Chapter 287-Extreme matchup, ROX’s weakness!
"Dragon King Policewoman? How did ROX learn our moves?"

Jack sat on the sofa, eating potato chips and expressing his opinion.

On the big screen, the last game of the quarterfinals, ROX vs. EDG, was being played.

Today's winner will be their opponent in the semi-finals.

"Dragon King Lee Sin and side lane Jayce Caitlyn, ROX's lineup is very fierce."

"There are some to fight against. Flandre and Rambo are pretty proficient, but we can't just leave the top lane alone. It depends on what Mingkai chooses."

Rookie still has some trust in EDG's mid-jungle combination of Ryze and Olaf.

The one playing today is Scout, who has stronger laning ability than Kuro.

"Olaf Jungle... is learning from our Group A."

Xiao Ming curled his lips. The founder of Olaf jungler is H2K's jungler Jankos.

It is a bit inappropriate to call him the founder, because IG’s most signature product at last year’s World Championship was the mid-jungle combination of Karma and Olaf.

It’s just that the first person to use Olaf as a jungler in this year’s World Championship was Jankos.

“EDG…”

Yuan Shen was filled with emotion.

I don’t know where the world line has turned to, but it can actually come back.

Is the confrontation between Xiao Huasheng and Ming Kai inevitable?

"Peaunt is quite polite. Is he a fan of Mingkai? This is the first time I know of this."

She Keke raised her eyebrows, while Yuan Shen on the side spread his hands helplessly.

"Beating up idols is what young people love to do the most!"

Looking at the lineups of both teams, Yuan Shen didn't think EDG was at a big disadvantage, but when the game started and he saw EDG's performance, he realized...

He is still young.

ROX's top, mid and jungle were targeting Flandre's Rumble almost throughout the game.

In the seventh minute, Lee Sin took advantage of the opportunity when Rambo teleported to supplement the line and chose to directly cross the tower.

Jayce got the first blood, and Rumble lost two waves of soldiers.

With such a huge advantage, Smeb will naturally not let it go easily.

In this World Championship, Smeb truly reached his peak and maximized the advantages of his personal abilities!
EDG's response was for the mid and jungle to gank the bottom lane. Although they got two kills, Flandre's disadvantage could no longer be stopped.

Facing the crazy targeting of Lee Sin and Dragon King, although Flandre found an opportunity to replace Lee Sin, the first blood tower in the top lane was destroyed just after ten minutes.

"Why is EDG's rhythm all in the bottom half? This wave is going to explode!!"

Jack was almost pissed off.

At eleven minutes, MingKai and the bottom lane duo took the lead in launching an attack, but due to Jayce's early arrival and Jyra's ultimate, EDG's lineup was pierced and they lost two defensive towers in a row.

In seventeen minutes, ROX was leading EDG by a full seven thousand economy.

"Jayce and Caitlyn's fast-push system... The lineup first created by IG was modified by ROX. Through the strong roaming of Dragon King and Lee Sin in the early stage, Jayce gained economic advantage, quickly pushed the top lane tower to liberate Jayce, and then led Caitlyn to push the tower..."

Miller swallowed and felt his mouth dry.

ROX showed its cards and demonstrated amazing execution and teamwork.

During the group stage, they used the Ashe and Miss Fortune system against RNG, and now they used the Dragon King, Jayce, and Caitlyn's fast push system.

Although these tactics have some traces of IG, it is obvious that ROX has studied these tactics and grasped the essence.

"There's no more fighting..."

Yuan Shen shook his head. ROX was very aggressive in the advantageous game and EDG's outer towers were destroyed one after another.

With the high mobility of the Dragon King and the super high burst of Jayce, anyone who pushes the line on the side will be doomed.

After catching Rumble and killing Ryze who came to support with his ultimate, ROX directly took down the Baron.

The perfectly developed Dragon King, combined with Jyra's seeds and Caitlyn's clamps, made EDG's players very uncomfortable. In less than 27 minutes, EDG's crystal was flattened.

