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

December 27, 2022, the final day of the Demacia Cup.

Lu Yingdong sat on the sofa in the lounge and closed his eyes to look at his attribute panel.

Host: Lu Yingdong

Age: 25

Reaction: 85

Operation: 80

Consciousness: 80

Laning phase: 81

Team fight: 80

Playing matches can indeed accelerate your growth; just the BO5 victories in the quarterfinals and semifinals alone earned him 600 points.

During this period, he also manually earned 200 points.

He invested all 800 points into the [Reaction] attribute, increasing it from 81 to 85.

If combined with the additional aura bonus from the [Veteran Bond Module]... Lu Yingdong's current attributes, even if not as good as the opponent's Left Hand, are definitely not much worse.

Although Zuo Shou's performance at the World Championship was not ideal, he is still undoubtedly the best mid laner in the LPL at this stage of the league, with all attributes definitely above 90.

"Regarding this JDG team, I believe you can understand their strengths and weaknesses without me having to explain."

Up ahead, Maokai was still discussing today's match with everyone. He said with a smile, "It's just a good thing Ruler is still in Korea. If he were here, I really wouldn't know how to play."

"What's so special about that?" Holy Lance said nonchalantly. "Our Dog Lord didn't come either, did he? He specializes in fighting Ruler Emperor, so it's even."

These words drew sidelong glances from the teammates nearby.

It's true that Uzi was a dominant force against Ruler during his peak years a few years ago, but Ruler is Ruler... Right now, Ruler is at his peak, while Uzi is an old man who has only played two games in three years and whose performance has declined significantly. How can you compare them?

"There's no point in talking about this. We're discussing today's strategy." Maokai shook his head and said, "JDG's key strength lies in their mid and jungle. In terms of team structure and playstyle, they are similar to us at the moment."

Looking at this Demacia Cup alone, JDG and EDG have almost identical team structures, with the mid and jungle being the absolute dominant force, the top lane being secondary, and the bottom lane being the lowest priority because both are substitutes.

In this meta where everyone is picking a carry AD carry + enchanter support for the bot lane, only these two teams are still following the World Championship approach – either a marksman/support or a champion support, focusing on a utility bot laner who can push the lane effectively in crucial moments.

When these two teams actually met in the finals, many people felt a sense of disorientation. Was it still the S12 World Championship?

"Anyway, our core strategy for today remains unchanged," Maokai said. "The core is still to try to create an advantage for the mid and jungle, and our draft will also revolve around this. But we need to make some slight changes later on. If we can gain an advantage, then we shouldn't try to completely dominate the enemy mid and jungle like before. The enemy mid and jungle won't give you that opportunity."

"Therefore, I want you to target the enemy bot lane! Their bot lane is also inexperienced and can't withstand the pressure! I believe their decision-making is similar to ours. So... the mid lane battle will determine the outcome, and the bot lane battle will determine the victory!"

Maokai's words were meant for Nakano's ears, and Lu Yingdong nodded in response: "Understood."

"Lu Yingdong, you bear the heaviest burden in this match," Abu said from the sidelines. "But equally, today is your chance to prove yourself! If you win today, you'll not only win the championship, but also the respect of the audience. So, are you ready?"

Lu Yingdong remained calm. "Is that even a question? It was prepared long ago."

Quarterfinals, semifinals, finals... Cabbage, Ucal, Left Hand...

Over the course of three matches, the intensity of the opponents increased almost level by level, quickly progressing from amateur to professional, and finally to top-tier professional.

In the first two matches, Lu Yingdong easily won by taking advantage of his attribute level.

This time, although his attributes were not as good as his opponent's and the difficulty was also great, Lu Yingdong was still very confident.

In esports, it's not about who has the best skills and the fastest reaction time to win.

Regardless of his opponent, he always believed he could win.

This was true even before the system existed.

How can we beat JDG's mid and jungle?

Lu Yingdong did have some ideas.

Soon, the break time was over, and with the introduction of today's host Yu Shuang, Lu Yingdong followed his teammates onto the stage at Hongqiao Tiandi!

The moment Lu Yingdong stepped onto the stage and waved, a loud round of applause immediately erupted from the audience!

In the first two rounds of the Demacia Cup, Lu Yingdong's phenomenal performance has drawn a lot of attention to him.

If this veteran team can defeat JDG today, the entire league landscape might change dramatically!

"Here he comes! Dong Shen! Today is crucial!" Zi Tai had already forgotten about Lu Yingdong's crushing 50 points over him a few days ago; now he was Lu Yingdong's loyal supporter!

After saying that, he asked Uz, who was standing next to him, "What's the story today? Is there any explanation?"

Since Uzi is also a member of EDG's starting lineup, Zz1tai specially invited Uzi to his home today to provide commentary.

It has to be said that the effect was remarkable. With the support of Uzi's popularity, the popularity of Zz1tai's live stream was explosive.

"What can I say about this? I haven't even participated in any practice matches yet," Uz said helplessly. "To be honest, I didn't expect them to be this strong."

"What do you mean?" Zitai joked, "Are you afraid of dragging the team down after the New Year?"

"There's a bit of that, hahaha." The two looked at each other and burst into laughter.

At this point, both players have entered the arena, and the draft/ban screen is switched to the main screen.

"Both sides...ban heroes very quickly! On the blue side, JDG banned Sejuani, Tristana, and Sylas! Two bans for the mid lane, that's very respectful!" Zz1tai was a little surprised, "All three bans for the mid and jungle?"

"That's to be expected," Uzi remarked from the side. "EDG relies heavily on their mid and jungle; the ban slots should be allocated to the mid lane..."

"Then there's EDG, they banned Renekton, Vi... Heimerdinger! Okay, not a single mid laner banned, so arrogant..." Zz1tai frowned as he said this: "They don't even ban mid laners against Knight? Syndra is really strong this patch!"

As soon as he finished speaking, JDG on the blue side instantly locked in Syndra, almost without hesitation!

The pose immediately became a little bear-like shrug, "Why release Syndra? Is there any explanation?"

"There's actually a theory about that." Uzi thought for a moment, but didn't say it aloud. He said, "See? Lu Yingdong's hero pool is pretty strange."

Even now, Uzi still has a deep impression of Lu Yingdong's flying mid-lane Quesanti.

Throughout the Demacia Cup, Lu Yingdong has not brought out Quesanti again, clearly keeping him hidden.

If we were to pull out what Quesang brought up here... it actually makes some sense!

Unfortunately, Lu Yingdong did not intend to pull out Quesanti in the first round.

Syndra has a push-ball ability, and in the late game, she has true damage from her W and a finishing move from her R, making her a difficult opponent for Quesant. Picking her here is clearly unwise.

Of course, Lu Yingdong has other preferred options.

"Give me Ice Maiden," Lu Yingdong said, referring to the hero he had just mastered to the [Mastery] level the night before.

Lissandra is a standard tempo-oriented mid laner. After pushing the lane with her QW AOE, she can use her E to go to the bottom lane and give the ADC an R. As long as she can complete this routine, Lissandra can be considered qualified, which fits the tone they set before the game.

Secondly, this hero does indeed have an easy time against Syndra.

Mao Kai knew that Lu Yingdong had been working overtime to practice Ice Maiden recently, so he had no objection to this choice and nodded, saying, "OK, choose it."