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

Chapter 442 The Second Semifinal Begins! The Emperor of Spring, the Wither of Summer!
However, Ji De probably didn't expect that after RNG lost the semi-final, the online sentiment would take a strange turn.

The issue of shifting blame and assigning responsibility goes without saying; this is a discussion about RNG itself.

No matter which team loses the game, they can't escape being criticized by netizens who will try to find the "war criminals."

The problem is that suddenly a large number of comments appeared online, such as "RNG lost, my youth is over!", "LPL's years of fighting against Korea have come to nothing!", "Goodbye, I uninstalled the client, it's no fun!", "I will never watch the game again!"

In the past few years, LPL has indeed lost to LCK quite badly in the World Championship.

This year, LPL viewers have indeed placed unprecedented hopes on their home-based World Championship.

RNG fought hard until the fifth game but unfortunately lost, which is truly regrettable.

But LGD hasn't been eliminated yet, has it?

How did it become "the end of my youth"?

Does this mean LGD has been kicked out of the LPL?
Does an all-Chinese team make you superior?
In fact, netizens with a little knowledge and sensitivity can easily see that this is clearly the work of a large number of online trolls and self-media outlets stirring up trouble.

All I can say is that even after being eliminated, they can still launch a massive marketing campaign to squeeze out every last bit of traffic. They truly deserve to be called marketing geniuses!
As a result, you can often see people on social media who don't usually watch the games, except for the occasional World Championship, posting things like, "RNG lost, my youth is over, I will never watch LPL games again!"

Many LGD fans quoted a gruff old guy from Tieba to these people: Who are you trying to seduce? Please look at this.
After watching the semi-final match between RNG and SKT, the entire LGD team quickly adjusted their mindset and threw themselves into training.

LGD's semifinal match is tomorrow afternoon, so there's not much to train for now.

There were no practice matches; I just played a few ranked games to maintain my skill level.

Dgc, along with the team analyst, continued to study Samsung's match recordings in an attempt to find more weaknesses in the team.

However, the more Dgc researched Samsung this week, the more he realized how impressive Samsung was.

In his view, at this stage of the World Championship, Samsung is probably the team that best fits the current World Championship version, with virtually no weaknesses.

Unlike SKT, this SKT team still has a very high ceiling, but it also has a lot of problems.

Especially SKT's bot lane.

Of all the matches played in this World Championship, the semi-final against RNG was probably the best performance by SKT's bot lane duo.

Or rather, compared to their previous lackluster performance, SKT's bot lane finally returned to "normal" in the later games of the BO5 series against RNG.

I really don't know whether to say RNG is unlucky or lucky.

The entire LGD team is racing against time to prepare for tomorrow's semi-final against Samsung. No one is paying attention to the strange and inexplicable rumors that have started circulating online after RNG's loss.

With less than 24 hours until the semi-final against Samsung, LGD's team leader had already warned the players that if they lacked confidence in their mentality, they should never surf the internet at this time.

To avoid seeing things you shouldn't see and then not being able to adjust your mindset for a while.

In the early hours of the morning, the LGD players gradually finished their final ranked training session before the match and began to rest according to their usual routines.

July 29, 10 p.m.

Today marks the start of the second semi-final match of this year's World Championship.

Nearly half an hour before the competition officially started, the venue was already packed.

Looking around, almost all of them were there to support LGD, which was a larger percentage than the number of people supporting RNG yesterday.

After all, RNG's opponent yesterday was the three-time champion SKT.

SKT is the League of Legends team with the most fans worldwide, and they have a large following everywhere.

Outside the venue, there were many spectators who came to support LGD even though they hadn't been able to buy tickets.

Last night everyone was saying "my youth is over," but today there are still tons of people coming to see LGD!

Reality and the internet are always disconnected.

No matter how much the online sentiment changes, it is difficult to affect reality in the short term.

As for the on-site commentary, just like yesterday when Zhang Yida was invited, the commentary panel also invited guests who were "not industry insiders".

This can be considered a promotional and audience-generating tactic used by the LPL (League of Legends Pro League) to attract viewers to the League of Legends esports scene.

Before the match began, pre-match interview videos of both teams were shown on the big screen at the venue.

One player from each of the two teams was interviewed.

The content of the interview was rather conventional, mainly consisting of discussing goals and reflections.

In the interview video, LGD's captain, PYL, was being interviewed. As a veteran player and one of the earliest professional players in the LPL, PYL's presence here is indeed quite appropriate.