"The rhythm is overwhelming..."

"Indeed, there is nothing much to say. ROX doesn't care whether you are counter-camping or not. They just rely on their personal strength to fight hard."

"Smeb has improved again..."

Everyone in IG looked at each other in bewilderment.

To be honest, they didn't expect EDG to beat ROX, but they were still a little surprised to be crushed like this.

ROX's strength is a little stronger than they imagined.

Even if they played a training match with EDG, they would never be able to win so easily.

"There's still a chance. It's okay. It's only one game."

Rookie consoled.

However, EDG quickly slapped him in the face.

In the second game, EDG banned Jayce, Olaf, and Elise. When ROX continued to choose the lineup of Dragon Queen, Caitlyn, Lee Sin, and Zyra, EDG counterattacked and got the combination of Jhin and Karma.

Out of ten heroes, six have not changed.

The only difference is that the top laner becomes Maokai against Kennen, and the jungler becomes Lee Sin against Centaur.

The bottom lane changed from EZ Karma to Jhin and Karma.

As expected, EDG lost again.

Shortly after the start of the game, the Dragon King successfully stunned the Centaur during a group push in the bottom lane, helping Peaunt get the first blood.

Although Centaur's subsequent gank in the bottom lane successfully killed Zyra, Kennen in the top lane was killed twice by ROX's top and jungle, causing EDG to still be in a very disadvantageous position in the early stage.

In a subsequent counterattack in the jungle, EDG's rash pursuit gave ROX a great opportunity. Maokai's flash in perfectly started the team fight, and ROX successfully exchanged one for five.

"The ban position is too restricted, and the jungler position is... too disadvantaged."

Rookie couldn't help shaking his head as he watched this. EDG simply couldn't handle ROX's Caitlyn's system.

In both games, the early-stage rhythm was almost always suppressed, and then the Dragon King and the Policewoman pushed the tower frantically to snowball.

Often in less than twenty minutes, ROX was able to push down all six defensive towers and use their vision advantage to force EDG into a decisive battle for the Baron.

“I hope Mingkai doesn’t play Lee Sin…”

Yuan Shen sighed. EDG was trailing 0-2, and he no longer expected anything.

Originally in history, an accident occurred when EDG was playing against ROX. A Guang went home to attend the funeral, and Koro1 was given the task.

However, Koro6 in the S1 World Championship is no longer the invincible Tong who dominated Tallahassee a year ago.

His opponent is Smeb, the top laner in S6 during his peak period.

Coupled with the targeting of Peanut and Kuro, Koro1 had a record of 5-20-18 in four games and became EDG's biggest breakthrough point.

Although EDG’s top laner has been replaced by Flandre, there hasn’t been much change.

EDG's playing style is still the same old way of protecting it.

Even Flandre had no way to deal with the ROX top and jungle at their peak.

"I hope we don't lose 3-0, at least win a game... or switch sides and grab the Dragon King policewoman. I really can't do anything?"

Jack was getting angry watching EDG's game.

An egg was operated!

All the defense towers were lost, and both the small and big dragons were given up.

Facing the wave after wave of charges from Dragon King and Policewoman Jyra, the highland tower was useless.

"Forget it. I'm already satisfied with being able to enter the quarterfinals. You might as well expect Benboerba to kill Tang Seng and his disciples instead of expecting them to beat ROX."

Su Xiaoluo didn't think there was anything wrong.

Although ROX's strength exceeded their expectations, it was still generally under control.

With IG's strength, there will be no problem facing ROX.

In the third game, just as Jack expected, EDG took the initiative to choose the red side, and after banning Spider, Nidalee, and Jayce, they got a lineup of Rumble, Olaf, Dragon King, Policewoman, and Karma.

In the early stages, EDG fought fiercely and with great momentum.

Just when everyone thought EDG could finally pull one back, in a team fight for the dragon at eleven minutes, MingKai's Olaf was out of touch and was killed instantly, and ROX exchanged one for five, completely ruining the good situation.

