Starting with Zaozi Ge, a dream lineup

Chapter 277 The Real "Brother Li" Has Arrived

At the start of the match, a bloody battle erupted between the two sides. However, C9 changed their pre-match arrogance and showed no signs of looking down on SKT or expecting an easy 3-0 victory. Instead, they were cautious in every aspect and did not give SKT any chance to break through in the early and mid-game.

On the contrary, SKT, perhaps harboring a lot of resentment, came out aggressively, even Faker.

At 12 minutes, when SKT's mid and jungle duo went to the bottom lane to try and create some momentum, they unexpectedly triggered a 5v5 team fight.

Ornn's combat power was decent in the early game, but Tahm Kench, Kindred, and Kai'Sa were basically useless in terms of damage output as Sejuani froze all three of them first.

Morgana seized the opportunity to take over her control, and the battle between the two sides intensified. Seeing her allies being subjected to a series of control effects, Drow Ranger immediately activated her ultimate ability to protect everyone.

However, this ultimate move fell right into C9's trap. After Kindred's ultimate ended, Kled led the team to launch a second attack, resulting in a perfect small team fight. It was hard for the audience to believe that such a beautiful team fight was actually the work of C9.

After the 0-for-4 exchange, SKT's inability to initiate a strong team fight became a hindrance, making it difficult to threaten C9's development.

Even when they saw Sejuani recklessly invading the jungle, Kindred and Irelia, who had no crowd control abilities, could only watch helplessly.

As soon as Kled disappears from the online screen, Faker's first-person perspective is filled with screen switching at a rate of three to five times per second, making it dizzying to watch.

How could C9 actually dominate Skt?
Public opinion can be deceiving, pre-match analysis can be deceiving, but match data is the only thing that is absolutely true.

By the mid-game, around the 20-minute mark, C9 had a nearly 4000 gold lead over Skt.

Everyone was in an uproar. Was the LCK's number one seed really as bad as everyone said, with outdated tactics?

However, LCK fans, or SKT fans, still believe that SKT can pull off an incredible comeback like they did in S7.

As time ticked by, SKT's performance in the mid-to-late game was indeed quite good, exhibiting a style reminiscent of LCK macro play.

Very few mistakes, looking for opportunities to counterattack while defending.

However, because the pace of the early and mid-game was too fast, the difference in equipment between the two sides was very obvious, and C9's Darius in the top lane was terrifyingly farmed.

In several crucial team fights in the mid-to-late game, Darius applied five stacks of Bloodrage to everyone during Kindred's ultimate.

Once Kindred's ultimate ended, Noxus Guillotine dealt devastating damage to SKT's lineup almost instantly.

The two sides fought fiercely for 38 minutes, during which C9 controlled both Baron Nashors. C9 played steadily and never found an opportunity to turn the tide. In the first game, C9 actually dominated the entire game and achieved a 0-for-4 exchange against SKT!

"Faker's Irelia can't get into the fray! Morgana's Q, Darius's E, Sejuani's Q, Kled's Q, countless crowd control abilities are waiting for Irelia to enter the fray, and the rest of SKT can't provide any help either. This is a dead end!" Coach Duoduo looked at the situation on the field in disbelief.

"SKT seemed to be sleepwalking this game, especially the jungler and support. The two didn't coordinate at all, which is extremely fatal in the current version. Kai'Sa and Tahm Kench couldn't effectively put pressure on Ezreal in lane!"

Guan Zeyuan also said that he didn't understand what SKT was doing.
This match left not only the commentators but also all the viewers completely bewildered. Throughout the game, Skt failed to demonstrate any of the qualities expected of LCK's number one seed.

"Refund! Refund! I'm not watching anymore! SKT's skill level is so low, they should be playing for AFS! Trash team!"

"Was Lee Sang-ho sleepwalking this game? SKT's management should really get out of here. Buying players of this caliber only lowers the team's fighting power!"

"Go C9! Go C9! Crush SKT, you overconfident team!"

Waves of insults and shouts from the audience were faintly transmitted to the live broadcast studio through the microphone. The director, his face ashen, immediately turned off the microphone, trying to prevent the emotions of the audience from escalating further.

Unfortunately, the pace of the live stream was something a mere director like him couldn't control.

Whenever SKT plays, even without such a big hype beforehand, many fans in China will still watch it.

