Chapter 57: From This Moment On, Train the LPL!

Shanghai, Zhaobei District’s Huanwei Multimedia Valley!

Unlike the main tournament stage, the LPL preseason is not held in Taicang but at the broadcast studios of Shanghai Game Storm.

Outside the building, many spectators are waiting in line for ticket checks.

As the inaugural professional League of Legends tournament, Tencent, considering early promotional needs, distributed preseason tickets to audiences in a half-sale, half-gift manner.

Those who arrived early enough to queue for this esports match were mostly nearby college students and young people.

During the wait, some socially confident individuals struck up conversations and began discussing their favored teams.

“I think IG, LGD, and a few other teams will have no trouble qualifying for the main tournament.”

“PE’s overall strength is also decent—I even think they’re stronger than IG.”

“Pfft, PE’s decent… bro, didn’t you watch the earlier LPL TGA livestream?”

“Huh, LPL livestream?”

“LPL just started today—where would there have been a livestream before?”

“You mean the LPL selection tournament test stream, right? The NXG vs. PE match—I just watched it.”

“It was a massacre. NXG was absolutely brutal; beating five Masters felt like farming bots.”

“No way—PE performed really well in previous offline tournaments. Did NXG really crush them?”

In the final selection match, there’s a replay on Tencent Video—NXG nearly turned PE into a delicate pagoda.

Once the topic was raised, the crowd’s discussion grew louder and louder.

Centered on the two male college students who started it, “NXG is unquestionably a preseason powerhouse—look at their team discipline; no other team comes close.”

“Playing a game with the feel of an army going to war—I’ve never seen anything like it.”

“Their tactical understanding is on a completely different level from other teams. JM, as the #1 player on the national server, is not only the midlaner but also the coach. Look at some other teams—they don’t even have a coach.”

“I specifically drove all the way from Jin Ling just to watch NXG’s matches.”

“Definitely—JM is seriously incredible. I followed his advanced videos for half a month and climbed a whole tier.”

“May I ask, what rank are you now?”

“Forgive my humble status—I’m already Gold 1, Golden Core stage, with Platinum Ascension in sight!”

“Six six six!”

At that moment, a sudden outcry came from the right side of the queue.

“No way—does NXG even have a team bus?”

“Isn’t that something only foreign CS esports giants have?”

The spectators’ seating area was some distance from the team vehicle parking zone, so Jiang Ming and the others didn’t notice the commotion in front of the multimedia building.

Driving from Jin Ling to Shanghai took them about four hours; they only arrived in the city around two in the afternoon.

Fortunately, Sister Lin handled things reliably—since the match day didn’t allow direct round-trips to the base, she had already booked an affordable hostel in advance.

After dropping off their luggage at the hostel, everyone had lunch before driving to the venue.

“I’ll go check in first!”

Wearing a professional OL skirt and carrying the NXG team leader badge, Lin Jingyi was the first to step out of the car.

“Make sure to take all your personal items—don’t leave anything behind in the car,” Jiang Ming said, turning to the members behind him.

“And Uncle Zhou, could you please wait outside a bit longer? You’re free to move around, but don’t go too far—in case of emergencies.”

“Got it, boss.”

The LPL preseason lasts seven days total, but including the opening ceremony, there are only five actual competition days.

The first two days are mainly for official LPL training sessions and practice matches between teams.

The preseason features twelve teams total: the third- and fourth-place finishers from the past three City Hero Championship tournaments, the top two from the media selection tournament, and the top eight from the server domination tournament.

The preseason has two rounds: the first round is a double-elimination format, with the twelve teams divided into three groups of four.

Teams with two wins advance directly to the spring season; teams with two losses are eliminated outright; teams with one win and one loss remain pending and will compete in a subsequent six-team single-elimination round-robin.

NXG was placed in Group A—meaning if they win both of today’s matches, they can wrap up the preseason early and prepare for the main tournament.

The opponents in Group A aren’t particularly strong; aside from Lao Qian’s team, the veteran LPL squad, the other two are Dodo Club and BLQG, a casual internet cafe team.

Their first opponent is the team known as BLQG (Brutal Cutting Cake).

…

Inside the building, in the esports demonstration hall.

Heavy metal music from around 2013 echoed through the space; on the central screen, promotional posters of the two teams were displayed.

NXG vs. BLQG!

But upon entering the hall and seeing the screen, many spectators couldn’t help but grimace.

The visual contrast between these two teams was enormous…

On the BLQG side, the screen showed five players striking over-the-top poses, wearing cheap T-shirts from Taobao with printed text costing ten yuan.

In contrast, NXG’s uniforms were stylish, visually stunning, and featured sponsor logos on the right shoulder.

It felt like a showdown between a wealthy elite team and a humble underdog…

Of course, if one only judged by appearance, some novel readers might automatically imagine a rags-to-riches story—a lowly team overthrowing the elite.

But that doesn’t quite fit—NXG is also a newly formed team with no accolades; they can’t be called a wealthy elite team.

…

“Alright, ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the live broadcast of the 2013 League of Legends Professional League Preseason!”

On the commentary booth, the male commentator, speaking with a slight regional accent, recited the opening remarks with rigid formality, pushing forward the historical wheel of the League of Legends Professional League.

“Alright, let’s first take a look at the player profiles for today’s Group A match.”

“Blue side, NXG: Top lane norsha, Jungle stone, Mid yihan, ADC sorry, Support door.”

“Red side, BLQG: Top BladeCrusher, Jungle RampageBoard, Mid SugarTyrant, ADC NovaSlash, Support LayeredGuardian.”

“Oh, by the way—I almost forgot to mention—NXG’s head coach is also on the field: JM!”

The phrasing was stiff, the player ID introductions dragged on interminably, and they even forgot to mention NXG’s coach until the end.

These mistakes, which in later years would have gotten a commentator roasted off the air, were perfectly normal in 2013’s preseason.

Today’s commentators were WaWa and the infamous joker—neither of them were professionals by any strict definition.

“We’re now seeing some stats for BLQG’s five players.”

“In the previous LPL selection tournament, BLQG performed quite well—four wins in six matches, losing only two.”

“Now, player introductions: BLQG top laner BladeCrusher, ranked points: Diamond 1, 55 LP…”

(PS: Due to the poor commentary standards of the S3 era, descriptions often felt awkward—Lao Qing will minimize or avoid such issues as much as possible.)