Chapter 84

As time passed, the LPL Summer Split was in full swing.

The appearance of the Global BP mode didn't increase the league's popularity. Logically speaking, Global BP added quite a bit of fun, and even if it couldn't restore the league's popularity to previous data, it should at least stop the downward trend.

But the reality was just the opposite; the league's popularity continued to decline gradually. This point left many viewers and industry insiders puzzled.

In the end, it was Su Xing, who had watched the matches for a few days, who pointed it out in the livestream: although the Global mode did increase watchability, the problem lay in the grouping link.

The LPL has a total of 17 teams, some strong, some weak. Sometimes you can see the gap between two teams at a glance; it belongs to the kind of gap that no matter how hard you try, you can't win.

But the officials didn't take this into account when grouping, which led to the current stage of group matches where everyone often knows the result just by looking at the team name, especially those strong teams that simply couldn't meet in the group stage.

A league, once it loses the so-called strong-vs-strong matchups, naturally can't attract the viewers' attention.

The appearance of this point of view also resonated with many netizens, but for this situation, the officials couldn't think of any good way to solve it for a while.

After all, the grouping thing had already been decided, and now they could only bite the bullet and hold on. Maybe the matches in the later fixed-group stage would be much better.

However, the appearance of Global BP still had certain benefits. Some slacker players were directly revealed in their true colors under this mode. For example, WBG's mid-laner Xiaohu; sometimes when Su Xing watched the matches on stream, he even felt that if Xiaohu continued to play like this, he would probably be arranged to retire before the season was over. Some rookie mid-laners who had no fame before also had more opportunities to show themselves through Global BP, such as LGD's mid-laner, etc... And in this week, the Old Man Cup matches also gradually came to an end.

From qualifying to reaching the finals, the team Su Xing was on could be said to have no suspense.

After all, with a mid-laner fiercer than the active ones and Uzi, it was quite difficult to lose with this configuration.

As for the other spot in the finals, it was taken by Ning's team.

Compared to the ease on Su Xing's side, Ning's team could be said to have used all their strength to stumble into the finals.

From qualifying to the stage of fighting for the finals spot, they almost played full BO5s, which could be said to be extremely difficult.

And this result could also be considered a huge profit for Huya, which could be said to have pulled the attention to the max.

Besides the existence of two traffic giants, Uzi and TheShy, there were many people who went for Su Xing's fame to watch his offline matches, which led to the tickets for the offline finals being directly sold out, and many people found it hard to get a ticket.

This grand occasion once made the LPL officials fall into thought. They couldn't understand why a tournament for retired players was so much more popular than their professional league.

Besides this, Huya and TES were also preparing to announce the news of Su Xing joining TES immediately after the Old Man Cup finals were over, and the way of announcing it depended on who the champion of the Old Man Cup was.

Although both Huya and TES felt that Su Xing's team had almost no possibility of losing the match, to prevent accidents, they also prepared two sets of plans for this.

If Ning's team won the championship, then the announcement of Su Xing joining TES would naturally have to be as low-key as possible.

Conversely, if Su Xing's team won the championship, then everything would have to be carried out according to the highest promotion specifications. Don't look at the many marketing accounts on the internet making all kinds of guesses through some gossip.

But as long as Huya and TES and Su Xing himself didn't admit it for a day, Su Xing's next destination remained an extremely attractive mystery.

Along with the end of the first week of LPL Summer Split matches, the Old Man Cup finals finally arrived.

And Su Xing and Uzi and the others also arrived offline to meet in advance, and during the period, they even had a meal with Ning and TheShy and the others.

The people of the two teams basically knew each other, so the relationship was quite harmonious. Secondly, the two teams were somewhat aware of the result of this Old Man Cup. Uzi felt that with Su Xing on his side, it was impossible to lose, and Ning and TheShy also felt that with Su Xing on the opposite side, how could they win?

However, when eating together, Ning, who liked gossip, couldn't help but ask Su Xing if he was really preparing to report to TES as rumored on the internet.

Originally, Su Xing didn't want to answer this question.

But Uzi and TheShy were also very interested in this question. Helpless, he could only give an ambiguous answer.

