' assessment of these six teams is—"Spring's Flying Dance".

[Just by looking at the team name and the player IDs, I recognize them all; I trust them completely.]

[G2 has fallen to the third seed this year? They can't even beat the European teams? Is there really any team that can lose to G2?]

[Let's hope these six teams can make it to the semifinals this year.]

[I think reaching the semifinals will be quite difficult. The European and American teams are constantly making impressive plays, their hands are getting tired. Reaching the quarterfinals would be a success.]

I watched all the finals in Europe and America, and they were basically just a bunch of weak teams fighting each other. If they faced QGIG, they'd probably get crushed.

[QG's dominance over Europe and America is a given, but what about IG?]

[Hilarious! Last time IG made it to Worlds, they were utterly crushed by FNC and surrendered on National Day. Now they're looking down on Europe and America? Do they even have the right?]

[The past is the past, the present is the present. Is the current IG the same as the past?]

I'm not comfortable saying.

Seeing the discussions among the forum members, Chen Dongqing couldn't help but laugh.

It's clear that with IG's rise this year, the "dog sons" in the anti-IG forum are also gradually reviving.

After all, the Anti-WE Bar was originally created to criticize WE, and in the early days, it was always IG that was fighting against WE. Among the people who criticized WE, "dog sons" (a derogatory term for WE's fans) made up a large part.

Because of LPL's outstanding performance in recent years, those veteran players are still quite active.

Those players were well preserved to this day. They saw that IG actually rose to prominence in S8, and they all revived themselves.

These players were quite arrogant on the forum, and they started discussing the finals the day after tomorrow.

To be honest, I'm completely neutral, but I think the final is a close contest!

Indeed, IG defeated QG twice in the regular season, so why should they necessarily lose in the finals?

[What are you talking about? QG's star player didn't even play in the regular season, is that the same thing?]

【How can they be different? QG only has an advantage in the top and bottom lanes at most, while IG's mid and jungle also have an advantage. They can definitely win.】

[Haha, this son of a bitch really knows how to fantasize. He even came to be evenly matched with QG. If IG can make it to the fourth game, I'll consider it a success for him.]

Without further ado, let's wait for QG to achieve their sixth consecutive championship!

Chen Dongqing looked at the post and couldn't help but grin.

Clearly, no matter how deep Gou'er's foundation is, it still can't compare to QG. In the pre-match discussion, Gou'er was completely suppressed.

This is certainly not unexpected.

QG hasn't lost in the last three years. They've built their fanbase through victories and gained the biggest traffic since the LPL boom. What championship does IG have? What are their fans trying to use to compete?

"Let's go, Chen Dongqing," Linko urged from the side. "Let's go record the interview and promotional video first, and then we'll go get some Nanjing duck."

"Alright!" Chen Dongqing got up and went to his room, changed into his summer team uniform, and ran to the venue with his teammates.

Time flies, and two more days have passed in the blink of an eye.

The date is May 14th.

Around 2 p.m., long queues had formed at the entrance of the Youth Olympic Sports Park, with countless men and women entering one after another, gradually filling all 20,000 seats.

After the Asian Games, the enthusiasm for e-sports in China has become even higher. The LPL Summer Finals, which followed the Asian Games, received the most attention. The tickets for the finals even sold out in ten seconds, and scalped tickets were sold at exorbitant prices!

Lin Yuanhua entered as an internal employee, found her seat in the front row, and watched as countless people came and went on stage, making final preparations for the opening ceremony.

Meanwhile, the large screen at the venue was showing footage of the commentary panel hosted by Ji De, where the three commentators were making predictions about the outcome of the match based on the data of both teams.

"I have to say, IG's stats this summer split are amazing!" Even Remember couldn't help but marvel at the numbers: "They've achieved a shorter average game duration, yet more kills per game, and their damage per minute is far ahead! They've practically taken the word 'fighting' to its extreme!"

"QG actually lost in terms of statistics? This is the first time we've seen this!" Wang Duoduo couldn't help but laugh. "Of course, we also know that QG didn't have Shuge playing in the first half of the regular season. With the roster incomplete, these statistics aren't very representative!"

