LPL History

Chapter 323 A Battle of Titans Ends at Mid-Season Invitational; EDG Wins the Championship Amidst a Galaxy of Stars
The LPL Spring Split has finally reached its final stage.

Ultimately, EDG and LGD made it to the final.

The champion of this Spring Split finals will represent the LPL at the Mid-Season Invitational (MSI).

2015 marked the first time Riot Games hosted the MSI tournament.

Riot Games established the MSI tournament because, previously, League of Legends' international tournaments only included the World Championship at the end of the year and the more entertainment-oriented All-Star event. With the All-Star event moved to the end of the year, there was a lack of highly competitive international tournaments in the middle of the year.

The establishment of MSI fills the gap in the mid-season competition, providing players and teams with a continuous competitive experience throughout the year.

Although this was the first time MSI had been held, it was an official Riot Games tournament and featured champion teams from each region, making it exceptionally high-quality and immediately sparking heated discussions among netizens worldwide.

The MSI champion will be considered the strongest team in the world for the first half of the year.

Therefore, both EDG and LGD are eager to obtain this ticket to MSI.

The two sides went the full BO5 in the finals, contributing countless memorable moments, such as Clearlove's opening quadra kill with Nunu, Tong Wudi's Gnar's Tathagata Palm, and Wei Shen's Orianna hiding the ball to instantly kill the pilot.

In the decisive game, Fat General's Twisted Fate was overwhelmed by Wei Shen, and at the fourteen-minute mark, Twisted Fate was 0-4 down in CS and fifty CS behind Crystal Maiden.

At the crucial moment, the factory manager stepped up, stole the dragon, and reversed the disadvantage.

In the end, Mr. Dai even managed a pentakill in front of the Dragon Pit, completely sealing the victory.

EDG defeated LGD 3-2 to win the Spring Split Finals.

However, to everyone's surprise, Mr. Dai's interview after winning the championship stunned everyone.

In response to the host's question, Mr. Dai said:

"When I learned that I was going to play against LGD, I was determined to do my best to win the game because my best friend Zhou Li was treated unfairly there."

"We won today's match very easily, but I think if Zhou Li were here, we probably wouldn't have been able to win."

Mr. Dai's words immediately caused an uproar among netizens.

No one expected that Mr. Dai would say such a thing in the post-match interview.

Some audience members even spread rumors that when Mr. Dai said those words, the girls in the audience couldn't hold back and cried like children.

Even more outrageous is that, whether out of a competitive spirit or something else, imp said the same thing in a post-match interview:

"If Zhou Li had been in today's match, we might have won."

The internet exploded with discussion.

[Wait, are weekend getaways really that popular?]

[I'm dying of laughter, what is Imp doing?]

[Deft spoke without thinking; EDG fans hate Zhou Li the most.]

[imp is right, LGD has already banned Zhou Li, and imp is still speaking up for him.]

[This is hilarious! Two world-class ADCs are fighting over a top laner! Haha!]

[Zhou Chu is a succubus, right?]

[LGD, give me back Zhou Chu! I want to see Zhou Chu go crazy!]

Without weekly matches, LPL feels less interesting lately.

Meanwhile, Zhou Li, who was at the center of public opinion, was sitting in the IG club.

Zhu Kai crossed his legs, looking nonchalant and irresponsible.

After being a fan of IG for so long, Zhu Kai has finally seen the light at the end of the tunnel and is now a coach for IG.

Although he is not a very useful coach and has no real power, at least Zhu Kai can stand behind the players in a proper manner during the draft phase of each match and get a shot of himself, which is very important for his future development.

Zhou Li looked at Zhu Kai in front of him and thought to himself that Zhu Kai was getting better now and even dared to cross his legs in front of him.

Although he really didn't want to see Zhu Kai again, after all, he saw that face every year and it was really disgusting to look at.

But after thinking it over, it seems that his best place right now is IG.

For Zhou Li, it's actually quite interesting to encounter old acquaintances every time he meets them in a new season and see how they gradually grow stronger.

They expand once, then wipe each time; it's like playing whack-a-mole.

At this moment, Zhu Kai sat at the table, pretending to be serious, and tapped the table with his fingers.

He didn't actually have much status within the team, but Zhou Li wasn't one of their people, so in front of outsiders, he still had to act like a coach.

