Nirvana Top Laner, Reborn Tokyo Girl

Chapter 170, Section 167: The Final Battle at MSI!

On June 15th, the second stage of the LPL season, filled with drama and discussion, finally came to a complete end.

After the playoffs ended, both teams ultimately went to MSI.

These two teams are AL, the number one seed, and BLG, the number two seed.

For most viewers, the outcome of this playoff series was somewhat unexpected.

Firstly, TES failed to qualify for MSI.

As the leader of the second stage in the regular season, TES showed some signs of fatigue near the end of the regular season. However, at that time, everyone said that it was because TES did not feel any pressure in the regular season, so they were practicing and trying out different lineups.

To everyone's surprise, this trial lineup led to them being moved to the next stage of the competition.

This is actually great news for many LPL fans.

Many LPL fans believe that as long as TES continues to dominate the region, there is no hope for that region.

This means that the LPL is still the same spinning top region, the same region where big spinning tops beat small spinning tops.

Of course, even if TES doesn't make it, it doesn't prove that the LPL isn't a bunch of maggots.

But at least it's better than TES making it.

The sheer number of people in the LPL who simply hate TES and are just there to watch the drama unfold is unprecedented. It's safe to say that in the entire history of the LPL, there have been very few teams with a worse reputation than TES right now.

If there is one, it must be RNG after the 2018 World Championship.

However, it wasn't just TES's failure to qualify for MSI that was surprising.

Actually, just looking at the rankings of the two teams that made it into MSI is quite surprising.

First of all, BLG was actually the second seed, which was probably beyond many people's expectations before the playoffs started.

Even halfway through the playoffs, many people probably couldn't have imagined such a scene.

The reason is that after BLG changed their jungler in the second half of the second stage, they were very strong. Everyone thought that BLG could dominate the LPL with almost no pressure, return to the throne of the LPL leader, and go to MSI as the number one seed.

Surprisingly, BLG failed to defeat AL.

At this point, AL had not yet been tested in major competitions. Based on the stereotypes about the ID and the team, no matter how well the team performed in the regular season, people still did not think they were very good. They still thought it was a team with limited potential and that of older players.

Similar teams have actually appeared in the LPL before, such as V5, which was composed of Karsa and Rookie, and LGD, which had Peanut join them in S10.

This is a team with many older players, or those in the later stages of their careers, combined with some players who are not weak but not exactly stars.
They often seem to do well in the regular season, but their weaknesses are exposed in the playoffs.

This has led to a long-term stereotype that such teams are pseudo-strong teams.

Therefore, many people found it quite unbelievable when AL defeated BLG in the playoff upper bracket.

Even though AL looked quite strong in the regular season, and even though AL was leading the standings alongside BLG and TES in the regular season.

Then, when AL defeated BLG again in the playoffs finals, everyone still found it unbelievable.

On the one hand, everyone was surprised that BLG, which was highly anticipated, was actually so bad.

On the other hand, I was surprised to find that AL was really that strong.

In conclusion, the number of slots allocated to the LPL region is somewhat surprising.

However, for LPL fans, this is at least the best arrangement.

Indeed, it seems that the two teams going to MSI are currently the two strongest and best-performing teams in the LPL.

Most importantly, they didn't let TES go.

For LPL fans, preventing TES from going to MSI is a huge success.

It's not just LPL's MSI qualification that's surprising.

In fact, it should be said that the qualification for MSI is quite complicated around the world right now.

Simply put...
Almost all the teams in the world that went to the Pioneer Tournament failed to make it to MSI.

That's right, including Hanwha, and also KC from Europe.

I don't know why Hanwha's team is like this. They got the runner-up in the Pioneer Tournament and their performance didn't seem bad. They also played very well in the first stage.

However, in the second stage, it's unclear whether it was because his mentality was broken or something else.

Zeus, who has always been considered the best top laner in the LCK, was surprisingly defeated by T1.Doran, a player whom everyone looked down upon, in the qualifiers.