"It's over. Another quarterfinal."

Looking at the EDG players shedding tears and Mingkai looking dazed and desperate, Yuan Shen felt only emotion in his heart.

Three to zero.

History has changed though.

But EDG seems to be in a worse situation.

In this World Championship, among the three LPL teams participating, EDG became the first to leave the World Championship.

"So our opponent in the semi-finals is ROX."

"Wanghu and Jinghao, I'm looking forward to the match with them."

"Can we still play wild swing?"

In response to Su Xiaoluo's question, Yuan Shen shook his head.

The top-jungle swing can be very effective against weaker teams, but it is difficult against a team like ROX.

TheShy might not be able to defeat Smeb in his prime, but he won't be too badly defeated.

But if he were to play jungle against Peaunt, it would basically be a life-or-death situation.

In the S6 world championship version, the early rhythm of the mid and jungle is very important.

Once the early game situation in the mid and jungle collapses, everything will be lost, just like EDG did today.

Throughout S6, the version changes have actually always followed a consistent pattern.

In the S6 preseason, the emphasis was on the coordination between the jungler and the support, quickly forming a situation of outnumbering the opponent to get kills and thus snowball.

By MSI, with the revision of a series of equipment, mid-lane mages were strengthened and traditional mages rose. Until now, traditional late-game core mages such as Clockwork, Tsar, Viktor and even Anivia, Ryze, Caveman, Kassadin, etc. have become the mainstream of the arena.

The S6 World Championship is also known as the last glorious version of traditional mages.

Since S7, the shape of the middle lane has changed.

The current version of the World Championship is different from that of MSI.

In addition to the three mythical tool men, or single-lane heroes like Ekko and Fiora, the most common heroes in the top lane are team battle heroes like Kennen and Rumble.

The tool man attributes of the bottom lane have not changed, but in the mid-to-late game, ADC is still the core output point. Even when the support chooses heroes like Zyra and Brand, they can also provide explosive output.

If the three lanes want lane control, they have to give up their late-game capabilities.

Jayce, Lucian, Syndra, Dragon King, Policewoman...

These heroes will appear more and more on the field.

"The jungle matchup is very important. We must suppress Peaunt's rhythm and not let him get too comfortable."

Fu Manduo pinched his eyebrows.

Once the jungle becomes passive, a situation like ROX slaughtering EDG will occur.

Mingkai was really born at the wrong time in S6.

The version is too inappropriate.

……

The semi-finals will be held at Madison Square Garden in New York in five days.

No one mourned EDG's departure, because what was to follow were two matches between China and South Korea.

South Korea's No. 1 seed ROX faces LPL's No. 1 seed IG.

South Korea's second seed SKT faces LPL's third seed RNG.

Both halves of the bracket are full of matchups between China and South Korea.

At this time, IG official Weibo released a message.

"@RNG, let's fight it out in Los Angeles!"

Principal Wang also @ed RNG boss Bai Xing on his personal account.

Half an hour later, RNG's official blog also released IG's team logo. The text was also very simple, with only four words:

“See you in Los Angeles!”

These four simple words are worth everything!
The finals were held at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. Meeting in Los Angeles, both parties naturally made an agreement to advance to the finals together and go to Los Angeles.

When others saw the official announcement from IG and RNG, they also forwarded it.

Among them, LPL new host Xiaoyu posted a photo with the IG team: "Come on! See you in Los Angeles!"

Soon, the four words #See you in Los Angeles# became a hot search at a terrifying speed.

However, at this time, a photo became the number one hot search.

Yuan Shen sat next to Principal Wang, who put a hand on Yuan Shen's shoulder. Both of them had bright smiles on their faces. Next to them, all the IG members were there.

One photo, two hot spots.

One is Yuan Shen, the world's number one player who is now extremely popular on the entire network, and the other is Principal Wang, a super popular player.

It's hard not to be popular. And for this photo, everyone was very excited at first.

But soon some different voices emerged.

This scene was obviously a celebration banquet.

