You promised a top lane tutorial, but you're just using Worlds as material for your videos?

Chapter 401 S7 World Championship Departure Ceremony

When the five members of the KT team were first formed at the beginning of this year, they were showered with praise and hype.

What's the result now?
S7 didn't even get in.

Is this all there is to Galactic Warships?

That's it?

The reason why LPL viewers have such a lot of animosity towards KT is basically because of Deft and Mata.

During the two years of S5 and S6, while these two were in the LPL, they earned money from the LPL and also spoke ill of the LPL from time to time.

Especially in the World Championships, Deft and Mata would underperform whenever they faced Korean teams, resulting in many memorable moments.

When Deft was with EDG, he created a "golden lantern" scene at the S5 World Championship.

When Mata was with RNG, he also made some amazing plays with Zyra, the "Wind Speaker," during the S6 World Championship.

They offended the two largest fan groups in the LPL: "pigs" and "dogs".

KT has made a huge fool of themselves, and these people will definitely keep mocking the two of them.

Aside from these two, the main target of ridicule within the KT team is Score, the Korean sturgeon general.

Netizens generally commented that Score, besides being a noob like General Sturgeon Kid, is also incredibly unlucky.

He's bad at playing AD carry, and when he switched to jungle, he was both unlucky and bad.

KT has encountered a series of unfortunate events not only on their way to the World Championship this year, but also last year.

In the 2016 LCK Summer Playoffs semifinals, KT miraculously reversed the situation by coming back from a 0-2 deficit to defeat the then-dominant SKT and advance to the finals.

In the finals, the two teams battled through five games against ROX Tigers.

In the decisive fifth game, KT had a huge advantage. When Score used Smite on Baron Nashor, Baron Nashor was upgraded and left with only one HP.

By a mere drop of blood, Baron Nashor was stolen by Smeb's Gangplank ultimate.

Then, ROX completed the comeback, won the decisive game, and won the 16 LCK Summer Split Championship, becoming the number one seed from the LCK region for the S6 World Championship.

SKT secured the second seed from the LCK region for the S6 World Championship thanks to their points advantage.

KT had no choice but to accept this result and participate in the gauntlet, where they were eliminated by Samsung.

This year, KT replaced four key players except for the jungler, essentially repeating the path they took in 16.

Moreover, this process has become more convoluted, more dramatic, and more tortuous.

Some key points are remarkably similar.

Both were runners-up in the Spring Split, then lost their direct qualification for the World Championship in the Summer Split, were relegated to the Regional Finals, and were then eliminated by Samsung, missing out on the World Championship.

It's both pathetic and laughable.

Regarding KT's failure to qualify for the World Championship today, the guys on Tieba (a Chinese online forum) have been making all sorts of jokes and memes, doing their best to mock them.

The forum users have found all sorts of tricky angles.

Some netizens said it's all Smeb's fault. Last year, the captain stole KT's Baron, which cost KT the LCK championship and caused KT to miss out on S6.

The KT team then disbanded.

As the culprit who caused KT's disbandment, how dare you, Smeb, come to KT and form a super team?
See, this is karma coming back to bite you.

Even more outrageous ones say it's all the factory manager's fault.

If it weren't for Clearlove breaking Pawn's back while hugging him, causing Pawn's performance to decline drastically, would KT have failed to qualify for Worlds this year?
There are also those who blame the African team's jungler, Spirit.

In the first round of the LCK S7 qualifiers, AFs faced off against Samsung.

After the first three games, AFs led Samsung 2-1.

In the fourth game of the BO5 series, Spirit pulled off a stunning comeback.

They actually pulled out Lulu jungle, planning to use Lulu jungle and Janna support with double Ardent Censer to protect the AD carry.

It turned out to be completely useless; this thing is really not suitable for jungling.

Not only did they lose, they also ruined their teammates' morale.

In the fifth game, the African team was directly defeated by Samsung, and Samsung advanced to the final round of the qualifiers.

Seeing this, Zhou Dian also felt it was a pity.

He regrets that MaRin, the top laner for the African team.

After S6, MaRin left LGD and returned to Korea to join an African team.

At the time, everyone thought he was going back to retire, after all, MaRin was born in 91 and was already twenty-six or twenty-seven years old.

As it turned out, the "League of Losers" composed of these African players actually performed quite well, and they got better and better as the summer season progressed.

Just when their hopes of qualifying for the S7 World Championship were growing, they were utterly defeated by their Lulu jungle pick.

Zhou Dian has a good impression of MaRin, the only FMVP top laner in the history of the World Championship. He watched a lot of MaRin's matches and ranked game replays to study and learn from him back then.

This year was probably MaRin's best chance to make it to the World Championship for the rest of his career, and Zhou Dian was indeed a little disappointed that he failed to qualify.

