Starting with Zaozi Ge, a dream lineup

Chapter 224 Turmoil! Japan Withdraws from the Competition!
Surrendering in an international competition, especially with only five votes cast in less than 20 minutes, speaks volumes.

It has a strong "Olympic" spirit.

After the first match, led by Xiaoyoutai, and with the help of the mid laner and support, all three chose to protest and withdraw from the match.

After all, after the first match, anyone with eyes could see that the Chinese team didn't need any strategy, tactics, or even counterplay. They could take over the game simply by dominating the lane.

Of course, whether in ranked games or professional matches, this kind of loss is the most frustrating.
Before even starting to play tactics, teamwork, or skill, it's like fighting a cultivator in the Qi Refining stage against someone in the Tribulation Transcending stage. No matter how powerful your cheat codes are, the superior level of skill makes all other advantages meaningless.

So the Japanese team's objective changed. Since you're going too far by not letting me pass, then let's all go down together.

Ten minutes after the three protest letters were submitted, the same application was approved, and a notification that there were no problems was issued.

The three team members were dumbfounded.

Things are different now. Today, China's voice in such world competitions is far more powerful than Japan's.

Slaughter? Sorry, this is just a regular competitive match. The enemy's actions are also based on the strength of their heroes to achieve the desired effect.

Unfair? There were no bugs, and you're telling me it's unfair?

Just because someone else is blocking the high ground, they want to complain about them and kick them out. It has to be said that these three people have serious problems with their thinking.

However, what's done is done, and the withdrawal application has been approved. It seems impossible to refuse no matter what, given the staff members who have already come over.

Each team can only bring two substitutes. With three key players withdrawing from the game, the Japanese team only has four players, which is insufficient to meet the minimum requirements for the match.

This time, four more withdrawal requests were submitted, and all members of the team chose to withdraw from the competition.

In the history of League of Legends, a best-of-three series where the outcome is decided in just one game is unprecedented.

The skill gap was too large, and the battle scenes were too brutal. Many Japanese fans, even the most passionate ones, lost hope in their country's esports after seeing this.

Domestically, it's like Chinese New Year, with all sorts of funny and satirical memes circulating everywhere.

Starting on August 15, 1945, after 26596 days, the Japanese team once again surrendered.

However, this time, it was the Chinese team that surrendered.

As for those pessimists who criticized the Chinese team for playing poorly before the match and became arrogant, they worried that if the Chinese team was eliminated by the Japanese team, as long as League of Legends doesn't die out, they could keep criticizing these players to death.

But as it turns out, this was just needless worry.

Because, before S3, when the industry was not yet professionalized, LPL teams had never lost to wildcard teams until S8.

Why was Clearlove7 so heavily criticized in Season 6, and why was he even renamed Clearlove7 in Season 7?

Aside from obvious criticisms like "Horse Trampling Flying Arrow" and "4396," the most significant issue is that Edg, a team on which all LPL fans had high hopes, certainly didn't disappoint them in terms of disappointment.

As the undefeated LPL powerhouse in the Summer Split, they surprisingly made history by losing to a wildcard team.
How could LPL fans not feel angry back then!
Even the top seed in the region suffered such a crushing defeat, which has a huge impact on morale.

Every year, the number one seed in a region carries the greatest hopes, and if they lose, they naturally receive the most criticism.

However, S6 was indeed the year that wildcard regions rose to prominence. It wasn't just the LPL that lost to wildcard regions; even the LCK stumbled.

Withdrawal from the competition, rejection of applications, and other factors.

The Japanese team didn't even have a handshake ceremony; after being told they could leave, the only thing left to do was for the coaches to slowly pack up their equipment.

The team members then turned around and left the field.

"Weren't we too harsh? We've completely broken their spirits!"

Xiao Ming said innocently. Of course, from his pure smile, no one could tell that the idea of ​​choosing Draven to go to the high ground to slaughter was his.

"That's pretty ruthless. It seems like we might not see them at S8 this year."

Mingkai, on the other hand, had more to consider. Such egregious behavior—surrendering in a major tournament, refusing to shake hands, withdrawing from the competition—could easily lead to Riot Games imposing restrictions on the Japanese region.

