Chapter 259: Writing History! Finals Civil War! A Peak Clash Between Titans!

"Holy crap, JDG has really gone wild!" Flandre watched from the back, dumbfounded.

Xun muttered, "They actually 3-0'd GEN... Master Ye and God Beryl were right!"

As the final basic attack shattered the GEN nexus, the GEN members, who had officially announced their departure from this arena, sat dazed in their seats for a long time, their gazes seemingly devoid of focus.

Before the match, everyone thought this would be a bitter struggle.

After all, the two teams' previous encounter saw JDG lose 2-3, and even their later blowout victory to send T1 home was proven to be due to T1's own issues.

Yet in this actual clash, JDG held an advantage in all four lanes in the truest sense; even the bot lane, which had been pinned with high hopes, saw Ruler and Missing gain the upper hand today, successfully taking revenge on their old home.

Chovy was clearly the one who hadn't recovered, changing from the ferocity he showed against Scout in the first round to only knowing how to farm the entire time!

Looking at Scout, aside from the first game where he stole the Ornn ultimate three times in a row only to have the "three sheep" fail to enter the gate, resulting in a series of eye-stinging missed ultimates, his overall performance across the three games was definitely eye-catching.

By the third game, he was even getting cocky, pulling out Akali and even buying a Mejai's Soulstealer, completely creating a gap in the matchup!

As for the surprise of the V5 members.

In fact, long before the MSI began, V5's two coaches had said that JDG was their biggest rival in this MSI—which is why they were even a bit surprised to see them lose to GEN in the first round, and even doubted if they had misjudged GEN.

At this moment, the chat in every livestream was burning hot.

【What a fitting team logo, truly worthy of being the LCK team logo most like a spinning top, even their annual tradition of taking a massive dump is so similar!】

【Doran: Zeus went home? Then who can I even beat? I want to go home too!!】

【The base is about to explode! Where's Chovy? What do you mean Chovy is still on his way on horseback?】

【Chovy: Never mind the base, just tell me, didn't I have a high creep score?】

【Scout's Sylas is hilarious to watch. This is purely because Chovy was traumatized by Master Ye, and now he's even getting cocky.】

【Makes sense, Sylas can't catch the Ornn sheep, just like one-armed Yang Guo can't catch the eagle; after all, Scout's Sylas only has a left hand.】

"Looks like they've found their form."

Ye Bo also noticed the biggest change in JDG at this stage: they were no longer mindlessly following the meta.

The reason they lost 2-3 to GEN in the first round of the group stage, besides it being the first match for both on the MSI patch and the theories not yet being verified, was something else.

The biggest "variable" was the two major meta cancers Ye Bo had previously brought up: Neeko and Titan.

Homme, who values the draft extremely highly, changed the team's drafting strategy overnight, but the sudden inclusion of these two champions disrupted his plans for the offseason, and as a result, he ended up leading the team down the wrong path.

But clearly, JDG was now back on track, or rather, they had already shown their proper strength starting from that T1 match.

"It's about what we expected at the start," Beryl said, hands behind his head, clearly not surprised at all. "We were saying from the beginning that this MSI might be the strongest meta for JDG this year; they just woke up a bit late, so we only get to meet them in the finals."

Ye Bo nodded: "It's just a pity that today's win was too easy; they basically just used standard picks and didn't reveal anything fresh..."

The two's initial prediction was not without foundation.

Because it is foreseeable that, unless Riot tampers with the laws of their ancestors and keeps the subsequent matches this year on the exact same patch as MSI.

Otherwise, MSI is highly likely to be the most suitable patch for this JDG team this year!

This is analyzed based on the player characteristics of the JDG team—several players on this team have distinct characteristics and somewhat fixed playstyles.

For example, top laner 369 leans toward defensive top laners, jungler Kanavi plays everything like a jungle carry, and Ruler excels at hyper-carry ADs.

This clearly fits perfectly with the meta trends!

Now that the tournament has progressed, the understanding of the meta is becoming clear: the top lane is basically dominated by tanks, the jungle is basically all jungle carries, and the bot lane is basically all hyper-carry ADs.

But once the subsequent patches or the World Championship arrive, and the strong top lane champions become fighters or carry top laners, the jungle becomes utility-based, and the bot lane changes to utility ADs like Ashe or Jhin.

If there is any change in any position, JDG's combat effectiveness will definitely decline, perhaps even significantly!

