League of Legends: League of Unknowns

“Now, let’s give the players of Team Daemons a round of applause, all of you probably know their names already, shout it out with me!” The commentator, Bao Jun, said loudly.

The important matches were normally commented on by him. The number of people who were watching the match between Team Skycrown and Team Daemons were over seven hundred thousand, and the only one who could pull this off would be him and him alone.

“Hades!”

“Charon!”

“Belial!”

“Asmodai!”

“Mephistopheles!”

These five IDs had already been famous for a long time. It could be said that when LOL had started to become a professional player’s battlefield, Team Daemons was already there. It didn’t matter if it was the age of the team, the team’s rank, or even the team’s achievements, Team Daemons was definitely the best LOL team there was in China.

To appease the crowds, the five of them had already wiped the remains of what had happened just now clean.

You could also feel that there was a clear difference in their aura from when they were backstage preparing and when they walked into the spotlight.

Normally, what everyone would see was the calm and collected Team Daemons with their expressions that were as cool as a cucumber. Today, it seemed as though they had fire burning in their eyes, and as they entered the stage, they did not pay attention to the camera but toward Team Skycrown who were already seated at the other side.

They had met on the competitive battlefield again. It was as though Team Skycrown was an opponent that they could never shake off!

***

Luocheng and his teammates had already stood up, looking on as the five of them entered the stage.

The one that was in front of them all was none other than Hades. Hades was always someone who would keep his cool in almost every circumstance. One reason was because his personality had always been always mature and calm. The other reason was that because as a seasoned player, he had been through a lot and there were not many matches where you could see him visibly shaken.

As soon as he got on stage, Luocheng could feel Hades’ stare boring through him.

In his eyes, Luocheng found hope!

“Boss. Are you confident?” Lin Dong looked at Luocheng who had visibly changed his expression and asked.

“Not really,” Luocheng answered.

Lin Dong knew Luocheng’s behavior very well. Usually when he went against any team, if his eyebrows were straight and relaxed, it meant that he was very calm, but if his eyebrow twitched uncontrollably, it meant that this guy was being cautious.

Well, what could they do? Their current opponent was the LPL’s strongest team, and with Hades, the strongest opponent in LOL against them, feeling no pressure would be impossible. Not to mention, back when they played DOTA, Hades was also the one who had given Luocheng the biggest headache.

The match had not started and Luocheng was already in this state. It was clear that he took this match very seriously.

Luocheng had to admit that after retiring for so long, the aura of Hades who had played countless matches had already surpassed that of himself. Upon seeing an opponent that was worthy of being feared and respected at the same time, Luocheng started to worry.

Having left the competitive scene for quite some time, Luocheng was positive that he had not returned to what he used to be. If it was before, his reflexes and also execution speed would be one step ahead of what he could do now. More often than not when he played a ranked match, not many skills that he thought he could do had been miscalculated by him.

After seeing Hades’ personal statistics, Luocheng could tell that he had improved by a lot. His reflexes were crazy good and the only two who could catch up to him would be Number One and Bai Feng.

His speed was as good as anyone’s, but the smoothness of the skill execution was still lacking. This could only be improved after training for a long time, which would also include the understanding of the champions as well as the estimation of what the enemy would do. The confidence in one self’s execution was also needed.

In fights between competitive players, the details would make or break the man.

“The feeling I’m getting from them is different as compared to normal.” The detailed Zhou Yan felt something was off and voiced it out.

“Yes, I also feel the same. When we greeted each other, they were still normal. Why did it change to hardcore-mode all of a sudden?” Da Luo said half-jokingly.

Team Daemons’ team shirt was green and black. It might be because of them having heavy hearts and their spirit wanting to win that caused the five of them to really look more different as compared to the usual. Their seriousness also portrayed an ambition that they normally didn’t have.

Their usual calmness and coolness could not be seen, it was all for the sake of winning!

This kind of aura that Team Daemons were emitting made people start to become nervous.

“What’s up with them? Are they still angry about the last time?” Lin Dong said.