Samsung's support player CoreJJ was interviewed, but they didn't bring out Ambition, who is also a veteran player.

After the pre-match interview video was played, the live stream camera switched back to the LPL commentary booth.

Several commentators, especially "hypnotist master" Changmao, started by giving a sentimental speech in his Taiwanese accent.

They made it seem like LGD had already lost, but they were still honorable for their defeat and had upheld the spirit of esports.

Damn it, have some faith, will you?!
Viewers are easily misled by "official" commentary.

However, even though LGD defeated Longzhu 3-0 in the quarterfinals, many viewers still considered the match between LGD and Samsung to be a 50/50 affair.

Because Dragon Ball's performance in the quarterfinals was really terrible.

Samsung, after all, was the runner-up of last year's S-series, and this year they retained the same roster. In last week's quarterfinals, they defeated WE with an impeccable performance.

Therefore, most rational viewers felt that LGD would have a tough time in today's match.

Samsung team is definitely a tough opponent!
Before the live broadcast camera turned to the commentary booth, an advertisement for Mercedes-Benz, the official sponsor of this World Championship, was played on the large screen and the live broadcast interface.

The ad was long, but the content was not boring.

At this moment, backstage at the venue, in the LGD lounge, a staff member came in to inform the LGD team that they were ready to go on stage.

Before heading out, Dgc and the starting five, including the substitute Fawang, formed a circle and encouraged each other.

After shouting "Go for it!" three times, the crowd filed out and headed towards the contestants' passage.

"Good afternoon, everyone! This is your commentator, Wawa!"

"I'm Miller!"

After the Mercedes advertisement finished, the live broadcast camera switched to the commentary booth.

As veterans of LPL commentary, the two will definitely commentate on one of the two semi-final matches.

Since there was no commentary for RNG's match yesterday, it was naturally scheduled for LGD's match today.

The two players changed their "skins" today, with the LPL logo on their left cheek and the LGD team logo on their right cheek.

When the camera panned to the commentary booth, the two players had already taken to the stage and were making some final adjustments.

Before the competition even started, Wawa and Miller naturally began the "crosstalk" segment that the audience was most familiar with.

The conversation naturally turned to the upcoming match.

When it comes to matches between LPL teams and other regions, Wawa always sits on the sidelines with a straight back.

In just two minutes of casual conversation, he managed to pull off a whole bunch of advantages that LGD has over Samsung.

Thankfully, the LGD players had already put on their noise-canceling headphones by this time, otherwise they would definitely be thinking, "How come we don't even know these things we're talking about?"

In his opinion, LPL teams always "don't lose out"!
They've really mastered the art of pleasing the audience.

However, the on-site director seemed a bit off. While Wawa and Miller were still chatting, the Summoner's Trophy icon suddenly appeared on the big screen.

Then, the screen split in two, and the BP interface appeared on the big screen.

The first ban has already been completed.

LGD banned Sejuani on the blue side.

"Okay, the match has started. LGD won the right to choose sides in the first game after the coin toss, and they chose the blue side!" Wawa said quickly.

"They banned Ambition's Sejuani right from the start. Ambition's Sejuani was really too strong in the quarterfinals, so we have to respect her."

Miller continued, "But I didn't expect LGD to choose the blue side; I thought they would still choose the red side."

"It's the first game after all, so let's play it safe for now. After all, the blue side still has a slight advantage in the drafting phase!"

"They might still want to mislead Samsung, because LGD is a team that goes against the meta."

"LGD has one very obvious characteristic: when they actively choose the red side, the game will basically revolve around their top laner!"

"It seems that's really the case. Ever since Zhou Shen appeared, when LGD actively chooses the red side, they've basically given the counter pick to the top laner!" Wawa added.

"LGD chose the blue side this time, which might mean they're going back to the meta and focusing their play on the bottom lane!"

First round of BP:

LGD banned Sejuani, Galio, and Lulu.

Samsung banned Kalista, Janna, and Kog'Maw.

“Samsung’s mid laner Crown has never played Galio before, so LGD’s decision to ban Galio might be influenced by Faker’s five Galio games yesterday,” Wawa said.

"That Galio yesterday was really too strong. LGD must have been wary of him."

“Yes,” Miller added. “Samsung didn’t ban Xayah as their third pick, but instead banned imp’s signature Kog’Maw. LGD will have to choose between Xayah and Rakan.”

