LOL: I just turned 18, let me fight back and be reborn

Chapter 281 The South Korean List and the List of Those Pressed! Training Troops at Their Own Expense?

The following morning, Ye Bo's itinerary was unexpectedly changed, and he changed his route to Hangzhou first.

Mario Ho and Ming Kai, among others, picked up Ye Bo at the airport and then took him to the training camp in the Asian Games Village.

As the only confirmed official player and the candidate recommended by both V5 and EDG to serve as the captain of the League of Legends team, Ye Bo participated in today's "internal meeting" in advance.

This was also Ye Bo's first glimpse of the Asian Games Village, the future training location.

With three or four months to go before the main competitions begin in September, training camps for many events have not yet started, and the Asian Games Village is not very lively yet.

Ye Bo was very curious throughout the journey, and occasionally he would see the faces of several familiar athletes that he often saw on TV. This experience of breaking through the barrier was very novel.

Therefore, he seemed not to notice that Mingkai and He Youjun next to him were somewhat nervous.

Upon arriving at the League of Legends division, the head of the General Administration of Sport and a group of coaching staff were already present.

Mario Ho skillfully introduced Ye Bo to the other party: "Boss, this is the captain recommended by our entire coaching staff. He is the core of our V5 team!"

Mingkai wasn't as skilled, but he immediately chimed in, "He was also the core of EDG's championship win last year. In terms of professionalism, we can completely trust him."

This official from the General Administration of Sport was the one who selected Ye Bo on-site after watching the MSI competition.

The person who made this move clearly understood the game and was likely a "fan" who was impressed by Ye Bo's performance on the field. The look in their eyes when they greeted Ye Bo was full of admiration.

This was Ye Bo's first time attending such a formal meeting, and he didn't even know why he had come along today.
However, there were still some gains.

Compared to the 2018 Jakarta Asian Games, this Asian Games is hosted by China and is the first time that China has included it as a medal event in the main competition, which is of great historical significance.

The biggest difference compared to last time is the word "organizer"!
The organizer means there is a great deal of "room for maneuver".

For example, the selection of the game version, the definition of rules such as the substitution rule, and even the order of opponents in the draw.
Just like the selection of the tournament version, Zhu Kai loudly suggested: "Let's choose the version from our MSI, after all, our region's players won the championship! We're very familiar with it!"

The Asian Games main event will not start until September 24th, while the summer tournament will normally end on August 5th.

MSI is currently holding a competition in May, but they're still using the version from April!
Logically speaking, one would not choose to play a version of a game from six months ago.

But that's what's called "home advantage"!
This is hardly a "shady deal." All countries have a natural advantage when playing at home, and it's an accepted fact. It's been commonplace in traditional sports for a long time.

If we must point out a drawback to hosting the game at home—it's that it's a zero-sum game where "only victory is allowed, defeat is not an option!"

after all.

Regardless of whether you make any adjustments or not, everyone will assume that you have an advantage because you play at home, even if you don't.

If we still can't win, then we're hopelessly hopeless!
Even the kind that would lead to being nailed to the pillar of shame!

Today's discussion includes not only finalizing the roster, but also the selection of the head coach and the schedule for the LPL Summer Split.

But this is the "List".

It is also known as "The Cake-Sharing Party".

The top-ranked teams each used their unique skills, because even just making it onto the candidate list could earn them a spot in the group photo wearing national flag uniforms, and add a note to their resumes that they had been included in the Asian Games training camp.

In the end, even if you only become a substitute, it is still a great honor!
Meiko is a classic example.

Meiko was Ming's substitute in the 2018 Jakarta Championships. He only played in two matches, with a record of one win and one loss. The opponent in the winning match was the Kazakhstani national team, which had zero wins and no losses.

But this does not affect his status as a candidate for the Grand Slam!
Therefore, even for the mid-lane players who have already been selected, the competition for their substitute positions is equally fierce.

Meanwhile, on the large screen in the conference room, the list of candidates for each position was being displayed.

