What is a hexagon jungler?

Chapter 664 664: My determined rotation

When the early summer heat wave hit the imperial capital, Gu Xing rushed back to the base as scheduled, carrying his suitcase.

Entering the training room, he found that most of the players had not returned. He and Maibo were the only two people in the room.

Song Jinghao was reading the computer while showing off turkey noodles from a plastic lunch box.

"Hey, isn't this a big deal?" Smeb smiled happily, "Why are you so stubborn?"

"I'm chasing you in the qualifiers!"

In the first round of qualifiers in HK that day, Song Jinghao was very aggressive. Taking advantage of Li Sang Hyuk's advantage in the middle, he often went to the jungle to act as an accomplice to persecute Gu Xing.

Now that he heard Song Jinghao's ridicule, Gu Xing felt very unhappy. He went over and gave him a slap in the head, "But your harp is broken, isn't it?"

"Wait, I won't catch you in the training match!" Gu Xing was half serious and half joking.

"I'm kidding, brother!" Song Jinghao changed his face at the speed of light and begged, "How can I live without you!"

In the professional arena, if the top laner breaks the game, he will most likely have to rely on the help of the jungler. Otherwise, the strong player will just control the lane. It is not difficult for the weak side to get a blue-collar meat tank to stay in the lane.

Song Jinghao firmly believed in the theory that 'the root of the gap between top laners is the gap between junglers'. He believed that Gu Xing had pinched his own lifeline, and now he did not dare to act recklessly in front of the opponent.

"Do you want turkey noodles?" He happily shared the food, trying to please Gu Xing, "It's delicious!"

"It's garlic," Gu Xing looked at the brown noodles and shook his head, "It's not spicy."

"By the way, what are you looking at?"

Gu Xing looked at Song Jinghao's monitor and asked curiously.

"Drawing lots for the summer competition," Smeb sucked the noodles, feeling the sweet and spicy taste suddenly burst out in his mouth, and narrowed his eyes with satisfaction, "Let's see which unlucky guy will be assigned with us."

Gu Xing had nothing to do, so he simply sat down next to Song Jinghao and watched.

The lottery rules for this summer split are the same as in the spring. The seed pools are divided according to the team results of the previous regular season. When a team with a home court is drawn, it will automatically be divided into the designated East and West.

Due to the cancellation of promotion and relegation matches, the summer season still has 14 teams intact. It is worth mentioning that WE also went to Qujiang to build its home court at the official invitation of the ancient city of Xi'an.

Therefore, there will be three home games in the Western Conference this year, leaving only 4 spots for other teams.

As the spring champion, VG should occupy Pool 1. They own the home court of Ditan Sports Center and are assigned to the East by default, while the Royal Family, which also belongs to Pool 1, is assigned to the West.

"I'm vomiting, RNG's luck is too good, isn't it?" Song Jinghao complained, "Staying in the West, I gave them three weak teams in one wave!"

At present, OMG, Snake and WE are all in a state of sunset, which is basically equivalent to experience babies. It is conceivable that RNG must be the dominant hegemon in the West!

"No way, that's how the home field system is set up," Gu Xing shrugged. "Originally, the draw cannot be completely balanced. Coupled with the interference of the default division, it will only intensify the tilt of the balance."

After the division of Pool 1 is determined, the four teams in Pool 2 are closely followed - namely EDG, RW, IG and BLG ranked 3-6 in the spring split.

Damon Kwon, the manager from Royal Family, put his hand into the glass basin, stirred it back and forth, took out a black ball and slowly opened it.

During the process, he was the first to see the team name hidden in the ball, and he immediately beamed with joy.

Unfold it and show it to the camera. The Tai Chi pattern on the ribbon is extremely eye-catching.

It’s IG!

According to the regulations, the managers of each team were drawn to their own team and then went on stage and then drew lots for the teams in the other half of the district.

In other words, the RNG located in the west draws IG to the east!

"Okay!" Song Jinghao clenched his fists and shouted, "I have long disliked IG. I must teach Jiang Chenglu a lesson then!"

