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

Chapter 478 On the eve of the finals, there were no practice matches to play!

October 30th, Monday, the day after the semi-final between LGD and Samsung ended.

Today, the entire LGD team is heading to Beijing.

The final battle of this year's World Championship will be held at the Bird's Nest Stadium in Beijing.

For Chinese people, this stadium holds special significance, as it was the site of the opening ceremony of the 08 Olympic Games.

So, more than half a year ago, when Riot Games officially confirmed that the Bird's Nest Stadium would be the venue for this year's World Championship finals.

All LPL viewers are eagerly anticipating that an LPL team will make it to the finals of this year's World Championship.

Not only because no LPL team has reached the finals for two years, but also because the finals are being held at the Bird's Nest Stadium.

Now, LGD has done it on behalf of the LPL!
In fact, when the semifinal matchups were announced, LPL viewers generally believed that LGD had a higher probability of making it to the finals than RNG.

After all, RNG's opponent in the semifinals is SKT, the three-time champions whom they have never defeated.

Ultimately, from a rational perspective, many LPL viewers believe that this year's S-series finals will be an LCK internal battle, just like the previous two years.

However, if an LCK internal battle were to take place at the Bird's Nest Stadium, it would be incredibly painful for LPL viewers.

Fortunately, after a series of tough battles in the semifinals, although RNG was unfortunately eliminated, LGD successfully advanced to the finals.

The Bird's Nest final did not become the third time in S-series history that an LCK internal battle would take place in the final.

Although LGD made it to the finals, what stands in their way is SKT, the most legendary team in League of Legends history, and Faker, the most legendary player in League of Legends history.

From a rational perspective, even among LPL fans, not many believe that LGD can defeat SKT.

Although LGD defeated SKT in this year's MSI finals.

However, any viewer with some knowledge of the competition knows very well that MSI and Worlds are completely different things.

In the 15 MSI finals, EDG also defeated SKT.

However, at the S5 World Championship in the same year, EDG was completely outmatched by SKT.

At least for now, SKT in the World Championship is invincible in the eyes of all viewers around the world.

After nearly a month of competition, many viewers may have noticed that this year's SKT team in the World Championship seems to have declined in strength compared to the previous two years, and the team has many problems.

But it is SKT after all, the champions of the last two S-series tournaments.

Most importantly, SKT has never lost a best-of-five knockout match in the World Championship.

Even at this year's World Championship, this SKT team seemed to be struggling.

Although they were pushed to the brink by the Rabbit team in the quarterfinals and by RNG in the semifinals.

But in the end, it was SKT who had the last laugh.

After reaching the knockout stage of this World Championship, SKT lost both of their best-of-five series to their opponents, putting them on the brink of elimination.

But in the end, it was SKT's opponents who fell off the cliff.

With the competition at this stage, and considering SKT's past glorious record,

Many viewers began to wonder: Does SKT really have some kind of aura about them?
Audiences are ordinary people, and it's impossible for them to view issues with absolute objectivity.

Looking back at SKT's matches over the years, many viewers can't help but think this way.

Some might even think that SKT in the World Championship is unbeatable.

However, if you watch the knockout stage of this World Championship carefully, you will find that...

Whether it was the quarterfinals or the semifinals, in both BO5 matches, LGD's performance was actually much stronger than SKT's.

Including the other best-of-five knockout matches, LGD was the best performing team among the eight teams in the quarterfinals.

Just because LGD's opponent in the finals is SKT, even LPL fans have started to have less confidence in LGD for some reason.

On the night LGD defeated Samsung, riding the wave of excitement, many LPL fans online were chanting that they would take the S-series championship in one fell swoop.

But after the initial excitement wore off, the long-standing apprehension towards SKT began to rise again.

However, in Zhou Dian's opinion, the current SKT is no longer the dynasty team it was two years ago.

Since the start of this summer split, SKT has essentially been Faker's team, with Faker carrying the team entirely.

Moreover, within the SKT team, the desire to win is severely lacking, and some players are simply playing it cool!

