lcionline Chapter 169 First Battle! IG vs. KT!
Chapter 169 First Battle! IG vs. KT!
All the LPL professional players present today will be the backbone of the LPL region for the next decade.
Moreover, this generation of LPL will only be stronger than the previous one!
After the LPL players finished their appearance, they stood quietly on the left side of the stage, waiting for the players from the LCK region to appear.
However, after such a spectacular opening, the audience no longer paid attention to the appearance of the LCK players.
Tonight, the main focus will be on the LPL!
In contrast, Fang Han, who was standing on the stage, kept glancing at the other side of the stage out of the corner of his eye.
No one knows better than him just how impressive the LCK roster is for this year's Rift Rivals.
This Intercontinental Cup can truly be called a battle of the gods!
Soon, the four LCK teams took to the stage in turn.
Seeing one familiar face after another, Fang Han beamed with joy.
Especially when Fang Han saw Khan and Peanut, who were standing at the very front, he looked at them like he was seeing his own two sons.
"I thought they weren't coming. Great, great, I can spar with them again."
Fang Han chuckled softly.
His RNG teammates standing next to him exchanged glances, all looking somewhat helpless.
They knew all too well what Fang Han was thinking.
Fang Han's methods of attacking acquaintances were utterly ruthless.
Especially against familiar top laners, Fang Han has a million ways to make the opponent unable to play.
Khan and Peanut stood under the spotlight, but didn't even dare to lift their heads.
They could clearly feel an aggressive gaze constantly sweeping over them.
How could KZ's Ueno not know the source of that gaze?
In order to avoid making eye contact with Fang Han, they could only pretend not to see him.
Stop staring at us, damn it! We might not even run into each other!
Stop being disgusting, okay?
Khan and Peanut actually quite like Fang Han's personality off the court.
As long as they don't meet on the field, Fang Han is still a decent junior.
Fang Han on the field is absolutely detestable.
The way it's played is disgusting, and the heroes it chooses are disgusting too.
Ugh, this is tough.
While the host was still warming up the audience, Bdd quietly moved closer to his idol, Faker, with small, quick steps.
"Brother Li, what do you guys think? Have you figured out how to deal with RNG?"
Faker calmly adjusted his glasses, then shook his head.
Seeing his confident demeanor, Bdd visibly breathed a sigh of relief.
As expected of the Great Demon King! My idol! He's so reassuring!
Now that SKT can solve their biggest problem, RNG, we can focus all our attention on the other three LPL teams!
The finals consist of five best-of-one matches. If we can win three of them, we can win the championship!
But the next second, Faker's words brought him back to reality:
I can't think of anything.
"Let's take one step at a time."
Upon hearing this, Bdd trembled, his face filled with disbelief.
What? Even SKT's coaching staff can't figure out how to deal with RNG?
This is troublesome...
Bdd knew this, and so did the LCK players and coaches present.
If the finals go to a fifth game, RNG will definitely be the LPL team to play!
That's the kind of situation they don't want to see.
Since they can't defeat RNG, they must win against the other three LPL teams to have any chance of winning the championship.
The pressure is too much...
"Alright! Our match is about to begin! Players from both regions, please proceed to the rest area for your first round of pre-match preparations!"
"A reminder to all viewers: the lineups for the first four matches have been released. You can check the schedule information in the lower right corner of the live stream."
"In the first match of the finals, LPL's IG team will face off against LCK's KT team! Let's wait and see how this clash between two young teams goes!"
wow——
Cheers and shouts of encouragement erupted from the crowd.
IG vs. KT? It certainly looks like a very interesting match.
Moreover, judging from their performance in the knockout stage, IG seems to have a pretty good chance of winning!
If they can win the first game and get off to a good start in the finals, it will definitely boost the morale of their team!
Therefore, the coaching staff of the four teams on both sides were already engaged in a heated discussion in the lounge.
Especially in the LPL region's rest area.
The coaches of the four teams sat together, and even pulled Fang Han in to discuss it.
"What do you mean, Fang Shen? Just stick to the pre-determined tactics, shall we?"
The coaching staff of the four teams turned to look at Fang Han, wanting to ask for his opinion.
After all, Fang Han is recognized as the "top version expert" in the region. Getting his advice is much more useful than struggling to figure it out on your own.
Fang Han couldn't help but laugh.
Dude, I'm not the coach! You guys are going to have to pay me double my salary for playing like this.
Despite these thoughts, Fang Han didn't hold back and shared his ideas:
"In the first match against KT, we need to pay attention to the clashes in the upper half of the map."
"I know IG is good at playing the top half of the map, but the opponent is likely to figure out your ideas and make corresponding tactics."
"Therefore, if they cannot launch an offensive in the top lane, we hope that IG's jungler can change his strategy in time and consider passing the ball to the ADC."
Fang Han's words were very pertinent.
In the 2018 Rift Rivals finals, IG was determined to compete in the top half of the map. As a result, TheShy's Ryze was repeatedly targeted, which led to Ning's Gragas collapsing as well.
Fang Han didn't know if his advice would change IG's future of defeat, but he had said everything he could.
The four head coaches nodded in agreement.
The issues Fang Han raised do indeed require attention.
TheShy and Ning's top-jungle synergy is indeed beautiful, but they should never only focus on the top lane.
Ning and TheShy, standing to the side, exchanged a glance. The two young future champions were clearly still a bit too young and impetuous, and they didn't take Fang Han's advice to heart.
To put it bluntly, they both have their own pride.
Fang Han knew that his words might not be remembered by the two of them, so he didn't say anything more.
"Also, regarding the draft phase, please pay attention to the mid-lane Aatrox that KT might pick."
"The newly revamped Sword Demon will be very strong..."
As he spoke, Fang Han glanced at TheShy, wondering if TheShy had mastered Aatrox by now.
If IG can pick Aatrox instead of banning him, their draft will gain a significant advantage.
IG's head coach, Jin Zhu, opened his notebook and carefully wrote down Fang Han's reminder.
Fang Han grinned as he sensed the tense atmosphere around him.
"Don't be so nervous, everyone, smile."
"Just go for it! The final victory will definitely belong to our LPL!"
UZI then spoke up to comfort them:
"Fang Shen is right, brothers, don't be afraid. No matter what the final result is, victory will definitely belong to our LPL!"
"We'll take down LCK in three straight games and let the RW guys win the championship without lifting a finger, hahaha!"
Fang Han's words to UZI had an effect.
The players and coaches in the lounge were in high spirits, standing together to cheer on IG, who were the first team to take the stage.
"Go LPL!"