LOL: Can’t I play other games professionally?

Chapter 551 If you play Irelia, I'll play Fiora
"If I can win the first world championship, then I can win the second world championship. That's an indisputable fact."

Scout appeared in front of the camera, adjusted his glasses, and declared his ambition.

JK followed closely behind, sometimes putting his hands in his pockets and sometimes clasping his hands in a fist salute: "I want to be the second ADC to win a championship at the age of 17."

In a promotional video that lasted less than 3 minutes, people from both sides appeared one after another, expressing their determination and courage for the finals.

The atmosphere at the Wenhe Arena was becoming increasingly restless.

As the camera panned to the end, all 12 players stood facing each other in the darkness. With a dragon's roar, the sky suddenly brightened, and the big screen of the world championship finals was crystal clear.

"Hi everyone, good afternoon. Welcome to the finals of the 2018 League of Legends World Championship. This is the Incheon Munhak Stadium in South Korea. Hello everyone, I'm commentator Guan Zeyuan."

"I remember."

"I am Wang Duoduo."

The words fell.

Three figures appeared simultaneously on the screens of domestic players and in the field of vision of all the audience members, though in an inconspicuous corner.

The main commentary booth was reserved for the three home team commentators from South Korea.

But this did not prevent the three LPL commentators, led by Guan Zeyuan, from feeling a special connection to the scene.

no way.

Everyone speaks Chinese.

I'd like to ask, how many South Korean spectators were there besides the athletes' relatives?

I don't know, but at least 40,000 of the 50,000 viewers are fans from China.

Because chants of "Go EDG!" or "Go IG!" had already resounded throughout the stadium.

Do you think Koreans would shout "Go Korea!"?
will not.

So the three Korean commentators in the commentary booth couldn't help but feel a little awkward at this moment, wondering why they had been given this opportunity.

Is this still a Korean venue? Why are there so many Chinese people all around?

Oh.

Oh, so we're also supposed to be commentating on the LPL Autumn Season Finals, an all-Chinese affair.

Then there's no problem.

Well, since they were already there, the three Korean commentators accepted the situation and praised, "Wow, the atmosphere here today is really great. The audience has already shown tremendous enthusiasm even before the match has started."

"Yes, yes, today's match is undoubtedly the most exciting one in this year's World Championship. Let's look forward to the performance of both teams."

"Indeed, EDG and IG, one is last year's World Championship winner, and the other is a team that has had a breakout performance at this year's World Championship. Their matchup will obviously be very interesting, but..."

The Roaring Emperor paused and affirmed, "No matter what, I still have more faith in EDG. EDG's performance has never been bad. Because of Lin Ruo, they rarely make mistakes."

Yes.

When a team has a jungler who can create momentum at any time and put all the pressure on the opponent, it becomes very difficult for the team's players to develop safely and make mistakes.

That BO5 series against GRF made it clear.

As they spoke, the three LCK commentators even showed the current voting support rate according to the procedure.

This is the support rate data for the finals released on the LCK official website after the semifinals. Which team do you think is more likely to win the LCK championship?

The result is obvious.

Although Korean viewers dislike the suffering EDG has brought them in the past two years, if it comes down to who will be the champion in this final, there is no question of who to vote for.

Nearly 200,000 people voted within five days, with over 90% believing that EDG had a greater than 90% chance of winning the championship.

In most people's eyes, the outcome of this final match was almost a one-sided affair.

When you think this is a bit exaggerated, you'll find that the voting rates on both sides are even more exaggerated on external websites.

Because EDG had 94% of the support, only 6% of the viewers believed that IG could defeat EDG and win the world championship.

The LPL side was not far behind. In the series of polls with more than 500,000 participants posted on the official Weibo account, IG's support rate only reached about 20% despite the support of their fans.

Almost everyone watching the final believed that EDG would win the championship without any doubt.

This is not an exaggeration, but the result of EDG's consistent performance since the start of this World Championship.

After the data was presented, during the brief intervals between commentary, the camera appropriately cut to the players' seats. By this time, both players had basically finished adjusting their equipment and were ready to set up their game rooms.

For both teams, who are LPL teams, this final was much more relaxed than usual, so they started interacting in a custom room.

JK (girls' schoolgirl) often begs her idol for mercy: "God Lin, please be gentle with me, don't catch me later."

"No, no, you know I'll only grab it."

Lin Ruo answered the question very seriously; he simply wanted Shang Lu to stop eating.