Upper unit: Flandre, 369, Bin, Ale, Breathe
Jungle: Jiejie, Xun, Tian, ​​Wei, Weiwei
Mid lane: (YE△), Knight, Yagao, Xiaohu, Angel
Marksman: JackeyLove, Elk, Gala, Light, Uzi
Support: Meiko, Missing, ON, Crisp, Ming
This list can definitely be said to bring together all the top players in the LPL right now—although many of them have IDs that, in the eyes of the audience, only deserve to be called "roadside players".

But there is no denying that this is currently the best group of players in the league.

Ye Bochao leaned over and asked Mingkai in a low voice, "Factory Manager Awz is on the candidate list, but it hasn't been officially announced yet."

“We officially announced Uzi’s joining the team last night, and it was even overshadowed by news from the LCK,” Mingkai asked with a hint of doubt, “Didn’t you see the news last night?”

"Um, I was a bit busy last night."

Ye Bo woke up and saw the message, so he hurriedly booked the next flight. He even took a break to go to the restaurant on the way and hasn't had time to check his phone yet.

After hearing what the other person said, he curiously took out his phone from under the table.

Opening Hupu (a Chinese sports forum), I was immediately greeted with a top-rated trending news headline that garnered a massive number of comments: "How to evaluate the South Korean national team's official announcement of its 2023 Asian Games roster?"

Ye Bo hadn't even had time to wonder why LCK had announced their roster so early.

Seeing the news content finally explained why everyone's expressions were somewhat "strange" when they came in.

[South Korea's national team roster]

Top lane: Zeus
Jungler: Kanavi
Mid laner: Chovy (Substitute: Faker)

Shooter: Ruler (Substitute: Deft)

Support: Beryl
Head Coach: Kkoma; Coaching Staff: Daeny, Homme, Kim
Even Ye Bo was somewhat stunned when he saw the list.

He naturally knew that Beryl had been selected and that Deft had gone back to participate in the selection process.

But he never expected it.

Kanavi and Ruler, both players from the LPL, managed to break through the fiercely competitive LCK and become the final picks!
Let's not even talk about the jungler position; behind them are Canyon, Peanut, Oner, and last year's runner-up, P.
Putting aside Aunt Youxi, who performed reasonably well at MSI, there was at least Viper, who returned to LCK specifically for the Asian Games spot—yet he didn't even get a substitute spot!
That's absolutely outrageous!
And surprisingly, Faker became Chovy's substitute.
The comments section is still very lively.

[Seriously? They picked four players from the LPL??]

[My husband looks like a complete clown now. If he'd told me earlier that I could have been in a different region, I wouldn't have come back! My EDG's three championships!!!]

[Viper definitely wants to stab DaChao in the back. I came back and carried like crazy, but you fucking carried me three games and sent me home. In the end, you went to the Asian Games and I didn't!?]

[KR's manager is a complete idiot, can't he see it? He's just trying to annoy us! He deliberately picked V5 as Ruler's substitute, even if it means ruining his own team's reputation! He's trying to dismantle the team!]

[Damn it, guys! Four of the MSI champions and runners-up are here! Is our advantage really gone now?]

Aside from the completely unexpected selection of personnel.

Some people also noticed another key point below.

[Has nobody noticed how intimidating this opposing coaching staff is? Danny and Redmi have both been called back; they've already lost half the game from the start!]

[Oh no, let's look at the coaching team IDs we can assemble: Zhu Kai, Bsyy, Maokai, Zhanma, sask]

[Don't worry! As long as the Asian Games don't provide meals during the competition, our domestic coaches are absolutely invincible! I just want to ask those Korean coaches, do they know how to use the "expanding magic roll"? Do they know which takeout is the best?]

[Unfortunately, the guy upstairs hit the nail on the head: ordering takeout isn't allowed at the Asian Games, so the only role of domestic coaches is gone! Completely finished!]

It's alright, we have another off-field coach in our competition area, so let's just say have faith for now.

The comments below also discussed that there are indeed talented "domestic coaches".

For example, Tabe.

