For Knight, this was undoubtedly a happy spring. As the absolute core of YMA, he led the team to leave the secondary league with a proud record of 32-1.
However, he also knew that his fate with YM was about to come to an end.
Ever since S4, Fist did not allow the same club to have two top teams. At that time, the Three Stars and Ten Sons came to China and in addition to the generous salary, this policy also played a role in adding fuel to the fire.
YMA had to change its name after entering the LPL. If Knight wanted to stay in YM's first team, he could only play as Lin Yan's substitute.
However, Lin Yan's competitive state was too stable, and his physical fitness was much better than the big-headed AD. If Lefty was a substitute, there was almost no chance for him to replace him.
Knight, who had won the MVP award, was naturally not satisfied, so his departure was inevitable.
YMA easily won the three rounds. It was already 9pm when they left the stadium after the interview.
Lin Yan and the second team's youngsters went to Haidilao for a meal. Phyllostachys Pubescens and Liu Qingsong were too lazy to order takeout, so they also rushed over from the base.
"Brother Ran, look at this!" Xiao Tian glanced at his phone and shouted excitedly as if he had discovered a new continent.
Lin Yan took the phone and glanced at it.
It was a Weibo message sent by the LPL officials.
[Out of consideration for the regularization of the competition, we will be adding the Best Team and MVP awards this year to express our praise for the excellent performance of the players.]
(Tip: Some readers asked why we didn't write the regular season MVP award before. It's not that we didn't write it, but that LPL didn't have it at that time … The 2017 Spring Season MVP award was established for the first time, and the winner was QG.DOINB.)
[After voting by the expert team and the public, the LPL Spring Season Regular Season Honor Award is now officially released.]
[Regular Season First Team Top Laner: IG.TheShy, Jungler: IG.Tian, Mid Laner: IG.Ran. ADC: RNG.Uzi, Support: RNG.Ming.]
The mid and jungler were taken by YM, and the top laner was taken by RNG. The top laner was the newcomer, TheShy.
Lin Yan felt that it was normal for Ouze to take away the top ADC lineup.
Because of Jack's stomach problems, he didn't play many games this spring. Moreover, the strength of the AD was closely related to the strength of the support. This year, he and Prophet Liu Qingsong, the two new support partners, didn't stand out in the lineup.
However, Lin Yan was a little surprised. He originally thought that the award would be given to Jin Gong.
After taking a closer look at The Hy's data, he knew the reason.
With an average damage output of 555, he was first in the same position, 50 points higher than loong, who was second. His damage output was 27.8%, and he was still first in the same position. At the same time, he had 23 solo kills.
Lin Yan felt that the numbers were ridiculous. It was mentioned before that Lin Weixiang's average damage output was only 550 points. The damage numbers of The Shy were much higher than the average ADC.
However, with his high damage output and frequent suppressing, The Sh was able to deal with him endlessly. In addition, he was a daredevil, so he died a total of 134 times in the entire season.
In this category, he was first in the top lane and second in the entire position, only behind LGD's support, Hirano Ayane.
However, the judges still gave the top lane to The Hy.
This was because Jin Gong's data wasn't that impressive. He was in the top five in terms of damage output and damage output, and in the top three in terms of damage output.
However, judging the best lineup based on performance alone wasn't fair to blue-collar top laners like Jin Gong and 957.
Their role on the field was far more than what the data showed. Most of the time, they were sacrificing strategically for the team.
For example, the jungler destroyed a blood tower in order to control the little dragon and gave up on helping the top lane. Then, these blue-collar top laners could only hide under the tower and inevitably miss attacks. How could this sacrifice be reflected in the data?
Lin Yan continued to look. The second lineup finally included Jin Gong and Jack.
However, YM's two supports weren't in the best lineup. It was normal that the rookies' performance was average.
Lin Yan scrolled through the picture of the best lineup and then saw his own makeup photo. In the photo, he held a poker card in front of his chest and looked forward with a smile.
2017 LPL Summer Regular Season MVP — YM.RAN!
This result was within Lin Yan's expectations.
The only ones who could compete with him were Ouze and Kandy. However, in terms of performance and data, Lin Yan didn't lose to them.
It wouldn't be right if this award wasn't given to him.