This request isn't unreasonable, is it?

Well, it's not unreasonable for him to think TheShy is easier to catch, is it?

...

With just a few minutes left before the match started, the number of viewers in the LPL official live stream had already reached a new high.

Although this final didn't feature the most exciting China-Korea showdown, sorry, there was an LPL internal battle!

This moment, symbolizing the pinnacle of the LPL, is one that no LPL viewer can resist watching with a relaxed mindset during the finals.

Regardless of who wins or loses today, anyone who dares to criticize the players will have their head smashed.

[Bag, I'll give everyone a 10 out of 10 in the post-match online forum ratings.]

[Haha, this is the first time I've watched an all-Chinese finals match in a World Championship, and I'm not flustered at all, what should I do?]

[Without a doubt, this was the most relaxed World Championship final we viewers had ever played.]

[Just type 666 with me, no more nonsense. Type 666 for great plays, type 666 for fun. I'll be happy no matter who wins between EDG and IG today.]

No way, I'm an EDG fan! EDG, cheer for me! We're going to win two championships!

[Hmph, it's time for IG to win the championship. We've woken up, so EDG should just step aside.]

The fans of both sides started arguing again, but it lacked any real intensity.

On the other side, in the LPL commentary booth, the pre-match analysis abruptly stopped as the on-site director announced the start of the broadcast, and was replaced by the draft/ban interface on the large screen.

Following the opening ceremony, the LCK official team quickly moved on to the draft and ban phase without any delay.

The final match has officially begun.

IG is on the blue side, EDG is on the red side.

Amidst the cheers of tens of thousands of fans, IG players immediately banned Taliyah and Xin Zhao.

What should we press first?

"Press Aatrox." Looking at the IGBBAR, Lin Ruo knew what to press: first, disable Aatrox.

For IG, if they don't pick Aatrox, they'll have an 80% chance of having to pick him if they're on the blue side.

So what comes after Sword Demon?

Lin Ruo focused her gaze on the Blue Steel Shadow.

"Camille is on the pick. EDG has done a lot of research on her. IG's favorite pick is Aatrox for TheShy on the blue side, and Ning's favorite jungler is definitely Camille."

In Guan Zeyuan's opinion.

EDG accurately predicted IG's top three picks. Losing Aatrox is no big deal.

IG will most likely build Camille first to continue securing Ning's early game tempo.

Although Lin Ruo is also a skilled Camille player, he is on the red side and has to bear the responsibility of having the ban slot potentially picked by the blue side.

With these two heroes activated, IG's most familiar playstyle is essentially locked down.

However, IG's champion pool cannot be simply limited in this way.

"Actually, besides giving the top and jungle champions to IG first, they also like to do another thing: when they are on the blue side, they give the bot lane Kai'Sa first."

Wang Duoduo then analyzed.

“JK has picked Kai'Sa a lot in this World Championship. Should EDG pick her as their third pick as well, disrupting IG's usual lineup?”

Wawa thought EDG should press, but after thinking about it, she quickly rejected the idea.

One of EDG's biggest characteristics in this World Championship is that they basically don't pick Kai'Sa in the bot lane, and they never ban Kai'Sa either.

It's like Kai'Sa is a champion that EDG doesn't have.

Or.

EDG thought Kai'Sa was no good, which is why they neither picked her nor activated her.

If EDG is still the same as before, even if they know IG will pick Kai'Sa, they probably won't have any intention of banning her.

As expected, EDG did not manage to remove any Kai'Sa.

After IG banned Tahm Kench as their third pick, EDG opted to ban Urgot instead.

After the first three rounds of ban/pick on both sides, the game entered the first round of player selection.

"What is IG playing? Is it Kai'Sa?" Remember asked with a hint of doubt.

He had a feeling that IG wouldn't pick Kai'Sa, for a very simple reason: Rakan had been released.

This champion, which is often banned in the World Championship, has been released this time, which makes it very likely that IG will choose Rakan first in the draft phase, acting as a hunter waiting in the wings.

Let's see how EDG chooses between Xayah and Kai'Sa.

With Rakan on the team, IG won't suffer any losses whether they get Xayah or Kai'Sa.

On the contrary, this pick almost locked in EDG's bot lane selection.

You have to choose between Xayah and Kai'Sa.

After all, you can't just give Xayah to our IG team to make a comeback as a duo, can you?

Then you can just take Xia.