As for the punishment of the players, the club will naturally issue it according to the decision of the club.

In international competitions like the Asian Games, Riot Games may not have enough power, but once the Asian Games are over and Riot Games organizes its own tournaments, everyone is just a lamb to the slaughter.

"It's probably going to be difficult, but our match today was pretty easy. We only played one game and then clocked out."

With a tight schedule, everyone finally breathed a sigh of relief after securing a spot in the semifinals.

After packing up their equipment, the group walked down the exit corridor and passed by the next team preparing to compete.

The South Korean team is an old acquaintance!

“Uzi”

The bot lane duo, former members of the Royal Never Give Up team, reunited, and their eyes still held the camaraderie of their past battles.

However, those who walk different paths cannot make plans together.

From the moment Mata stepped out of the RNG club, he could only represent himself as Mata, a Korean, not as Mata, a Korean import.

As for Deft, Mr. Dai and the factory manager were old acquaintances, and the two chatted for a few minutes.

Master An and Brother Li looked at each other, seemingly wanting to say something, but unfortunately, neither of them had experience coming to China as a foreign aid worker.

To them, Chinese was like listening to gibberish.

With time running out and seeing that the staff were already urging them to hurry, the group couldn't stay any longer and could only say they would talk another time when they had more time.

Just as they were about to part, Master Ahn suddenly said a few words in Korean to Mata, which surprised Mata. Then, Mata smiled as if she had been relieved: "Little dog!"

"Ok?"

"An Bixin said that their last loss to you was merely due to a slight miscalculation, but this time, he won't lose to you."

Looking at Mata's round, chubby face as she uttered such domineering words, Li Luo was momentarily dazed.

For a moment, he saw burning fighting spirit in the eyes of Master An, Brother Li, and Mata at the same time.

"Is that what you wanted to say?"

He smiled, noticing Mata's awkward expression, and didn't reply.

The Chinese team is out!
They left as if nothing had happened.

But the five South Koreans remaining on the field were far from calm. The match continued fiercely.

While domestic TV stations do not broadcast esports-related competitions except for the finals, dozens of channels abroad broadcast various competitions simultaneously.

The data collected by the Asian Games Organizing Committee revealed that esports viewership has caught up with that of second-tier traditional sports, and in some strong countries, it is even comparable to that of first-tier sports.

To understand what constitutes a top-tier sport, consider events like sprinting, shooting, table tennis, basketball, and the decathlon.
The main audience for these programs is primarily middle-aged and elderly people.

But today, esports has surprisingly surpassed it, completely activating the youth population.

This is undoubtedly very encouraging for the Olympic Organizing Committee, which is eager to find a new turning point.

In recent years, as the economic situation has deteriorated, fewer and fewer countries are willing to undertake the thankless task of hosting the Olympics.

Previously, esports faced significant obstacles in its bid to be included in the Olympics. Opponents argued that esports is a highly violent sport and does not align with the Olympic theme of "friendship first, competition second."

But this is just the idea of ​​some people who don't want to maintain the status quo.

Compared to traditional Olympic events like fencing and shooting, esports, which promote gun violence, has not been banned. Instead, it's being labeled as bloody and violent. Isn't that absurd?

Ultimately, it was the influence and profits of esports that prevented these people from taking action.

If esports could become the most-watched sport at the Olympics, with packed stadiums on the day of the event, these unfounded questions would be completely irrelevant.

Now, the Asian Games, as the precursor to the 2020 Olympic Games, undoubtedly presents the IOC with new opportunities.

A generation will eventually grow old.

As long as it can continue to capture the appetite of new people, the Olympics will remain a world-leading event.

The popularity of esports has also boosted the popularity of other sports.

This is only the group stage of the quarterfinals. When it comes to the semifinals and finals tomorrow, the popularity will definitely be even more terrifying than it is now.

If it weren't for the fact that many esports games have short lifespans and it's difficult for an event to last 4 or 8 years, the current IOC president would think that the voting process could be skipped and the game could be added directly.

Within Asia, in the few matches played so far, no one has been a match for this team.

The question of "how to maintain development during the laning phase" has become a difficult problem for all teams that want to defeat the Chinese team.

But besides the Chinese team, there was another team that also maintained a perfect record on the first day.