But IG hasn't even made it to the semifinals yet, so isn't it a bit too proud to hold a celebration party so early?
You know, arrogant soldiers will always be defeated!
Sometimes it is like this, professional players are actually public figures, and everything is so sensitive during the game.

Even if you need to eat on a normal day, you cannot expose it in public, otherwise people will say that you are not training seriously and have the wrong attitude towards the competition.

They don't understand the cause and effect at all. For these haters, just spray and that's it.

There are quite a few haters on IG, but there are even more fans.

But we cannot rule out those CS players who are eccentric and output against the odds to attract attention and traffic and cause trouble.

In fact?

Only IG themselves know whether they train hard or not.

Similar things have happened to other teams before. All we can say is that what we saw on the Internet is not necessarily the truth.

Now that IG's reputation is at its peak, such remarks were immediately blasted back and drowned in the wave of public opinion without causing any waves.

If you win the game, even your farts will smell good.

What's more, it is a team that has the opportunity to win two consecutive championships, create unprecedented feats, and establish a LOL dynasty.

EDG was beaten back home, and many IG fans started to make fun of it.

"Do you want to ruin Chinese e-sports? You even dare to criticize IG?" has become the hottest topic on forums and bulletin boards.

And because of this photo, some people outside the circle saw that Yuan Shen and IG are so popular now, and the marketing accounts immediately took action!
In fact, there is no need for marketing accounts, some self-media have already made preparations.

Yuan Shen's performance in this world championship was simply perfect.

Different from his steady and mediocre performance in LPL, Yuan Shen was simply showing off his skills in this World Championship!

A pinnacle visual feast of operation and consciousness!
In almost every game, a famous scene is created.

All kinds of jaw-dropping and exciting extreme operations.

It was all edited together, with the passionate BGM, reactions from commentators from various countries, and excited commentary, for ten minutes!
There are many highlights of Yuan Shen’s operations, but there are only two that were edited based on the stage of the World Championship.

One is the top lane overlord in S5, the other is the jungle god in S6.

The clip of two operation highlights has a total duration of more than one hour!

This does not include performances in domestic leagues, the Olympics, MSI, and All-Stars.

Yuan Shen is popular again.

The fans who had no idea about it before, or who had only watched one game, including those outside the circle, were all stunned!
Although outsiders can't understand the operation, they can read the health bar. And although they are outsiders, they are all young people, so they can resonate with each other. When they see others say that Yuan Shen is awesome, they just follow the trend!
The emergence of a collection of operation highlights instantly gave Yuan Shen, who was already at the center of controversy, another boost!
Yuan Shen, who was causing great waves in the outside world, was now staying in the hotel, studying hard.

……

"Peaunt's play is close to perfect and his mechanics are very sharp, but he still has a fatal weakness."

Yuan Shen looked up at Kakao beside him with a complicated look.

"What are you looking at me for?"

Since TSM was eliminated, the TSM team has entered the off-season.

As a former teammate of IG, Kakao also accepted the invitation of Rookie and Yuan Shen and came to New York with IG just to relax.

The family's debts have been paid off, and he brought his mother to the United States for treatment. Her health condition has improved, and his younger brother and sister are also continuing their studies in South Korea.

And all this was earned by him in TSM.

Of course, the bottom line is that he was noticed by the TSM boss because he won the S5 World Championship.

Kakao is still very grateful to his old teammates.

"He, like you, really doesn't like to be an eye."

Rookie looked at Kakao with a complicated look.

Kakao had this problem before Yuan Shen came to IG.

In the S5 version, the jungler needs to make a ward stone to help the support make a ward.

Especially heroes like Lee Sin, who need the fake eyes of the Eye Stone to move at any time.

After S6, the Eyestone was removed and replaced with a stacked salary item. A green jungle knife, the Tracker's Dagger, was added as a replacement for the Eyestone in the jungle position.

