LPL History

Chapter 314 The Dark Crossbow Shakes the Four Directions, Cleverly Changing the Wire and Furiously Striking the Spinning Top

"Viewers watching the live stream, you are now watching the 2015 League of Legends Spring Split Regular Season! The two teams facing off are LGD Esports Club and OMG Esports Club! I'm your commentator, Miller!"

"I'm the commentator, Waa!"

Jingwu Stadium in Shanghai.

The stands were already packed with people.

Tickets for today's match were extremely hard to come by.

Of course, the main reason for this is because of OMG.

In 2015, Dark Force had already become a top team in the LPL. With the addition of UZI, this all-Chinese roster was considered by netizens to be the strongest contender for the World Championship trophy this year.

In their two matches so far, they have achieved a perfect 4-0 record, which seems to confirm what fans previously thought – OMG's only weakness, the bottom lane, is no longer there.

"Today's match can be described as a clash of titans! Both teams were undefeated before, but today one of them will definitely have their winning streak broken!"

Hearing the doll's words, Miller nodded and said:

"LGD's performance this year has been outstanding. And we know that the intensity of their matches at the beginning of the season is very high! Their first match was against EDG, and their second match was against VG. Both of these teams were highly favored by outsiders before the start of the season, but LGD successfully won both matches. Today they will face OMG, and I am really looking forward to LGD's performance today."

Unlike the majority of OMG supporters at the event, the chat room was filled with lively arguments.

The incident involving UZI leaving his phone on to shower during a live stream has escalated in the past two days due to public opinion surrounding it.

Although both OMG eSports Club and UZI himself apologized afterward, it clearly had no effect.

Furthermore, some busybodies have revealed that Zhou Li was also a party involved in this incident.

This completely excited netizens.

It's important to know that Zhou Li is a person who naturally attracts attention and buzz. In the words of netizens, Zhou Li has a built-in corrosive buff; anyone who gets involved with him will either die or be severely injured.

So when Zhou Li started streaming to meet the club's KPIs, countless netizens flooded into his stream, ready to ask him how he came to see UZI AFK taking a shower.

That day, Zhou Li changed the title of his live stream to "Bathing Dog." After playing the support character Nami all day, he kept saying "catching water bubbles," thoroughly engraving the words "Bathing Dog" into the DNA of the netizens.

Thus, UZI's nickname "Bathing Dog" became a common expression among netizens.

Meanwhile, given Zhou Li's "outstanding" performance in the first two games, his reputation as a "team-destroying maniac" has spread far and wide amidst the growing public opinion.

As a result, many netizens who dislike OMG, including casual observers, paid close attention to today's match. Zhou Li also had a rare moment this season when he had spectators cheering him on.

There are even urban legends that say any team that loses to Zhou Li will either suffer increased internal discord or, in severe cases, disband and fall apart.

This naturally puts enormous psychological pressure on OMG's fans (59e).

Their galactic battleships have only just been assembled; how can they be allowed to fall apart like this!
Therefore, OMG absolutely cannot lose today's match!

For some young women with weaker mental fortitude, tears were already welling up in their eyes in the audience even before the competition started.

Zhou Li glanced at the audience and saw a young woman holding a dog-shaped cheering sign, her face flushed with excitement. She was shouting "Go dog!" and occasionally throwing out a few words of greeting to him.

The young lady was quite pretty, but she had gone astray. He decided to teach her a lesson with a big stick after the competition and help her correct her ways.

At this point, both sides had entered the draft phase, and a routine player swapping was conducted.

LGD, on the blue side, banned Janna, LeBlanc, and Irelia.

OMG, on the other hand, banned Lissandra, Kassadin, and Rek'Sai.

Chris knew Zhou Li's personality meant he wouldn't choose top lane first, so he said:

"Let's get the fox for Wei Shen first."

In the current version, excluding the mid-lane heroes that have been banned, Ahri has the highest priority in the mid-lane. Moreover, this versatile mid-lane hero is not significantly countered in lane, so GodV naturally has no objections.

The right to vote has returned to OMG.

White Crescent was already sweating profusely during the BP phase alone.

The immense psychological pressure made his throat tighten.

Because whenever he looked up at the opposite side, Zhou Li, who was on the LGD player bench, would stare at him for no apparent reason.

Being able to coach OMG, this super team, puts immense pressure on White Crescent.