Unfortunately, Tabe was required to serve as the head coach of the {China Hong Kong Team}—and even if he had come, he probably wouldn't have been able to compete with the three championship coaches, Zhu Kai, Mao Kai, and Zhan Ma, so he simply didn't participate at all.

McAbu muttered with a troubled expression, "I didn't expect the LCK to act so quickly. We haven't even finalized our candidate list yet, and they've already made the announcement without giving us any time to communicate with the players."

But upon closer examination, everyone realized that it made perfect sense.

The LCK region was so badly beaten at MSI, even ranking second to last after North America, with all its teams eliminated.

It was a complete annihilation!
Even if players from GEN, T1, or Hle perform exceptionally well in the upcoming LCK Summer Split, so what?
Instead of trusting the league performance, it's better to trust the result of the MSI tournament!
So we just made the decision directly.

Call back all the players who can be drawn from the two winning teams to help out!

The head of the General Administration of Sport stated the key point of the meeting: "As you all know, South Korea is coming on strong for this Asian Games."

"We absolutely cannot afford to lose this match. But judging from the current situation, I'm afraid half of our LPL's strongest players have already gone back, right?"

"Therefore, I think the list that everyone submitted last time may need to be re-evaluated."

"Since the other side has released their roster, we don't need to rush to release ours." This person in charge wasn't stupid; he was well aware of the importance of this Asian Games.

Originally, based on the outcome of MSI, everyone genuinely believed that LPL was stronger than LCK this year and could easily win.

So, dividing the cake is indeed fine.

The problem is that now not only have the two core DPS players from the runner-up team been recalled.

Even the "secondary core player" of the championship team has been recalled!

With these two factors combined, the situation doesn't look so optimistic on its own, and naturally, it can't be judged based on the previously optimistic situation.

Everyone present naturally understood what the other party meant.

to be honest.

Just to be on the safe side, I want to see how these guys perform in the Summer Split!
The advantages of hosting the event on home turf are fully apparent. The timing and procedures are very flexible, and even the finalized participants can be changed at the last minute, requiring only a few "reasons".

Now that LCK has already decided, LPL can take its time to evaluate – after all, the training camp won't start until the end of the LPL Summer Split.

This is the same for both regions.

The LCK is even more anxious, since they have selected the champion and runner-up players and there is a "high probability" that they will have to wait until the LPL finishes the Summer Finals before they can recall their players and start training and preparation.

Therefore, selecting the person in the best condition at the time of the final confirmation before the deadline to ensure victory is obviously the best option!

"Let's discuss the head coach selection first, Mr. Ye Bo. What do you think?"

The person in charge decisively turned to look at Ye Bo.

"Ah, are you asking me?"

Ye Bo, who was engrossed in browsing the forum in the audience, looked up as if he had been called on by the teacher in class, his face full of confusion and doubt.

Don't forget, Mingkai didn't actually convey the boss's instructions back then.

Ye Bo was unaware that EDG actually wanted him to vote for Zhu Kai.

"Of course, you are a key player in our national team this time," the person in charge replied with a smile. "For example, which coach do you feel you have the best working relationship with?"

"this."

Ye Bo turned to look at the familiar coaches beside him.

Zhu Kai was staring at him with hopeful, sycophantic eyes, almost ready to speak.

Maokai, being quite self-aware, remained expressionless, while Mingkai gave him a reassuring look.
"Actually, V5 doesn't have a head coach, but if we're talking about who I'm most familiar with, I'm definitely most familiar with Clearlove."

“Mingkai.”

Do any of the other coaches have different opinions?

A person next to them stared wide-eyed for a moment, stunned.

I thought it wouldn't be me, Zhu Kai, but at most Mao Kai.

Who is Mingkai?
However, upon seeing the person in charge's expression, Zhu Kai immediately transformed into a smiling face and was the first to raise his hand in agreement: "Oh, I agree! Clearlove is now our EDG coach, and I'm his deputy!"

Maokai nodded in agreement: "Clearlove is fine. Last year's World Championship was basically the second half of the tournament he and Ye Shifu played together."

