Starting with Zaozi Ge, a dream lineup

Chapter 329 Panic grips the people; reorganization is imminent.

After a good night's sleep, early in the morning, his biological clock, ingrained by a long-standing regular routine, woke him up.

I picked up my phone; it was just past 6:40.

In Uzi's timeline, due to management regulations, RNG's breakfast time is from 7:00 to 7:30. After breakfast ends at 7:30, everyone has to start today's training. However, after transmigrating to Clearlove's timeline, there is no such regulation.

Despite being the club with the most rules, Edg still allows all players to sleep until 8 a.m., have breakfast, and then start training at 9 a.m.

While there was still time, Li Luo lay in bed, scrolling through his phone and planning his future, trying to find a way to break the deadlock in S10.

In his previous life, he chose to time travel in June after Zaozi retired, so he was unaware of what happened afterward.

However, considering the strength of each region at that time, the strongest teams in the LPL were Top Esports (with JackeyLove, Knight, and Karsa as support) and JD Gaming (with Zoom, Kanavi, and Yagao as leaders) in the Spring Split.

The LCK region, on the other hand, is led by Nuguri, Showmaker, and Canyou, with Superway and DRX as supporting players, forming a world-class team.

G2 from the European and American regions, with Caps and Perkz, can be considered a formidable opponent.

If Edg wants to win the championship in this version, Li Luo thought carefully and, based on the limited information he had before his transmigration in his previous life, there are two things that must be done:

First, there's the issue of EdgG's top laner. The current top laner, Jinoo, is simply not up to the task of carrying EdgG in S10.

In 2015, South Korean top laner Jinoo came to China and began his LPL professional career. His signature Fiora and Riven left a deep impression on many LPL viewers, earning him the nickname "Sword Immortal".

Sword Immortal's debut was as a substitute for Marin, playing Swain. He solo-killed the champion top laner Looper there. Just when everyone thought he was about to take off, Sword Immortal was benched for a long time until he came on as a substitute mid laner for DogV.

The Ahri he played in that game was during LGD's era of two kings. Known as the Fox Fairy, he remained a traditional comedic figure in LGD. It wasn't until the era of the Mage King top laner ended that Jinno officially became LGD's starting top laner. His Fiora was so amazing that he earned the title of Sword Fairy (of course, only LGD would do something like having Sword Fairy as a substitute for the Mage King).

To be fair, SwordArt's highlights mostly came during relegation matches. His domineering performances against Flandre and GimGoon were from that period. He was considered a top-tier top laner during that time. His playstyle was very refined, which is different from TheShy's domineering style.

Jinoo could have won many more honors, but he spent his peak years with LGD. If Jinoo had been a starter when he first came to LPL, or had found a good team, he would have won many more honors than he has now, and his story would have been more widely known in LPL, instead of being as "mediocre" as it is now.

But here's the problem: Edg didn't know this at the time, or perhaps they couldn't do anything about it even if they did. SwordArt turned bad very quickly. At the beginning of the year, he was at least able to withstand pressure, but by the mid-game, he started to lose his way everywhere.

Sword Immortal retired in May and played with unparalleled skill, forcing the still competitive EDG to bring in Aodi to save the day. Aodi was a mediocre player, so his performance was mediocre. Even with the later addition of the 50-dollar top laner Xiaoxiang, EDG's top lane has always been a weak point.

EDG's biggest mistake was assuming that Audi could carry the team, but the truth is that Audi's champion pool is weak. Not only is the draft pressure heavy, but his strength drops visibly below average when he leaves Mordekaiser and Ornn. This average level does not refer to a first-rate top laner, but a second-rate top laner.

Of course, if EDG had used the same lineup as S9 in S10, just replacing iboy and continuing to work on team synergy, they would have had a great chance of making it to Worlds. But now, with a clear weakness in the top lane and a flexible jungler, this EDG team is unlikely to qualify.

Therefore, solving the top lane problem is the first major challenge facing Edg.

The second issue is the selection of the ADC (Adverbial Center).

I know that iboy is leaving VG, but EDG club doesn't know yet. Even Abu has been trying to appeal to iboy's emotions, trying to persuade him not to leave and to continue competing in S10.

However, based on iboy's past performance and Edg's official tweets, iboy was determined to leave at the time. The original text also mentioned that the club tried to persuade him to stay multiple times during this period, but Hu Xianzhao still insisted on leaving.

