Starting with Zaozi Ge, a dream lineup

Chapter 252 Edo Tensei! 50/50 + Shirahoshi!

Despite the ups and downs along the way, practicing new systems while training through matches, RNG has consistently maintained a record of being able to lose small games but must win big games.

Compared to their undefeated record on the blue side in the Spring Split, RNG became an undefeated legend on the red side in the Summer Split.

With their points steadily increasing, RNG managed to climb to the top of the league standings by the end of the Summer Split. This achievement also demonstrates just how deep RNG's foundation and strength truly are.

However, the regular season is full of ups and downs, and RNG's winning streak was finally ended in the back-to-back matches against Rw.

In the final match of the third-to-last week of the regular season, RNG narrowly lost to Rw 1-2.

Historically, RNG has a stronger grasp of the Summer Split than the Spring Split, and they usually defeat IG 3-2 in the Summer Split finals to win both the Spring and Summer Split titles, thus qualifying for the World Championship as the LPL's number one seed.

To be honest, this year's LPL was a complete mess. Apart from IG, RNG, EDG, and RW, the other teams' matches were truly "chicken fights," with such low intensity and poor entertainment value that they were even worse than the matches of the older generation in the European and American regions.

Even when IG won the championship, it didn't make them the number one region. It wasn't until S9, when all the teams were competing, that FPX won the championship and started to feel like the number one region in a true sense.

Only with competitiveness can there be vitality.

A single dominant player is never as good as a diverse array of players.

Just like the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War, the pace of technological progress slowed down dramatically after the arms race ended.

RNG's stylistic changes have inspired many professional teams to create their own team systems.

Uzi's emergence as the S7 champion and RNG's sweep of all tournament titles in the first half of the year led to an overall increase in the strength of the region.

Especially for Rw, the system that Li Luo used is surprisingly well-suited to the current Rw.

Under Doinb's leadership, despite the absence of many of FPX's key players, FPX managed to defeat RNG by making fewer mistakes.

With the third-to-last week of matches concluded, the rankings have gradually been finalized, and the teams that will make it to the playoffs have already emerged. The only remaining task is to determine the playoff seedings.

The standings for the LPL Summer Split regular season are as follows.

In the Eastern Conference, RNG lost three major matches and is ranked first.

Following closely behind is the IG team, ranking second.

The third and fourth places are occupied by JD.com and Suning.

Of course, JD.com and Suning are far behind RNG in points, with a difference of six points. With four games in two weeks, nothing can shake RNG's position to enter the playoffs.

In the Western Conference, Rw is the leader, followed closely by EDG.

TOP and FPX are ranked third and fourth, respectively, and both have a chance to enter the playoffs.

Putting aside the lead of the first and second teams in both regions, the third, fourth, fifth and sixth teams are only one point apart, and one slip-up could lead to their defeat.

Fourteen teams from two divisions have qualified, eight teams are still in contention, and two teams have no chance of finishing at the bottom.

To be honest, the entertainment value of each LPL team this year has increased exponentially, and the competition for playoff spots is fierce.

Of course, VG, who only won one game in the East all summer, and OMG, who won three games in the West, became brothers in misfortune.

At this point in time, the LCK playoffs have already begun.

SKT, also considered a strong contender for the championship, unsurprisingly advanced to the semifinals, where they will face Gen.G, the runner-up of last year's S7 World Championship, for a place in the finals.

On the other side, the KT team, which includes Deft and Mata, will face off against the GRF team.

Under these circumstances, even professionals in the esports industry dare not come forward to predict the champion of the Summer Split or the qualifying spots for the World Championship.

The second-to-last game of the 2018 Summer Split regular season.

Rng vs Vg
A match that seemed to have no suspense to outsiders ignited the entire esports community even before it started.

RNG Esports Club: The starting lineup for next week's match against Vg is as follows:
Top Laner/Mid Laner: Wh1t3zZ Jungler: BZliuxing ADC: Uzi Support: Ming

Wu Wukai registered for the competition not long after the start of the Summer Split, but many people thought that Wu Wukai was just using his name and did not dare to think that RNG would actually let Wu Wukai play.

Even RNG's owner, Bai Xing, joined in the fun, which caused the Summer Split, which had been relatively calm for a short time, to explode with unprecedented popularity.

