Chapter 439: The Cruel Postseason

The postseason stage is not only about the postseason schedule; teams without postseason slots also have a chance to show up—although perhaps no one wants such an opportunity.

Hmm, today the postseason has a day off, and the relegation matches begin.

Multiple parties took the field together, and with an invisible big hand pushing from behind, the turmoil of the placement matches seemed as if it had never happened, and it vanished in an instant.

Liang Yan originally had nothing much; he casually posted a microblog venting his thoughts on this matter, but unexpectedly drew countless netizens' praise, and he didn't get conceited either. Right now he is livestreaming and connecting with Fu Lan Duo to watch the relegation match together.

In their eyes, the relegation match is basically a bunch of weaklings pecking at each other, so watching this kind of match is actually meaningless for them—purely pastime, and incidentally they pad the stream length.

But people always need to find something boring to do; this is part of human nature.

First is the relegation match between the fifth-place teams of each group: the fifth-place Snake from Group A versus the fifth-place Newbee from Group B. Two hours later, Newbee easily defeated Snake 3-0 to secure relegation survival, while Snake will face the LSPL spring season third-place team DAN in the next promotion/relegation round two days later; if they lose again, they will be demoted to LSPL.

Based on Snake's performance today, losing to the LSPL third-place team in the next round is not entirely impossible; Snake Team fans are worried about this, and the official blog's comment section is filled with gloom.

The commentators' tone is also somewhat low.

Recall the tone being heavy:

"It's really unexpected that no one thought a year ago the LPL team that performed best at the World Championships would, after half a year, fall into such a state."

Guan Zeyuan also sighed:

"Alas, all we can say is that things are unpredictable. The departure of Sheng Qiang Ge and Shuijing Ge dealt Snake a truly huge blow."

At the beginning of this month, the new female commentator Rita, making her first appearance on the LPL commentary desk, sat on both sides of them, pondered for a moment, and then cautiously spoke:

"I think the team's cohesion problem is also a cause; Snake's roster changes this season have been far too frequent, the whole team keeps swapping members, and there isn't a very… uh, very fixed lineup, which means they haven't gotten sufficient cohesion."

Recall nodding:

"Rita Teacher is right, and I even think the team's cohesion issue affects Snake more than the two players' departures. When we usually play… play some role‑playing game, go do a dungeon, right, fixed parties have a higher chance of clearing, because the teamwork between fixed parties is more in sync, a tactic has been drilled many times, there will be no communication problems, and sometimes even no communication is needed—a single signal is understood by both."

"That's right, so we also hope Snake will pay attention to this issue next season and find a somewhat… uh, somewhat more fixed lineup."

The second relegation match is between Group A's sixth-place LGD and Group B's sixth-place GT; this match is more critical, because winning doesn't guarantee relegation survival—there's another match afterward—but losing means immediate demotion.

At a critical moment, the former domestic first‑mid laner who had given up LOL training, daily livestreamed eating chicken, and was clearly preparing to bring his talent to PUBG, Gao Dewei (Godv), finally got motivated, displayed his true strength, and in two consecutive games utterly crushed GT's mid laner Republic, leaving him in ruins; even though GT's top laner Gimgoon also went berserk, the top lane's nature means he fares worse than mid lane when he goes up against it. In this situation where both sides blew up a lane, Godv, acting as a practice partner, swept GT and brought LGD into the next round.

As for GT, they posted a microblog that no one noticed in an obscure corner, announcing the team's relegation, but although the microblog has been out for a day, comments remain scarce.

The first round of the relegation matches concluded, and the next day, with the announcement that the TGP platform was officially renamed WeGame, the LPL postseason fires reignited.

This is the second round of the postseason; each half‑bracket only has three teams left, so this stage can also be called the Six Strong Stage. Not mentioning the two top teams that occupy each half‑bracket, the two lower teams will compete in this Bo5 for a semifinal spot.

Actually, this stage is also a watershed.

First match, EDG versus IM.

This Bo5 can be simply described as: Athena burned out, yet the team's overall strength gap is too large—including the training squad's preparation—falling far short of EDG.

In the first two games, IM was completely crushed, each ending in just over thirty minutes with EDG taking the win.

To the audience, the third game seemed like a courtesy match; EDG, leading 2‑0, picked an extremely conservative late‑game lineup, surrendered three outer towers at 15 minutes, fell behind by over five thousand gold at 20 minutes, and naturally lost one game.

The fourth game saw a sudden shift in style; EDG assembled an almost no‑late‑game early‑mid‑game aggressive lineup, and then Changzhang unleashed the Three Axe Battle Method learned from Liang Yan's recording of his match against IM—

Second Level Mid Grab,

Fourth Level Mid Grab,

Sixth Level Mid Grab……

Athena collapsed, and IM basically had no resistance left. Although Jinjiao is renowned in the jianghu as an AD Quality Inspector, his carry ability is limited, his big legs have fallen, and expecting him to save the world is really asking too much.

Again, just over thirty minutes, IM lost the final game.

EDG won this crucial Bo5 3‑1, smoothly advanced to the semifinals, and next they will face the steady‑sitting‑on‑the‑fishing‑platform A‑group leader, RNG.

The match between EDG and RNG is nicknamed the "pig‑dog showdown"; in previous years it basically occurred only in the finals stage, but this year, due to VG's interference, it was brought forward.

The second match, WE versus IG, was again a mid‑lane burnout game, also a 3‑1 score, and similarly WE took the first two games, IG pulled one back, but the final game was a one‑sided crushing……

The two Bo5 matches clearly and explicitly told everyone what a top‑tier team is and what a non‑top‑tier team is.

At the moment the second match ended, Rookie sat numb‑faced in his chair, looking at the post‑match settlement panel; the on‑site camera kept shooting his face for dozens of seconds, like a still image, just sitting there motionless, dazed.

In the livestream, the screen was full of "heartache" and "Rookie did his best".

Finally Rookie wiped the corner of his eyes, stood up, packed up his equipment, and left.

Moreover, when the second game of the second Bo5 ended, the director gave the venue a shot that happened to catch IG boss Principal Wang rising to leave; his expression also looked somewhat heavy.