After all, if a team doesn't perform well, the coach is often the first to get criticized.

Moreover, he knew that the puppy's condition had been poor these past two days because of the dog bathing incident.

White Crescent glanced at UZI.

Look, they haven't even started fighting yet, and they're already burying their heads in their hands and gnawing on their nails.

White Crescent thought for a moment and decided to stick to his pre-match strategy: this match would be an all-out attack!

LGD is a team that excels at fighting, but so is OMG.

Even when OMG was known for its fighting prowess in the LPL, LGD was still playing in the mud.

If we can quickly gain an advantage in the first game, then we can consider today's situation stable; otherwise, things will only get worse.

Then the white crescent moon spoke:

"How about we get the elixir and the leopard woman?"

Although LPL coaches have now stepped into the spotlight to participate in the draft phase, they don't actually have much power. In many cases, they are just assisting in the draft process.

Ultimately, the choice rests with the contestants themselves.

I'll give you an idea, then listen to it and see if it works.

If you think it's okay, then everyone's happy. If you think it's not okay, then I can only respect your opinion.

Therefore, the relationship between the coach and the player during this period is more like that of a strategist and a lord.

However, it was clear that the elixir was very satisfied with the white crescent moon's suggestion this time, and nodded, saying:

"No problem, but we need to control the lane."

The white crescent moon looked at UZI again.

"Little dog, Spear of Vengeance?"

The puppy didn't speak, it just nodded while chewing on its fingers.

LGD locked in Graves and Braum on the second and third floors.

White Crescent sighed, inwardly complaining about why LGD was picking players so quickly, not giving him any time to think.

What he didn't know was that Chris's situation at LGD was actually no different from his own.

Even worse off than him.

OMG had previously maintained relatively strict management, and the players' personalities weren't particularly flamboyant.

But LGD is different. Sometimes Chris doesn't even have time to offer suggestions before the players have already decided what they want to take.

Looking at the white crescent moon hesitantly, Wu Zhuangtai spoke up on his own:

"I'll take the Tsar."

He didn't wait for White Crescent's reply before locking down the Tsar himself.

OMG then locked in Maokai again.

LGD came to the last two picks. They first locked in Vi, and then waited for Zhou Li to speak.

Zhou Li thought for a moment, then said something surprising.

"VN, VN."

As soon as Zhou Li finished speaking, the LGD players widened their eyes and looked at Zhou Li in disbelief.

"Stop messing around, Zhou Li!"

Hirano Aya spoke up.

In the eyes of the LGD players, Zhou Li's choice of Vayne was clearly intended to annoy the opposing UZI.

After all, everyone knows that Vayne isn't named after Wei, but after Jane. But it's one thing to mess around in private, this is a formal match! Who uses Vayne in the game?!
Even Chris, who was always adept at navigating social situations, couldn't help but speak up:

"If Zhou Li picks a normal champion, how can Vayne play top lane? And do you even know how to play Vayne?"

"Is there a problem with me playing Vayne against Maokai in the top lane?"

Zhou Li countered with a question.

At this point, no one was paying attention to what Zhou Li was saying anymore; in their eyes, Zhou Li's ideas were simply too outrageous.

Hirano Aya simply said:
"Anyway, I'm not going to give you Vayne."

"It's okay if you don't take it, I'll play Graves top lane too."

Everyone was speechless again.

Because they knew that given the relationship between Zhou Li and Imp, Imp might actually give the Graves to Zhou Li.

So Aya Hirano turned her gaze to Chris.

This act of turning back to ask for clarification is quite intriguing.

Was he genuinely trying to get Chris's opinion?
no.

Aya Hirano just wanted to tell UZI's fans that picking Vayne had nothing to do with him.

"LGD hesitated for a long time when picking their last top laner! Time was almost up!"

Hearing the doll's words, Miller analyzed:

"I feel like we could pick Cho'Gath. In the last game, Zhou Li's Cho'Gath was very effective against Treant Protector!"

“Indeed,” Wawa nodded, “Judging from Zhou Li’s champion pool, we know he’s a very typical utility top laner, and Cho’Gath is indeed a good pick right now…wait?!”

The child was halfway through speaking when he stared wide-eyed at the hero that lit up on the fifth floor of LGD.

He was just about to say that LGD was just creating a show, but the next second, LGD instantly locked in!