"Now I'm going to talk too much. We're the only ones in the room anyway. Be careful when you go out, Nicole. If you get beaten up by TheShy, you'll definitely get beaten up by netizen Green Garlic." Gu Xing teased.

"Let you go..." Smeb was about to fart but stopped. Thinking of his own jungler's previous threat, he didn't dare to say dirty words. He sneered and crossed his arms, "Am I going to lose to Jiang Chenglu? Impossible, absolutely impossible! "

"Look, you're so impatient!" Gu Xing laughed out loud, "If I say you can't beat Kiin, you'll only smile slightly; if I say you can't beat TheShy, you'll be more impatient!"

As Qinggangying said, lies will not hurt people, the truth is the sharpest knife.

Song Jinghao bulged his lips and had to admit the amazing talent displayed by TheShy.

At the operational level, the opponent is not inferior to him in any way, and can even dominate him, but he is lacking in game experience and awareness of gank prevention.

Moreover, Jiang Chenglu is only 18 years old, so he definitely has a bright future and unimaginable room for growth!

Song Jinghao, who has been among the top top laners since the S5 season, felt the pressure brought by young talents for the first time.

Although there was a mountain like Ma Datou weighing on him before, Smeb didn't find it difficult to bear it - Ma Run was already 24 years old when he won the championship. He was an old guy, and he could have beaten him to death even if he had endured it!

But TheShy is completely different, he is too young.

Song Jinghao was filled with emotions, and he felt that the waves behind him were about to slap him on the beach.

The other top six spot assigned to the Eastern Conference is EDG.

"Okay!" Smeb raised his arms, "Oh, I'm here on horseback!"

"What are you talking about?" The training room door was pushed open, revealing Jack's striking head.

It is not difficult to see from the suitcase behind him that Yu Wenbo has just returned to the base.

"Drawing lots...EDG has been assigned to us!" Gu Xing turned around and informed.

"Okay, now Ye Tianye is a gifted baby again!" Yu Wenbo was delighted.

He gets excited every time he plays EDG in the bottom lane.

The root cause is not the opposing shooter, but Meiko.

Tian Ye's playing style is cowardly, and the heroes he is good at are basically soft assistants - the hardest among them is Thresh.

Jack is not afraid of playing soft assistants. His ability to make faces is among the best in the world. The soft assistants have no way to limit his output and can only watch him put pressure on him without thinking.

You must have strong support to put pressure on Jack. As long as the Shiba Inu rushes forward to create damage, he will immediately turn around and control the counterattack, which will often cause the opponent to die suddenly and instantly!

Therefore, players like Shi Senming who are proficient in various types of melee support can usually achieve miraculous effects when facing Yu Wenbo.

For a support player like Tian Ye, Jack dared to pat his chest and promise that he would win ten thousand times against him ten thousand times!

While the three of them were discussing, the result of the draw was finalized.

East: VG, IG, EDG, BLG, TOP, LGD, FPX.

West: RNG, RW, Snake, JDG, WE, SN, OMG.

"It seems that our regular season situation is not very optimistic..."

A faint sigh came from behind Gu Xing.

"It doesn't matter. Anyway, no matter which division we are in, we are number one..." Gu Xing replied subconsciously, following the voice and turning his head to look at it with a look of surprise on his face, "Rui Xing, come on!"

Kuro was wearing a baseball cap, and his skin color was a bit darker than before. He was probably exposed to the sun while traveling in Europe during the short offseason. He looked energetic, but he looked completely different from when he participated in MSI, as if he had completely escaped. Get rid of the previous decadent state when personal competitive status declined.

"Sui Gu, please come out with me." Li Ruixing patted Gu Xing on the shoulder, "I have something to tell you."

Song Jinghaoden was dissatisfied, "Playing with gods and demons? Why do you have to carry your brother behind your back?"

"It's a shame that I met you earlier!"

Kuro sneered twice but said nothing.

Gu Xing was confused, but he still left the training room after being single at home.