Surprisingly, the player with the strongest competitive drive in the entire SKT team is Faker, who already has three world championships and countless honors.

Aside from Faker, the other SKT players don't have the right mindset for the game, which is SKT's biggest problem.

Now is the perfect opportunity to defeat SKT. If RNG can't seize this opportunity, Zhou Dian will!

In yesterday's post-match interview, Zhou Dian said that he felt LGD and SKT were now evenly matched, which was already a conservative estimate.

On the morning of October 30th, the entire LGD team arrived at Shanghai Airport and boarded a plane bound for Beijing.

The distance between the two places is not particularly long, and the flight is quick; we arrived around noon.

They then checked into the hotel that the club had arranged in advance.

After the team members put away their luggage and personal belongings, they were led by the team leader to the training room.

It wasn't far from the room where the team members slept.

They only advanced to the finals last night, and the training room was already set up after they arrived in Beijing today. The team's logistics are quite good.

After all, in the past, some teams have had similar situations where they had to train in internet cafes because they only had a place to sleep but no place to train.

In fact, the team leader only took the team members to the training room to familiarize themselves with the place, and did not notify the team members to assemble.

Head coach Dgc did not assign any training tasks at this time, nor did he notify the players to gather in the training room.

He also specifically told the team members to arrange their own time for the rest of the day and relax.

But not long after, Zhou Dian and his teammates returned to the training room one after another.

It became a completely subconscious action.

As Zhou Dian watched his teammates enter the training room one after another, the corners of his mouth turned up higher and higher, and his smile appeared on his face without any attempt to hide it.

Very good, it seems everyone's desire to win is incredibly strong.

During the World Championship, under Zhou Dian's "teaching by example," one principle has taken root in people's hearts.

That means treating every match as if it were a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

For esports players, a career is short, and it's extremely difficult to find a few suitable teammates.

Since we've all come together and have the opportunity to achieve results, we should be determined and give it our all.

If you're eliminated due to non-competitive factors, what's the point of regretting it later?

You may never reach that level again!

After returning to the training room, the first thing everyone did was turn on their computers and open the League of Legends client.

However, everyone's movements inevitably became slightly hesitant.

Because suddenly I don't know what to do. The World Championship has reached this stage, and more than a month of the competition has passed, with only the final match left to play.

To be honest, for both the LGD players and their opponent SKT, playing ranked games at this time, apart from maintaining their skill level, will not have much training effect.

After more than a month of competition, the version progress of League of Legends on any League of Legends server around the world has exceeded the S-series version by at least two versions.

The only way to truly achieve training results is through training matches.

However, LGD no longer has any scrims to play.

At this stage of the World Championship, only LGD and SKT remain as the final two teams.

The other eliminated teams were all given a break.

Who are you going to arrange a practice match with?

Looking for RNG, the last LPL team to be eliminated?

It seems like Uzi has been playing PUBG for a whole day and night!

Who would want to train with you then?

It was said to be the most united LPL team in a World Championship, but that was only before they were eliminated.

Once you're eliminated, you can do whatever you want.

Sacrificing my rest time to train with you?

Who are you?
As for arranging scrimmages with SKT, that's obviously not realistic either.

Even if they agree, you wouldn't dare to go!

Not to mention that the two teams come from different regions.

Before the semifinals began, Samsung and SKT must have played many scrimmages, just like LGD and RNG.

If Samsung had advanced from the semifinals between LGD and Samsung, and now Samsung and SKT are about to face off in the finals, then at this point in time, the two teams definitely wouldn't be playing scrims.

No matter how many practice matches the two teams have played against each other before, once they are determined to become life-or-death rivals, it is impossible for them to practice against each other.

So, after thinking it over, Zhou Dian realized that it seemed like the only thing he could do was play ranked matches.

However, with five or six days to go before the finals, having just completed a long journey and without any specific training assignments, the LGD players were inevitably a bit restless.

Especially considering that their opponent in the finals is SKT, it's impossible for them not to feel nervous or anxious at all.

So Zhou Dian suggested going out for a walk to relax.

As we approach the end of October and November is just around the corner, the weather in the capital city is already getting a bit chilly.