"You'll know after the finals."

"Holy crap, how much money did TES spend to get you to come back?"

Ning blinked and continued to ask, "It wouldn't really be 100 million, right?"

"Uh..."

YuLe paused for a moment and smiled, "If you give me 100 million, I'll play matches with you too."

Everyone:... This answer, is it or isn't it? "Alright, alright, eat, eat."

Uzi saw that Su Xing didn't want to answer the salary question, so he changed the subject. Although there are no secrets in the LPL circle, it is normal for others not to want to answer things that haven't been announced yet.

"Go easy on us in the match tomorrow."

Ning's team's Xiaocaobao was full of worry at this time. Good news: reached the finals. Bad news: the finals are against Su Xing.

"I'll try."

Su Xing smiled and said, "Long pain is worse than short pain. I'll strive to finish work 3:0."

Everyone:... If this were said by anyone else in the Old Man Cup, they wouldn't be qualified, but right now, only Su Xing could say it.

"Anyway, good luck."

Uzi smiled and said, "Let's not talk about winning or losing for now. Tomorrow, let's mainly enjoy the match, okay?"

"With Su Xing here, talking is just tough."

Hearing this, Ning silently gave a thumbs up. If you give me a Su Xing, I can also smile and say let's mainly enjoy the match.

The next day, because it was the weekend,

the match venue was already crowded early on. Even though they rented the venue used for LPL matches, it was packed.

Seeing this scene, the LPL officials regretted it so much their teeth were about to break. The professional league they worked so hard to hold wasn't as good as the Old Man Cup held by a livestreaming platform.

For a moment, these people from the LPL officials started to reflect on whether letting TheShy and Uzi retire last year was a wise choice. "This outcome, finally, there's an explanation to the company."

As the main person in charge of this Old Man Cup, Gao Wen breathed a sigh of relief after arriving at the scene and seeing this situation. When the finals tickets were put on the shelves and snapped up instantly, she still had a feeling of unreality.

Until now, seeing the scene packed with people, she knew how amazing her initial idea was. "The company's senior management is probably laughing from ear to ear."

The secretary on the side seconded, "The ticket revenue alone can offset part of the prize money expenditure, not to mention how exaggerated the traffic brought by this Legend Cup is. Even the LPL Summer Split can't compare."

"Yeah, the popularity of Uzi and TheShy combined is already terrifying, plus a Su Xing... I'm now regretting that the ticket price was set too low."

Gao Wen laughed at herself, but this kind of thought was just a thought. The pricing was determined according to the market. If it were more expensive, it might not necessarily have so many people coming to the scene.

At the same time, in the backstage, Su Xing and the others also changed into their respective team uniforms, and then those who needed makeup did makeup, those who needed styling did styling. Everything gave Su Xing a feeling of returning to the professional competitive scene.

As time reached seven o'clock, the atmosphere at the scene also gradually became more active under the host's lead.

Tonight's match specifications were completely benchmarked against the LPL playoffs. The host was LPL's, the commentators were LPL's, and even the field staff and referees were LPL's. Just hearing the cheers at the scene, people who didn't know would think it was the LPL finals.

Subsequently, the members of the two teams appeared on stage one after another. Because of the existence of well-known players like Uzi, TheShy, and Ning, the cheers basically didn't stop throughout the whole process, especially when it was Su Xing's turn—the waves of cheers almost lifted the roof of the venue.

"How does it feel?"

After returning to his seat and putting on his headset, Uzi asked with a smile, "Do you feel like you've suddenly returned to the time when you played matches before?"

"Indeed."

Su Xing nodded and smiled, "The feeling of playing matches on stage is still the most exciting."

No matter what training matches or match servers, they can't compare to the feeling of playing matches on stage.

Only when a person truly stands on the stage can they accurately perceive an indescribable excitement, especially the feeling after winning a match in this kind of place is even cooler.

"GO, GO, GO, strive to take it three-zero!"

AJ was also happy and said, "I'm already prepared to sit in jail. I'm responsible for being a meat shield in the top lane, and you guys are responsible for slaughtering."

When playing against others, he could at least choose some slacker heroes to resist pressure. Playing against TheShy, this is really no way; he can only pray that his teammates kill faster than TheShy kills him.