Although there has always been a legend about Doran, who is "a terrible player but can still win when facing Zeus".

But such a legend is just a legend, and nobody took it seriously.

But to everyone's surprise, the legend was true.

Dolan, who was not favored throughout the season and was even beaten by Shimamura in ranked games when he first joined T1, has become the most promising player in T1.

He became the most crucial and explosive player in the entire MSI qualifier.

It can be said that they completely carried the team to victory against HLE and qualified for MSI.

The whole world was shocked by this result.

So Doran wasn't a maggot after all.

It turns out Zeus was the real maggot.

At this point, T1 fans were absolutely ecstatic.

What could be more satisfying than your favorite team making it to MSI by stepping on your enemy's face?
Ultimately, HLE failed to qualify for MSI, and the LCK region's qualification was secured by GENG and T1, two of the most traditionally strong teams in the LCK.

Meanwhile, participants from the Americas and Europe regions, the two pioneers of the first stage, also failed to qualify for the World Championship.

As of the end of the second stage playoffs in all regions, there is currently only one exception: a team that has qualified for both the first stage's Pioneer Tournament and the second stage's MSI.

Which team is this?

That's right, it's the CFO.

While LCK and LPL experienced various dramatic ups and downs throughout the season, CFO steadily leveled up on his own in the LCP region, consistently dominating weaker opponents.

However, while the CFO himself is consistently dominating weaker opponents, it doesn't mean that there haven't been any unexpected events in the entire region.

The biggest surprise was probably that TLN, which has always been considered the representative of Taiwanese League of Legends and is now at least the second-best team in the LCP, not only lost to CFO, but now can't even beat a Vietnamese team.
Yes, CFO's final match wasn't against TLN, but against the Vietnamese representative, GAM, who had previously defeated Top Esports.

That is indeed a bit surprising.

After all, TLN consists of a bunch of veteran LPL players, plus a bunch of seasoned players who have been playing in Taiwan for many years.

It's hard to believe that they couldn't beat GAM at this point. If the tournament wasn't less prestigious than TES's World Championship victory, then this would be an even more astonishing defeat for Vietnam than TES.

However, it doesn't matter to the CFO.

Because whether it's TLN or GAM coming up, it's just pure feeding for them; there's no suspense with either team.

that's the truth.

GAM, who fought a BO5 against TLN to finally reach the finals, ultimately faced the fate of being kicked to death by Shimamura.

On the one hand, LCP is indeed a region with very low competitiveness.

On the other hand, Shimamura Yuna's personal abilities, as well as the overall strength of the CFO, are indeed quite strong.

And most importantly, the current version is just what Shimamura Yuna likes.

The overall adjustment for the second stage was aimed at increasing the influence of the top, mid, and jungle players on the game and reducing the advantage of lane swapping tactics.

In this context, the Gravedigger, a character with abnormally high stats, emerged.

Many people even believe that this character's buff was tailor-made for Yuna Shimamura, because the character's performance is so well-suited to Yuna Shimamura's playstyle and style.

A top lane solo laner who focuses purely on laning and split pushing, with relatively weak team fight capabilities.

The purpose of picking this hero is to dominate a lane.

This is so much in line with Yuna Shimamura's personal style.

During the first stage, Shimamura Yuna was still struggling with how to adjust her personal style, how to be more of a team player, how to extend her solo lane advantage to the entire game, and how to make herself more like a professional player rather than a casual streamer.

But now that the Shepherd of Souls has been buffed, there's no need to hesitate anymore.

Just carry the team and focus on the laning phase.

Basically, as long as she gets this role, Shimamura Yuna is virtually unbeatable. Laning and split pushing are both her absolute comfort zones.

Right now, there's probably no one else in the world who can say they understand this game better than her.

Although you can't play Yorick every game, the opponent either bans or picks him, which puts a lot of pressure on the draft phase.