He is indeed too old. He didn't make it to the World Championship this year, and even if he doesn't retire, no top team will want him.

Zhou Dian was originally looking forward to facing MaRin at the S7 World Championship.

After all, MaRin, as a top laner, won the highest individual honor in League of Legends—the FMVP of the World Championship.

As a fellow top laner, Zhou Dian naturally aspires to this glory as well.

The next day, January 9st.

Today is the last day of the League of Legends sixth anniversary celebration.

The final LPL ticket to the S7 World Championship will also be decided today.

The final ticket was contested between WE and EDG.

Before the match, fans of both teams had already been arguing fiercely, eagerly awaiting the outcome of this do-or-die battle.

The animosity between the two teams' fans has a long history.

Back in late 13, Factory Director declared, "We're going to fight to the death, let's leave tonight," and he dragged head coach Abu and support player Curly away from WE overnight.

Later, during the 15 LPL Spring Split playoffs, EDG, who finished first in the regular season, faced WE, who barely made it into the playoffs, in the first round of the playoffs.

Because they underestimated WE, EDG actually let their main mid laner Pawn rest and chose to send U, who was no longer playing, to play against WE.

However, WE managed to tie the first four games of the BO5 series at 2-2.

Now EDG dared not let U God play in the fifth game, so they directly delayed the game and forced Pawn, who was not present at the time due to a back injury, to come to the scene.

After Pawn was substituted in for the fifth game, EDG successfully won the decisive game, advanced to the next round, and ultimately won the 15 LPL Spring Split championship.

This is also the origin of the meme "Someone, bring General Pawn from the hospital".

This also marked the beginning of EDG being widely labeled as the "Prince Team" or "Specialized Team".

Now, facing off in the fierce S7 qualifiers for the last World Championship spot, the two teams' fans have been arguing since last night.

At 3 PM, the final round of the LPLS7 qualifiers began on time.

WE took the initiative from the start, winning a crushing game in less than 27 minutes and easily taking the first game.

WE fans were naturally overjoyed and began to mock EDG for being so weak, no wonder they were crushed by RNG in the semifinals.

However, EDG played steadily, with mid laner Scout carrying the team in two consecutive games, one as Lucian and the other as Corki, achieving a total of 18 kills and 0 deaths. EDG won the next two games and took a 2-1 lead over WE.

Now it's EDG fans' turn again.

Of course, at times like this, EDG fans don't dare to make any absolute statements when they're mocking them.

Who isn't afraid of a boomerang?

Sure enough, the fourth game was another one where the team completely dominated.

Although the game lasted for a little over 33 minutes, WE maintained the advantage from start to finish, and EDG had no chance at all.

The two sides were tied 2-2, and the best-of-five series for the last LPL ticket to S7 went to a decisive game.

With the competition at this stage, many WE fans are starting to suffer from PTSD.

Last year, WE suffered a crushing defeat in the fifth game of the final round of the S6 qualifiers against IM, squandering a huge advantage and allowing IM to achieve a remarkable leap to the World Championship. This year, it's the same situation again, where a single game determines a spot in the World Championship.

In the fifth game, both sides played very steadily. Compared to the previous games, there were very few kills, and the two sides were evenly matched for a period of time.

However, at 22 minutes into the game, WE, holding two Earth Dragons, suddenly made a brilliant dragon steal. EDG was caught off guard and WE took down the Baron, instantly turning the tide in WE's favor.

In the 25th minute, EDG forced a fight at the dragon pit, but WE managed to get a 4-for-1 exchange.

The only remaining mid laner was held back by WE's support, who risked his life to prevent him from returning to base. Meanwhile, the other three members of WE pushed aggressively down the mid lane, hoping to take down EDG in one fell swoop.

Unfortunately, when they were pushing the base crystal, they were wiped out by the resurrected EDG players.

EDG's base crystal has only half its health remaining.

However, in League of Legends, once one side loses their two inhibitor turrets, the game loses its flavor.

Once the turret is gone, the difficulty of making a comeback is no less than if all three lanes are breached.

Unfortunately, WE's mid laner Xiye played Kassadin in this game, a champion known for his numerous backdoor plays.

Just three minutes later, WE rushed towards EDG's high ground, while the others applied pressure head-on, and Kassadin stole EDG's base crystal.

With a hoarse shout of "Congratulations WE!" from the commentators...

The three teams from the LPL region that will compete in the S7 World Championship have all been confirmed.

After a hard-fought five games, WE ended their BO5 qualifying match against EDG with a dramatic backdoor play.

They secured the last ticket for the LPL region to participate in the S7 World Championship.

For WE fans, personally blocking the factory manager from entering the World Championship still gives them a sense of relief, even though it happened a long time ago.