Knight took out his phone with half of its screen broken. He clicked on Weibo and saw this message.
"Wow …" he couldn't help but exclaim.
Below Lin Yan's makeup photo was a string of extremely exaggerated data.
7.7 KDA, 2800 economy per game, 43.9 CC per game, 2.2 successful ambushes per game, 777 economy difference per 15 minutes per game …
Knight had just debuted half a year ago. His favorite thing to do was to look at his stats after a match.
When he compared Lin Yan's stats with his own, he immediately retracted the arrogance in his heart.
Lin Yan was playing in the LPL. Knight's stats in the secondary league didn't have much of an advantage. What was there to be arrogant about?
…
After the secondary league ended, the relegation tournament had just begun.
VG and Snake fought four rounds and lost. The original SKT mid laner, the champion skin owner Dumb Chicken, and Master Hou were only one step away from the secondary league.
If they lost the best-of-5 with LSPL third place Dan, then they would really be making history. The champion of the S Tournament, the mid-laner, had dropped to the secondary league. Before Dumb Chicken came, did he think that VG would fall to such a state today?
On the other hand, LGD defeated NB cleanly with a score of 3: 0, sending the remaining four members of Rainbow QG back to their hometown in the secondary league.
Anyone could see that this godfather was not at the level of the relegation tournament. If they hadn't confirmed their lineup too late, they would have had the ability to fight for the top three spots in Group B.
Unfortunately, the runner-up of the secondary league, Suning, was going to face such a godfather.
Manager Suning put on a Sima face as he listened in on the team meeting. The villain in his heart was roaring wildly.
The original format of the relegation tournament was to be fair and reasonable. The runner-up of the LSPL would face the winner of the two bottom teams of the LPL, and the runner-up of the LSPL would face the losers of the two bottom teams of the LPL.
Under normal circumstances, the bottom teams were weaker and would have an easier time.
But who knew that the runner-up would have to face this godfather?
Who wouldn't want to face a noob team like VG?
The team manager suddenly felt that his future was bleak. His sponsor, Suning, had invested in this secondary league team in order to be promoted to the LPL.
Originally, their lineup was considered luxurious in the secondary league. As the manager, the salary he offered to the team members was one of the best among the same level players.
Who knew that YMA would suddenly have a Golden Left Hand. Not only did they lose the finals, but they also had to face LGD!
Was there any justice in this?
The runner-up, Suning, wanted to fight the strongest team, but the runner-up, Dan, wanted to pick the weakest team?
Manager Suning's heart was dead.
As expected, Suning was eliminated by the godfather with a score of 0: 3. They returned to the secondary league to hone their skills.
The runner-up, Dan, was overjoyed. They did not have any hopes of advancing, but they did not expect to be able to face VG!
This team was also Lin Yan's old acquaintance. He had faced this team at the beginning of his professional career.
That's right, 2144D.
They had changed their name to DAN.
The Korean second brother, Ggoong, who was loved by the Chinese audience, was still in the team.
When he saw that his opponents in the relegation tournament were Master Hou and Dumb Chicken, he was immediately excited. His limbs were trembling with excitement.
Who would have thought, who would have thought!
Even Easyhoon and Dumb Chicken would have such a day!
Ggoong was defeated by OMG in the S4 global finals. Then, he was defeated by Lin Yan in the opening match of last year's Spring Season.
He was not good at fighting against the Chinese, but he was facing SKT's champion midlaner!
A family member from a faraway homeland!
Ggoong did not have the misgivings of "Koreans don't fight Koreans". Fighting within one's own nest was a classic move.
In his excitement, he did not hold back his strength and directly defeated VG.
3:1！
VG had failed to avoid relegation!
The five members of Team DAN hugged each other tightly, cheering and cheering.
Dumb Chicken listened to the cheers of his opponents and looked up at the stadium's ceiling. There, the spotlights were flickering, focusing on the five members of Team DAN.
Ever since he left SKT, how long had it been since he had enjoyed such cheers and spotlights?
This was obviously the path he had chosen, but when it came to relegation, Dumb Chicken felt melancholy and unresigned.
Suddenly, a few sobs came from beside him.
Dumb Chicken suddenly remembered Faker's sobs after the S6 finals, and subconsciously turned his head.