Based on Li Luo's understanding of Xiao Zhao in the Uzi era, he was 90% confident that he could keep him. But the question is, does keeping iboy really give him the strength to win the World Championship?
After joining VG in S10, iboy's performance was not outstanding, even somewhat dismal, except for becoming the team's captain. He was once hailed as a genius ADC in the LPL, but gradually became just an ordinary ADC player.

Furthermore, there's a big fish currently on the free agent market waiting for numerous clubs to contact and try to catch it.
It has been reported by various marketing accounts and media that Jackeylove is leaving the S8 champion team IG. Li Luo calculated the time and found that Jackeylove is about to enter the free market. If they can get Jackeylove, perhaps Edg's bot lane will no longer be a weakness.

After gathering information on his phone, Li Luo decided to personally visit Abu and have a good talk with him about Edg's decisions after the transfer window opened.

After browsing Weibo and acknowledging the comments from a few fans who had left messages urging him not to retire because of last night's controversy, Li Luo folded his blankets, washed up, and went to the restaurant.

It was 7:50 a.m. When the busy aunt saw Li Luo coming over, she immediately gave him a kind smile.

After making inquiries yesterday, even they know today that this man is going to switch from being a player to a coach!
For these ordinary staff members, the athletes are their customers, but for the coaches, they are like bosses, and even have the power to decide their fate.

As soon as Li Luo sat down, the auntie in charge of serving food, following Mingkai's usual habit, quickly brought him breakfast.

A bowl of hot dry noodles, glistening with red oil and thick sesame sauce, exudes the unique flavor of Hubei. Topped with a few bright green scallions, the taste of alkaline noodles is instantly brought out. The noodles are thin, smooth, and chewy, the sauce is fragrant and delicious, and the color is yellow and oily. It is fragrant and fresh, making one's appetite soar.

That wasn't all. The aunt then brought over a bowl of thick soup noodles, a dish that only people from Wuhan, Hubei province, would enjoy. She first boiled small fish and shrimp in water until they were soft and mushy, then skimmed off the residue, leaving a thick soup that was as sticky as rice porridge.

Blanch the rice noodles briefly in boiling water, then drain and place them in a bowl. Pour a large spoonful of rich broth over them, then sprinkle with salt, pepper, minced ginger, and chopped green onions. The original flavor and color of the rice noodles are preserved, resulting in a rich and robust taste.

Li Luo scooped up a mouthful of noodles dripping with sesame sauce from the bowl, topped with a touch of savory pickled radish. The fragrant hot dry noodles went down his throat, and he slurped them down with gusto. Watching Li Luo devour his food, several aunties standing in the kitchen laughed.

It seems like it's been a long time since I've seen the factory manager have such a good appetite!
After everyone else had woken up and washed up, they saw Li Luo already sitting in the restaurant eating, and they all reluctantly sat down.

Mei Kou was fine; she immediately sat down next to Li Luo with a fried dough stick, a plate of side dishes, and a bowl of porridge, and very familiarly started breaking the fried dough stick into the bowl without any restraint.

Scout respectfully greeted everyone before sitting down with his rice bowl, eating while looking at his phone in silence.

iboy, who had come down with the sword immortal, seemed as if he couldn't bear to be seen, and immediately took his rice bowl to the training room to eat. "Xiao Zhao, what's wrong? Just sit here and eat. I have something I want to talk to you about after you finish."

Upon hearing Li Luo's call, iboy's expression visibly stiffened for a moment, then he obediently walked over like a fearless warrior and sat down in the seat to Li Luo's left.

Mingkai is no longer a player, but a coach!

For these players, starting from their first year as free agents, Edg has the right and the qualification to sell iboy directly to other teams. This team could be a top-tier team, or it could be sold directly to a team that can't even make the playoffs for money.

Despite his firm resolve to leave, iboy, sitting next to the factory manager while eating, thought about the past when they fought side by side and the kindness the factory manager had shown him. Compared to this, he felt extremely distressed that he was about to escape when Edg was at its weakest. As he ate, tears started streaming down his face, as if he had suffered a great injustice.

Seeing Xiao Zhao's appearance, the others who were eating, including Mei Kou, sped up their eating. Jie Jie even took two bites and said she was full, then dropped her chopsticks and fled the restaurant like a shot.

Ignoring the aggrieved Xiao Zhao beside him, Li Luo waited until Xiao Zhao finished slurping the last mouthful of noodles and wiped his mouth with a tissue before turning around to look at iboy, whose eyes were red with grievance.

From the time he traveled to Uzi's timeline in S7 and first met iboy, to now in S10, Xiao Zhao's face has matured, seemingly shedding the timid "Dog Brother" he used to call out to him when they first met.