The fans of both sides engaged in even more intense online arguments.

However, none of this had anything to do with Zhou Dian. He was backstage at the Wukesong Arena with his teammates, waiting to go to the main stage for the final S7 World Championship send-off ceremony.

After the departure ceremony, the sixth anniversary celebration of Tencent Games' League of Legends officially came to a complete end.

There's still some preparatory work to be done at the front desk, so they'll have to wait a little longer in the back.

At this moment, staff members brought out the uniforms that the contestants needed to wear when participating in the send-off ceremony.

It's very simple, just a coat.

Zhou Dian picked up one at random.

Damn! Who designed this? It's really awful.

Fortunately, the overall design is relatively simple, without any flashy or fussy elements on the clothing, so it's not exactly ugly.

It's just... ordinary.

And why does it feel so familiar?

A little while later, a staff member came in and told everyone backstage to get ready to go on stage.

on the main stage.

Zhu Zhen, who was in charge of all the hosting work during the entire anniversary celebration, was reciting his script.

"We wish the three teams that will be present the best of luck, and we look forward to LGD, RNG, and WE achieving even more outstanding results!"

Zhu Zhen shouted loudly, "Let's welcome our moment of departure!"

Exhilarating music filled the air.

The live stream camera lingered on the audience seats for a few seconds before panning upwards.

Three huge flags were hung inside the venue, bearing the logos of the three LPL teams participating in the S7 World Championship.

The regular main players from the three teams walked out from the player tunnels on both sides of the stage.

They stood in the center of the main stage, fifteen people in a row.

All fifteen people were wearing the same style of uniform.

Upon seeing the RNG players, Zhou Dian finally remembered why the outfit looked so familiar.

This looks so much like RNG's team uniform!
The person who designed this conqueror is incredibly lazy.

The black coat had several gold stripes on the shoulders and upper arms.

On the left chest is an embroidered gold team emblem.

The members of the three teams wore uniforms embroidered with their respective team logos, all of which were gold.

No wonder Zhou Dian felt perfectly at ease when he saw the RNG players walking towards him.

It was as if they were wearing their own team uniforms.

This is outrageous! The designer was so lazy. Did they just find a decent team uniform designer, modify it a bit, and call it a day?

Zhou Dian was speechless.

The RNG and WE players standing on either side zipped up their outfits.

However, the five LGD players standing in the middle did not zip up their jackets.

They all had their jackets open, revealing the LGD team logo in the middle of their short-sleeved team jerseys underneath.

The live stream camera slowly panned across the three teams, and accompanied by rousing background music, a deep, resonant male voice rang out.

This is playing a pre-recorded farewell speech.

"The wind is high and the clouds are wide, autumn passes quickly; iron horses and golden swords are called upon on the command platform!"

"His talent soars to great heights; it is time to prepare his horses and sharpen his sword!"

"Study military strategy diligently and work hard; fight the enemy on the battlefield with unwavering spirit!"

"Heroes fear no mountain, for they unite as one and uphold their unwavering will!"

"Unite and work together to defend our home turf!"

"2017 League of Legends World Championship: Where the heart leads, fearlessness prevails, let the world see the red of China!"

The powerful send-off speech ended there. On the four large screens at the venue, five-clawed dragons surrounded the sides, while the words "See you at the Global Finals" were displayed in the center.

Bang!
Fireworks shot out from all around the stage, and golden sequins drifted down from the sky, many landing on the heads of the team members on the stage.

No one bothered to pick at the debris above their heads, and the three teams stood on the stage in silence for a long time.

A determined look appeared in everyone's eyes.

At this moment, a strange emotion lingered in everyone's hearts.

Standing in the middle of the stage, Zhou Dian also felt that strong sense of honor in defending the home field.

My heart was filled with boiling passion.

Countless spectators below the stage were roaring, "Go LPL!"

At this moment, Zhou Dian is not fighting alone.

It wasn't just the three teams of players standing on the stage who were fighting.

Instead, they are fighting with the hopes of all Chinese server players and all LPL viewers.

The Bird's Nest stadium in Beijing is not a place where outsiders can be allowed to hold a drink.

The audience below the stage was shouting wildly:
"Go LGD! Go RNG! Go WE!"

"Go LPL! Charge!"

"Give those Korean teams from the LCK a good beating!"

"."

Host Zhu Zhen's voice rang out again in the arena: "We see that LGD, RNG, and WE are carrying the heavy responsibility entrusted to them by all LPL teams, and are also the expectations of all players. They will make their sprint towards the higher goal of the 2017 World Championship."

"While wishing them well, I would also like to thank everyone again for attending the League of Legends 6th Anniversary Celebration."

"Our event has come to an end. Let's meet again next year! Goodbye!"

(End of this chapter)