Chapter 295: Perhaps, does he really have it?

The regular season is still underway.

By comparison, the recent level of attention on the LCK league has reached an unprecedented degree.

Clearly, everyone is looking forward to Li Xianghe's return after his time away from the arena, and whether T1 will end up being eliminated early.

It is hard to say whether Li Xianghe is truly that vital to the team, or if the four youngsters have gained a "victory for the underdog" buff after experiencing a losing streak.

They are facing off against the LCK's dark horse this season, KT, which is also T1's famous "power bank" team.

KT, currently ranked in the top three in the Summer Split standings, was actually swept 0-2!

Of course, KT is somewhat excusable—after all, their mid-laner Bdd is known far and wide in the Seoul area as a "devoted fan of Li Xianghe," meaning his hands tend to shake when he looks at his opponent.

Following closely behind them is DK, led by Xu Xiu.

These are also the two toughest nuts to crack in the eyes of all T1 fans.

T1 has two matches left for error tolerance; excluding Gen and Hanwha, the already-defeated KT and the veteran powerhouse DK are their biggest obstacles.

"Do you guys think DK can win today? If they can't, it feels like Brother Fei will have to leave!" Xun watched the screen, chatting with the group about the news he had recently scrolled through.

"I see rumors on the Korean web saying that several of the T1 five-man roster's contracts expire at the end of the year. If they really get knocked out early, it feels like this lineup will definitely have to disband, right?"

"Hard to say, that little top-laner for DK is quite good." Saint Gunner changed into a comfortable reclining position.

"For sure, that new AD and support are also quite good," Beryl teased his old brother without mercy: "That guy Xiu, he managed to pick up a bargain even with this!"

Xun turned his head again to ask the two big brothers chatting nearby: "What about Master Ye and Brother Alpaca?"

Deft poured black coffee from a large teapot and casually said, "Fifty-fifty."

Ye Bo took a sip of the black coffee from the same teapot, instantly put on a mask of agony, and immediately turned to grab his own Pepsi for a big gulp.

"T1 has a better chance of winning; it feels like their form has returned."

Xun made a disgusted face while moving away from Deft's teapot, grabbing his own cola: "I think it's hard to say, oh. Everyone type 'Brother Xu is awesome' in the public chat!"

"But then again, this DK team is really a bit scary over in the LCK. I heard their youth training camp even has kids born in '09!"

Ye Bo glanced at him sideways, not knowing what kind of strange secondary broadcast this guy had been watching lately.

Come to think of it, DK's performance this year is definitely a huge surprise.

Following Nuguri's retirement and Canyon's departure to join Hanwha, the already fragmented DWG completely dissolved.

Now, only Xu Xiu remains!

And looking at DK's lineup this year, 99% of people thought they would completely become roadkill!

The top-laner is T1 castoff Canna, the jungler is the pure rookie Lucid born in '05 from the second team, the AD is the pure rookie Peyz born in '05 "loaned" from Samsung, and the support is just Delight, who has only been playing for a year or two.

It can be called a combination of an entire second team plus rookies.

The ages of the jungler and marksman are even a year younger than Ye Bo!

Yet, for such a team, the most unstable performer is actually the top-laner Canna, while the several youngsters have performed quite brilliantly.

Perhaps seeing that the rookies were performing well, the DK management made a super bold decision—they promoted another top-laner from their own second team for rotation.

The key is that this top-laner with the ID 【Siwoo】 is actually a terrifyingly young player born in '07!

Even more importantly, this '07 youngster's performance is also quite good, at least not losing to the veteran Canna!

Relying on this "one veteran, four rookies" configuration, the "youth storm" team of DK is steadily ranking at the top of the LCK Summer Split.

It is worth mentioning.

As early as his first trip to the youth training camp, Ye Bo learned from Chujun that the "Baby Lock" was something exclusive to the domestic scene.

Just like Zeus, who is the same age as Ye Bo—he was already sitting backstage at T1 and playing in matches as early as S11, three years ago.

At that time, Ye Bo didn't even have the qualifications to enter the LDL; the regulations strictly stated he had to wait until the middle of S12, after he had officially turned eighteen, to be eligible to become a professional player.

Look at the LCK youth training system by contrast.

The minimum trial age has long been lowered to 12, and once selected, a salary as high as 20, 00 RMB per month is issued!

Of course~~~~ Ye Bo heard that this number "shrank significantly" this year.

No choice.

This is the snowball effect.

If the LCK has achieved remarkable results in the region in recent years, and everything from policy to the economy is relaxed, these plans to pave the way for the future can naturally be carried out smoothly.

It is a pity that the results in recent years can only be described as disastrous, so various obstacles have naturally followed.

It is the opposite for the LPL.

Ye Bo heard that because the region's results have been good over the past two years, and domestic popularity and international influence are also rising steadily, the authorities seem to want to push for reforms in this area as well.

At the very least, they want to strive to relax the age restrictions for the LDL!

Take Ye Bo as an example; it is quite clear that if he could have gone into the professional system to grow two years earlier, instead of cooping himself up at home playing ranked games to figure things out, his growth path might have been different!

As for why Ye Bo would know this "inside information"...

The reason is simple—because a major key to pushing these events forward right now is the Asian Games!

The region is already sufficient in terms of results and influence; the only thing missing is some "positive" and "official" persuasiveness to clear the obstacles at the policy level.

And with the Asian Games becoming a medal event for the first time, it is truly "winning glory for the country" and truly becoming an official sports event.

At this point in time, winning the championship is particularly critical!

This is also why the selection of candidates for the Asian Games was suppressed back then; the cost of failure this time is truly not small, and one could even exaggerate and say that losing would make one a "sinner."

"Holy crap! What is Brother Xu doing!?"

"Brother Xu is down! Brother Xu is trash! Brother Xu is trash!!"

"T1 is back, woo~~~"

Sounds of barking came from the secondary broadcast room on Xun's phone.

And the V5 members also seemed somewhat surprised by T1's transformation.

Compared to the team they encountered at MSI, T1 after Li Xianghe's return seems somewhat unfamiliar.

From the fluidity of tactical execution and the sharpness of their playstyle to the level of synergy in team fights, it is as if they have undergone a change!

"Hiss, this doesn't make sense, right?" Xun muttered with a puzzled look: "It's clearly the same five people, how can the change be so obvious just because Brother Fei is on or off the field?"

"Perhaps, it's that Brother Xianghe has improved during his time off," the wise Beryl took a sip of milk tea, revealing the secret in one sentence.

Ye Bo nodded, having the same feeling.