"Of course, this data does add a touch of uncertainty to this final!" Remember concluded, "To find out who will emerge victorious today, let's watch a short video first. After the video, the final will begin!"

The promotional video for the finals had the same feel as before. It started with an aerial shot over Nanjing, and then quickly cut to a close-up of the interior, where the contestants from both sides emerged one by one in the darkness, and finally all of them took to the stage, looking at each other solemnly on the left and right sides of the screen.

After the promotional video ended, host Ren Dong walked onto the stage and shouted, "Okay, welcome to the 2018 LPL Summer Finals! This is the Nanjing Youth Olympic Sports Park venue!"

"After more than three months of fierce competition, this summer's matches are finally coming to an end! Now, two teams have emerged from the league and are standing on this stage!"

Ren Dong waved his hand and shouted, "First of all, let's welcome this year's dark horse! IG!"

"Top laner TheShy! Jungler Ning! Mid laner Rookie! Bot laner JackeyLove! Support Baolan!"

Five boys in white team uniforms walked onto the stage from the left side, their faces beaming with excitement, clearly looking forward to the competition!

Ren Dong then shouted, "Next, let's welcome the other team in the finals, QG!"

The cheers from the audience erupted in the first wave of explosion!

"Top lane! iiiiiilex!!!"

Ren Dong dragged out his words, and the cheers from the audience grew even louder!

It's no exaggeration to say that many spectators in the audience might be "dog sons" (a derogatory term for people who support IG).

But they will definitely give the same applause to Chen Dongqing.

As the face of LPL and even Chinese esports, Chen Dongqing is simply too perfect.

Anyone who watched the game seriously would have no problem with Chen Dongqing.

"Jungler mlxg! Mid laner Xiaohu! Bot laner Uzi! Support Ming!"

Amidst the cheers of countless spectators, the QG players also stepped onto the stage from the other side.

"Now, let's invite both teams to take their seats! Get ready for the match to begin! Will QG continue their legendary run and achieve an unprecedented six-peat in the LPL, or will IG pull off a dark horse comeback and claim their first championship in team history? Let's wait and see!"

After saying that, both contestants took their seats, and Ren Dong left the stage!

The camera quickly switched to the commentary booth, where the commentary team consisted of Wawa, Miller, and Guan Zeyuan. The three smiled at the camera, and their words revealed their high expectations for the final match.

The three then shifted the topic to the upcoming draft phase, and everyone was discussing it, feeling that QG's draft didn't seem to have an advantage.

As is well known, QG has a crucial winning weapon: the hero pools of their two main players. Their vast and fierce hero pools give the team a significant advantage in the draft phase, and even Abu can draft heroes quite skillfully.

However, QG's advantage seems to disappear when facing IG.

Fiora, Akali, Jayce, Irelia.

Xayah, Varus, and the female police officer.

QG will, IG will too.

IG even has a unique LeBlanc in the mid lane and Draven in the bot lane, which QG doesn't have.

Upon closer examination, it turns out that QG is actually at a disadvantage!

"Of course, a large hero pool is one thing, but a player's skill ceiling with different heroes is another," Wawa said with a laugh as she listened to the message in her earpiece. "We'll have to wait until the two coaches clash to see how the draft will actually go!"

As soon as the doll finished speaking, the BP panel was switched in.

Miller seized the opportunity and immediately relayed the information he had already heard through the headset: "According to our intelligence, QG won the pre-match coin toss, so they have the right to choose sides in rounds one, three, and five, and they've chosen the blue side for themselves at the start!"

"We can see that QG has already banned Galio for themselves in the first pick!"

The Camille and Galio combo was discovered and popularized by QG. This combo is usually picked in the first and second rounds on the red side. As the blue side, QG naturally has to limit it.

On the other hand, IG seemed to have been prepared, and their choice was to ban Akali!