"Peaunt is the player who used Lee Sin the most in this World Championship. In a total of nine games, he used Lee Sin five times. Logically, his average check data should rank among the top in the same position, but the data shows that his number of wards placed is only ranked seventh."

Yuan Shen clicked his fingers and called up Peaunt's data panel.

"Perhaps this is a common problem among jungle core players. They are unwilling to invest too much economy in vision, and are more inclined to maximize economy and convert it into equipment, relying on equipment advantages to snowball."

Kakao did not argue, as he knew his own problem.

However, when he partnered with Yuan Shen, he had corrected this bad habit.

This is a compromise with the version and also a trust in Yuan Shen.

Only when he does not trust his teammates will he squeeze all resources into combat power and carry the team himself.

"The data shows that in the match against EDG, he bought a total of 91 true eyes in three games that lasted 10 minutes, four of which were in the last teamfight, when he bought two true eyes at a time and placed them on his body..."

After Yuan Shen finished speaking, everyone in IG was speechless.

The data shows that among the eight junglers in the quarterfinals, Xiaohuasheng bought the second-to-last number of true eyes, only one more than the jungler of ANX.

On the other hand, Mingkai bought 91 true wards in 21 minutes in the quarterfinals...

"Placing 0.12 true wards per minute, that is, one true ward every eight minutes. You all know how outrageous this data is for a jungler."

"There aren't many eyes. After all, scanning a blind person is ridiculous..."

Jack added, and the rest of the IG laughed.

Kakao even leaned over and touched Jack's big head.

He hasn't seen her for a year and he still misses her a lot.

TheShy looked at the interaction between Kakao and Jack in surprise, thinking about something.

"We can take advantage of this loophole. In today's version, the mid and jungle are kings, and Peaunt is obviously the core of ROX. When he plays well, ROX follows. When he is unlucky, ROX's rhythm is like a valley without lubrication, extremely jerky."

"The jungle core play style? Isn't it the jungle core play style that gives the jungler economic power? It's the play style that lets the jungler set the tempo."

Kakao raised an eyebrow.

Last year, they were the core of the top lane, but basically they gave resources to Yuan Shen, and everyone had to serve the top laner.

This is the version of choice.

Support Shen, Sorcerer, Tam, mid laner Lulu and Karma, all decisions were made based on the version.

In essence, it is no different from the four-protect-one strategy that LPL is best at.

But ROX's current playing style is obviously different from the Gem Swordmaster and jungle core system used by IG at MSI.

How to make Peaunt better lead the team rhythm is the first problem that ROX needs to solve.

"Invasion."

Yuan Shen and Rookie almost simultaneously came up with ways to deal with ROX.

This was the result of EDG testing them through three games in which they were crushed.

"We must invade and interrupt his early-stage rhythm. Yuan Shen is best at early-stage invasions. In this case, we must prioritize securing lane rights."

Fumanduo stroked his chin in thought.

He is very familiar with ROX's coach Nofe.

Nofe was in a relationship with ROX's manager and they got married in May of this year. The team members also attended his wedding.

His coaching style is more inclined towards tolerance and guidance.

ROX is a big family, and a big family represents warmth, trust, encouragement and help.

They gained team tacit understanding through mutual trust and exchanged team tacit understanding for today's results.

Encouragement and help further enhance the strength of the already disciplined team members.

Given Nofe's personality, it's not surprising that he can lead such a team.

When everyone has no problems, these factors are favorable factors. But when everyone encounters problems, these factors will become factors that hinder the team's progress.

In other words, if the relationship between team members is too good, they will not bother to mention some flaws.

I am too lazy to say that if the team goes on for too long, the probability of potential problems will increase. The probability of problems in the team increases, and it will be unlucky in key events.

Family can help you get through difficult times, but if you want long-term development you must overcome emotional factors. The best way to overcome emotional factors is to find a new environment and start over.

Nofe did not realize this problem. He believed too much in love and trust, and this problem will become ROX's fatal weakness.

Thinking of this, Fu Manduo couldn't help but look at Yuan Shen.