After seeing Faker's 2/6/9 score with Irelia in the first game, many people said they couldn't believe that this team was SKT and that the mid laner was Faker.

Although it was the first game of the quarterfinals, it wasn't a best-of-one match, and theoretically the two teams could play a full five games.

But the fact that C9 managed to beat SKT like this makes anyone who supports SKT feel somewhat hopeless.

"This isn't like Kkoma's style. His drafting skills shouldn't be this poor. What is he hiding? Isn't he going to reveal it?"

Watching Kkoma's draft picks in the second game, Chris pondered, unable to guess what was going on in his old rival's mind.

If they lose the second game, let alone come back from a 0-2 deficit to win 3-2, the question of how SKT will adjust their mentality for the third game will be a major problem.

The more arrogant a person is, the more paranoid they become once they fall from their throne.

"SKT must have realized that they can no longer stick to their old tactics and play macro-management. In this version, apart from tower plates, there is no need to rely on macro-management to control public resources in the early and mid-game. Kills are the best resource."

Seeing that kkoma had finally picked Fiora for Hanzi, Letme said meaningfully.

The focus of the game should be placed on Khan. If they lose the game, the blame for SKT will not be shared like it was in the last game.

As expected, SKT lived up to expectations in this match, focusing all their resources on the top lane in the early game, providing Khan with tremendous support, recklessly pushing the lane, and giving up various resources. In the mid-to-late game, Fiora's split-pushing became C9's nightmare.

Regardless of whether Fiora takes Baron, SKT's four players can hold her off in the front. If you send someone else to defend, they simply can't defend against Fiora, and might even get solo killed if they make a mistake.

Under the pressure of LCK's traditional 4-1 split push, both sides were back on equal footing, and the score was tied at 1-1.

This sparked another round of celebrations from Skt fans, who felt that their loss in the first game was just a minor mistake in the draft phase, and that Skt was still the stronger team in terms of pure skill.

In the third game, C9 learned from their loss in the second game and completely abandoned their strategy of macro play. They picked a powerful Kai'Sa and Nautilus for the bottom lane and Malzahar, the Void Prophet, for the mid lane.

Skt didn't seem to care and pulled out the key to their second victory—again, picking Camille for Hanzi to split push. Top lane: Irelia vs. Camille, a fierce duel!

As soon as the game started, the mid and jungle players on both sides went crazy. As soon as they cleared the lane, they immediately moved to the top lane. Skt wanted to protect Khan's development in the top lane, while C9 also wanted to limit Khan's development in the top lane.

In just 10 minutes, the two sides made direct contact six times.

Keep in mind that this was the highest stage of League of Legends, the World Championship (S-Series), and no one expected such a comical brawl to occur.

Both sides placed the key to victory in the top lane. In other words, C9's Kai'Sa + Nautilus duo in the bottom lane secretly farmed and dominated without anyone intervening. By the time Skt discovered this, they could no longer suppress them.

This time, unlike the last game, C9 had players who could step up, while SKT's top lane couldn't perform, and their bot lane struggled in the early game because they had to sacrifice counter picks for the top lane, leading to a significant disadvantage.

SKT lost another game, bringing the score to match point for C9, 2-1.

Just as predicted before the match, C9 has reached the crucial best-of-five quarterfinal game, taking two points ahead of SKT and pushing them to the brink of elimination. If C9 performs well in the next game, LCK's number one seed will be eliminated.

As the final team fight replay finished on the big screen and the C9 team logo shone brightly, everyone was stunned!
I'm so stupid!

Even the other professional players watching the game were stunned!
No one could believe that what was happening before their eyes was real!

SKT, the LCK's number one seed and a team that has won three World Championships, has been pushed to the brink by a C9 team.
Although many people humbly said before the match that SKT would eliminate C9 3-1, SKT fans actually hoped for a clean 3-0 victory. But now, it seems that C9 is the one eliminating SKT.
Even the most daring Li Laoba wouldn't have dared to make such an outrageous prediction before the match.

The hosts from major regions around the world made various predictions, with almost 95% of them believing that SKT would win the match against C9 very easily, and even very likely to end the match with a clean 3-0 victory, just like RNG.

The remaining 5% were also tied at 3 to 1. SKT's small mistake had little impact on the overall situation. Countless LCK fans were hoping that SKT could restore the glory of the LCK region and continue their dominance in League of Legends.