Tuwan.com, Tencent Games, official League of Legends interview, Wanplus Esports, reliable esports
Countless esports media outlets, like crocodiles smelling blood, scrambled to get into the RNG base for an interview.

They then selected a reliable esports media outlet, and the entire RNG team skillfully used various memes in response to Chai Xi's questions, pushing the popularity of this so-called "renaissance" sport to its peak.

Even in the RNG fan forum, everything was peaceful and quiet. The posts that used to criticize this and that had lost their popularity, and everyone was discussing RNG's crazy move.

"Five years! Five years, do you know how I've spent these past five years? My God, Lu Benwei hasn't played a match in five years, okay? RNG's move is like a resurrection, digging Lu Benwei out of his grave?"

"A detailed analysis of the two teams' mid-lane strength in Season 3: one chart to show you the difference."

"No way, no way, can someone really be a world runner-up who's gotten really bad after not playing for a few years? Speaking of which, Wu Wukai is a Challenger now, okay?"

"It's outrageous that Bai Xing even got to participate in the competition. Is there any expert who can dig into whether this was rigged or a normal operation?"

"After reviewing all the LPL regulations, I can only say that Bai Xing exploited a loophole in the LPL to register and qualify. As long as the roster is submitted before the match, he can play. RNG's move is brilliant."

"Heh, arrogance leads to ruin. Do you really think you've won the S8 championship? Now you're just messing around?"

"Just waiting for Vg to teach RNG a lesson, okay?"

Online, there are those who are optimistic, those who are critical, those who enjoy the entertainment value, and those who fear that the LPL will fail again before it can truly rise to prominence.
Everyone was huddled together, making what was supposed to be an ordinary best-of-three match feel like the World Championship finals.

Whether you support RNG, VG, or any other team, everyone has given their opinion on RNG's shrewd move.

This attracted even some players who only watch brawls and not the actual matches, who set a timer for the live stream to watch this so-called "resurrection" battle.

The world runner-up who retired in S3, made a comeback in S8?

How fresh!

Five o'clock in the afternoon.

The sky was already getting dark, but inside the Wukesong Arena in the capital, it was like an exploding boiler, with intense heat surging through the air.

With the regular season now in progress, there are only two more matches left before the end of the S8 regular season.

But these last two matches made everyone nervous.

RNG pulled off some outrageous moves, bringing up their owner Bai Xing and even bringing up the legendary player Wu Wukai, shocking everyone.

Meanwhile, the point difference between RNG and IG means that if RNG loses this game and also loses the last game against IG, they will relinquish their first place in the regular season and fall to second place.

Because the hype surrounding this match was so exaggerated, its popularity skyrocketed.

The live stream's popularity soared to new heights, even threatening to surpass the buzz surrounding the epic battle between RNG and IG. Standing on such a massive stage for the first time, Bai Xing felt a mix of nervousness and excitement.

In the esports industry, who can say they haven't dreamed of playing on stage? Even with a dismal record, just stepping into this field is already legendary.

"Welcome to the final week of the 2018 League of Legends LPL Summer Split regular season schedule. Hello everyone, this is Wawa."

"I am Miller"

"I am PDD"

"Ahhhhh!!"

"Wow!!"

In front of the camera, the figures of Doll Miller and Teacher Piao appeared, all three dressed in formal attire.

As a match between the top team and the bottom team in the Eastern Conference, the LPL officials should have fielded a hosting team of one veteran and two newcomers today.

An experienced commentator brought two new commentators up to get some experience and see RNG on a big scale.

But the fact that three big names in the LPL commentary world were present today is enough to show just how incredibly popular this match is.

“Rng!! Rng!!”

After the cheers subsided, deafening shouts of encouragement for RNG followed.

"Wow, the audience is so enthusiastic!" Wawa said with a smile.

"There's no way I can not be enthusiastic. We've come this far; if we're not enthusiastic now, we probably won't have the chance to be later."

Miller said with a wry smile.

"Huh? You're talking nonsense. RNG has already secured a spot in the next round, how can they not have a chance?"

Seeing her old partner's expression, Wawa immediately seized the opportunity to retort.

"Haha, does Miller mean that after today's match, both Wu Wukai and Bai Xing might be banned?"

Pdd let out a pig-like squeal and started teasing with a laugh.