That is why it is said there will be no patch more suitable for JDG than the current one, and one can even conclude that this MSI is the peak moment for this team.

In contrast, V5 is very different from JDG in this regard.

There is no one on the V5 team with a very fixed playstyle; the greatest strength of Ye Bo, Flandre, Deft, and Beryl is their deep champion pools and low tactical limitations.

Even Xun has only been deliberately strengthening his use of jungle carries, but he is by no means unable to play utility junglers that require sacrifice.

Come to think of it.

This is also one of the most important "traits" for a team that wants to complete the "Golden Road"—transcending the meta!

Every patch will give birth to strong teams that emerge as the times require.

But it is precisely because of this that the preciousness of a team that can remain strong throughout is highlighted.

It's a pity that not many people outside can understand the true meaning of this; everyone thinks it's just that GEN choked today.

And today is clearly the darkest day for LCK fans.

Of course, it is also a day of celebration for LPL fans!

Ye Bo opened the video platform and found that the entire internet had begun an era of reckoning and celebration.

Several of the hottest trending videos were:

"Various casters watch V5 crush GEN, Korean casters scream repeatedly!"

"Various casters watch JDG defeat GEN, Korean casters shout 'Pizza'!"

"Foreign (Korean) real-time chat on JDG defeating GEN in Game 1"

"What kind of match made peak Chovy dry heave after the game, left the champion Samsung team at a loss, and even featured the iconic scene of substitutes fountain-diving after the game?"

"LCK doomsday is here! Both teams swept! The true number one region!"

Old videos from the past few days were pushed to the top again; the Bilibili recordings of the two matches that sent GEN home had over 9999+ concurrent viewers, and many who had just finished watching the match immediately came back to rewatch and savor it.

The Tieba forums were a scene of "hundred ghosts night walking," with trolls and fun-seekers swarming out, even mixed with quite a few T1 fans helping out.

They couldn't wait to stomp GEN into the ground!

After all, the more miserably GEN died, the more it highlighted that T1 didn't seem so miserable after all.

【We should have less mockery and abuse for GEN, and more 'full insurance, half hanging'!】

【Kumajir: "Master Ye is truly worthy of his reputation, worthy of being the LPL's number one mid laner. It is a great joy in my life to be able to spar with Master Ye today! It's just a pity that the LCK's number one 'Chomurong', who is on par with you, seems..." Ye Qiaofeng immediately said: "Why do you say that?" Kumajir replied very respectfully: "Chomurong is simply vulnerable, a name without substance! That he could be on par with you is truly a disgrace to your reputation!"】 【Although the two LPL teams are very fierce, I have to ask, is it useful? Can they beat the LCK in the finals?】

【Indeed, this is truly the MSI with the lowest historical value; the intensity of the finals feels the same as the LPL league~】

【The loser's bracket of the double-elimination format is simply an abyss of hell. It feels like those who fall in first burst out with infinite combat power, like hungry wolves. Those who fall in last are strong, but they are at a psychological disadvantage from just losing, and they get shattered! Torn apart! Sent home!】

【JDG brothers, shouldn't you kowtow to Master Ye? He definitely deserves 50% of the credit for GEN becoming like this today!】

Someone on Tieba even instantly reposted the sentiment from foreign websites.

Except for the Korean websites, which were clearly broken, other regions were basically just fun-seekers watching a big show, each one thinking the chaos wasn't big enough.

Especially the European region, where the celebration was no less than that of the LPL, as if they had won the championship themselves!

Even the official G2 Twitter quickly posted a mocking tweet:

【Heard GEN was undefeated in the LCK, pity that record was broken at MSI. But don't worry, you can continue to dominate the Korean league as soon as you return to Korea!】

Below it was an image, a follow-up to the previous GTA5 series.

The protagonist, Franklin, was seen holding two dogs and waving forward, while his two good buddies walked toward him, each also holding two dogs with LCK team logos photoshopped onto them.

It can only be said that G2 is skilled at stirring up trouble and inciting conflict. Once this image was posted, it immediately caused heated discussion on Twitter, and comments from Korean IPs who were "broken" could be seen everywhere below.

