Starting with Zaozi Ge, a dream lineup

Chapter 258: Heading towards the second S-series trophy!
The Summer Split Finals are far more important than previous matches.

In addition to preparing for the competition, the players also have to set aside two days to cooperate with the official team in recording the promotional MV for the finals, pre-match trash talk, and advertising activities for the sponsors.

With only five days to prepare, this timeframe is extremely tight.

The year S8 saw an explosion of sponsors for the LPL. Even international big names lowered their standards, with numerous well-known companies and brands, such as KFC, Mercedes-Benz, Huawei, JD.com, Lenovo, and Wahaha, investing capital in this emerging esports industry.

Bilibili, in particular, spent 6 million yuan to acquire the sole domestic broadcasting rights for League of Legends in its first year in the esports industry.

As more and more familiar things from later generations appeared, and because of him, things became even more magnificent, Li Luo smiled with great interest.

The fun of preparing for the competition doesn't stop there.

In the LCK Summer Finals, SKT defeated KT, the team that includes Deft and Mata, with a score of 3-1 to win the league championship and become the number one seed for the LCK region this year.

Especially in the final do-or-die game, the entire SKT team returned to their peak form. Faker brought out his Ryze, and Bang became the Ezreal powerhouse, supporting the team despite the early disadvantage. This incredible comeback seemed to herald the return of the "Kings".

After the match, the entire SKT team shed tears, with Bang feeling as if he had been reborn.

In Europe, FNC advanced as the number one seed, Vit was the number two seed, and G2 defeated the summer split runner-up 3-1 to secure the last ticket.

In the North American region, the situation remains sluggish. The familiar face of Bjergsen, who appears every year, is still present. The number one seed, TL, advanced without any pressure. The second seed is 100T, and the third seed is the North American artistic team, C9.

In the LMS region, Fw team once again won the championship without any suspense, securing the number one seed.

With the finals of each major region completed, the first, second, and third seeds have all been confirmed.

Only the LPL region has yet to determine its qualifying spots and the league champion.
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How would you rate the LPL Summer Finals? Which team do you think will win, RNG or RW?

Teams that have just finished their matches in major leagues and are waiting for the World Championship to begin have all been asked this question in interviews with gaming media.

Perkz: "Of course it's RNG! I want to officially defeat them at the World Championship! What? RNG is the most artistic team in the LPL? Sorry, when our European and American teams step onto the stage, the focus will only be on us. When we face RNG, we might just pull out a few secret weapons (laughs)."

Bang: "I think RNG will win, and I also look forward to facing Uzi in the match. Well, I can't say I can beat him 100%, but I will tell Uzi that since I have been able to suppress you for so many years, this year will be no exception!"

Deft: "I don't care who wins between RNG and RW, I just think Uzi will win, hahaha. Why do I think so? Because he's the most dominant player this year. I've been playing against him in ranked games recently, and we've faced off many times. I'm really looking forward to seeing him at Worlds."

Doublelift: "RNG will definitely win, right???? Hahaha, I'm just seriously praising Uzi because he's the strongest ADC I've ever seen. He's killed me so many times. Lately, I've been having nightmares about playing in the S8 World Championship finals."

As a newly formed team, Rw is undoubtedly at a disadvantage in terms of public opinion compared to Rng. Without exception, those who support Rng are all old rivals who have played against them before.

Therefore, when people mention RNG, they always think of Uzi.

Amidst widespread online discussion and anticipation, the Summer Finals are drawing ever closer.

Off the field, there are many, many more people paying attention to this highly anticipated match between Rng and Rw.

Coaches, team analysts, and fans from all major regions around the world are eagerly anticipating this match.

The clashes between top teams will reveal a lot of information, tactics, and even the trends of the World Championship version.

Unfortunately, Rw's bot lane was already inferior to Rng's, and with the increased importance of the top, mid, and jungle lanes in this version, Ma Ge couldn't withstand the rising dominance of Uzi without Doinb's support, making it difficult for Haro in the jungle and A Guang in the top lane to maintain the team's disadvantage.

Top lane and jungle are extremely important in this version.

After losing the first game, Rw's fate was exactly the same as in the first game. Their top lane was completely crushed by Xiangguo, their bottom lane was completely dominated, and Xiaohu and Doinb were just playing passively. Once the time was up, RNG snowballed and ended the game.

