My buddy is actually a Cao Cao type top laner?

Chapter 261 Tonight, everyone will cheer for us!
On the night of the game.

The news of V5's victory spread throughout the entire LPL. In any case, at least one LPL team has secured a spot in the semifinals.

Of course, LPL viewers are still dreaming.

That means all three LPL teams that advanced will make it to the semifinals, and then they will gank and wipe out the LCK teams on the spot.

Do you think JDG can beat T1?

While packing his luggage, Nofe casually asked the two teaching assistants a question.

"That's enough."

Zero shook his head.

Although T1 suffered another defeat at this year's MSI, the T1 at Worlds and the T1 at MSI are two completely different things.

And based on history.

T1 has never lost a BO5 match against an LPL team in the World Championship and still maintains a 100% win rate.

Let alone JDG, even they don't seem that confident when facing T1.

“I’m sorry.”

After a moment of contemplation, GimGoon said, "Of the four LCK teams in the semifinals, GENG, which we defeated, and DK, which RGE will be facing, are relatively easy to deal with because they all have clear weaknesses."

"And T1"

"In front of them, whether it's us or JDG, the weakness lies in the bottom lane."

Again.

The S-series is a competition that tests learning ability while also trying to maximize strengths and minimize weaknesses.

JDG's lineup isn't bad, but their bot lane does have certain weaknesses compared to the other lanes.

That is, the day they landed in Toronto.

It was almost exactly as they had predicted.

JDG seemed somewhat outmatched by T1 at Worlds, especially in the top lane. T1's top lane was particularly aggressive this round. In the four games of the BO5 series, except for the game where they played a tank, Zeus was spinning like a 369 top in every game.

Followed by.

It seems that good fortune never comes in pairs, but misfortunes never come singly.

The other half of the zone.

EDG mysteriously lost to DK, as if their S11 championship victory had exhausted all their luck, and this year they were once again in the top eight.

As for DRX vs. RGE, they didn't suffer any setbacks.

The anticipated scenario of three LPL teams besieging LCK teams in the semifinals did not materialize. Instead, it was the LCK semifinalists who besieged V5.

The fig leaf for LPL has been torn off.

Until this moment.

Countless viewers only belatedly realized that even in last year's S11, the semifinals were similar, with EDG relying solely on one team to defeat three others; this year, the same script was played, only this time the team EDG was replaced by V5.

This, on the contrary, proves...

The gap in overall strength between the two regions has long been insurmountable.

Dead memories suddenly began to attack me.

[If it weren't for EDG's phenomenal performance last year, the LPL would have been in a mess starting from the semifinals. This year, the script is almost identical. Even if V5 manages to break through, it only shows that V5 is a strong team, not that the LPL region is strong.]

Welcome to the S12 epic drama series, "LPL's Most Promising Year"!

[The necessary conditions for winning the S-series championship: Every player on the team must be at least the best in the world at carrying, and any weaknesses they have will be magnified infinitely in high-stakes matches.]

Looking at these results.

Even the members of V5 fell silent.

this.
The pressure is a bit much.

Originally, with other teams helping to divert attention, they could secretly practice heroes while things were in disarray. Now that they are the only LPL team left in the top four, the direct consequence is that the entire internet has started searching for their ranked smurf accounts.

A few days.

The numbers distributed to everyone have almost all been taken.

And Luo Ji.

He was on the phone, chatting with the guy who had lost the game.

"Bro, you can't do this either! DK can lose? DK's Bull Bull and the two-handed dunk, you guys should have easily won if you played normally, right?"

"Well said, but we've never actually fought one."

The gunman was also having some headaches.

But it was just a headache.

After all, they were last year's S-series champions. Although LPL viewers felt it was a pity that they were eliminated in the quarterfinals this year, they did not have too much resentment towards them.

The fourth seed making it to the quarterfinals is good enough.

Do they really expect the fourth seed to fight their way up and win the championship?
"How about I be your sparring partner?"

"Personally, I don't care, but for others, I'll have to ask, but don't get your hopes up too high."

The final four are the key points.

For V5, the biggest headache isn't actually their accounts being exposed. At this stage, everyone's hero pool is practically open, so it's all about how they strategize during the draft phase.

The point is.

Aside from G2, which they acquired, V5 currently has no other teams they can use for scrims.

The three LCK teams were playing their own games, while the other teams, disheartened by their loss in the World Championship, started taking a break.

Let's look at the groups again.

Upper bracket: V5 vs T1
Bottom bracket: DRX vs. DK
The only consolation for V5 is that if they win the championship this year, their achievement will be of unprecedented value.

The Golden Road + a triple kill against LCK, that scene was too beautiful, almost equivalent to a void world line where RNG did not lose to G2 in S8, but successfully won the championship.

The four semi-final spots were confirmed that night.

The entire V5 team was fully engaged in the intense and exciting ranked games.

Although Luo Ji wanted to remind his teammates that this year's T1 was actually relatively easy to beat, since T1 in S12 was only strong in terms of individual players, while T1 in S13 was strong in terms of the team as a whole, and next year would be truly hopeless.

but
Seeing how serious everyone was, he thought it best not to say anything.