Li Ruixing went to the refrigerator on the first floor to get an ice drink.

Since the VG Training Department did not live at the Imperial Capital Base for a month, the refrigerator was not replenished, leaving only one can of Coke and one can of Pepsi.

Kuro glanced at it and handed the former to Gu Xing.

"Why are you looking for me?" Gu Xing didn't know why. He took a sip of Bingkuola. By now, most of the value of the Coke had been squeezed out.

Li Ruixing licked his lips nervously, looked directly into Gu Xing's eyes, and said solemnly, "I would like to apply for a rotation."

Gu Xing was stunned for a moment and confirmed that he had no auditory hallucination symptoms. "...Are you serious?"

"I've been thinking about it since the end of MSI," Kuro replied seriously. "It's a decision I made after careful consideration."

"I know that with my current strength, it will be difficult to keep up with the entire team," Li Ruixing said with a slightly bitter smile, "I am getting older and my form has declined too quickly."

Almost all 24-year-old LOL professional players are on an inevitable decline.

Of course, this depends on how high up the mountain you were.

If super top players like Faker and Gu Xing can maintain their overall level at the top level even if their strength slowly declines as they age, it won't be a big problem to enter the knockout stage of the World Championship.

Kuro is different.

When he was at his peak, he was on the front line of the league. His personal strength was not outstanding at all. He was a puzzle-type mid laner who relied on his brain to support and roam.

Last year's World Championship encountered the most abnormal version of the tool mid laner in LOL's seven years, and Kuro was able to help the team successfully win the championship.

As soon as MSI reached the laning version this year, the game environment was not suitable for him and his personal status declined, and Li Ruixing seemed to be struggling.

Even though the last two BO5 games had consecutive explosive performances, they were just a flashback after burning hard work, and the overall performance was still not as good as Perkz.

Kuro believes that his current and future competitive level will definitely not be optimistic.

With his age here, it will be difficult for him to regain his second youth, and his condition will only gradually decline.

"I was enough to drag you down at MSI. During the game days, I was wrapped up in self-blame and guilt," Kuro said bluntly. "I can't imagine what will happen if I suffer with this mentality for another half a year. appearance."

Gu Xing still wanted to persuade, "But what if the version changes and it goes back to the way it was at last year's World Championship?"

With Li Ruixing's current strength, it will not be difficult for him to return to the first-line mid lane level if he is given a suitable version, and it will not be a drag on the team.

Kuro shook his head, "You don't need to make excuses for me. I also watched the live broadcast of Mouse Channel during the Asian Games qualifiers. The 10th version even emphasizes the right of the mid lane more than MSI, so if there is no such thing, Line rights, the whole team will be affected..."

"Whether the designer is deliberately targeting me or not, it is a naked fact that I am not used to this style of play," Li Ruixing said frankly. "Playing this version, I can only use 60 points of my 80 points of strength. .”

"And what kind of heroes are there in the mid lane now? Dao Mei, Yasuo, Zoe... I'm not proficient in any of them. Even if I work overtime and practice hard, how much time will it take?" Kuro spread his hands, "After all, it's still the same. Not as good as those young players who are hardworking and talented.”

Part of this frustration comes from scrimming before MSI.

At that time, Dao Mei had just been reworked, and all players were practicing from scratch. Kuro was practicing hard for 16 hours a day in those days.

As a result, the effect of the knife girl was far different from Ucal and Perkz!

Li Ruixing has truly realized that sometimes the gap between talents cannot be filled with hard work.

Again, he practices for 16 hours, and other diligent and talented players will also practice for 14 hours. Does talent play a role in this beyond just two hours of practice a day?

"In this case, I might as well quit bravely. At least the end of my career will end with flowers and applause, and there will be an MSI championship trophy to accompany me. It can be regarded as a successful retirement."

It can be seen that Kuro has thought clearly during the time he traveled around Europe at the end of the mid-season, and his language is fluent without any sloppiness.