【Xiba gejiaxi! You dog things who only know how to bully others, as if you didn't lose yourselves!】

【↑I know you're anxious, but don't be anxious yet. At least our European teams are all in the top four! So making it to the top four really does count as success!】

【A while ago there was Li Peinan, now there's the LPL, have to say CN esports is really exploding this year.】

【LPL first, LEU second, the rest go sit at the table with the LCS~】

【Oppas! Let's all boycott MSI! Everyone don't watch the finals! Let Riot know the consequences of favoring and rigging for our Republic of Korea!】

【That's enough, last time for the championship skins a bunch of people said they would boycott, but in the end, all global regions broke sales records.】

【There's really no way around it, that Akali skin, just the side-boob alone makes it a must-buy.】

"GEN is really going to have big trucks blocking their door when they get back to Korea. Should I tell Doxian to come back and hide first..." Flandre was having a great time scrolling through posts: "This is too explosive, it even suppressed the rumors about our summer transfer window."

"Hey Qiang-ge, is that rumor on the internet true? Is the summer transfer really that explosive?"

"I don't know, you'll have to ask Clearlove~"

Just as the MSI started, the mid-season transfer windows for major regions also announced their opening.

It's just that in previous years, there were rarely any major changes during this transfer period, and not many people paid attention.

But this year, perhaps due to the appearance of the global ban-pick format, many slacker players had their true colors revealed, and coupled with the example of Ye Bo joining mid-season last year and achieving excellent results.

At the very least, the popularity of the LPL's spring transfer period was unexpectedly high!

Many top-tier teams that had invested heavily were determined to achieve results in the summer split and charge toward the World Championship, not hesitating to make drastic changes.

According to news from many leaker bloggers, several top teams were already in negotiations, and several explosive trade messages had been leaked.

On the third day after GEN fell, G2, who had once again emerged victorious from the internal battle, faced JDG to compete for the last ticket to the finals.

However, this time, as expected, G2's strength was clearly far behind their ability to stir up trouble, and they were once again beaten 3-0 without any suspense.

With this, only the final match of MSI remained, and the last two teams.

And these two teams—both were from the LPL!

May 21, 2023.

The Copper Box Arena was once again packed, and the final day of the finals had arrived!

European host Dash walked to the center of the stage: "Today! Two LPL teams have advanced to the MSI finals stage together. This is not only the first time in MSI history that there has been an internal regional battle, but also the first time in LPL history that there has been an internal battle in the finals of an international tournament!"

"To date, the LPL has won three consecutive MSI championships, and now the fourth trophy has already been secured by them in advance!"

"They are still defending their absolute status as kings on this arena!"

"Next, let us welcome from the LPL region, sweeping everything with the momentum of a new emperor ascending the throne—VICTORY FIVE!!"

"Next, let us welcome again from the LPL region, the reorganized galaxy battleship that has emerged as a dark horse—JDG INTEL CLUB!"

The players from both sides walked onto the high platform under the host's call, arms crossed, looking at each other.

The domestic audience who had traveled from afar shouted with all their hearts, sending screams for the two teams from their own region.

Today, there were no trolls or haters at the scene, only domestic audiences proud from the bottom of their hearts, and fanatical players who came to appreciate this high-level Rift match.

You must know that in the history of international tournament finals, civil wars have occurred only a scant three times, and they were basically all born during that dark age when the LCK dominated the World Championship.

And today, the LPL has finally achieved one as well!

This achievement is not just the strength and glory of a single team.

It further signifies the entire region's absolute, gap-widening lead and dominance over this tournament for the current year!

The eyes of the JDG members standing on the high platform and looking at each other flashed with determination; even Knight rarely dared to look Ye Bo directly in the eye, as if he had just been recharged by his right hand and regained his confidence.

Homme had already prepared their psychological construction, constantly "hypnotizing" the team members on how suitable this version was for them, and the previous matches seemed to have provided proof of this.

They had even prepared numerous tactical reserves, all for this day, to prove themselves in this version that suited them best and to take revenge for the failures of the entire spring!

On the other side, the six members of V5 also had flames flickering in their eyes.

The only difference was that compared to the determination of their opponents, the eyes of everyone on V5 were filled with confidence, even Beichuan, who was standing on the far side.

Although it was already a battle between teams from the same region, absolutely no one wanted to become the background board for this match destined to be recorded in history, becoming the side that would be remembered as the loser whenever "Finals Civil War" was mentioned in the future.

Except for Ryu, no one wanted to be remembered like that!

"Will it be JDG avenging the hatred of being captured twice throughout the spring, or will V5 continue to extend their strong dominance by capturing their opponent a third time and stepping onto their own golden road————"

"Regardless, this is destined to be a peak performance dedicated to LPL fans, a clash of titans that will surely write history!"

"Let us wait and see!"

(End of this chapter)