In the decisive final game, Doinb's mentality faltered, and he was solo-killed by Xiaohu in lane, causing his momentum to falter.

This exposed even bigger problems for Rw. Haro lacked experience and couldn't step up, while A-Guang lost his way under the pressure of RNG's massive grinder.

Amidst thunderous applause and cheers from the entire venue, RNG lived up to expectations, once again maintaining the team's precedent of never working overtime in the finals, and cleanly and decisively won the match 3-0.

This result excited RNG fans, but left some viewers and commentators speechless.

Matches that are too one-sided are not very entertaining.

In the same competition, Rw was able to go toe-to-toe with IG, putting up a fierce fight in Europe and keeping the suspense of the match going the full best-of-five series.

When playing against RNG, Rw had no chance to fight back from start to finish.

Some people who aren't even RNG fans are saying that the semi-final match between IG and RW was much more exciting than the final.

But whether they say it or not, everyone knows in their hearts that RNG is probably the most dominant team in LPL history.

Unlike the former Edg, this RNG team is never at a disadvantage on foreign platforms.

If a team like this can't win the world championship, it will likely be like EDG back then, greatly undermining the confidence of the LPL region.
It could even keep everyone trapped in the nightmare of being controlled by the LCK.

The greater the ability, the greater the responsibility.

"This RNG team is too strong. Even if you're all tired of hearing it, I have to say it again."

"Congratulations to RNG for winning the 2018 Summer Split World Championship. If they win the last championship of the year, this team will create a miracle in history and achieve a Grand Slam in the S8 season!"

Amidst thunderous cheers, RNG's starting five, along with coach Chris and substitutes Wuwukai, Xiaodongbei, and Xiaotian, lifted the Summer Split championship trophy.

“This is RNG’s fifth championship in S8, and it’s a five-time consecutive championship. I’m sure this record won’t be broken for a long time,” Wawa said.

"Haha, Xiaogou has gone five years without a title in the league, but he wins so many in one year that he's practically scrambling to win one. Now, he's truly entering another realm of honor, and all he's missing is an S8 World Championship."

Miller joked:
"Look how happy the little dog was when he won his first Spring Split championship. Now, he's very calm, but Wu Wukai is genuinely happy, haha."

Seeing Wu Wukai, looking like a demon, holding up the trophy and laughing wildly on stage, Li Luo also laughed.

The rest of the RNG members understood Wu Wukai's feelings very well. After exchanging glances, they handed the trophy directly to Wu Wukai to hold.

"Holy crap, it's so heavy!"

Wu Wukai stumbled and almost dropped the trophy. Unlike the S-series trophy, the league trophy weighs nearly 40 kilograms, which is quite sturdy!
"Let's go, let's go do the championship interview."

Chris smiled and gestured for the group to leave.

After lifting the trophy, during the post-match interview, which was a rare occurrence, the interview slots were given to Xiangguo and Xiaohu.

This duo is also the most popular mid-jungle duo in the LPL. It's not that we didn't want to invite Uzi to oversee things, but the reason is that after the Summer Split, it's the World Championship. If Uzi makes a bold statement, it could easily stir up a lot of controversy.

Out of a desire to protect them, the authorities chose two relatively composed individuals to be interviewed.

"Go back and get some rest. The club is hosting a celebration banquet tonight, so relax and celebrate. Everyone has worked hard these past few days. Oh, and everyone gets a prize money; it will be deposited into your salary cards, so please check your accounts."

Bai Xing said with a smile.

A victory celebration banquet was to be expected.

Winning the championship at home is exhilarating, but when leaving the stadium and seeing the cheering fans lining the streets, it was a bumpy ride. The bus took a full 20 minutes to travel just one kilometer.

After returning to the base by car, everyone changed into new clothes and went out to celebrate.

For RNG, they have no matches to play before the start of S8, so they only need to relax briefly before preparing for the competition with all their might.

But for teams in other LPL regions, the competition is far from over.

Of the three slots allocated to the LPL region for the S8 World Championship, RNG secured the two slots: the LPL Summer Split champion and the team with the highest points from the Spring and Summer Splits.

Of course, a team cannot monopolize two tickets; instead, the ticket will be inherited by the team that ranks second in the spring and summer seasons.

But an awkward situation occurred: Rw and IG had the same number of points. After winning the runner-up position in the Summer Split, Rw and IG had the same number of points, and both teams needed to play in the gauntlet to determine their points.