"I called you out to tell you this decision first, just because I hope you can support me," Li Ruixing poured tons and tons of Pepsi into his mouth, letting the spicy bubbles burst out in his mouth, trying to suppress the turbulent emotions in his heart, " The other three players may want to create some kind of brotherly LOL and drag me to finish the season together..."

"But it's not necessary," Li Ruixing advised his jungler, "Although you are still young, this year's World Championship can be said to be your only chance in this life."

"You and Lao Duan are aiming for three consecutive S-race championships. Jie Kuo and Maibo both want to achieve the S7 and S8 double-lap Grand Slam. If you miss this year, it will definitely be difficult to achieve this achievement."

The peak period of LOL e-sports players is not long, and every year is important.

The missed opportunity to win will only be regretted in the future, and it will be difficult to make up for it.

Kuro doesn't want to drag down his teammates anymore. The scene of Gu Xing and others leading him in the mid-season has already made him feel uncomfortable. If he causes his teammates to miss such a precious three consecutive championships and a double-lap Grand Slam again, Opportunity, he is worried that he will be trapped in guilt for the rest of his life and cannot extricate himself!

"Think about it, this year's team's budget has seriously exceeded the standard. If we don't win the World Championship, no matter how heroic Boss Ding is, he won't be able to renew the contracts of all members." Li Ruixing has a long-term vision. "By then, VG will It's inevitable that when we enter a rebuild, everyone will go their separate ways, that's the reality."

Gu Xing fell into silence.

Judging from Kuro's current status and the overall consideration of the entire team, there is no problem with Li Ruixing's application for rotation selection.

But after fighting side by side for a full year and a half, he still felt reluctant to give up.

This is the mid laner he has partnered with for the longest time in his career.

"How about..." Gu Xing's Adam's apple moved slightly.

He had never felt that Coca-Cola was so sour in his life, and the remaining taste in his mouth made him extremely bored.

After thinking about it, Gu Xing just spoke, and the sour taste of Coke seemed to blend into his tone, "Try two more training games to see how well you fit with the version. Maybe it's not as bad as you think?"

Kuro did not reject the offer of his own jungler, just like he did in the past, "...it works."

The results proved that Li Ruixing was right.

For a player like him who relies on roaming awareness and is weak in laning, the changes in the mid-season version are tantamount to a fatal blow!

The Dolan Ring is weakened, and the price of [Lost Chapter] is increased...

Everything emphasizes the mid laner's laning ability!

If you don’t have laning strength, you will be bullied by others!

As for Yasuo Sword Girl, who can't wait for heroes with magic equipment, Kuro can't understand it.

What's more, the current version of River Crab has also received changes.

Originally it was just a tasteless piece of chicken rib that was discarded. It only had 10 experience points. No one except Qian Jue would fight for it.

But in patch 10 after the mid-season version, the designer directly increased the experience value of the swift crab to 115-230!

At the same time, Riot also lowered the experience of the six groups of normal camps in the jungle.

Under the circumstances, a single swift crab can provide the hero with the same experience as a group of camps!

Coupled with the 70-140 gold coin rewards that increase over time, today's river crab is a battleground for military strategists!

The costs of a zero-sum game are infinitely magnified.

It's okay if one person has one, and everyone can still stand on the same starting line.

But if one side can capture all two river crabs at the beginning, the other side will have nothing to gain!

After one visit, the difference in experience and 140 gold coins between the two groups of camps was lost!

In the professional arena, such a gap can almost be a death sentence for junglers!

In addition, the refresh time node of the river crab has also been advanced to two minutes.

This move by the designer undoubtedly forces players to engage in jungle confrontations in the early stages, artificially increasing the level of bloodshed in the laning phase.

If any jungler gives up fighting for river crabs, they will be at an absolute disadvantage in terms of economy and level!

As we all know, the outcome of the river fight during the laning phase is closely related to the right of the mid lane.

If the mid laner comes two or three seconds earlier and maintains his condition a little better, it will be impossible to lose the battle around the river crab!

Therefore, it seems to be a battle between junglers, but it is actually a test of the mid laner's laning ability!

