Chapter 726: Regular Season Epilogue

Holy crap hahaha……

Awesome, the chair fell over, this guy is hilarious.

I'm impressed, hahaha, like a monkey.

No, why get so worked up? It's just a regular match.

To us it looks like a regular match, but to them it's not—don't you know the grudge between him and NewBee?

Oh oh, it's a one-minute Bo5, right?

In the VG training room, laughter and discussion echoed.

The match being broadcast is the B-group internal clash JDG versus NewBee. JDG is actually QG from the spring split, renamed after being acquired by Jingdong in the summer split, with nearly all players replaced; today's JDG is a roster rebuilt around mid lane Korean import Doinb as its core.

The grudge between Doinb and his former team is well known, but the details are unclear to most people, and it's surprising that Doinb hates his old team so much that after beating them he immediately did something so extreme.

Oh no, he hasn't even won yet.

In game three, after JDG won a team fight decisively, gaining a decisive advantage, Doinb happily jumped up from his gaming chair, bouncing around, but his movements were too big and he knocked over the chair; the referee rushed to help set it upright, while Doinb continued bouncing and shouting on the side, like a hyperactive monkey.

Commentator Miller couldn't help but remark: "Maybe many people can't understand why Doinb is so excited, but if everyone knew this player's career path, perhaps they could understand him."

"Yes, this player's resume is actually quite legendary: in 2015, as the top-ranked Korean server solo queue king, he was recruited by QG; then that spring split he directly led the team to win the secondary league and earn an LPL spot; after entering the LPL, QG maintained their strong momentum from the secondary league, actually fighting all the way to the summer finals, ultimately losing 2-3 to their old 'daddy' and taking second place, but as a promoted team QG's record was already legendary, shocking the whole league at the time. However, in 2016 QG encountered some unpleasant matters…" Wawa's professional level isn't enough, but when it comes to player gossip, among LPL commentators no one can outdo her.

"One-minute Bo5, huh," Miller sighed.

"Yes, last year's spring playoffs saw that infamous one-minute Bo5 incident everyone knows about; then in the summer split Doinb returned to the secondary league, but guess what? He won the secondary league championship! He fought his way back! Although returning to the LPL spring stage QG couldn't continue their S5 miracle, nor even match last spring's performance, such a player who has twice entered and left the LPL still retains the pursuit and passion for the top-tier stage; such tenacious belief and strong will—I think, personally I think, calling him a great player is not an exaggeration."

The person assisting the two, Zhihuan, listened quietly until Wawa finished; then he suddenly smiled slightly and said, "But Wawa teacher still hasn't made clear why Doinb would be so excited after beating NewBee."

"Tsk~" Wawa pointed at Zhihuan, "You're just trying to stir trouble!"

No no, haha.

I don't even know you yet, heh!

The topic just passed like that, yet it hooked the curiosity of countless viewers.

Right, why? What deep grudge could there be?

Actually, it can be summed up in a few sentences:

If it weren't for Doinb's own strength, plus his girlfriend's understanding, support, and constant comfort, he'd probably have been forced to retire from the professional stage.

And today marks the first time, since Doinb's return to the LPL this year, that he has defeated NB in their four encounters, the team that once 'persecuted' him.

Liang Yan is a veteran; he understands the grudge between Doinb and NB better than today's netizens, so it's actually understandable that Doinb would get excited and start celebrating wildly before his match even ends.

Because if it were Liang Yan putting himself in Doinb's shoes, he might have done something even more excessive, like giving a thumbs-up to the camera; Doinb merely celebrating a bit counts as restraint.

After the match, Doinb's abnormal behavior sparked much discussion on various forums; someone dug up the various grudge details between Doinb and NB, then over the next few days it stirred up a moderate controversy.

But with the S7 World Championship approaching, these things are just a little diversion to amuse netizens during the agonizing wait, to adjust their mood.

Then over in the LCK, the regular season ended a week earlier than the LPL's; the final regular season standings were Dragon Pearl first, KT second, SSG third, SKT fourth.

Liang Yan has always paid attention to the LCK regular season points, even watching many matches live, so he knows how this ranking came about.

Dragon Pearl and KT have identical points from big and small games; their head‑to‑head record is also even, so the ranking was decided by comparing match duration, giving Dragon Pearl first and KT second.

Actually, after returning from MSI, KT slumped a bit, losing several games in a row; then in the Intercontinental Tournament they were crushed by VG, and everyone expected them to sink further, but surprisingly, after finishing the Intercontinental Tournament and heading home, KT miraculously began to rise, their performance practically heroic.

This is actually an illusion.

From looking at KT's practice matches against the three top LCK teams, Liang Yan can tell at a glance that KT could finish second only if SKT and SSG are sandbagging, or if SKT and SSG simply have no time to bother with KT.

SKT and SSG's focus is likely no longer on the domestic league or even the Worlds quota; their research emphasis is probably entirely on the upcoming S7 World Championship. Both teams have won Worlds before (the S4 champion was Samsung White, which shares origins with today's Samsung), having tasted success, they probably now adopt a 'win or die' mindset—if they can't achieve outstanding results at S7 Worlds, what difference does it make whether they go or not?

A person with far‑sighted vision naturally won't see only the present struggles.