LOL: My talent is top-tier, my professional skills are unparalleled.

Chapter 205 Spring Showdown: The Pig-Dog War! A Bombardment of the Forum!
On the eve of the Spring Finals, the familiar "pig and dog" army began to deploy verbal attack and defense weapons on online forums, launching attacks on each other.

Baidu Tieba, Zhihu, Weibo, Baidu Tieba, Hupu, and even Xiaohongshu, among other online communities and forums, have all been embroiled in fierce online arguments.

The ubiquitous posts tearing each other apart have intensified the tension surrounding the S8 Spring Finals.

On the Tieba eSports Louvre forum, all sorts of trolls and scoundrels joined in the infighting, with a series of smear campaigns and other malicious comments emerging one after another.

User [Wayward]:
How would you evaluate EDG's impending 19-game winning streak and runner-up finish in the Spring Split? Wouldn't Uzi completely dominate iboy?

Floor comments:

"What do you mean, 'empty audience'? You lost before the fight even started? Your plasma TV can show you future programs, huh?!"

"Hey, you're just fishing for Niu Mo's special offer, can't you guys pretending to be Royal Never Give Up (RNG) fans just go to hell? Marking this post, if EDG wins this year, I'll be the first to settle scores with you!"

"Before every pig-dog battle starts, I always play the theme song of Ultraman Taro! Taro~ Drop your balls, big drop!"

"You little brat, you're implying something about me, 7-chan, aren't you? Believe me or not, one left hook Muay Thai punch and you'll lose your health insurance card!"

……

On April 24th, IG and RW Xia, teams that lost in the semifinals, competed for the third place in the LPL Spring Split.

After four intense matches, IG defeated RW 3-1, winning the LPL third place in the S8 Spring Split.

However, the match didn't generate as much buzz as expected.

With the LCK finals just today, many LPL viewers are clearly looking to help EDG research their MSI opponents in advance.

This year can be described as a year of major roster changes for the LCK.

The final two teams were KZ and AFS Africa. Familiar faces like SKT, Samsung, and KT all failed to make it to the finals!
I'm only familiar with KZ, because KZ was last year's Longzhu LZ team, only the team changed its name after changing sponsors this year.

This year's LCK finals were somewhat lackluster. Although everyone was familiar with the players' IDs, the absence of teams like SKT and Samsung made it feel like something was missing.

The reason for this situation is quite simple.

The removal of the green jungle item completely wiped out Samsung's once-proud vision-based tactics, making SSG the first team to suffer due to version changes.

In addition, veterans like Ambition and Crown have aged another year, and newcomer Ruler is also unable to shoulder the responsibility, so the team's overall strength has declined, which is understandable.

As for SKT, they are in the same predicament that EDG once faced.

Although the mid and bottom lane carries were still performing well, Lee Sang-hyeok and Bae Jun-sik continued to play exceptionally well, especially Bae Jun-sik, who seemed to have regained his form after the defeat in S7 through hard training.

However, all three members of SKT's top, jungle, and support teams are rookies.

In particular, top laners Thal and Untara have been nicknamed "Emperor T" and "Emperor U" by fans in China, which shows how badly they compete in terms of skill.

It has been proven that even if the mid and bot laners of a team are strong enough, it is actually not very useful, as a poor performance from the top and jungle laners can be just as fatal.

Moreover, Riot Games has further accelerated the changes in the pace of the game this year, which has dealt a heavy blow to the LCK region, which mainly relies on traditional operations.

Therefore, both teams that made it to the LCK finals this year are teams that maintain a high pace and are very aggressive in the early game.

KZ needs no introduction. Last year, when they were still called Dragon Ball, they stood out from the other LCK teams.

KT originally played very aggressively, but they couldn't withstand the fact that there were just too many old players on the team.

Support player Mata is an old-timer from the LCK's ancient era, while Scout, despite performing well, couldn't keep up with the sheer number of players on KZ.

KZ, which acquired Peanut this year, is almost a perfect replica of the Tigers' roster from Season 6.

The bot lane still features the two veterans, BDD in the mid lane is even stronger than Kuro was back then, and Khan in the top lane is also much stronger than Smeb in terms of individual competitive form. KT's loss to KZ is not undeserved.

In fact, this KZ team can be seen as a super-enhanced version of the S6 Tigers!
KZ easily defeated the African team, winning their second consecutive LCK championship and securing a spot at MSI.

Meanwhile, in the European leagues, the spring finals have also come to an end.

After a fierce five-game battle between two traditional powerhouses, G2 and Fnatic, G2 defeated their old rivals 3-2, winning the league championship and advancing to MSI!

Despite being eliminated from the World Championship last year, Perkz was still saddened and shed tears because his old teammates were leaving the team.

But this year, after teaming up with Wunder, the best top laner in Europe, and Jankos, the best jungler in Europe, the confidence brought by his strong teammates made him smile from the bottom of his heart.

Even after the match, G2's official Twitter account couldn't resist making some lighthearted jokes.

"I heard Kshine is doing well in the mid lane? It's time to put him to the test by the European mid laner!"

Clearly, Ah P is issuing a challenge to Wang Yao.

However, most domestic players just treat this as a joke, and everyone just marvels at how G2 really loves to create hype.

With everything settled, the LPL Spring Finals will officially begin!

After the Spring Semifinals, EDG's players and coaching staff immediately flew to Chengdu and arrived at the hotel ahead of time to rest.

This year's Spring Grand Finals will be held at the Chengdu Magic Cube Performing Arts Center.

The EDG players have a strong interest in Chengdu, a city full of everyday life.

Street food stalls, pretty girls at anime conventions, and fragrant hot pot restaurants are all beautiful postcards of Chengdu.

However, in order to keep the athletes in competitive condition, Zhu Kai did not allow them to be too indulgent.

Before the Spring Finals on April 28, EDG players spent most of their time in the hotel playing ranked games to maintain their skills.

It wasn't until the fourth day after arriving in Chengdu, the capital of Jin City.

EDG players, along with head coach Zhu Kai, were invited by the LPL officials to record a promotional video for the Spring Finals and to deliver pre-match trash talk.

In the studio, LPL's social butterfly, Xiaoming, jokingly ran over to the EDG players and chatted with Wang Yao and Meiko.

The factory manager stood to the side, rubbing his nose in a daze, wondering what kind of pre-match banter to spout. Should he continue talking about how he was studying the MSI opponents? But what if they lost…?

"Hey everyone, let's start recording some trash talk! It's all for entertainment, all for fun, but don't get too worked up!"

At this moment, the camera director clapped his hands and said that the pre-match preparations were tight and busy, and if they were finished sooner, everyone could go back to rest sooner.

……

April 28th, 4 PM.

Inside the Chengdu Grand Cube stadium, countless enthusiastic LPL esports fans and attractive young ladies gathered in the audience seats.

As the promotional video for the Spring Finals ended, a countdown appeared on the big screen.

Amidst waves of cheers, the countdown ended, the beam lights above the arena illuminated, and the deep voice of host Ren Dong rang out:

"Welcome, Summoners, to the 2018 League of Legends Pro League Spring Finals!"

(End of this chapter)