Kuro was seriously acclimatized when faced with similar gameplay.

At the beginning of the training match, he tried to take the initiative to fight with the enemy to seize the lane rights. However, he was beaten all over by EDG's juniors. Not only was his health volume low, but the lane rights also fell into the enemy's control!

In the second game, Gu Xing took the initiative to come to the middle. He wanted to imitate the previous plan when he controlled Qian Jue. He first pushed the middle lane to help relieve Kuro's line pressure, and then pulled him to squeeze into the river.

But it's still useless.

The river crabs are brushing too early.

This is not the original version. Now if Gu Xing does not pay punishment when clearing the first group of camps, even if there is a duo to help, it will take about 1 minute and 45 seconds to complete, and it will take about 1 minute and 55 seconds to go around the middle.

Don't look at the second wave of Binxuan who can just catch up in the middle.

But cleaning up the minions takes time!

While Gu Xing is clearing his troops, the enemy jungler can take the opportunity to wipe out the river crabs that were born in 2 minutes!

There are two swift crabs in total. Gu Xing can get another crab after clearing a wave of soldiers, but his own route in the wild area will be seriously affected!

For example, if Gu Xing and the enemy jungler start from the lower half, the opponent will definitely brush down river crabs. He can only catch river crabs by going to the upper half.

However, doing this will take a long circle and waste a lot of time, and Gu Xing's subsequent jungle clearing trends will be completely exposed, and he can only clear the wild from top to bottom, which is no different from clearing the wild!

In the third game, Kuro tried to use the old trick again - using mana to exchange lane rights, trying to use a steady stream of skills to reduce the health of the line, so as to take the initiative in the lane.

Around two minutes after the river crab was refreshed, the minions were still very strong, and it was difficult for the enemy to ignore the soldier line and forcefully move around.

The plan was executed perfectly at first. With Kuro's help, Gu Xing successfully controlled the river crab to ensure that his own development was not affected.

But Li Ruixing couldn't play anymore after he returned to the line.

Just because there is insufficient mana.

The Dolan Ring was useless and could not restore much mana. Kuro, who used too many skills to control the crabs in the early stage, soon fell into a tight situation!

Of course he can return to the city to replenish his mana and then teleport back to the lane, but the youngster can save a TP and use it to put pressure on the sideline and make Gu Xing throw a trap!

"Ai, I don't want to take the pill anymore!" Jack complained, "Why is Scout, this stupid guy, in the bottom lane again?"

After two years of hard work, the youngster has gradually grown into the world's top mid laner. He is very good at exploiting the vulnerabilities exposed by the enemy to find opportunities to break the game.

While Kuro was being beaten back to the city by him, he continued to exert influence on the bottom lane, making Jack miserable!

"Stop, stop, stop!" Yu Wenbo gestured towards Hongmi, "Brother, I can't stand it. You can kiss me so hard that Tian Ye can ride on my head. It's so unreasonable..."

After typing the word GG, all members of VG exited Summoner's Rift.

Kuro drank water without forgetting to look at Gu Xing.

am I right?

Gu Xing closed his eyes and rubbed his temples with his fingers.

If Kuro is in an ordinary team and faces an ordinary professional mid laner, Li Ruixing can certainly continue to extend his career.

But he is in VG.

VG has won four consecutive international championships.

Forcing Kuro to stay in the starting lineup is not only against his own wishes, but may also cause his career to end amidst widespread criticism, especially for the VG team and other members of the team!

Gu Xing nodded slowly and hard.

No one could understand him except Li Ruixing.

The corners of Kuro's mouth lifted into a smile.

"Lao Li, you can't hold back and play like this in the next game," Jack chattered and slumped in his chair. "The teleportation is really hard. If the single midfielder on both sides has a TP, we can't even cross the river in the bottom lane..."

"The game is over." Li Ruixing turned around and replied.

"What do you mean the game is over?" Jack was confused. "Isn't it time to eat?"

"I decided to rotate." Kuro's voice was firm.

The atmosphere in the lively training room just now solidified instantly.