Dgc's original plan was to steal the small cannon on the first floor of the blue team.

But now that Xayah and Rakan are both outside, if you don't take one of them, it's like giving Xayah and Rakan to the opponent.

After much deliberation, Dgc chose Rakan over Xayah.

Luo is more proactive.

After making the decision, Zhou Dian quickly locked Luo on the first floor.

“LGD has chosen Rakan, so Samsung will have to pick Xayah and Jarvan IV!” Miller said.

After LGD banned Sejuani on the blue side, Jarvan IV was undoubtedly the best jungler choice.

Sure enough, Samsung quickly locked in Prince on the first floor of the red team, and then revealed Xayah on the second floor.

"Ah, it really was demolished, but no matter what, I think LGD's idea is... Hey hey hey!" Before the baby finished speaking, the icon of Xayah on the second floor of the red team changed to a small cannon and was then locked on.

“That works too, then we’ll take Xayah!” Miller added.

On the big screen at the venue, in the middle of the BP interface, when Samsung replaced Xayah with Tristana on the second floor of the red team, the camera immediately focused on Ruler.

As you can see, the ruler is constantly muttering something.

At the same time, his coach patted him on the shoulder twice from behind.

It seems that the Samsung coach initially wanted to break up Xayah and Rakan, but Ruler was confident that he could counter Xayah and Rakan with Tristana.

Ultimately, the Samsung coach chose to trust the players and picked Tristana.

After all, it's only the first game of a best-of-five series, just a test, and there's still a lot of room for adjustment later.

"Samsung still picked the Tristana, which they are most familiar with and use the most. With Tristana and Prince's flag, they can push towers very quickly!"

Miller had barely finished speaking when LGD's champion selection countdown had just begun, and the blue team's second pick instantly locked in Xayah.

When Xayah and Rakan teamed up, the audience immediately erupted in cheers.

"Did Xayah and Rakan appear together in this World Championship?" Wawa asked immediately.

"Yes, Samsung played WE in the quarterfinals, and they let Xayah and Rakan go in the very first game," Miller replied.

"Oh right, Samsung is being a bit arrogant. They let WE play Xayah and Rakan, and now they're letting LGD play Xayah and Rakan."

After a pause, Wawa continued, "imp and PYL were among the first bot laners in the LPL to use the Xayah and Rakan combo in matches, and they are probably the best Xayah and Rakan players in the LPL. If you dare to let them play, you'll see the consequences later!"

It's an old habit of the kids to make tough statements before the competition.

There's no chance of being proven wrong.

He is thick-skinned anyway.

Next, LGD locked the barrel on the third floor of the blue side.

Samsung then secured the gem on the third floor of the red team.

Both sides picked good heroes in their first three picks.

One side has a strong ability to take the initiative, while the other side has a strong ability to counter-attack; these are their respective strengths.

The first round of business matching (BP) has ended.

We've moved on to the second round of draft picks.

Samsung banned Cho'Gath and Jayce.

LGD banned Orianna and Ryze.

They banned two mid-lane champions on one side and two top-lane champions on the other.

"Oh, Samsung still banned Jayce. Looks like we still won't be seeing Zhou Shen's Jayce today!" Wawa said.

"Actually, Samsung is quite similar to LGD in one respect!" Miller added.

"what?"

"When Samsung is on the red side, they almost always give the counter pick to top laner CuVee!"

Adjusting his glasses, Miller continued, "I've always thought Cuvee is a pretty strong player!"

"However, when LGD played against Longzhu, Zhou Shen dared to let Khan play Jayce, but Samsung chose to ban Jayce here, probably because they felt that their top laner couldn't handle Jayce."

"There's no way around it." The doll chuckled. "Zhou Shen's Jess is more powerful than Khan!"

Zhou Dian raised an eyebrow when he saw that Samsung had banned Jayce, not surprised at all.

He was actually a little surprised that Samsung banned the big bug.

It seems Samsung has done quite a bit of research on him.

However, even if Samsung didn't ban Jayce, Zhou Dian wouldn't pick Jayce if he chose the top lane first.

Not for any other reason, but simply because the opposing top laner is CuVee.

In the League of Legends esports community, there's a saying: "The Emperor of Spring (dade), the Wither of Summer (cuvee)."

The phrase "summer withers" refers to CuVee, the top laner for Samsung.

(End of this chapter)