League: What? A bunch of old men can win a championship?

Time always flies when you're focused.

After adjusting his sleep schedule, Lu Yingdong seemed to possess boundless power, and his ranking intensity was maxed out.

Aside from the most basic things like eating, drinking, relieving myself, and sleeping, almost everything else is about ranking up!

It's currently the off-season after the World Championship. Professional players are so tired of playing games that they rarely play ranked matches during the off-season. This results in fewer players in high-elo games on the Korean server and a slower ranking process. However, playing a dozen or so games a day is still no problem.

Soon, the six days passed in the blink of an eye.

It can only be said that the appearance of the system task is somewhat planned. This seven-day, one hundred-game ranked task will end along with the ranked matches of Season 12.

So today is not only the second-to-last day of the system's ranked tasks, but also the second-to-last day of the S12 season's Korean server ranked matches.

Of course, for Lu Yingdong, today is the last day.

Firstly, it's because he's been really into it lately, playing at least 15 ranked matches a day. In just six days, he's almost finished his goal of playing 100 ranked matches.

That very night, around 10 p.m.

After an unremarkable ranked match in the King of Glory category ended, a system message finally popped up in front of Lu Yingdong's eyes.

[Secondary Task: Completed. Reward: 500 points.]

In the 100-game ranking matches, Lu Yingdong won 62 of them, earning 620 points.

He had already used up those 620 points. He first invested 300 points into the [Operation] attribute, and combined with the 1000 points he had invested a few days earlier, the [Operation] attribute finally broke through 80 points.

He then invested the remaining 320 points into the [Reaction] attribute, raising it from 67 to 70.

Now that he had another 500 points, Lu Yingdong didn't hesitate and raised his [Reaction] to 75 in one go.

After closing the system interface, Lu Yingdong carefully examined the system, but still didn't perceive any significant changes...

Adding just five points to reaction is indeed unlikely to bring about the same qualitative change as the previous peak cards.

But Lu Yingdong knew that he had definitely become stronger, and much stronger at that.

He definitely has the ability to be a starter in the LPL right now.

Because his strength is already reflected in his ranking points.

Lu Yingdong opened the Korean server rankings.

As you can see, in just six days, his score has risen from 343 to 696, advancing him from a Grandmaster to a Supreme Master, ranking 204th in the Korean server.

He only needs to advance 4 more places to successfully become the strongest king.

But his time is running out.

Lu Yingdong glanced at the time and saw that it was already 10:30 pm.

The second reason for saying today is the last day is that the promotion mechanism for Grandmaster and King is special. It is not a regular promotion match where you win and advance, but rather the rank is changed uniformly every night according to the server ranking.

The top 200 players on the server automatically become kings, and the top 500 automatically become grandmasters.

The problem is that the server will be shut down on the last night of the season, which will definitely not give you the chance to advance to the King rank. Therefore, according to the ranking rules, the promotion of Grandmaster and King ranks will end one day early.

In other words, Lu Yingdong is four places, three ranking points, and one and a half hours away from becoming a King.

Just then, the system notification sounded again in my ear.

[Beep beep!]

[New Mission Released: Complete to Advance to the Highest Rank]

[Task Reward: Peak Card *1]

Looking at the task, Lu Yingdong raised an eyebrow.

Peak Card? That's great stuff!

A few days ago, he used the amazing effect of the Peak Card to beat those three dogs twice in a row. His solo performance that day is still being sung on Douyin, which has changed many people's perception of Lu Yingdong.

Moreover, this thing isn't cheap; in the system's points shop, one of these costs five hundred points!

Now I have no choice but to advance to the King rank.

"Here we go, brothers!" Lu Yingdong looked at the leaderboard and laughed, "Only three points away from the top 200! If we win this round, we'll be king!"

At this moment, the live stream chat was also eager to join in, and countless people were quite excited!

Let's go!

[Reaching the King rank in the last hour of the live stream, the show was so entertaining!]

[Dong Shen really knows how to time things. For the first eleven months of the season, I played cautiously, barely reaching Master rank with 300 points. But in the last week, I unleashed my full power and surged straight to King rank with 700 points!]

[TVXQ has been waiting a year, just waiting for this moment to unleash their power and create entertaining moments for their brothers, right?]

Okay, okay, I've been waiting patiently!

Reaching the King rank is nothing special; even on the Huya platform, there are quite a few King rank players in the Korean server.

But they'd never seen anyone like Lu Yingdong, who would squeeze in a last-minute push to reach the King rank...

This is so exciting!

If we don't make it, won't we be anxious for a year?

Lu Yingdong scrutinized the comments, but he wasn't in a hurry. He simply started a ranked match again.