“Zhou Li, I also think you’re really good, but as you know, our team already has two Korean players. You definitely know our jungler Kakao, he’s definitely the king of the jungle for IG. As for Rookie, everyone has seen his growth, and he’s already our team’s stable starting mid laner.”

Zhou Li naturally knew what Zhu Kai meant by those words.

According to the competition rules, a team can have a maximum of two South Korean players on the field at the same time in a single match.

Kakao is one of the four best junglers in Korea and was recognized as the world's best jungler in the previous OGN league. He holds a pivotal position in the IG team.

Although Rookie was jokingly referred to by netizens as being brought in as part of a package deal, his growth in the LPL has been very rapid. He has now directly replaced the original mid laner, Zz1tai, and become the starting mid laner.

These two are now core members of the IG team.

If Zhou Li joins, who will IG replace?
While IG does seem to be looking to strengthen their top lane, Zz1tai hasn't adapted very well since switching to the top lane, so the club's substitutes are mostly top laners. But it seems unlikely that they would choose to replace Kakao or Rookie with Zhou Li just for the sake of a top laner.

However, Zhou Li was naturally aware of this rule, and he had already made plans before coming to IG.

“I know,” Zhou Li said, taking something out of his pocket and placing it on the table. “But who said I’m a Korean aid worker?”

Zhu Kai was stunned. He stared at the things on the table, then at Zhou Li, checking them over and over again, before becoming completely bewildered.

"No, you're Chinese?!"

On the table was Zhou Li's identity card.

"I never said I was Korean."

Zhu Kai felt like he was starting to get a brain.

"But aren't you a South Korean player?"

“If coming from the OGN league counts as being a Korean player, then I am indeed a Korean player.” “No,” Zhu Kai picked up the ID card on the table and examined it for a long time, seemingly trying to confirm whether Zhou Li had forged it. “How did you do that? How could OGN possibly train a Chinese person?”

Zhou Li shrugged.

“I didn’t have a choice before, but now I want to be Chinese.”

In fact, Zhou Li had been working on this ever since he returned to China.

After all, who the hell wants to be a Korean?

Zhou Li originally thought that changing his nationality would be very difficult, since the conditions for obtaining Chinese citizenship are exceptionally stringent.

Fortunately, the identity the system gave him from the beginning provided him with considerable convenience.

His grandfather was a volunteer soldier who fought against the Koreans and the Americans. Although his father was born in South Korea, he was a Chinese citizen. However, because the family's businesses were all in South Korea, he lived there.

With this background, Zhou Li's desire to regain Chinese citizenship seems less daunting.

Even so, after going through layers of approval, Zhou Li only recently received his ID card.

Upon hearing Zhou Li's explanation, Zhu Kai beamed with joy.

"Great! That's wonderful!"

It's worth noting that although Zhou Li is seen as a blue-collar top laner by outsiders, he is actually highly regarded within the industry.

Being a blue-collar top laner doesn't mean you're bad at the game.

LGD's current top laner, Acorn, is also a blue-collar top laner, but in the eyes of insiders, Acorn's performance is far inferior to that of Zhou Li, who is a substitute.

It's worth noting that Zhou Li has maintained a 100% win rate in all his matches so far.

It's widely believed that Zhou Li's 100% win rate is entirely due to LGD's influence.

However, since Zhou Li was benched by LGD and Acorn, who seemed stronger, started the game, LGD, although still very strong in subsequent matches, also lost a significant number of games.

If Zhou Li was really just a casual player, how come Acorn couldn't achieve a 100% win rate?

What does IG lack most right now?
He is a very experienced and mature top laner.

Moreover, Zhu Kai knew that Zhou Li was very cheap now.

The only thing that worries Zhu Kai now is the widely circulated rumor about Zhou Li's mental state.

"Your spirit..."

"Don't worry, Coach Zhu, I'm fine. I was in South Korea for too long before, and it was too depressing. Since returning to China, the atmosphere of my motherland has healed me."

Zhou Li kept calling Zhu Coach, almost coaxing Zhu Kai into becoming a mere embryo.

When had Zhu Kai ever met such a sweet-talking child?

You should know that although he holds the title of coach at IG, which of the IG players really treats him as a coach?

In front of the camera, he is Coach Zhu Kai, but in private, the players still call him "Zhu Kai, order me some takeout."

