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

12 month 23 day.

Lu Yingdong, along with his teammates, went directly up to the backstage of the Hongqiao Tiandi Performing Arts Center via the back elevator and sat down in the lounge, waiting to go on stage.

Abu, sitting in front of the team as manager, smiled and said, "Although this is our new lineup's first match, our opponent today isn't strong, so don't feel pressured. As long as we perform like we did in training matches, winning shouldn't be a problem!"

In recent days, Abu has probably been influenced by the recent online opinions and feels that EDG's lineup is a bit risky, so the intensity of his recent scrimmages has been quite high.

What reassured Abu was that, despite Uzi's absence, this version of EDG still maintained a high level of competitiveness, winning more scrims than losing!

The most crucial player is Lu Yingdong in the middle lane.

Abu looked at Lu Yingdong with extreme satisfaction.

This mid laner is simply outstanding!

Of course, Abu was satisfied, but Lu Yingdong was actually a little upset.

With more practice matches, there are naturally fewer ranked matches. This week, he still hasn't completed the Ice Maiden proficiency task, and he has only scored 200 points, which has slowed down his reaction speed from 80 to 81. This noticeable slowdown is making him a little anxious.

Fortunately, now that the competition has started, the improvement will be faster.

The competition also has points!

At this moment, the Demacia Cup schedule and EDG's opponent for today are being displayed on the computer in the lounge.

MOJ.

This is not a professional team, but a team of streamers from the Huya platform.

Strictly speaking, this is even a fan team.

These are five viewers selected by Zz1tai from among the best of the best in the live stream audience. Of course, the reason why most of them are Huya streamers is to ask what kind of script Huya and Zz1tai have arranged.

Anyway, these streamers said they were fans of Zz1tai.

Regardless, once the team was dubbed the "Zz1tai's Fan Team" and went on to defeat both LGD and FPX, two professional teams, 2-0 and successfully advance to the knockout stage, the entertainment value was already there.

This amateur team can be considered the biggest dark horse of this Demacia Cup.

Of course, Abu wasn't too worried. He understood that MOJ was still a bit lacking compared to EDG in the current state.

"That's not necessarily true, we still need to be careful," Lu Yingdong said cheerfully. "We still need to be careful not to crash. I remember someone in our team lost to an internet cafe team before, right?"

Upon hearing this, Flandre's expression immediately changed, while his other teammates chuckled.

In the Demacia Cup on May 25, 2017, the Snake team, where Flandre was playing, lost 1-2 to RW, an internet cafe team with the Southwind duo (Southwind and Puff).

This was the first time in LPL history that a professional team had lost to a non-professional team. At that time, the owner of Snake Esports was furious and decided to suspend the management and coaching staff for a month, dismiss Zhu Kai from his coaching position, and print out the news of Snake Esports' loss and post it at the entrance of the base as a disgrace.

(This photo was taken by the author who traveled through time to the entrance of the Snake Team.)

According to reports, Snake Esports manager Zuo Wu ran out of the team's base crying that day, which was considered a touching story on the anti-racism forum at the time...

Even after more than five years, Flandre still trembles when he recalls that day.

That match almost ruined his career!

"We can't afford to lose again this time!" Flandre said seriously.

Now that he's a champion top laner, he's already carrying that burden, and he doesn't want to experience that humiliation a second time.

"Don't worry, we have Dong Ge!" Jie Jie laughed. "The other side is also a Huya streamer, Dong Ge should be able to handle them, right?"

Recently, Jie Jie has come to highly regard Lu Yingdong, his older brother, after all, he has known him for many years and he has always treated him well.

Most importantly, the senior player's performance in recent training matches has been really good!

Lu Yingdong patted his chest, "Just wait for me to finish!"

Seeing Lu Yingdong's confident demeanor, Abu knew that he didn't need to worry about him. He then went to Leave's side to encourage him and tell him not to be nervous.

“Ding Di—”

Lu Yingdong's phone beeped with a WeChat notification. He took out his phone and glanced at it, only to see that Zita had posted a screenshot of the Demacia Cup livestream in the WeChat group. Zita then typed, "So, what's the deal? Is there any explanation? We're not going to lose to my fans in the end, are we?"

"Just you wait and see." Lu Yingdong smiled and immediately started typing: "If I kill fifty today, you won't blame me for going too far, will you?"

"?" On the other end, Zitai responded with a question mark, "So swollen?"

"Absolutely, don't you understand, Cabbage? He can't beat me."

"You think you can't beat the top player in the Chinese server? You're just showing off, aren't you?"

"Hehe, just you wait and see." Lu Yingdong had just finished replying to the message with a smile when he heard the door open. A staff member knocked on the door and called out, "EDG players, get ready to go on stage."

"Let's go!" Flandre leaped into the air and called out, "Go, brothers!"

"Go for it!" Lu Yingdong also turned off his phone, took his mouse and keyboard that had passed the test, and walked towards the stage with his teammates.

As they walked, Lu Yingdong approached Leave again and asked, "How so? Are you nervous?"

"It's alright," Leave said coolly. "It shouldn't be a big problem."

"Go for it!" Lu Yingdong laughed. "Playing well in this Demacia Cup will only bring benefits, not harm!"

EDG cannot afford to give up on Uzi, who has a huge fan base, so no matter how well Leave plays, he will definitely be a substitute in the Spring Split.

While this may sound harsh, it's true. Therefore, for him, the Demacia Cup is the perfect opportunity for exposure.

Upon hearing this, Leave's eyes flickered, but she still managed to nod reluctantly.

When everyone went backstage, they saw Xiran facing the audience with a bright smile, opening the elimination round.

After a few words, Xiran loudly invited the five MOJ contestants to come to the stage.

Zz1tai was watching the match live. Seeing his five chosen players take the stage, he rubbed his hands excitedly and exclaimed, "They're here! Zz1tai's fans vs. DongShen! DongShen just told me he's going to kill fifty monsters today!"

As soon as Zita said this, another wave of comments flooded the live stream chat.

It's quite interesting, really. Who would have thought that this man, who has been in the industry for nine years, would only be making his professional debut today?

As for killing fifty in a single best-of-five series? That's bullshit!

First, you have to kill fifty, then you have to consider how many games each team needs to play. If it takes five games to kill fifty, then it's pointless. EDG playing five games against a streamer team would have already made them look bad.

Wunder once beat Letme by 400 CS in a BO5, but no one would brag about this record except for amusement, since it took five games to achieve.

For EDG, losing even one game is a mistake; they should have crushed the fan team 3-0!

But wanting to kill fifty in three games? That's a pipe dream! The opposing team consists of five top-ranked streamers, some even the number one in the national server, not just silver-ranked players.

At this moment in the live stream, hope Ran stretched out her hand again and shouted, "And now, let's welcome Edward Gaming!"

"Top laner Flandre! Jungler jiejie! Mid laner East! Bot laner Leave! Support Meiko!"

Because of EDG's great reputation, the vast majority of the audience members in the audience today came for EDG.

Now, upon seeing the contestants take the stage, they immediately gave them a grand cheer!

Lu Yingdong stood in the center of the group and slowly walked onto the stage.

The Demacia Cup match wasn't exactly a popular one, and the audience wasn't even full, but Lu Yingdong was still very excited and bowed slightly to the audience.

Eight years have passed, and I've finally arrived.

"Next, let's welcome both players to the stage. The first game's ban/pick phase will begin immediately!"