As time ticked by, countless viewers hoping for the streamer's success grew increasingly anxious.

The longer the queuing time, the more disadvantageous it is!

If all goes well, an hour and a half is enough time to play two ranked matches. Given Lu Yingdong's current ranking, even if he wins one and loses one, the difference in points gained from the win or loss is enough for him to make up for the two-point gap and successfully advance to the top 200. In fact, the margin for error is very high.

But if the ranked waiting time is extended further, and there's only one match left... then you absolutely have to win, and the difficulty of advancing will increase many times over!

But Lu Yingdong was fine at this moment, his face showing obvious composure.

He has always been good at confidence and mindset; even if he only has one game left, he believes he will win.

Time passed slowly, and soon it was 10:50.

At this point, it was basically certain that Lu Yingdong had no chance for a second round.

Finally, a pop-up window appeared indicating that the ranked match was ready.

Lu Yingdong remained calm and clicked "Confirm." The final and most crucial ranked match of S12 had officially begun!

As soon as he entered, Lu Yingdong checked his ID.

In high-elo ranked games on the Korean server, your ID is extremely important.

Because there are few players in high-ranking games, the ranks of the ten players are often not close, and it is common to recruit players from lower ranks, and you may even encounter situations where a master player is playing against a diamond player.

This is where the scenario of Tian Ji's horse race comes into play.

If we compare the King to a top-class horse and the Diamond to an inferior horse, then we need to compare which King is more powerful and which Diamond is more stable.

After all, diamonds are actually quite weak.

If a player of Xiao Yan's caliber, such as a professional player who is languishing in ranked matches, were to be able to defeat a King-level player, that would be an absolute annihilation.

Lu Yingdong looked at the IDs and shook his head helplessly.

I didn't see any big thighs on their side.

The only one I recognized was jjking on the road.

JJking hasn't achieved enlightenment yet; he's still in his Demon Bogang form. His score is similar to Lu Yingdong's, both around the Master/Grandmaster level.

When playing against him, you have to be on guard against him turning into a demon at any time.

No thighs!

Lu Yingdong sighed. He first banned Akali, and then, seeing that the opponent had picked Sylas on the first floor, he immediately locked in Ahri.

The fox's kiss can interrupt movement and perfectly counter Sylas's second E, making it a great counter choice.

There's not much to say about hero selection in ranked matches; everyone just picks their own heroes, as long as the team composition is balanced.

On the contrary, the jungler was very understanding. Seeing that Lu Yingdong had chosen Ahri, he picked Vi as a counter-pick.

The lineup was quickly finalized.

Lu Yingdong's team is on the blue side: Top lane Fiora, Jungle Vi, Mid lane Ahri, Bot lane Samira and Nautilus.

The opposing red team consists of: top laner Renekton, jungler Lee Sin, mid laner Sylas, and bot laners Kai'Sa and Alistar.

As the game entered the loading screen, countless viewers in the live stream immediately turned their attention to the other person's ID, and then the number of comments surged instantly, with countless people starting to chatter and discuss.

【broken!】

[The opposing team has Jin Gugu in the mid lane and Lin Weixiang in the bot lane; they're both duo-queuing!]

【No, this is a Challenger game on the Korean server, isn't duo queue not allowed?】

These two never play ranked games; they're both Diamond 1 or Diamond 2.

[Encountering the champion's duo in the King of Glory promotion match? Oh no!]

What's wrong with that? These two have already made their money.

Even if I manage to get a diamond-level character, I'll definitely be better than a random player!

Lu Yingdong looked at the other party's ID and was momentarily at a loss.

If we compare this match to Tian Ji's horse racing strategy, then the opposing team is already invincible, because their two diamond-level opponents are champions, which are essentially inferior horses of the highest caliber.

In addition, the opposing support player is Zhuo, the support player of TES, and the jungler is Geju, a well-known domestic solo queue jungler. Both are frequent visitors to the top of the Korean server rankings.

And their inferior horses? Ordinary passersby...

Their top-tier horse? The Demon Pogan...

This is going to be really tough.

The loading time was very short, and soon the game began.

In the fifteen-second preparation time before the start of the match, Lu Yingdong quickly bought his starting clothes, then sat up straight and adjusted himself to his best condition.

Countless viewers in the live stream were also eagerly anticipating it.

Looking forward to this epic showdown.

To be honest, Lu Yingdong's form has been frighteningly good since the finals.

Not only did he achieve a thirteen-game winning streak in SOLO matches against the three dogs, but he also climbed the ranks like a rocket, gaining over three hundred points in six days.

If we can defeat the opposing team's combination of three professional solo queue kings starting today, then why can't we give them a starting opportunity?