"If RNG loses this match, they'll have to face IG in the final battle for first place. Once they go to that match, everything becomes very uncertain. If IG wins this match and advances as the top seed in their group, they'll be waiting for RNG to challenge them in the semifinals of the Northeast region."

"On the contrary, RNG has two more best-of-three matches than IG," Miller concluded directly.

"That's right! So RNG definitely can't lose this match. Of course, with their first team playing like this, I completely believe RNG can win the game, but now, haha, I remember the last time Wu Wukai played was in 2013, right? As for Bai Xing, Bai Xing is joining in the fun too."

PDD laughed as he spoke. He and Wu Wukai were from the same generation, and he was extremely envious to see Wu Wukai playing.

"Whether they are stronger or weaker will only be known after the match. The two players in the front booth are setting up their equipment. The match is about to begin. Before that, let's see what RNG and VG want to say to each other in the last week of the regular season."

Without daring to look at the camera, Wawa quickly read out the words and then signaled the director to switch to the video.

It's so embarrassing to have to record pre-match trash talk for a competition like this.

The fact that Wu Wukai and Bai Xing were able to participate suggests that the official team was behind the scenes, creating hype and generating buzz. Now, by directly arranging a trash talk segment, they clearly intend to go all the way.

The big screen in the stadium lit up, and the camera focused on a familiar face to LPL viewers, who was also Uzi's old teammate.

Swift!

VG has consistently been the team that has brought in the most Korean players, including champion mid laner Easyhoon, champion jungler Bengi, Swift, and others.

During the match against IG, VG not only fielded their substitute jungler YouDang, but also Firerain, which is why IG was able to win even with Wang Sicong on their roster.

However, it's worth noting that while VG was incredibly weak in S8, they were still a team that could easily dominate RNG at the time. (Small game)

Of course, the shutout in the second game also showed RNG's anger.

But to say that VG couldn't even beat Wang Sicong's IG would be going too far.

Swift appeared on stage and said with a smile, "After playing this much of the regular season, I have plenty of confidence in our team (laughs). I'm very confident myself. This time, we're the team that will decide who gets first place in the regular season!"

The camera pans to the other side, where Li Luo appears, smiling and saying, "VG team certainly has confidence. Swift is also our old teammate. Hopefully, they won't give up today and will teach Bai Xing a lesson in what real jungle skill looks like."

Wu Wukai chimed in, "I hope Swift doesn't get completely ganked in the jungle by this old man, I heard you're stuck in Diamond II on the Korean server like some kind of emperor~"

This trash talk was very brief, clearly filmed by both sides in their spare time and then sent to the official channels, but it created a very tense and explosive atmosphere.

The audience erupted in uncontrollable screams.

"Aaaaaah!!! I'm standing up now!!"

"Awesome! Wu Wukai dares to compete! Enough said, everyone stand up!"

"Go Swift! Crush RNG! IG is invincible!"

"Wow, both sides are really fiercely competitive and eager for victory. You can tell that Wu Wukai, who is back on the field, seems to be in good form, and Bai Xing is also showing some skill. Hahaha," PDD said with a shake of his head.

"I feel it, I feel it!" the doll laughed.

“Wu Wu Kai does have some merit, you know,” PDD said. “After all, he’s the world runner-up mid laner. In terms of achievements, Wu Wu Kai still crushes all the new generation of mid laners in China. Of course, against me, Lu Benwei can only kneel down.”

As soon as Teacher Piao said this, the audience burst into laughter.

The tense atmosphere eased considerably after those words.

"Yes, if RNG can win this match, their qualification as first and IG second will be secured. Who knows, maybe Piao and Wang can team up to face RNG's twin stars~"

The doll's words, seemingly implying something, once again brought the atmosphere to a climax.

"Go RNG!!"

"Go for it!!" the other two commentators exclaimed.

The Bp interface has been changed.

In this match, RNG, playing at home, conceded the blue side and secured the red side.

Right from the start, Vg banned three ADCs without hesitation: Kai'Sa, Vayne, and Caitlyn.

RNG banned Swift's Lee Sin and Orianna for mid lane, and finally removed the meta-strong support Rakan.

Both sides' bans were very targeted, and they didn't play recklessly just because this was a game that outsiders considered to be a casual match.

(End of this chapter)