Without any break, the qualifying rounds were held quietly the day after the finals.

The first qualifying match was between IG and Edg.

TheShy's weaknesses were obvious against strong teams, but against a team like Edg that sacrifices its top laner, in this best-of-five series, TheShy picked out three different champions: Aatrox, Fiora, and Renekton. He won 3-0 without any suspense, easily helping IG take the first game of the gauntlet.

It's a pity that EDG could have qualified for the World Championship in S8, but they encountered RW, a completely different team from the previous one, in the Western Conference. They were forced to play in the gauntlet, where they met IG and were eliminated.

On the other hand, after the finals, Rw adjusted their focus on the top laner, giving A Guang a lot of resources. With Doinb's quick support, Rw's top, mid and jungle coordinated very well in the match against JD Gaming. In the end, Rw also won this round of the gauntlet.

At this point in the competition, the outcome was essentially already decided.

Regardless of who wins or loses, both sides have secured their tickets to the World Championship.

It's just the difference between seed number two and seed number three.

Ultimately, the match ended with IG defeating Rw 3-2. Both teams won 3-2 against each other, which also shows that, apart from RNG, the second and third seeds are evenly matched.

The three teams representing the LPL region at S8 have been confirmed.

The number one seed is RNG.

Second seed, IG team.

The third seed, Team Rw.

The only change was that Rw replaced Edg in the competition.

As the team that was the last to determine its qualifying spot among all regions, with the gauntlet stage over, the S-series send-off ceremony is about to begin.

And—the group stage draw, which is being watched by players worldwide.

After resting at the base for several days and taking the opportunity to go out for a stroll, pretending that he had gone home, Li Luo returned to the capital and arrived at the location of the club and the official notification.

"I'm not late, am I?" Xiao Ming greeted Li Luo.

"Hurry, hurry, we're here! Everyone's waiting for you!"

Today, the three LPL teams gathered together to prepare for the filming of their departure ceremony.

Following the ceremony, Riot Games will conduct a draw to determine the group assignments.

Upon arriving at the venue, after greeting the IG and RW teams, Li Luo changed into the LPL's uniform jersey.

This year's uniforms draw inspiration from the Asian Games design and are exceptionally gorgeous, especially the athlete ID on the back, which features a dragon.

Following the director's instructions, they struck various poses, completing an incredibly childish send-off ceremony, and an interview with Riot Games.
After working for most of the day, the group finally completed their mission and returned to the RNG base.

The time difference between the United States and China is 13 hours. When it is night in the capital, it is daytime in the other place.

Several people were having a late-night snack, gathered around the screen in the lobby, waiting for the lottery results.

The advantages of being the number one seed became apparent during the draw ceremony.

The number one seeds from the four major regions—China's LPL, South Korea's LCK, Europe's LCS, and North America's LCS—will not be placed in the same group in the first round.

At the draw ceremony, Riot Games gave everyone a real surprise. The first person to draw lots was none other than Clearlove, who had been away from the competition for a long time.

When the factory manager's slightly sinister face appeared on the screen, the foreign viewers were completely bewildered as the barrage of "777" messages was flooded with comments.

For each team drawn, Riot Games would show a documentary about the entire team, introducing the team's league performance to a global audience, along with a quick overview of the players' and team's highlights.

The four number one seeds will be divided into four groups: A, B, C, and D.

At the same time, teams from the same region will not be grouped together in the group stage, which can be considered a form of protection.

Soon, at the factory manager's insistence, the results of the group draw were announced:
They are:
Group A:
North America's number one seed, and also the team Doublelift plays for, TL; LMS region's number one seed, nicknamed Flash Wolves, FW.

KT, the second seed from the LCK, features Mata, Deft, and Semb, while G2, the third seed from the European LCS, is also present.

Group B:
LPL's first seed RNG, South Korea's third seed and S7 runner-up team (now renamed GEN.G), Europe's LCS second seed VIT, and North America's second seed C9, a team known for its artistic style.

Group C:
LCK's number one seed, SKT, a team with three league championships, MAD, a Taiwanese team, PVB, a wildcard team from Vietnam, and Rw, LPL's number three seed.

Group D:
FNC, the number one seed from Europe; LCS 100T, the number two seed from LPL; and GRX, the team from Hong Kong.

(End of this chapter)