"Locked! Wait, what's going on?! How come they locked out Vayne in the end?! My god, what are you guys doing, LGD?!"

The reason why Wawa was so excited was because he knew that this Vayne pick was not only outrageous in terms of lineup, but would also directly enrage certain fan groups.

What do you mean by playing Vayne in front of my UZI?
Have you written an application?
In a normal team composition, picking Vayne is understandable, but in the current version, even with a normal team composition, Vayne's pick rate is extremely low.

But with this lineup, the Vayne pick looks like a very forced choice!
"Where is Vayne headed? Let's see LGD's substitutions!"

Miller looked at the BP interface and finally couldn't help but exclaim:
"My god, top lane Vayne?!"

After he finished expressing his feelings, he fell silent because he didn't know what to say.

Even in Miller's view, the intention behind this VN pick was very clear, especially since it was in Zhou Li's hands.

The live stream room was now filled with question marks.

【? ? ? ? 】

【Huh? Top lane Vayne?】

This guy isn't just doing something silly.

This is outrageous!

Haha, that's outrageous!

[Sima Zhouli! He's playing the puppy mentality on us again!]

[Can't you just focus on the game? Why do you always have to be so annoying?!]

OMG player bench.

After seeing LGD lock in Vayne, a faint, unintentional laugh could be heard through everyone's headsets.

No one bothered to find out who made the laughter.

Because everyone except UZI laughed just now.

Only UZI's finger-biting speed is faster now.

Zhou Li's use of Vayne immediately thrust him into the spotlight once again.

After all, with such an unconventional lineup, Zhou Li's Vayne pick looks like he's messing with UZI.

As a result, the 59e fans and their ilk cursed even more fiercely, while the netizens watching the drama got even more excited.

However, Zhou Li's Vayne pick really wasn't intended to target UZI.

For a triple crown winner to deliberately target an "uncrowned king" is simply beneath his dignity.

It was just something I did on a whim.

The reason for choosing Vayne is that Vayne can indeed spin like a top when fighting Maokai, and he still has the skill to play Vayne.

Secondly, he knows that the OMG team now likes to switch lanes to ensure UZI's development.

If he picks a big bug and faces OMG's lane swap, he'll just get whipped around like a spinning top.

If he picks Vayne, even if the enemy switches lanes, he can immediately call Hirano Aya over to play support for him.

Furthermore, he can also enjoy the high buff effect of his strict father. This Vayne pick is probably even stronger than when he was in Season 3!
As far as Zhou Li was concerned, being carefree was one thing, but being treated like a spinning top was definitely unacceptable.

And so, in this enthusiastic atmosphere, the lineups for both sides were finalized.

Blue side: LGD Esports Club VS Red side: OMG Esports Club.

Top Lane: (Li) Night Hunter VS (Gogoing) Twisted Treant.

Jungle: (tbq) Vi VS (loveling) Wild Huntress.

Mid Lane: (welless) Nine-Tailed Fox VS (cool) Azir.

ADC: (imp) Graves VS (uzi) Kalista.

Support: (pyl) Leona VS (luo) Morgana.

As soon as both sides entered the game, Zhou Li marked it on the minimap.

"Hirano Aya, wait ten more seconds, then place a ward in front of the enemy's top lane inhibitor tower."

Hearing Zhou Li's words, Hirano Aya was clearly puzzled.

"what?"

"Let's see if the other side will switch lanes."

Zhou Li patiently chose to explain.

In fact, he actually learned this trick from Mata.

This deep ward placement allows you to see immediately if the opponent has switched lanes, enabling you to react accordingly.

All I can say is that Mata's brain is indeed very sharp.

As expected, the ward that Zhou Li had Hirano Aya placed quickly detected OMG's movements.

As expected, OMG opted to switch lanes.

Seeing OMG's actions, Zhou Li thought to himself, "No wonder OMG has run into trouble."

Originally, their combination of Kalista and Morgana should have had a clear advantage against Graves and Leona.

Even so, OMG still chose to switch lanes.

This certainly couldn't have been the older brother's idea. Although it's true that Maokai can't lane against Vayne, under normal laning conditions, he would only get spinning around by Vayne alone. But if they switch lanes, he would get spinning around by two people.

How can OMG avoid conflicts when they exploit the development space of other players?

Zhou Li pinged the top lane and said:

"The enemy has switched lanes, Imp, you guys go top."

(End of this chapter)