That's good enough. (Three out of four teams failed to advance; V5 successfully took over from last year's EDG.)

"Completely outmaneuvered strategically, let's rationally discuss why the LPL coaching team's level is getting worse and worse."

TES: Welcome to the swimming family! Experience the warmth of home.

Can V5 become the last savior of the LPL?

It only took one night.

The prevailing sentiment on the internet has shifted from overwhelmingly favoring the LPL to overwhelmingly favoring the LCK. There's no way around it; the lineup of the top four is just too overwhelming.

S12 was a year in which all LCK teams gave their all.

DK's mid-jungle duo, DRX's comeback, T1's dominance, and Genius Ruler's veteran comeback.

It's not that they are invincible in terms of strength.

Even as viewers, we could clearly see their desire to win in the game. This fighting spirit was something we didn't see in other LPL teams, which was fatal.

The audience is very realistic.

If you can win, I'll praise you every day.

But if you lose, even the runner-up will be berated as an idiot.

The Royal Club, the runner-up in Season 4, was even cursed with a plane crash, which shows how cold-hearted everyone is about the club, just like in a romantic relationship.

When in love: poetry and distant places; when not in love: corpses and the police.
When in love: to stay together forever; when not in love: to hide one's corpse in a box.

When in love: always together; when not in love: scattered about.

When in love: kisses, hugs, and lifting each other high; when not in love: chopping, cutting, and stuffing into bags.

"We've received a message from the club's management."

With some time still remaining before the semifinals, Nofe relayed the club's investors' message to his teammates:
“Our boss doesn’t understand LOL and can’t help us with the game’s technical aspects, but he knows how to be a boss.”

"Next."

"If you make it to the finals, each person will receive an additional World Championship prize; if you win the S-series, like EDG did last year, each person will receive an apartment."

interest.

Naked self-interest.

Upon hearing this reward, not only Luo Ji, but even veterans like Rookie and Casa subconsciously began to breathe rapidly.

A good boss.

Not only should you meet your subordinates' basic welfare needs, but you should also feed them snacks from time to time so they don't go hungry.

at this point.

The owner of V5 undoubtedly understands this.

As the son of the gambling king, he is not short of money. What rich people need more is fame and face. Once V5 can complete the golden road and win the championship, it will become a gold medal in his business career.

more importantly.

This will make him look very proud.

For wealthy people.

Money is simply a matter of how much you earn. It's hard to lose money when you're just moving resources around, but when it comes to reputation, it's incredibly difficult to do so openly and honestly.

"Wouldn't this be considered a monetary bribe?" Casa asked with a grin.

I don't think so.

Luo Ji thought for a moment and explained, "Because refusing to accept RMB is illegal, accepting money is not a problem."

"You can interpret it like that?" Rookie asked in surprise.

"Yes, that's the correct way to understand it."

The quarterfinals and semifinals are 9 days apart.

Although they seemed to have plenty of time, it actually flew by, because they also needed to record their own semi-final vlogs, which was a bit of a waste of time.

Even Luo Ji hadn't really noticed the passage of time.

Soon, the semi-finals began.

this day.

Tens of thousands of spectators began to enter the venue one after another, waiting for the highly anticipated semi-final to begin. It is worth mentioning that from the start of the semi-final, many Chinese students could be seen entering the venue.

The V5 players arrived at the rest room earlier and were making their final preparations before the match.

"I won't say anything more."

"Everyone has witnessed the T1 vs. JDG match. The biggest problem was JDG's bot lane. Our region has been playing Aphelios + Lulu against Luna for a whole year, but JDG couldn't suppress them at Worlds."

"This shows that T1's bot lane duo is in very good form, extremely good."

Xiao Yan and PPGOD did not speak.

The battle for bottom lane control was particularly fierce in S12. The reason why they were able to control the top half of the map against GENG was because Luo Ji was able to consistently gank the opponent's Doran.

T1 is acceptable.
T1's top laner Zeus is a young top laner whom Luo Ji has publicly acknowledged as a potential rival. They witnessed his talent at MSI, and it was indeed ridiculously exaggerated.

and so.

In the bottom lane, they can only rely on themselves and wait for the jungler.

"Our advantage lies in the fact that our hero pool is comparable to that of the opposing T1 team. Although we are not proficient in all of them, we can at least use them, which is very important."

Speaking of which.

Nofe glanced at Luo Ji in the corner.

He felt that this guy was playing a long game.

Even during the Spring Split, he intentionally or unintentionally guided his teammates to practice more heroes, and what's even stranger is that almost all of the heroes they practiced were actually used.

"Right after."

"Please remember this as well."

"Playing against T1 will be a long battle. We must be prepared to go all out in five games. In today's match, victory is not the end, and defeat is not fatal. The only thing that matters is the courage to persevere."

"Give it your all."

"Tonight, everyone will cheer for us!"

(End of this chapter)