Walking on the main road, apart from the air quality being so-so, everything else felt pretty good.

While LGD was out walking around, SKT wasn't doing any training either.

The SKT players, who arrived in Beijing a day earlier than LGD, are currently climbing the Great Wall.

At this stage, the SKT players were also unable to fully concentrate on training alone.

Since I rarely get to visit the capital, I decided to spend a day exploring the Great Wall, one of the Seven Wonders of the World.

SKT had an extra day of rest between the semifinals and the finals compared to LGD.

At this moment, the SKT team members were chatting and laughing on the Great Wall, clearly completely immersed in the holiday mood.

Returning to the topic mentioned earlier, after narrowly advancing from the semifinals to the finals, apart from Faker, none of the other SKT players have been able to maintain a proper mindset.

Huni and Peanut joined SKT as a team after two BO5 victories against all odds.

At this moment, I feel that SKT seems to have been blessed with destiny in the World Championship, and their mentality has become a bit arrogant.

Peanut thought to himself, "SKT is really ruthless. They made it to the S-series finals right away and won the S-series championship right away. They're really having a blast being carried!"

If I had known that winning the championship would be so easy, why did I work so hard to carry ROX in the first place? In the end, we still lost to SKT in the World Championship.

Why not just go straight for SKT!

Peanut shook his head, then thought to himself, "Smeb, why suffer for the sake of saving face? SKT recruited you, but you refused to 'defect' and insisted on joining KT to form a super team with Deft. And what happened? You couldn't even make it to Worlds!"

Hehe, I was the wise one!
And there's the old ROX crew, oh, they changed their name to Dragon Ball this year, and they won the LCK Summer Split championship again.

It's really good, but so what?
Instead of reaching the quarterfinals of the World Championship, they were swept by an LPL team in the quarterfinals, which is a disgrace to the LCK.

Huni's mindset is similar to Peanut's.

Both of them were originally top-tier players in their respective teams, but once they took the so-called shortcut, their mentality naturally underwent a complete transformation.

That initial drive is definitely not something that can be regained in a short time.

As for SKT's bot lane duo, Bang and Wolf, they've simply won too many championships, and SKT's training is too grueling, so they've become complacent, bored, and lack motivation.

In competitive sports, once you lose your drive and the desire to win fades, you can never get back up.

Zhou Dian and his teammates simply strolled around the streets near the hotel for a while, without going too far, let alone visiting tourist attractions.

Back at the hotel and in the training room, everyone felt that the restlessness and anxiety had largely dissipated.

Now that my restless heart has calmed down, it's time to train.

Training can only be done by playing ranked matches by yourself.

Although it may not have a significant effect, it's good as practice to get a feel for the game.

It's important to know that in esports, the seemingly mysterious concept of "feel" can sometimes play an unexpected role.

The most comfortable thing for LGD players to do when they all play ranked games is for the streamers who specialize in watching professional players play ranked games.

Right now, apart from LGD and SKT, all the League of Legends professional players in the world are on vacation.

With the holiday break, the number of ranked games will inevitably decrease.

Furthermore, in these situations, it's rare to see ranked matches where many professional players gather together.

These observer streamers are worried about not having any high-quality matches to broadcast.

At this point, they discovered that several LGD players' Korean server accounts were online, so they quickly started observing.

At times like these, anything associated with LGD or SKT players generates a lot of buzz.

Regardless of the quality of the matches, as long as it's a ranked game by LGD and SKT players on OB, especially the weekly rankings and Faker's, just put the player's ID in the stream title, and the number of viewers will skyrocket.

As it was getting dark, Dgc arrived at the training room.

Earlier that afternoon, Dgc and the LGD team leader were actually out looking for people.

It's about using your personal connections to see if you can bring in a team to play scrims with LGD.

But as I said before, at this time, all teams, without exception, are on holiday, so it's really hard to recruit anyone.

Even if there are one or two players willing to practice with you, it's not enough to put together a team.

Dgc came and told the team: Forget it, let's just keep playing ranked!

(End of this chapter)