Looking at this humble and polite young man in front of me, where is there any trace of the crazy person that the outside world has been talking about?
Moreover, if Zhou Li were really that bad, why would it be worthwhile for Deft to risk incurring the wrath of EDG fans and for Imp to risk being warned by the club, to publicly speak out for Zhou Li?

Looking at Zhu Kai's expression, Zhou Li knew that his plan had basically succeeded.

After all, he knew Xiao Zhu too well.

As soon as Xiao Zhu sticks out his butt, he knows what kind of fart Xiao Zhu is about to let out.

Naturally, it's also known that Xiao Zhu prefers to be called coach.

The two then had a very pleasant conversation, and Zhu Kai also said that he would soon discuss the details of the transaction with LGD.

Zhou Li felt relieved after doing all this; now he just needed to wait quietly.

He naturally doesn't need to worry about LGD refusing to let go; in fact, now that a club is willing to take over, LGD must be ecstatic.

As for the Giant Soldier, the roasted pork from the Ida region was the last gift Zhou Li gave him.

It's impossible for the Giant Soldier to come to IG with him.

From an idealistic perspective, replacing the useless Kid with the Giant Warrior would truly transform IG into an aircraft carrier.

However, IG already has two Korean players.

With him being seen as a Korean player by outsiders, IG will eventually have to form an all-Korean team.

Moreover, the price of the Titan is simply too high. Not to mention that LGD would never let go of the Titan who is still at his peak, even if LGD were willing to part with him, IG would not be willing to buy him.

In the days that followed, Zhou Li simply began his life of lying down and doing nothing.

After so many years of hard work, this is the first time he has been so lax.

However, taking a break occasionally is also a good option.

So Zhou Li resumed its old ways.

As a respectable person, he likes to write little diaries in his spare time.

[May 1st, Labor Day. I invited Xiaoyou to my house to do chores together. We both love to work, and we didn't want to stop even when we were sweating profusely.]

May 3rd, a boring day, back to work.

On May 4th, the LCK Spring Split champion was crowned, with Dafei leading his SKT team to once again capture the attention of netizens worldwide.

[On May 6th, Xiaoyou is going to the US for a hosting job. I'm sad to see her go. I think I've become a bit lazy; I've been working non-stop these past few days and haven't even practiced Latin dance.]

[On May 8th, the MSI officially kicked off. A total of six teams are participating in this MSI, representing the spring split champions from each of the six regions: China's EDG, South Korea's SKT, North America's TSM, Europe's Fnatic, Hong Kong/Macau/Taiwan's AHQ, and the wildcard team BJK. Watching history unfold for the first time as an observer is quite interesting. The era of LPL's massive expansion is about to begin.]

On May 9th, EDG achieved a 4-1 record in the group stage, only losing to SKT. Although their performance was commendable, the loss to SKT still caused concern among many, as the fear of Korean teams is deeply ingrained in LPL viewers. I started streaming to cheer for EDG and declared that they would definitely win the championship. However, those idiotic EDG fans were incredibly ungrateful, accusing me of having ulterior motives and deliberately jinxing EDG. These fans are so malicious and their prejudice against me is too deep. I think I should randomly pick a female EDG fan and have a serious talk with her.

On May 10th, in the semifinals, EDG swept AHQ 3-0 to advance to the finals. SKT also made it to the finals. The champions from the two major regions, China and Korea, will meet in the grand finals.

[May 11th! Great news! EDG defeated the seemingly invincible SKT 3-5! This is the first time an LPL team has defeated SKT in a best-of-three series! The internet is absolutely ecstatic! The fear of Korean teams that has plagued LPL viewers for years has vanished with this victory, replaced by extreme arrogance. WE's performance at IEM, coupled with EDG's championship win, clearly shows that the LPL seems to have completely surpassed the LCK! EDG has won their first official Riot Games global tournament title. Amazing EDG, they're so strong! In the livestream, I became a huge EDG fan, even declaring that this year's world champions will definitely be EDG, and Deft sent me a rocket!]

On May 12th, just before the LPL summer transfer window closed, IG officially announced my signing. However, at that time, netizens' attention was still focused on celebrating EDG's championship victory, and almost no one noticed me, a marginal player who had been sidelined for a long time.

(End of this chapter)