...

Meanwhile, on the other side, the Douyu platform.

While the loading time was running, Doinb was having a lively chat with Lin Weixiang.

"Hey, wait a minute, are we climbing the ranks too slowly?" Doinb couldn't help but complain, "Are we even doing this, Lin Weixiang? If this keeps up, we'll never reach Master!"

For these two professional players who have already won championships and achieved great success, game ranks have long been a dispensable thing.

In addition, their performance in the Summer Split was a bit of a pity, as they didn't even qualify for the World Championship. Of course, they didn't need to play any ranking matches, and the two of them had already automatically lost points and dropped to Platinum I.

It wasn't until the last couple of days that they remembered to try and get rid of the score.

At the very least, get a frame from a master designer, right? Diamonds are just too embarrassing!

However, their ranking speed was a bit of a pity. Lin Weixiang didn't play seriously at all, and played all sorts of abstract games. After several days, he only managed to reach Diamond 1.

Thankfully, the Master rank still uses a promotion series system, so there's still one day left until tomorrow's settlement date. Otherwise, Doinb would be really anxious.

"What's the rush?" Lin Weixiang said lazily, "There's still a day left, you can go whenever you want."

"It's definitely better to start earlier," Doinb said helplessly. "What's the point of playing like this?"

"Okay, okay," Lin Weixiang said, "I'll give it a serious shot, alright?"

"Kill them first!" With the match starting, Doinb didn't want to say anything more and immediately immersed himself in the game.

There are many professional players on the team this game, so he has to take it seriously.

Doinb, playing Sylas, bought a Potion of Corruption and left the battlefield, while casually glancing at the enemy's ID.

"East"

Does it look familiar?

Doinb thought for a moment, but still couldn't remember who this person was, so he simply stopped thinking about it.

Game start!

In the first team fight, neither side had any particular ideas. They probed each other in the river for a bit, and then headed to their respective lanes as the minions arrived.

Lu Yingdong arrived in lane before the minions and saw that Sylas' starting item was a Corrupting Potion, which immediately confirmed his strategy.

The reason for starting with a potion is quite clear: Sylas can't beat Ahri, and building a Doran's Ring won't give him the initiative, so it's not very meaningful. However, building a Doran's Shield would be too useless, so he chose to start with a potion to try and sustain.

If Sylas can safely return to base and buy Mercury's Treads and a Killing Ring, then he has a chance to seize the initiative from Ahri.

Lu Yingdong had a plan to counter this line of thinking.

Since you've increased the battery life, I'll go even further!

Want to crush Doinb in lane? It's extremely difficult, considering Doinb has been playing professionally for so many years and we've almost never seen him at a disadvantage in lane.

After all, his key to winning the championship was roaming, which in turn relied on lane control, requiring extremely strong laning ability.

But Lu Yingdong wasn't intimidated.

Doinb is getting old. Born in December 1996, he is a few months older than Lu Yingdong and has long lost his peak laning ability. Moreover, he relies too much on the professional system, but this is ranked play. Without the support of a well-trained professional system, his ability will be weakened.

So, just do it.

Lu Yingdong clicked the mouse, and his fox immediately moved forward, forcing Sylas to retreat and pushing the lane with minions.

Doinb, on the other hand, was experienced. He didn't give Lu Yingdong a chance to whittle down his health. He retreated two steps while maintaining distance, observed the fox's movements, and said directly, "This fox doesn't know how to play. We've won this round."

Sylas is a short-ranged champion, making it difficult for him to gain an advantage against Ahri in the early game, but he does have a chance to fight back.

That is, when the first melee minion of the second wave is about to die, immediately learn E to go in and exchange blows, and level up to level 2 in the process.

If you can land your E, the frequent passive refreshes from EW combined with Conqueror's burst damage can take away most of a normal mage's health. If successful, the first wave of the laning phase will be a resounding victory!

Of course, this is only the first layer.

Doinb has a second layer.

Because the enemy Ahri played extremely aggressively, she exerted pressure as soon as she entered the lane, causing the minion wave to push forward rapidly.

This means that even if he misses his second E, he can continue to push the lane, quickly return the minion wave to the tower, and then deal with the minions under the tower. Relying on the strong sustain from pushing the lane back and the Corrupting Potion, he can be the first to reach level three.

Level 3 is Sylas' second power spike; at level 3, he can take on level 2 opponents with a single burst of damage, potentially killing someone from full health.

Therefore, when he saw Ahri suppress the enemy as soon as she went online, his rich gaming experience and clear thinking had already given him a complete answer to the laning phase.

He can't possibly lose this matchup!