But this 2-1 scoreline is like a slap in the face to them.

Even after the C9 players left the stage, the SKT members sitting on the benches were still a bit dazed, seemingly unable to understand why they had lost so inexplicably. It wasn't until the referee next to them reminded them that they could go down and rest that they suddenly realized what had happened.
C9 doesn't seem to be as weak as they thought.

"Holy crap, is SKT really going to be eliminated? This is too unbelievable! Is this the biggest show of 2018?"

in the hotel.

After watching all three matches, the RNG team members were at a loss for words.

"C9 made so many mistakes, and Skt just couldn't capitalize on them. They always reacted too late. Faker's command ability is lacking. This game was clearly stolen by C9." After a long silence, Xiangguo sighed, unsure of what to say.

Even Li Luo was somewhat speechless.

"SKT's tactics are clearly being countered by C9 right now. This is terrible! Could SKT really be eliminated in the quarterfinals? And judging from everyone's performance just now, I feel like their mentality has collapsed!"

The entire SKT team is like autistic children, a state that RNG members are all too familiar with. Throughout this year, every team that has lost to them, even G2, which they just lost to last week, is in a similar state to SKT.

Meanwhile, countless SKT fans, after experiencing both hope and despair, are still praying with their eyes closed, hoping that SKT still has a trump card up their sleeve, even though the possibility is infinitesimally small.

By the end of the third game in a best-of-five series, both sides had basically exhausted all their options. If there were any other miracles to be found, why not play it safe in the third game?
However, some people still hold on to hope, because judging from SKT's performance in the World Championship, as long as they make it to the World Championship, they are guaranteed to reach the finals, and they will either be the champion or the runner-up!

SKT defeated Royal Club to win their first world championship trophy in Season 3. They did not participate in Season 4. In Season 5, SKT defeated KOO to win their second championship. In Season 6, SKT defeated SSG to become a three-time world champion.

Although SKT was defeated by RNG in the semifinals during S7, RNG was the champion at the time, so in a sense, SKT lost to the champion.

Will SKT fall in the quarterfinals of S8?

At that point, let alone an LCK regional internal battle, it's likely that, just as the female AD said before the tournament, all the Korean teams will be eliminated after the quarterfinals.

In fact, public opinion has begun to shift, including on Weibo's trending topics, where the news of Skt being given match point has started to rise rapidly!
"SKT is now in dire straits, just like Samsung. If SKT falls in the quarterfinals this year, it will be their worst result in team history. Whether Faker will leave the LCK and join another region will be the biggest concern for fans."

During halftime, President Guan spoke eloquently in front of the screen.

"Yes, we can indeed see some problems with SKT's tactics, including the players' condition. If they can't adjust quickly in the next half hour, then what awaits them might really be elimination, which is something no one wants to see." Teacher Duoduo's stance was clear, showing that he supported SKT.

The viewers in front of the screen didn't care at this point. Compared to SKT, even if SKT was really weak, everyone wanted to see SKT advance, rather than this unremarkable C9 team entering the semifinals.

Ultimately, League of Legends has only been around for less than ten years since its first official tournament. SKT, the team with the most championships, is naturally the team most supported by all players when there are no LPL teams.

Countless viewers spontaneously sent their encouragement in the live chat, praying that Faker could lead SKT to victory like the Demon King of S5 and S6.

Just like the famous saying, "Uzi in favorable situations, Mad Dog in unfavorable situations, Jian Zihao in desperate situations," Faker, as the soul of SKT, is also highly regarded by everyone, and everyone is willing to believe in Faker.

"Ah, I just received news that SKT has made a roster change! Unbelievable! This roster change is incredibly bold!"

Teacher Duo Duo hesitated, seemingly unwilling to believe the data provided by the director, repeatedly saying that she found it hard to believe.

After confirming that the information was indeed correct, Guan Zeyuan and the other man exchanged a glance, both seeing the astonishment in each other's eyes.
"In the Bo5 series against C9, Skt made a substitution in the fourth game, replacing support player Effort with Wolf, who hadn't played almost all season!!"

After saying this in one breath, the live stream paused for a moment and then erupted in disbelief.

wolf?

How long has it been since we last saw Wolf play since S7 ended?
Without matches, can he maintain his form?

(End of this chapter)