His personality is like this. If he continues to coach IG, they will also encounter such problems.

Rookie is also a good-natured person, while TheShy is even less communicative.

Fortunately, there is Yuan Shen...

Yuan Shen never compromises when he sees a problem, but forces his teammates to change it. Both Jack and Xiao Ming have been scolded.

Only Yuan Shen can do such a thing.

He is more suitable for this job both emotionally and in terms of identity.

"ROX must have noticed Peaunt's vision problem, but they kept silent about it, so Peaunt doesn't need to make any changes. They won't make any changes until they encounter real setbacks."

“How can a stubborn person change…”

"It's enough to teach him a lesson."

Yuan Shen smiled, and Xiao Ming beside him couldn't help but shudder.

"Brother Yuan, don't be like this. I'm afraid you're the bad guy..."

"Go to hell, I heard ROX doesn't have any sponsors and is an internet cafe team? How pitiful..."

"It should be different after this World Championship..."

……

"I heard that Smeb is worried that I will go to the top lane to beat him this time. I promise here that I will not play top lane because TheShy is enough."

Standing in front of the Statue of Liberty National Monument, Yuan Shen put his hands in his pockets and faced the camera at 45% with a firm gaze.

Smeb and Peaunt just looked at each other and saw strong suspicion in each other's eyes.

"Brother Jinghao, do you believe it?"

"I don't believe in this **. He has a dirty mind when playing tactics. Don't be fooled by him, Wanghu."

"I see!"

Peaunt nodded heavily and leaned behind Yuan Shen as the photographer indicated. She was only 1.72 meters tall, but standing next to Yuan Shen, who was 1.85 meters tall, she looked petite and cute no matter how you looked at her.

"I am a fan of ClearLove, but his performance in the quarterfinals disappointed me. Until now, LPL has never had a local jungler who has proven himself in the world championship. I hope Yuanshen can give me a different experience."

Peaunt looked cold and aloof, but standing next to Yuan Shen, she looked very...

It doesn't match.

The momentum was immediately weakened.

There was no other choice but for the photographer to slowly zoom out the camera so that the 46-meter-tall Statue of Liberty, dressed in ancient Greek-style clothing and wearing a radiant crown on her head, would occupy most of the screen.

This way, even if Peaunt and Yuan Shen looked at each other, it wouldn't seem so obvious.

The two people just looked at each other, and the photographer expressed his satisfaction.

"They look... like a father and son."

Jack complained quietly, and Faker next to him almost couldn't hold back his laughter.

Although he didn't understand the specific meaning, he still understood the meaning of father and son.

After finishing the promotional shoot of the Statue of Liberty, they had to rush to seven or eight other attractions including Central Park, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Wall Street, the Empire State Building, etc.

It was a bit rushed to shoot all these attractions in one day, leaving no time for the contestants to relax and stroll around.

Fortunately, the promotional video only needs one day to shoot, so they still have two days to rest, adjust their condition, simulate the game, and study their opponents.

As for the last day, few teams will go out for dinner or schedule training matches.

The players can just play the training mode to warm up their hands.

At this point, there is basically nothing to emphasize.

If you get a headache, fever or physical discomfort while going out for fun, you will regret it to death.

"Close the doors and windows when you go to bed at night. If you can't sleep, listen to some music to help you sleep. Don't be too nervous about attending the opening ceremony tomorrow, because it's not us who are going to fight anyway."

Su Xiaoluo pushed the doors one by one to check on the team members' rest. When she saw a pack of tissues next to the pillow, a mobile phone under the quilt, and shorts pulled down to her ankles, the two of them looked at each other in surprise.

"Oh...you shouldn't have to go on stage. Go to bed early. I'm leaving now."

Looking at Su Xiaoluo's fleeing back, Zizhi picked up the tissue and threw it at him.

"A mosquito bit me on my thigh, what are you thinking about?!"

……

On October 10, at Madison Square Garden in New York, the 22 League of Legends World Championship semifinals officially began!!!
(End of this chapter)