It was the top laner, Loong.
In the competition, Loong often chose heroes like Shen and Bobby. He gave people the impression that he was as steady as a mountain. Even in the face of strong opponents, he did not bat an eyelid. He was the strong support of the team.
However, now that he had lost the match and was about to be relegated, he could no longer control himself and let out all the negative emotions in his heart.
He had just entered the professional league as a S2 player. From a barber to a professional player, Loong had been chasing this path for five years.
Previously, he had experienced a relegation match in the UP team, and then came to VG as a top laner.
At this time, Loong had reached the peak of his individual ability. Partnering with the former champion of SKT, the midlaner, he had thought that this would be a wonderful journey.
Even if he could not enter the international competition, he should still be able to play in the playoffs, right?
However, he did not expect the reality to be so cruel. At 22 years old, he was about to become an older LSPL top laner.
Loong was disappointed and depressed. He felt that he had been stumbling around for five years, and his results had not improved at all.
In competitive sports, people like him should be called losers, or in other words, frustrated people.
(Loong's performance in the 2017 Spring League was quite outstanding, but he could not escape the fate of relegation. He had wasted his last peak in the secondary league. See the chart for the data.)
…
After VG and NB had no choice but to bid farewell to the LPL stage, the curtain of the playoffs slowly opened.
In the first round, the top eight would advance to the top six. It was IM against IG, and QG against EDG.
IG's top laner had almost pierced through IM. Now, The Sh was showing off his abilities, and the opposing top laner AJ was about to be beaten silly.
He looked at Master Rambo, who was barbecuing on his face, and recalled the magnificent Ma Run of S5. That was a pain in AJ's heart that could never be erased.
With a score of three to one, IG advanced to the top six of the Spring League.
On the other side, EDG swept QG with a score of three to zero.
Their performance in the top four was broken in the top six.
IG and OMG fought fiercely for five rounds. In the final round, Broiler Clockwork stood out. In the shadow of the Dragon's Pit, [Command: Shockwave] pulled the three players of OMG, and the sudden burst of damage directly ended the match!
OMG's ADC, Old Thief Sima, was unable to take this step in the end.
Like VG's Loong, Old Thief Sima was also a loser. Until now, he had never entered the top four of the LPL. Other than the "Poker Face AD", he was also known as the "Emperor of the Relegation Competition".
No matter how strong the Emperor was, he was still in the relegation competition.
On the other side, it was EDG versus WE.
It was an extremely interesting match.
The feud between the two teams had to start from the "Fight to the death, leave tonight" match.
WE fan 60E and Piggy had an irreconcilable feud.
A few years ago, WE's results were not good, and the fans did not dare to be too arrogant.
However, no one would have thought that S6's Ghost Kick Seven would be able to turn the tables on both sides.
With the strong rise of the Red Army's WE 2.0 this spring, 60E finally dared to speak loudly. Before the start of the match, the public opinion on the internet had already been brewing.
[EDG, let's see if my 60E will f * ck you up!]
[Oh wow, WE fans can also jump?
You must be tired after holding it in for two years, right?]
[That's not true. When your National Film Academy's top eight was beaten into a pulp by the Tigers, we had already formed a team!
After all, trash Mingkai. If my teammates are 1/4, I'll be 3/3. 9 is 6!]
[Hehe, our Lifetime International's top eight is still better than this bunch of trash like WE who can't even get into the international competition.]
EDG's National Film Academy title came from this year's IEM competition in February. EDG withdrew from the competition at the last minute, claiming that there was a problem with the Polish visa. Angry fans stormed the Polish embassy.
The Polish government came forward to explain that EDG did not submit enough materials and could not apply for the visa. The Shanghai government also came forward to say that the relevant materials could be completed in five to seven days. There was still enough time.
After comparing the arguments of both sides, the netizens realized that EDG did not want to go to Poland to participate in the competition. Once again, they attacked EDG's official Weibo.
EDG's boss, Ed Zhu, angrily posted on Weibo: "Do the trolls want to destroy China's esports?"
Such a hilarious comment became an eternal classic in the history of LOL esports. The National Film Academy also became EDG's new title.