Everyone except Gu Xing turned their attention to Li Ruixing.

"Brother, I was joking with you just now!" Jack became anxious, "Don't take your words to heart, I'm not interested in the person!"

Yu Wenbo thought it was Kuro's defense that he had just complained about.

"It has nothing to do with anyone," Kuro let out a long breath, "It's my own idea."

Song Jinghao's eyes were filled with disbelief.

He didn't understand, just now Kuro was sitting there playing training matches, why did he have to be rotated in the blink of an eye?

Duan Deliang looked confused.

In a training match, the mid laner is gone for me?

After Hongmi confirmed Li Ruixing's thoughts again, he called him out alone.

Even the soundproofing in the training room couldn't stop the loud arguments between the two.

It's just that he was speaking in Korean, and the three Chinese people in the team couldn't understand it.

Gu Xing didn't want to listen anymore and looked at the monitor screen in a daze.

After a long time, Li Ruixing entered the room again. Hongmi behind him looked like he had accepted the reality. He was obviously convinced by what Kuro had said to Gu Xing before.

"I'll call the Shanghai Stock Exchange now," he said solemnly, "Boss Ding should be here."

That night, Ding Jun took a plane from Shanghai to the imperial capital.

This year, due to the relocation of the training department of VG's first team to the north, Boss Ding rarely showed up. After all, the club's Dota2, CSGO and other branch businesses are in Shanghai, and his relationship network also remains there, so it is impossible to follow the first team. Resident in the imperial capital.

He originally thought that when the regular season was about to start, he would fly to the Imperial Capital and hold an MSI celebration banquet.

As a result, Kuro's decision forced Ding Jun to come early.

"There is really no need to persuade me anymore," Li Ruixing said with bright eyes. "If I can enter the rotation, the pressure I will face will be much less; the team can continue to move forward on the right track, and my teammates can play much more comfortably."

He no longer knew how many people he would repeat the same reason to.

Entering the rotation yourself is a win-win-win, and everyone can benefit from it.

Song Jinghao sighed briefly.

He has been with Kuro for the longest time and knows Li Ruixing's character well.

Too much of a team player, always thinking about problems from the overall perspective.

His personality even penetrates into his playing style in the game. He played a sacrificial role in the Tigers, but he has not changed since he came to VG. He has always been around his teammates and acted as a perfect puzzle piece to win the championship.

This kind of person doesn't like dragging down his teammates. He can't find the positive value of his existence and continues to stay in the team. Instead, he is a forceful person.

And Kuro is also a bit Buddhist.

As a professional player, of course he has the desire to win, but compared to players who pursue their dreams to the end, Li Ruixing is obviously not to that extent.

MSI stayed up all night practicing hard because they didn't want to be entangled in the guilt of dragging down their teammates and betraying everyone's trust.

What's more, Li Ruixing already has the S Grand Slam in his hands, and he also defeated his inner demon Faker in his own way in last year's World Championship. His career can be called a complete success!

Seeing Li Ruixing's firm attitude, Ding Jun knew there was no need to persuade him any further.

"Okay, you should take a rest first," he persuaded in a gentle way. "When the version is suitable or you recover, you can sit in the starting lineup again..."

"That's right, this VG family can't live without you!" Jack howled like a mourner.

"Come on, Jie Kuo, I'm just looking at the water dispenser, it's not like I'm burping!" Kuro said cheerfully.

"The team really needs your experience," Hongmi added, "Chovy is too young."

"It's okay, there is still a whole summer left," Li Ruixing was very optimistic, "There is time for him to grow!"

"You guys, go away and leave me alone for a while!" He waved his hand to drive away the boss and the team members. "It wasn't much of a big deal, but Wuyang Wuyang is coming over here!"

After driving everyone away, Li Ruixing finally found peace.

He sat in his dormitory, staring at a photo on the white wall.

Under the Eiffel Tower, the five starting members of VG stretched their arms toward the sky, each with a bright smile.

Kuro looked at it and couldn't help but raise the corners of his mouth.