Full-time: Starting from Ye Xiu vs. Faker

Chapter 489

I don't know what Zhang Jiale and the people from both teams talked about that night, but in short, starting the next day, both sides continued to prepare for the competition as usual.

The following day, the official account of Fan Hua published a long article, officially announcing their departure from this year's S-series.

The article vividly recounts the journey of Fan Hua over the past year, from struggling in spring, to rising from the ashes in spring, to winning the MSI championship, and then fighting to the bitter end in summer, only to be one step away from the finals twice.

Finally, they casually add, "Come again next year."

It is said that this article was written by Zhang Jiale himself, while others say it is more in the style of coach Lü Liang.

But regardless of whose style it is, it won't stop fans of "Blossoms in the Wind" from being moved to tears.

Although this long article was not written in a sentimental style at all.

While many question whether the LPL can maintain its dominance, they are only concerned about whether these guys, who are a year older next year, can regroup and start over.

After all, they're all nearing thirty; in the esports world, they should have been buried long ago.

I don't know how these old guys have managed to stay competitive at a world-class level until today.

Even this has become a point of contention for some troublemakers. The saying "LPL can only rely on old guys to maintain its glory" is one of the most popular criticisms these days.

It's all about chaos and disorder.

However, the noise from the outside world has nothing to do with Zhang Jiale himself; he's busy right now.

After reviewing the game with the other two teams, his next task is to pick up passengers from the airport.

"Seriously, didn't we say we'd wait until the finals to come live? Why are we all coming to Shanghai to watch this internal battle?"

Le Ge seemed to have recovered from the gloom of losing the game, holding the sign and muttering to himself.

"But the situation has changed," a cool voice replied from not far away.

Wang Jiexi walked towards Zhang Jiale empty-handed, without pulling, carrying, or lifting anything, prompting the latter to complain, "You're so carefree, not bringing any luggage at all?"

"Your base should be fully equipped, right?" Wang Jiexi asked matter-of-factly.

"I'll just watch the game and then leave. When you come to Beijing, you can stay at our base. We'd love to welcome you."

"You said it yourself." Zhang Jiale was too lazy to argue with him, so she simply walked ahead and led the way.

"Speaking of which, what's gotten into you guys lately? Why are you all here watching the semi-finals? Is the duel between Lao Ye and Wenzhou really that interesting?"

Zhang Jiale asked casually,

"Didn't you guys get beaten by the Korean team? Everyone's still a little nervous." Wang Jiexi glanced at him, and his first sentence made Zhang Jiale bristle.

“You guys are the real leading project in esports. If you really lose the championship to South Korea, then none of us will have an easy time in the future.” But Wang Jiexi clearly didn’t have any room for jokes.

Although it's hard to admit, at least for now, LPL is still the leading force in the entire esports landscape.

While League of Legends has its flaws and many areas for improvement, it is undeniably the best in terms of combining competitiveness and entertainment.

Tiny Herb's current main focus is Zed, and although the official team has put a lot of effort into optimizing the viewing experience, it still lags slightly behind League of Legends in terms of pure popularity.

The esports industry is holistic; although there is internal competition, it relies on a prosperous overall environment to develop rapidly.

However, if the overall environment suffers a major blow, even if the person who gets the biggest slice of the pie is removed, the others will not fare much better.

The fact that the S-series championship went to South Korea clearly meets the criteria for a "major blow." After all, South Korea has a glorious history in esports, and is a typical example of a country that thrives on any opportunity.

If LPL dares to lose to LCK today, LPL will be called LCK's dog tomorrow.

This is unacceptable to all esports professionals in China, especially the old guard from the Glory era.

So, in the past two days, before the semifinals started, whether they were in Shanghai or not, as long as they didn't have any matches to play immediately, these old friends almost unanimously found a way to come to the venue.

Tiny Herb, Samsara, Tyranny, Thunder... even if you were to start a World Invitational tournament right now, you might not have as many celebrities watching this spectacle.

"Actually, you don't need to be so nervous. The situation isn't as bad as you think."

On the contrary, Zhang Jiale, who personally experienced failure, is now quite calm.

"How so?" Wang Jiexi raised an eyebrow slightly. If he weren't wearing sunglasses, his uneven eyes would be quite noticeable.

"I remember you used to be pretty good at mid lane, right?" Zhang Jiale teased.

Although not a professional League of Legends player, all the Glory players had some experience with League of Legends before the explosion of new e-sports games, and Wang Jiexi was considered one of the best mid laners at the time.

However, Tiny Herb failed to seize the opportunity presented by the LPL and also lacked a complete LPL roster, which is why they ended up settling in Eternal Zed.

However, Wang Jiexi's skill level is undoubtedly top-notch.

"SKT's strongest position is the mid laner, and the starting point for their tactics is also the mid laner. In a sense, they are not a team that is particularly suited to the current meta."

Zhang Jiale's lips curled into a slight smile, clearly indicating that his confidence was not simply expressed in his words.

Don't forget one thing:

"The two teams that haven't been eliminated yet have different strengths: one has the strongest mid laner in the LPL, and even the world, while the other just used a tailor-made strategy in the playoffs to crush the former!"

Zhang Jiale reached out and made a grabbing motion in front of him:
"The upcoming semi-final will, in a sense, be a clash between these two philosophies."

"If Blue Rain wins, their approach to dealing with this unstoppable god-level mid laner will become more and more mature in their duel with Ye Xiu, just like how they broke the trident in the playoffs."

"When we face SKT, this experience can be used to limit Sang-hyeok's designs."

"They will become the toughest net to capture SKT!"

Wang Jiexi nodded slightly: "What if Happy wins?"

"That makes it even simpler," Zhang Jiale said with a smile.

"Then let's show that kid Sang-hyeok who truly deserves to be called the world's number one mid laner!"

Although Faker exerted immense pressure on Fan Hua and Zhang Jiale, they were unable to secure a victory despite their best efforts.

However, the same sense of oppression was also exerted by the Happy team.

And considering that unreasonable little girl on the top lane...

Zhang Jiale's lips curled slightly.

Because of the need to maintain absolute dominance in the bottom lane, Sun Zheping will not have the opportunity to dominate the top lane in this World Championship match.

But things might be different with Tang Rou...

(End of this chapter)