Lin Yan originally thought that the LPL team was full of top players, and that they were much stronger than him and Xiao Tian. However, from the relegation match to the opening match of MSI, something did not seem right.
LPL teams were definitely stronger than LSPL teams, but they were not invincible.
Snake and QG were also teams that had been promoted to LPL from a secondary league. Both teams were still very competitive even without changing their team members.
Snake was in the middle of the league, while QG was even stronger. They had won first place in LPL Summer Season last year. If not for their internal conflict this spring, they might have gone even further.
Lin Yan watched the match from a bird 's-eye view. He realized that the LPL team's field of view and individual ability were not perfect, and they would make many low-level mistakes.
QG and Snake could make a name for themselves in LPL, and this gave Lin Yan a boost of confidence.
After all, YM was one of the best teams in LSPL this year. They had been on the high ground for 33 matches and had shown extraordinary dominance. In addition, EDE had also entered LPL, so YM's results should not be too bad.
YM watched the first day of MSI's competition. When they heard the thunderous cheers when Faker appeared, they were extremely excited. They imagined that one day, the heavens would reward their hard work, and they would be sought after by millions of people.
Even Ning's ranking practice had become much more diligent. At the very least, he had started practicing the new hero, Ashes, that had been released three months ago.
In MSI's group stage, RNG had won first place with an 8-2 record. However, they were still defeated by the previous World Tree champion, SKT, in the semifinals.
At this point, LPL finally recognized the gap between them and the top teams in the world. Last year's MSI championship was like a dream that disappeared before they could even immerse themselves in it.
After the competition, RNG's support and SSW's champion, Mata, pointed the spearhead at Wu Xin, who had been the AD player at the time. In an interview, he said that if they had changed their AD player, RNG would not have stopped at MSI's semifinals.
RNG's management did not hesitate to bring in S3S4's runner-up AD player, Ouze, in order to achieve a breakthrough in this year's global finals.
This could be said to be the most explosive news in the mid-season transfer period.
After MSI ended, the mid-season edition of Fist arrived.
The wilderness had undergone a major change. Water, Earth, Fire, and Wind Elemental Dragons had replaced the original small dragons. Only three types of Elemental Dragons would appear in each match. Killing the four types of Elemental Dragons would provide players with stronger attributes.
After 35 minutes, the Primordius Dragon would occupy the crater. Killing it would provide players with more powerful combat abilities.
Xiaolong's changes increased the presence of the second half of the game in the early stages of the game, increasing the risk of the strategy of switching lanes.
The Fist officials were also fed up with the line swapping matches that were common in the arena. Each of them quietly developed until the 30 minute mark, and the pro players found it troublesome. The spectators also felt sleepy just watching.
Fist's recent goal was to emphasize the matchups and increase the bloodlust of the matches.
On the other hand, YM's expenses increased sharply after entering the LPL. Starting players, analysts, artists, coaches, managers, assistants, operators, chefs …
The team's monthly salary expenditure was hundreds of thousands. Including the rent and other miscellaneous expenses, Chubby had spent almost all of the money he had earned in the past two years. He only had a few investment projects that could not be realized for the time being.
The capital chain was about to break. Chubby could not sit still. He urgently needed external financial support.
Lin Yan had also heard about this in the base, but he could not help much. Although he had a lot of spare cash at home, it was obviously not on the same scale as a team like LPL, which could easily invest tens of millions of dollars.
YM's introduction of investment did not come to an end until the start of the summer competition. Chubby Tootsie asked his former professional IG boss to pull the strings and pull in the investment of a domestic sports retailer. The arrival of the investor finally relieved Chubby Tootsie's financial pressure.
In mid-May, Lin Yan and Xiao Tian were invited to shoot a promotional video for the LPL summer competition. However, they did not appear much. After all, they were rookies who had just entered the LPL league.
Lin Ran used his unforgettable handsome face to get a close-up shot. He took off the hood of his black hoodie and faced the camera. The corners of his lips curled up slightly, revealing a disdainful smile.
Before the start of the summer competition, this promotional video was first released on the Internet. Although most people were attracted by the wet body of EDG jungler Ghost Jiao Qi, there was still a group of viewers who noticed Lin Yan.
After all, it was rare to see someone who could raise the average appearance of the players in the promotional video by a level.
"Who is this?
LPL invited a male model to shoot a promotional video? "
"He's so handsome, but he's not an actor. Why is he playing esports?"
Many viewers did not know Lin Yan. They had not watched Chubby's live broadcast and did not know the progress of the LSPL competition.
"This is Ran Bao, the mid laner of Chubby's team. He's very strong."
"To be honest, Ran Bao's skill level is indeed high. He won't have a problem beating Xiao Hu."
"He can beat Xiao Hu?
He soloed Faker in MSI this year. "
"Do rookies nowadays hire fake reviewers to promote themselves before they become famous?
I'm dying of laughter. Don't be demoted after being educated in LPL for one summer. "
"There was JKL before. He was even worse than Ran. He bragged before going on stage. He's simply a fake reviewers. When the time comes, I'm afraid he won't even be able to play in LPL."
JKL was also a high score passerby. Last year, he competed with Lin Yan for the number one spot in the national server. He specialized in Draven and killed the King of Thunder One.
Last month, when YM had just established their youth team, Lin Yan recommended this young man to Chubby. Chubby personally went to Huanggang and coaxed JKL to give up on the idea of going to his old team, IG, and come to YM's base with him.
Now, one of them was called a fake reviewers' mid laner, while the other was called a fake reviewers' AD. It was an inexplicable fate.
On May 26th, the LPL Summer Season began. YM was a new force that had been in the limelight recently. The LPL officials arranged for their first match to be at 7 pm on the first day of the season. They would face off against the veteran team, WE.
The night before the match, after the coach explained the tactics, Manager Hao stood up to cheer for the team.
"There's no need to be afraid tomorrow. The one who can't afford to lose is WE!
They're the third place of the Spring Season. We're just a new team that just came out of LSPL. It's normal for us to lose! "
"Don't think that we'll keep winning. LPL is different from the secondary league. Be prepared to lose. Play calmly and show your strength!"
At noon the next day, Lin Yan and his teammates sat on the bus and headed to the competition venue — Hongqiao Performing Arts Center.
It had to be said that the LPL competition venue was completely different from the secondary league.
Two LED boards were erected on both sides of the security checkpoint. They were dedicated to playing highlights of the competition and promotional videos. Next to the LED boards, there was a model of the red and blue defense tower in Summoner's Canyon.
Further in was the team support area. There were two BO3 matches every day. The organizers would prepare support items for the four teams in advance. The audience could pick up their own gifts.
After passing by the model of the Dragon pit, Lin Yan finally saw the competition stage.
There were hundreds of seats here. Every seat had an LPL embroidery. The flags of the 12 participating teams were hung on the walls, and spotlights lingered on them.