Remember's idea was later confirmed, and IG indeed changed their strategy on the first floor of the blue side and decided to pick Rakan as their first pick.

When the choice was in EDG's hands, GimGoon was already prepared to lock in Xayah.

Lin Ruo interrupted this idea: "Let's lock in Kai'Sa and let the bot lane pick Kai'Sa."

"Um, are we just going to give Xayah and Rakan to the other side like that?" Mingkai asked, somewhat puzzled.

But he soon understood what it meant.

This leads us to the question of why IG likes to give their bot lane Kai'Sa.

Kai'Sa is indeed strong in team fights in the mid-to-late game, but she is weak in the early laning phase.

Therefore, Kai'Sa needs to play defensively in the bot lane.

Many teams in the World Championship will focus on the bot lane in the early game to protect Kai'Sa's development, but IG will not.

They never locked down Kai'Sa to gank the bot lane; they simply wanted Kai'Sa to withstand the pressure.

This is why IG likes to pick Kai'Sa. The team needs to focus on the mid, top, and jungle, so Kai'Sa is the best choice. She can slowly farm in the bot lane in the early game and can also act as a carry in the mid to late game to help IG fight and engage in team fights.

It's okay. It doesn't matter if Kai'Sa is at a slight disadvantage in the early game. We'll help you farm up in the top, mid, and jungle, then we can easily get a few kills and make up for it.

Therefore, IG's Kai'Sa is always isolated and helpless in the early game.

So it's based on this point.

Mingkai felt that stealing Kai'Sa was perfectly justifiable.

We'll pick Kai'Sa first and wait to be pressured; we definitely won't pressure the bot lane.

Then you have to pick Xayah. The Xayah-Rakan combo is a breeze for pushing lanes.
So here comes the question.

Ning, who only focuses on the top and mid lanes, shouldn't you spend more time checking the bottom lane in the early game?

It's okay if you don't look, but I'll come and catch you then.

Once he figured it out, Mingkai felt that this move was a stroke of genius. Since that was the case, he decided to lock it in and dismantle IG's most familiar playstyle from the draft phase.

"Huh, Kai'Sa is highlighted. Is EDG really going to pick her?"

When the commentator Remember saw EDG suddenly pick Kai'Sa, his mind went blank for a moment. This didn't make sense; EDG had never picked Kai'Sa in the World Championship before.

The IG head coach shared the same view; he didn't quite understand it either.

But EDG locked in their picks, first locking in Kai'Sa on the first floor, and then finalizing Gragas as their jungler for the first game on the second floor.

Therefore, IG will have to lock in Xayah.

Although it's okay for the bot lane to push the lane, it doesn't seem like a good thing.

With this in mind, IG still picked Irelia next.

Why is the enemy team picking Irelia?

Seeing this choice, Mingkai, who had just agreed with Lin Ruo's idea, became puzzled again, because it didn't make sense.

Rookie has played Irelia before, so this champion is a flexible option for IG, but it's unlikely that the mid laner will use Irelia.

With both Aatrox and Urgot out of the top lane, picking Irelia, who has the most oppressive presence, is IG's most likely strategy.

However, if Irelia is a top lane champion, then Ning will need to keep a close eye on her throughout the early game.

But here's the problem: are they really abandoning the bot lane?
Does IG have the nerve to let their bot lane falter? JK isn't exactly known for playing it safe.

"The other side is a bit of a surprise to me." Lin Ruo took a sip of water as usual, then smiled and looked at Jin Gong.

Jin Gong nodded in response, knowing what Lin Ruo meant: "I'll pick Fiora, I'll absolutely crush him, he won't even get a chance to stomp on me."

He was confident in his skills, and Fiora completely dominated Irelia.

As for TheShy, we have to keep him in check.

Then, when EDG actually pulled out Fiora on the third floor, amidst the astonishment of the 50,000 spectators, IG couldn't sit still anymore.

Coach Kim never expected that EDG would pick Fiora instead of Irelia, which he thought gave him confidence.

This head-on, decisive approach is truly awe-inspiring.

Split pushing isn't popular in this World Championship, but EDG still managed to pull it off.

Perhaps they didn't consider split pushing; they simply wanted to use Fiora to pressure Irelia.

Although TheShy is very strong, even the strongest player shouldn't use Irelia against Fiora.

Since the opposing team dared to make that choice, Coach Kim had no choice but to say helplessly.

"Let's move Irelia to the mid lane."

(End of this chapter)