"Play casually."

Su Xing smiled, "I'll carry."

He hadn't been idle during this time. Besides maintaining his feel in ranked games, he was also paying attention to the current professional league every day, almost to the point of not missing a single match.

He naturally had no interest in who won or lost, but by paying attention to the professional league, he could know more quickly what heroes were the version heroes in the current version, and what heroes to use to fight these so-called version heroes.

Especially Yone, Su Xing felt that this hero seemed completely unaffected by version changes. Although equipment and talents had suffered some nerfs, because the mechanism was extremely excellent, it was still a hero that many mid-laners liked to use on the competitive scene.

The mid-laners of so many teams in the LPL seemed to have good proficiency, a bit like the importance of Orianna in the professional player hero pool in the past.

Of course, except for WBG's Xiaohu.

That day, after watching Xiaohu play Yone, he felt that if he drew a viewer from his livestream to play, they might play better than Xiaohu.

"Then what are you playing today?"

Tabe, who was behind him, also asked, "Mainly it's Global BP. The hero you play in this game can't be used in the next game. Plus, the opposite side will probably ban mid-laners five times. In this situation, what to play might need to be considered more cautiously."

Originally, Tabe shouldn't have come to play matches today. After all, he is also an active professional coach. However, Tabe was responsible for the sudden change of personnel before, and they weren't used to it themselves.

So after discussing with Huya and the officials, they finally decided to agree to let Tabe come to the scene to be responsible. At the same time, the coach on Ning's side was also active.

It's quite funny to think about it.

The coach on Ning's side originally couldn't find a suitable job in the LPL region due to various relationships. As a result, after helping Ning with BP in the Old Man Cup for a few days, he received an invitation from the club he wanted to go to.

"Let's play Yone first."

Su Xing stretched and said, "Tristana, Taliyah, Orianna, Azir are all buying houses on the ban list. For the second game, look at the situation and play Akali, and for the third game, maybe there's a chance to play Yasuo."

They had played quite a few training matches with Ning's team, and they knew each other's hero pools well. What heroes couldn't be released, what heroes could be released—everyone had a count in their hearts.

"Fine, then Yone it is."

Tabe continued to ask Beishang, "Then for the jungle, we need an AP. Karthus or Brand, pick one."

"Then Karthus."

Beishang thought for a moment and said, "This thing brushes fast. When fighting, it's no good if the opposite side kills me, and it's no good if they don't."

"OK, then Yone and Karthus. You guys come out together for mid and jungle."

With the mid and jungle hero problems solved, the rest was easy to solve. The top lane goes without saying; choosing whatever is the same, try to choose some heroes useful for team fighting, such as Malphite or Ornn... If you get solo-killed by TheShy in the lane, you get solo-killed. As long as you can bring some benefits to the team when fighting, it counts as completing the task.

As for the choice of the bottom lane, there wasn't much to be particular about, because neither mid nor jungle had stable control skills, so Xiao Duan's hero choice was also limited—either Nautilus or Leona.

Once these hard supports were chosen, then what hero Uzi chose was basically locked—Kai'Sa/EZ/Xayah, etc... A few minutes later, the BP link finally ended.

Su Xing's side was Ornn top, Karthus jungle, Yone mid, and Kai'Sa + Leona bottom.

While Ning's side was Gwen top, Vi jungle, Hwei mid, and Aphelios + Lulu bottom.

"What you guys need to do in this game is to play steadily in the early stage, and in the mid-stage team fight, prioritize watching TheShy's Gwen. Try not to let the match time exceed thirty-five minutes."

Before going down, Tabe also roughly told them the things to pay attention to in this match. The opposite lineup was basically all late-game heroes. If the advantage in the mid-stage wasn't big enough, then dragging it to the late stage would have no chance of winning.

Although Yone is also considered a late-game hero, the late-game ability of Gwen and Aphelios is stronger than Yone.

And Ning's side would also realize this problem. They would definitely try to find a way in the mid-stage to let TheShy's Gwen get more kills. Only in this way would they have the capital to drag the game time to the late stage.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 85 =====