Aside from the Shepherd of Souls, there were many other changes and adjustments throughout the second stage that were beneficial to Shimamura Yuna and the entire CFO team.

This prompted viewers to exclaim that it was a custom-made product.

Many people suspect that Riot Games might be trying to create a god-like champion. Some even bluntly stated when commenting on the buff to Yorick, "They're not even putting on an act anymore; they're clearly just creating a championship for Shimamura Yuna."

After all, pure lane-pushing heroes like Yorick are rarely seen in competitive matches. Giving such an exaggerated buff to such an unpopular hero at this crucial moment makes the purpose all too obvious.

What they didn't know was that Riot Games does love customization, but this time they really wronged Riot Games.

Because in another world without Shimamura Yuna, this hero was actually strengthened in the same way.

At times like this, even jumping into the Yellow River won't clear your name.

Of course, they probably don't care much about their reputation.

In conclusion, among all the seeded teams in the current five major regions of the world, CFO, where Shimamura Yuna plays, appears to be the most stable, the strongest, and has a real chance of winning the championship.

This reassured many of Yuna Shimamura's fans.

Everyone felt that "it's really great to be able to support such a contestant."

This even includes a large number of T1 fans.

Since news broke that Yuna Shimamura would be playing her last season with CFO and would most likely join T1 next season, T1 fans have already started to consider her one of their own.

He keeps saying "My family has Nai" all the time, calling her that like a real family member.

They feel like Shimamura Yuna is playing a game for CFO, just like their own daughter is growing up and developing outside.

He's just waiting for MSI to finish so he can rejoin T1 and replace Doran.

So, how could T1 fans not be happy to see their daughter developing so well outside?

[Sigh, I was worried that Shimamura-san would be like the other pioneer teams and fail to make it to MSI, but it seems I was overthinking it.]

I'm so happy to see her play so well!

[Hope the baby is happy at CFO's!]

However, at the same time, T1 fans also began to have some mixed feelings.

[But what will happen to Doran if Shimamura comes? Doran seems to be playing really well, will he just be substituted out?]

I feel we still need to make a change. Doran only had this one good moment, while Shimamura has consistently performed consistently well.

[But if Doran leads Lao Li to the World Championship, and then he gets benched right afterward, that would be incredibly disheartening.]

I don't think Shimamura necessarily performed better than Doran. Shimamura doesn't speak Korean; she only speaks Chinese, which would create communication problems.

[Let's not talk about that now. Shimamura might not even come to T1. Didn't many teams contact her? Many LPL teams too. Since she speaks Chinese, she might prioritize LPL teams.]

[To the person upstairs: If Shimamura Yuna isn't out of her mind, she knows whether to go to T1 or LPL, whether it's for money, skill, or even popularity. She's Japanese, her native language is Japanese, not Chinese. If she can learn Chinese, why can't she learn Korean?]

The debate surrounding Dolan and Shimamura's relative merits, and whether Shimamura will join T1 after MSI, has generated considerable discussion among T1 fans and across the internet.

Before the playoffs started, T1 fans generally assumed that Yuna Shimamura would join T1.

But after the playoffs ended, T1 fans were caught in a happy dilemma.

On one hand, there's Doran, who single-handedly saved T1 and carried them into MSI. At his peak, he seemed no worse than Shimamura, but his usual performance was a bit unsettling.

On one hand, there's Shimamura Yuna, a carry-type top laner who seems to have the aura of the world's best top laner and whose performance appears to be more consistent than Doran's.

Even though MSI isn't over yet, the gossip surrounding this transfer has already gone viral in the player community.

However, at this moment, Shimamura Yuna herself didn't care about these things.

Right now, her attention is focused on only one thing.

That is.
The upcoming MSI.

As expected, this will be her last series with CFO.

In this competition that she is about to leave, she has only one goal.

That is to win the championship.

(End of this chapter)