"Tell me which team you want to join!"

Upon hearing the factory manager speak, iboy instinctively wanted to say that he wanted to leave because of special reasons, and that it wasn't because the team treated him badly. However, the factory manager asked him this question directly, causing him to swallow back the words he had already prepared.

"Brother Mingkai, it's me..."

"I know, I promise you, if the club won't let you go, I'll plead with them. Our Edg club never forces players to stay, nor will we hinder a player's development."

Looking at Xiao Zhao's appearance, Li Luo was filled with mixed feelings and gave up the idea of ​​trying to persuade her to stay.

Everyone has their own ambitions, and Xiao Zhao, who has dedicated her youth to Edg from the very beginning, has obviously developed new aspirations at this time.

His departure from Edg is not iboy's own problem, nor is it EDG's problem, but rather a problem between "iboy and EDG".

This caused Iboy's mindset to change drastically since his debut, leaving him confused and hesitant, which naturally led to problems in his actions.

Back then, he was the top AD carry in the youth training program (second place was JackeyLove), selected by EDG, and reached his peak right from the start, defeating RNG 3-2 in the Summer Finals. It seemed like he and EDG were mutually beneficial, but Iboy wasn't a good fit for EDG, neither in terms of playstyle nor personality.

It is precisely because of this unsuitability that it is unlikely that he, who is jokingly called "Fish Man" by netizens, will be able to surpass his peak performance in the future.

S7 EDG made a reverse breakthrough to the quarterfinals, and Hu Xianzhao was able to say to so many people waiting to criticize EDG in the live broadcast, "If we qualify, it's not certain who will win or lose against WE" (not to mention this guy's show of force against SKT).

At that time, he was very confident in his skills, and he certainly had the ability to do so. In SKT's miraculous team fight in the mid lane, he was the only one who reacted to Rakan's initiation.

However, many people have not paid much attention to one of Xiao Zhao's personality traits. To put it nicely, he is carefree; to put it bluntly, he lacks a strong desire to win. Iboy has expressed his mentality and attitude towards the team's victory or defeat in interviews more than once.

As long as he performs well, the team's wins or losses are not important to him, and will not affect his mentality.

Therefore, Iboy can only be a strong enough weapon, but he can never become the core of a team like Faker, Clearlove, Uzi, or even Rookie. This is a personality issue, but the bigger problem is that EDG will not use a weapon like Iboy.

Especially after Meiko transitioned to being the shot-caller in S8, the bot lane issues became even more pronounced. Often, Iboy would initiate plays with little or no communication, and Meiko would then follow up with top-notch reflexes and awareness. Of course, Meiko would also initiate plays sometimes, but she would always communicate with the team before making a move.

This reflects Meiko's personality and professionalism, especially since she's taken on leadership roles. If it were just a disconnect in her skills, it would be easy to fix. But behind this disconnect lies a disconnect between her personality and her game philosophy.

Of course, this problem is entirely Meiko's own fault.

Tianye is not a particularly outstanding commander; his ability to read the game is far inferior to that of top-tier commanders.
Otherwise, Guodian wouldn't have made such an outrageous move as opening the Baron and then giving away two games in a row during the Spring Finals.

Tianye couldn't completely convince Hu Xianzhao, so naturally, Xiaozhao couldn't play comfortably under such circumstances.

To truly solve EDG's bot lane issues, we need to start from Tianye's perspective and find a suitable ADC for Mekio.

Don't assume that Tianye's playstyle isn't aggressive enough just because he's more stable than Iboy. Isn't Uzi aggressive? When he and Uzi teamed up for the All-Star game, judging from their voice chat, it was always Uzi pulling Tianye back to play it safe, constantly saying "retreat, retreat, retreat" in the voice chat.

Therefore, the ADC position of Edg must be freed up for an ADC who can support Edg's banner. This person must be aggressive but also stable, able to step up and carry the team at crucial moments, and also able to sacrifice himself when the team needs him. Looking at iboy's appearance, Li Luo already had a clue who to choose.

However, the actual implementation will depend on Abramovich's cooperation and communication between the clubs.

"Could I be assigned to a team with a lot of young players, preferably a new team? Even if it's not competitive, as long as I can see a chance for success, that's fine."

In front of Mingkai, Xiaozhao is always like a child.

Seeing his expression, Li Luo waved his hand, signaling him to leave, as he needed to think carefully about where iboy should go.

Having received the order, iboy felt as if he had been granted a pardon and fled the restaurant like the wind, barely touching the food on the table.

New AD
Who should we choose?
(End of this chapter)