"Akali is a no-brainer. Maokai picked her in the final game of the Asian Games final and delivered a terrifying performance! She's also been picked occasionally in the playoffs, where she's performed incredibly well!" Miller said with a smile. "Barring any unforeseen circumstances, IG will definitely not let her through."

The next two bans were Poppy and Fiora.

TheShy really wanted to pick Fiora and test his skills against Chen Dongqing. He had done so before, but the results were always bad. So now IG's coaching staff doesn't trust him much anymore and has honestly banned him.

"Then, as the final move, both sides opted to ban Jayce and Irelia!" Wawa analyzed, arms crossed. "QG banning Jayce themselves is quite rare!"

The logic behind banning Jayce is not hard to understand. QG's Jayce can only be picked in the top lane. Although he is strong, there are ways to counter him.

IG's Jayce can be played in the top and mid lanes. Rookie and TheShy are both Jayce specialists. With them on the red side, Jayce will be very difficult to deal with, so banning him is the best option.

As for the other side, there's not much to say. Chen Dongqing's Irelia is terrifying, so it should still be banned.

"Then, during the champion selection phase, QG immediately locked in Aatrox, while IG countered by locking in Ashe and Tahm Kench!"

Ashe and Tahm Kench is a bot lane combination that IG likes very much. There's not much to talk about with this combination. Ashe is an AD carry with excellent mechanics, while Tahm Kench helps Ashe kite by slowing her down and ensures the safety of the bot lane by farming.

This move was expected, and QG responded by locking in Kai'Sa and Rakan.

Subsequently, IG confirmed their mid-lane champion, Ryze, and entered the second round of the draft.

After entering the second round, the goals of both sides became clear. QG chose to ban Zac and Olaf, giving both ban slots to junglers.

IG banned Zoe and Syndra in an attempt to limit Xiaohu's roaming and coordination.

Following their fourth pick, IG locked in Xin Zhao, leaving the top lane for last.

"Come on, Tree Bro, what top laner do you want to play?" Banbazi asked from inside the soundproof room. "Xiaohu can use mid lane Aatrox to counter Ryze, and you can pick a top laner that you're comfortable with. Of course, you can play Aatrox if you want, and it will make Xiaohu's drafting process more comfortable."

Upon hearing this, Chen Dongqing laughed and said, "What's there to say? Just give me Aatrox. I'm fine with whatever I play. Making Li Yuanhao's draft easier is good for both of us! He's the only one who can't beat the other side!"

Upon hearing this, Xiao Hu's face turned red and his neck thickened. He retorted, "What do you mean I can't beat them! I clearly can!"

At this moment, Xiangguo ruthlessly retorted, "Hehe, I'm too lazy to say more. If you could beat us, we wouldn't have been swept twice in the regular season."

Xiaohu fell silent. After thinking for a long time, he finally decided to lock in Lissandra to counter Ryze, and then pick Lee Sin for the jungle to supplement the damage in the mid and jungle!

"Now we'll see which champion IG chooses to counter Tree's Aatrox!" Wawa said. "Actually, there aren't many top lane champions left!"

As soon as Wawa finished speaking, IG's final hero pick was confirmed.

Blue Steel Shadow!

"Wow, TheShy!" From the commentary booth, Guan Daxiao exclaimed again, "TheShy is still going strong today! He even pulled out this kind of champion!"

At this point, the heroes for both sides have been determined.

Blue side QG: Top lane Aatrox, Jungle Lee Sin, Mid lane Lissandra, Bot lane Kai'Sa and Garen.

Red team IG: Top lane Camille, Jungle Xin Zhao, Mid lane Ryze, Bot lane Ashe and Tahm Kench.

The two teams have very similar lineups: a utility mid laner, a carry jungler, and a carry top laner.

"It's easy to see that this will be a battle in the top half of the bracket!"

Miller looked at the lineups and analyzed, "IG and QG, the two strongest teams in the upper half of the LPL, used their most effective playstyle in the first game of the finals!"

"Let's wait and see which side will emerge victorious in this round!"

I won't write too much about this final; the real highlight is the match against IG in the World Championship.

(End of this chapter)