Dream team lineup - South Korea.
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"Welcome to the Asian Games eSports finals! I'm commentator Jide, and I'm commentator Guan Zeyuan. Today, we'll be providing the commentary for the first match."

I remember the teacher looking radiant, speaking fluently in front of the camera, while Colonel Guan, standing beside him, was equally cheerful, wearing a red suit that echoed the red logo of the Asian Games behind them.

"Hello everyone, I am Guan Zeyuan."

"Oh dear, the weather in Jakarta is still quite hot today. The first challenge facing the participants today is how to cope with such intense heat."

"Yes, Zeyuan, although esports is different from traditional sports, we can still see that today's venue is an open-air competition, which means that everyone is currently enduring the 31-degree heat in Jakarta!"

I remember the teacher seemingly trying to prove he was telling the truth by directing the camera to turn towards the hot, steaming area.

A bright sun hung in the center of the sky, and the thermometer next to it showed that the ground temperature had reached 35 degrees Celsius!
"Wow, today is a double test of the contestants' abilities!"

Guan Zeyuan was sweating profusely in his suit, but he didn't realize it because he was so excited. Only when he remembered to say it did he realize that the temperature here was indeed unusually high.

"But I believe that our athletes are still at a significant advantage compared to the South Korean team we are facing today."

He gave a sinister laugh, a smile full of calculation.

Although South Korea's esports scene is ahead of China's, as a rising star, all LPL clubs have seen a significant improvement in the physical fitness of all their players since the implementation of management regulations starting in S8.

The South Korean team, however, prioritized results over their professional careers, choosing the former over the latter.

This can be seen from the rounded physiques of Mata, Semb, and Master An.

Being overweight is very disadvantageous in the summer.

Especially in high temperatures, they will lose more water than thinner people. In order to replenish water, they will drink a lot of water, which will lead to a slowdown in thinking. Similarly, hand speed, reaction speed and competitive performance will also decrease accordingly.

As esports makes its debut on the international stage, it still has many shortcomings in terms of hardware.

As a team that made it to the finals, although they had grievances, they had no choice but to endure it at this point.

"Alright, we've received the notification from the director. The athletes from both sides are now entering the stadium. We'll hand over the commentary to the on-field host."

As the scene shifts, the viewpoint moves to the center of the venue.

The people appearing on camera are none other than Ren Dong, the gold medal host of LPL, and two veteran commentators, Wawa and Miller.

The three of them formed today's commentary team.

At the same time, after the commercial break on CCTV5, the three men's faces appeared on the CCTV channel for the first time.

"Okay, thank you to the two hosts on the field. You are now watching the e-sports group, the League of Legends group finals. I think you are already quite familiar with our players online, so I won't introduce them one by one."

"Let me introduce our opponent today, the South Korean e-sports team. There are a few points we must be wary of."

Ren Dong remained calm, his words devoid of any emotion, his standard broadcasting voice showcasing his competence.

As the primary host of CCTV's League of Legends finals, his responsibilities today are undoubtedly heavy.

On the other hand, Wawa and Miller seemed much more amateurish. As soon as they took the lead, they immediately exuded the air of LPL commentators.

"Top laner Smeb, a top player among Korean top laners. Here are two points: In the 2015 League of Legends World Championship, the best top laner in terms of results was Marin, but the highlight reel was Smeb. In 2016, Riot Games recognized him as the best top laner in the world. He dominated his opponents domestically. The semifinals featured one of the most exciting best-of-five series in history. You might think it was ROX Tigers vs. SSKT1, but it was actually Smeb vs. Faker."

"Smeb is the most consistent carry player for the Korean team."

Miller summed up Smeb's characteristics in the simplest terms. Although outsiders might not understand, anyone who has been involved in the competition can relate.

Even in Season 10, Smeb was still a Tier 1 top laner.

The doll standing to the side nodded in agreement:
"As for Faker in the mid lane, let's not even talk about him. Anyone who's ever watched League of Legends should know his name. As for Deft and Mata in the bot lane, they both used to play for Chinese clubs."

"One more point to note is their jungler, Anbixin!"

"Whether Anbixin has been in hot form since the first game, and whether we can find a way to stop him today, is also very important!"

(End of this chapter)