Teng Jing also did not expect that the momentum created by this round of six would directly reach the top of Weibo's trending searches. Naturally, Bai Cha's popularity could not be ignored. Teng Jing quickly spent money to buy trending searches, raising the popularity of the competition to another level.
Even though Factory Director had helped the team achieve three wins in the last four rounds of the regular season, he still did not get the chance to play in this best-of-five.
The difference in the strength of the team was too big. EDG's problem was not something that an AD … jungler could solve.
Even if Factory Director went up to handle the command issues, the individual ability of the top laner and ADC, as well as the teamwork ability, were far from WE's.
He might as well not go up.
Even though EDG was swept out of the competition by WE 0: 3, the fans of EDG, who were known to be amateurish, started to make an issue out of Factory Director not going up.
For a while, comments such as "Factory Director not going up is not considered a loss" were rampant.
Reality proved that Ah Q's mental victory method worked everywhere.
As long as you felt that you did not lose, then you did not lose.
After this highlight match, the semi-finals of this year's Spring Season were officially decided. RNG versus WE, YM versus IG.
Lin Yan and the others took the time to watch the semi-finals between RNG and WE in the base.
In the first round, WE dominated Dragon in the middle of the game. RNG, who was at a disadvantage, could not fight back against WE's operations team. WE flattened their base in one wave.
In the second round, RNG brought out Qing Gang Yin in letme, while 957 chose to use Shen as the lane counter.
RNG used Ouze's strength to gain a considerable advantage in the middle of the game. Xiao Hu's Ike also took a lot of kills, leading Xi Ye's economy by nearly two thousand.
Lin Yan originally thought that RNG would win the game smoothly.
But he did not expect RNG's wave of irrational tower jumps to ruin all their advantages!
Letme's bottom lane lane lane pushed the minions under 957's tower.
Then Xiao Hu's Ike used the minions' vision to move forward, trying to coordinate with letme to kill 957's Shen under the high ground of WE's bottom lane.
"Are RNG's two players really going to tower jump?
Is this damage not enough? "Mille looked at RNG's movements and could not help but worry.
Just like the commentator said, RNG underestimated 957's Shen. Moreover, Xiao Hu's Ike's E [Phase Dive] made a mistake and hit the tower. In the end, 957 killed Qing Gang Yin in a 1v2 under the tower!
Xiao Hu was also killed by WE's players!
The situation was instantly reversed!
"This Ike's damage is too low!" Liu Qingsong in the base couldn't help but shout, "RNG dares to tower jump?"
"What kind of equipment did Xiao Hu drop?" Lin Yan couldn't help but shrug, "Is this how he plays the game with such a huge advantage?"
Xiao Hu's habitual steady equipment from last year was finally exposed.
Push Rod + Zhonya + Dazzling Light, Xiao Hu's huge advantage of 401's in 25 minutes was this equipment.
If his second item was Lich's Calamity instead of Zhonya's Hourglass, that E [Phase Dive] wouldn't have missed, 957's Shen would definitely have died.
"Isn't this too steady?" Xiao Tian couldn't help but say, "The opposing team has Karma + Lulu, and Xiao Hu still wants to use Zhonya?
Who would want to kill him? "
Lin Yan also felt that it was ridiculous. Xiao Hu's thinking had problems.
It wasn't impossible for Ike to use Zhonya as the second item. Lin Yan's Heavenly Hook Lucian also used a blue shield.
But it depended on the lineup.
Lin Yan used a blue shield because his teammates didn't lack damage. If he went up and hit Black Cut's armor penetration, he could win.
What about RNG?
Xiao Ming chose Boulogne, and Spicy Saucepan took Green God.
Nobu didn't have any damage, and Letme was an average Qing Gang Yin. With Xiao Hu's huge advantage, could the second item be Zhonya?
Lin Yan didn't know what to say.
After losing the second game, Ouze's face was really ugly.
In the last game, RNG, whose mentality was on the verge of collapse, still had the advantage in the early game. However, they were once again held back by WE in the late game.
Before the game, Lin Yan felt that WE would win this game, but he didn't expect the disparity to be so great.
“3:0！
Two B5's, two 3: 0's! "
Mille on the commentary platform yelled, "WE has already proven their strength and locked in a spot in the finals!"
"WE's dominance this spring is evident. Even RNG couldn't win a single game against them!"