"I agree."

"agree."

However, Mingkai is indeed a coach and is on the list of potential coaches.

The others were also aware that they wouldn't be chosen for the head coach position, and would most likely be selected from the pool of players from the two-time world champion EDG.

It's better to be Mingkai than to be led by Zhu Kai!

Even a bad chess set has different heights and levels!

Mingkai was completely bewildered when he was chosen as the head coach of the Asian Games.

"No! How come it's me in the end?!" Mingkai pointed to himself as the meeting ended.

"I just said it casually~~~" Ye Bo looked completely innocent.

"This gives me a chance. Master Ye, you'd better go easy on Uzi in the opening game, since it's his debut."

The meeting ended.

Mario Ho also pulled Ye Bo aside and said, "Master Ye, there's something else I'd like to discuss with you about the transfer window for the Summer Split."

The news brought by Mario Ho is that BLG wants to "rent" Kitagawa for the Summer Split!
the reason is simple.

Uncle Chun spent a lot of money to buy Wei, the second most expensive player in RNG, from Bai Xing. However, it turned out that Wei was not a good fit for the team. They only had to grit their teeth and try to get him to fit in because there was no one else available.

BLG's performance in the Spring Split wasn't too bad.

But for a team that has invested so much, failing to qualify for both MSI spots would be a huge failure and simply unacceptable!

Kitagawa's performance in the two MSI matches, especially his performance in the last match against Kanavi, made Uncle feel that he had found an opportunity again, with the brilliance of popcorn shining behind him.

“Beichuan is willing, but he said that you must agree first,” Mario Ho relayed.

"The loan agreements all expire on August 8.5th, which means we can recall them after the Summer Split. If needed, we can even add them to our World Championship roster. You know what I mean?"

"The rules allow it; we're very familiar with this. Back in S10, V5 and Suning signed this agreement."

After hearing what the other party said, Ye Bo immediately nodded and said, "If he agrees on his own, we definitely have no objections. It's a good thing!"

In 20, V5 achieved their "Great Dragon" record by borrowing Weiwei, biubiu, and Samd from SN during the season.

They were just one step away from qualifying for the World Championship after going 0-16.

Some people said back then that even if V5 made it to the World Championship, they would still have to be mindful of SN's feelings, because SN could recall players at any time!
This is clearly a win-win situation for all three parties.

Although Kitagawa only played two games at MSI, he has already proven that he has a certain ceiling; he just needs time and experience to grow.

For the players themselves, having matches to play is definitely a good thing.

Besides, it's not really a "team change" yet!
As a V5, why not take advantage of this opportunity to "train your troops at your own expense"?
BLG, who love popcorn, has a chance to improve in the Summer Split. Anyway, it's not that expensive, and who knows, they might just draw a good card?
Take a step back and say that.

Even if it's a rip-off, can it be as bad as buying the Scout last year?

that's it.

[Beichuan's Summer Transfer to BLG] — This became another major event during the summer transfer period, second only to UZI joining EDG and the swap between Rookie and Xiaohu.

In addition, many other teams have also made personnel adjustments, such as TES announcing the departure of coach White Crescent.
In fact.

The first batch of Asian Games rosters submitted consisted of: [Top Laner Flandre, Jungler JieJie, Mid Laner YeBo, Bot Laner JKL + Meiko, Substitutes 369 + Knight].

At first glance, it seems like there are two V5s, two EDGs, two JDGs, and one TES.

In reality, it's "four EDGs"!
BLG didn't even get a single substitute spot, largely because their performance in the Spring Split wasn't good; they weren't even that much better than EDG and WBG.

Finally, we naturally have to give face to the two-time champions.

And it is obvious.

The press of the button to select the finalists at this moment has given many people renewed hope.

Each player's performance in the summer season has become a key factor in the competition for a spot!

The quietly approaching Summer Split is sure to become even more exciting.
And V5's opening match of the season was a resounding success—it was EDG after Uzi joined the team!

(End of this chapter)