That was such a long time ago during the finals of DOTA. Team Wings had triumphed over Team Daemons, making it to the world championship.

“If I’m not wrong, it’s been almost four years. Does Team Daemons want to pay us back for that incident from four years ago?”

“We have to be careful, they are a bit different today.” Luocheng said seriously.

Pressure from an enemy team really did exist, thus, upon encountering such a strong enemy after such a long time and getting shocked by their awesome skills and contemplating how bad they would lose after meeting them, it would definitely cause nervousness and anxiety when meeting on the battlefield!

Too bad that there could only be one winner.

Whether it was Team Sky or Team Daemons, they had to trample on their enemies because they each had a reason that they had to win!

To destress, Luocheng tugged off his pendant from around his neck and put it in front of him. Feeling the coldness of the pendant, he calmed himself down.

“Alright, let’s invite our two team captains to show good sportsmanship!” The commentator said.

Luocheng walked along the stage toward where Hades stood.

They both met in the middle of the stage and shook each other’s hands firmy, not saying a word to each other and promptly returned to their seats after they were done.

You could tell from their looks that the both of them really wanted the victory. There was no need for anymore words as they would be meeting on the battlefield!

In actual fact, they were all scared of each other, but when they thought back to the reason why they couldn’t afford to lose, the fear and respect on their faces immediately morphed into a grim, determined face!

***

“The match will start soon. Is everyone looking forward to how the two teams will interact as much as I am!?”

After the players took their places and the music started, with the booming music all around them, they could not help but become excited!

Was Esports really not worthy of being mentioned?

E-sports had some weight to the games. Every single victory or loss would be recorded clearly, be it bad or good. The outcome of every game would impact their lives greatly, this feeling would be like living in their teens! Those who were older would not understand the importance and significance of E-sports and would become the society’s gear wheels, grinding day in and day out…

The crowd went wild! The shouting was ear-piercing, the applause was thundering, this scene had already surpassed football and basketball, the two most well-known sports in history! The only difference was that this was not taking place in a sports arena, it was held with ten metal machines!

The battle of wits, the exchange of blows, all would be done by the ten champions that appeared on the screen.

The flashy spells, the magnificent executions, the cooperation due to their understanding with each other as well as all the thrilling kills… All of these combined was the League Of Legends, this IS Esports!

***

The screen changed and everyone could finally see both sides join in the picking phase.

It could be because Bao Jun was such a good commentator or even because the crowd was paying extra attention to the two teams, but even though it was just the banning phase, everyone was already very tense.

The decisions of both teams had an underlying motive!

The first ban from Team Daemons was the champion Luocheng had used when he was up against Team Revelation, Kennen, The Heart of Tempest!

“The first one to get banned was Kennen! For the ones who did not watch the past matches, do not be confused, they are not banning Kennen as a Top. When Team Skycrown had gone up against Team Revelation, Fighting Hawk’s Support Kennen was one-of-a-kind. This type of champion would definitely not be chosen by Team Daemons, which is why he would be removed from the game! They have already banned a Support from the start, from this decision, we can see that Team Daemons have a personal grudge against Fighting Hawk.”

“On Team Skycrown’s side, the first champion that they have banned was clearly planned out, being Hades’ Kassadin. If my memory serves me right, starting from last year’s LPL, all of the Teams that faced Hades were eliminated by this champion. This champion was practically made for Hades, that’s for sure!”

Team Daemons’ second ban was on Dr. Mundo.

Team Skycrown was very good at playing the four-to-one strategy as their Top’s solo skills were outstanding.

Dr. Mundo was the key in their four-to-one strategy because if Da Luo was able to farm for twenty-five minutes, he would become practically invincible. By banning Dr. Mundo, they made things slightly more troublesome for Da Luo but this would effectively put a stop to Team Skycrown’s late game four-to-one push tactic.

Team Skycrown did not change who they were targeting and still banned Gragas, one of Hades’ champions.

Gragas was famous in the country due to one of Hades’ games. Nothing else needed to be said, Gragas had to be banned!