Ouze slumped in his chair.
Before the game, he thought that he had a high chance of winning the Silver Dragon Cup, but he didn't expect WE to only use a single B5 to make him realize the reality.
Ouze sighed heavily. He rubbed his tired and sore palms and helplessly turned to leave the stage.
Without a single championship in five years, the strange curse still lingered on Ouze's body.
He, Loong, and Old Thief Sima had different results, but their mentality was exactly the same.
In competitive sports, there was only one winner. Some people achieved their dreams, while others were disappointed and melancholy.
They were all melancholy, so why should they be limited to the disappointed?
… …
After watching the semifinals, White Crescent's face was solemn.
"WE's harder to deal with than we thought," he looked at his team members, "Their operating ability is still improving."
"Moreover, they didn't fall behind too much in the early and mid stages. They stopped their losses around the 20-25 minute mark." Lin Yan drank a mouthful of water to moisten his throat.
"It's still a matter of version," Su Cheng was still twirling her pen, "WE just need to hold on until Mystic's Big Mouth, Ice, and Verus create Hurricane of Destruction. Then, they can attempt a direct team battle."
"This is equivalent to letting their original three-piece team battle formation come out in advance."
The logic was the same as Ouze's.
However, Ouze wanted to complete his equipment and plan to start a team battle in the mid stages to control the Dragon and end the match.
On the other hand, WE needed their ADC to complete their equipment and use their team battle formation to drag the match until they had a large enough advantage. Alternatively, they could use their vision to find a breakthrough before starting a team battle to win the match.
White Crescent nodded, "If we want to win against WE, it's unrealistic to drag it out until the late stages. Crushing them in the early stages is the safest way."
"That's why we need to increase our economy in the early stages. Otherwise, when WE's formation is complete, we might be turned around like RNG."
White Crescent wasn't wrong.
RNG was turned around in the last two matches. First, it was because their team members made mistakes in the mid stages. Second, it was because they didn't have a large enough advantage in the early stages.
Then, WE would use mid to late game operations and single lane to control the neutral resources and win the competition.
"But don't worry, we still have an advantage in individual strength. Moreover, WE's early stages are still relatively passive." Su Cheng comforted them.
Lin Yan and the others knew that Kandy was trying to drive the team's tempo in the early stages, but the results weren't obvious.
This was because WE was used to using mid and late stage lineups. They didn't have an advantage in the early stages.
Moreover, their team members hadn't reached the level where they wouldn't lose if they used inferior heroes. Without an advantage in the jungle, it was difficult for them to make a breakthrough.
After witnessing WE's strength, YM threw themselves into intense targeted training.
White Crescent had been studying WE for a long time. He treated WE as an imaginary opponent in the finals. He had made ample preparations.
As for their opponent in the semifinals tomorrow, IG?
White Crescent didn't prepare many tactics. He planned to play according to the norm.
After playing for half a year, he had a certain understanding of IG.
This team didn't have many tactics. In general, there was only one — jungler to protect the top and mid lane, and tank the bottom lane.
YM was now much stronger than IG in terms of individual strength and teamwork. White Crescent wasn't worried at all.
As he expected, Jack stood out when facing IG's bottom lane.
Verus played two rounds and Big Mouth played perfectly.
Lin Yan saw that Jack was in good shape and was happy to play. Karma and Lulu used a Holy Grail to protect Big Head's AD carry.
In the last round, Jack saw that Child and Bao Lan were getting more and more scared. He was so proud that he forcefully crossed the lane and swapped health with Child's God of Wandering. He was just short of riding on Child's and Bao Lan's faces.
The child's Wandering Spirit looked at the extremely fierce Jack and instantly recalled the Wootz of the past.
His passive [Dog Phobia] was triggered again. Fortunately, Child didn't play VN this round. He took out EZ and scraped around, dealing 10,000 damage in 30 minutes.
Jack's Big Mouth dealt 29000 damage. The damage ratio was 49.6%, and the team participation rate was 100%.
"It's also 3: 0!
YM's performance was very stable. They didn't give IG any chances in the entire BO5. They won smoothly! "Remember shouted." They will meet WE in the finals! "
"Yes, the pinnacle of Group A will determine the king of this spring!" Ze Yuan agreed.