usatvline Chapter 167: The Champion Skin Opening Ceremony? Impressive!
Chapter 167: The Champion Skin Opening Ceremony? Impressive!
The fervor surrounding the Mid-Season Invitational has barely subsided, and another world-class tournament is already heating up for its pre-tournament phase:
2018 League of Legends Rift Rivals!
Each region will send its top four teams to participate in this competition for their region.
Just like in the previous season, the LPL region sent four teams that performed well in the Spring Regular Season:
Knights of the Heart EDG, Rogue Warriors RW, Pinnacle of Perfection IG, and Undefeated Royals RNG!
As for LCK, they also sent the four seeded teams from the previous generation:
KZ, SKT, AFS, and KT!
However, due to KZ's "shameful performance" at the Mid-Season Invitational, mainstream opinion in South Korea is unwilling to let KZ continue to participate in this Intercontinental Cup.
They've already given RNG a championship, isn't that enough? Are they planning to give LPL another Intercontinental Cup title?
Fortunately, the Intercontinental Cup is not a competition between two teams, but a competition between regions.
No matter how strong a team is, it can only win one game and cannot win the final championship for its region.
This is not just a competition between teams, but also a competition between the strengths of different regions!
Ultimately, after KZ's official club launched an "apology offensive" with three confessions and three giveaways in one day, the LCK audience decided to give the KZ team a chance to make amends.
As long as we can contribute to winning the Intercontinental Championship, the Mid-Season Invitational will be a thing of the past!
Seeing the public opinion in the region turn out this way, the KZ players and coaching staff are under immense pressure.
Especially the five KZ players, their faces turned grim when they heard they would be facing RNG again.
"No way, I'm supposed to go head-to-head with Arthur?!"
Khan had just finished psychological treatment when he returned to the lounge and received a message telling him to "pack his bags and prepare for the battle." At that moment, he almost fainted on the spot.
The mindset that had been painstakingly adjusted through psychotherapy collapsed again as a result.
Little Peanut is doing better; he seems to have accepted the fact that he is "A-yi".
There are always some people in this world who are terrifyingly strong.
Before 2017, Peanut might only know Faker, but after being arrested by Fang Han several times, he felt that Arthur might also count as one.
No, it’s not possible, it’s certain!
That feeling of utter insurmountable despair, no matter how many times he recalls it, will make him unable to control his rapid breathing.
He now only feels fortunate that he did not choose to play top lane or mid lane when he was a professional player.
Faker in the mid lane and Arthur in the top lane.
With two great emperors emerging in this era, how could anyone else possibly survive?
"Ugh."
Peanut knows how badly Khan is hurting right now.
But there was nothing he could do.
The last top laner who got completely destroyed was called [Huni].
Bdd sat next to Khan, unsure how to help his teammate resolve his inner conflict.
They've tried many methods during this time, anything that could help Khan regain his confidence, but nothing worked!
They knew the principle that the one who tied the knot must untie it, but to defeat Fang Han head-on was just wishful thinking for them at this point.
"Actually, I feel that we don't need to be so rigid in our thinking."
"If we can't beat them in pure team battles, does that mean we can't win in a tournament like the Intercontinental Cup?"
KZ's head coach sat in the locker room, giving a informal pre-match pep talk.
He didn't look to be in good shape either; clearly, he was under considerable pressure from the outside world after losing the Mid-Season Invitational last time.
He almost lost his job, really just a hair's breadth away.
I can only be thankful that there were many world-class tournaments between the spring and summer seasons this year, otherwise I wouldn't even have had a chance to make amends.
To be honest, he didn't want to play another round against RNG. Although the Intercontinental Cup is a best-of-one series, he didn't think he could steal even one victory from RNG.
If RNG really wants to win, they should just pick the red side and mindlessly leave a counter pick for Arthur in the top lane.
This version of Arthur completely dominates the top lane.
If he wanted to, he could completely control the pace of the entire mid-game.
The opponent wants to drag the game into the late game? The first thing to consider is how to deal with Arthur in the mid-game.
However, so far, no team in the world has been able to withstand RNG's mid-game offensive.
Especially after Arthur gained the advantage, no team could withstand RNG's relentless offensive in the mid-game.
Sigh, this is difficult.
KZ's head coach shook his head.
Fortunately, they were not fighting alone in this intercontinental competition.
Four teams are going to the tournament together; whoever wants to play against RNG can go.
Anyway, they're not going to play against RNG.
"Coach, do you mean we should avoid playing against RNG?"
"What do you know? There's a Chinese story called Tian Ji's horse racing strategy. As the strongest team in the LCK, of course we can't play against RNG, the strongest team in the LPL?"
Bdd had barely asked the question when his own coach snapped back at him.
What do you mean by "avoiding"? It's as if they're afraid of RNG.
That's called tactics! Do you understand tactics?
The KZ members looked at each other, bewildered.
Anyone could see that their coach was avoiding the issue, but the coach just wouldn't admit it...
Fine, let him be stubborn then. Everyone has things they're afraid of, it's nothing to worry about.
Upon hearing that they didn't have to play against RNG, Khan's mood immediately improved.
He can play against anyone, as long as he doesn't play against RNG or Arthur!
"So, which team should we send to play against RNG?"
Little Peanut suddenly spoke up, and his words silenced everyone once again.
Since it's a case of "Tian Ji's horse racing strategy," it's natural to let the weaker team among the four teams play against RNG. In addition, given SKT's high win rate against LPL teams, letting them play is the most suitable option no matter how you look at it.
Almost simultaneously, everyone realized this and looked up at Little Peanut.
Little Peanut suddenly had a bad feeling.
"Why are you all looking at me like that? I did play for SKT, but that doesn't mean I'm on good terms with them."
"Alright, stop pretending. I saw you and Brother Li going out to eat together last time."
"I... but I can't be the bad guy..."
"How about we play RNG again?"
Bdd stared at Little Peanut with a half-smile.
As a die-hard Faker fan, he knows Faker's daily activities all too well.
Peanut wanted to decline, but the thought of playing against RNG again made him uncontrollably put on a mask of pain.
Seeing him shakily pull out his phone, the KZ members finally showed some relief.
It's definitely spicy! All of it is definitely spicy!
……
The day of the Intercontinental Championship Finals arrived.
As expected by audiences worldwide, LCK and LPL will meet in the finals.
Although the LPL region didn't perform as smoothly as expected in the knockout stage...
Especially for RNG, with Arthur and UZI both taking a break, the pressure fell entirely on the other teams.
Fortunately, IG and EDG performed steadily, leading their region out of the knockout stage.
However, Arthur and UZI will return to the starting lineup once the finals are reached.
This news undoubtedly put the minds of LPL viewers at ease.
Even more exciting news is that the championship skins that Riot Games has been working on for half a year will be revealed on the night of the finals as the opening ceremony!