ca-book Chapter 74: Grassroots First!
Chapter 74: Grassroots First!
No one expected that a semi-professional final would result in such a near-total defeat.
Game 5 of a best-of-five series.
From the moment MGB achieved an octave-zero score at the 19-minute mark, the countdown to Crystal's explosion had officially begun.
Next, the mid tower was destroyed, and MGB fought for the second dragon, but ended up giving away three more kills to the top, jungle and support.
The economic deficit had by this time exceeded ten thousand.
Normally, if MGB gets a late-game composition, they should just stall and give Mercy as much time to develop.
But they insisted on fighting the BJBS, who had superior equipment.
At 22 minutes, both sides engaged in another 5v5 team fight in front of the Baron Nashor.
However, BJBS, whose players were all ahead of each other by a large item, showed no mercy and wiped out MGB once again.
In other words, thinking that they were about to push to a draw, Li Rui symbolically gave away a kill to prevent MGB from being shut out.
At 23 minutes into the game, BJBS secured the Baron Nashor.
At 26 minutes, the red team pushed from the top lane to the blue team's Nexus, facing the stubborn MGB who continued to fight head-on.
Fu Shiyan gave them no chance, and at the cost of his own jungler and support, he ended the game in one fell swoop.
"Well then, let's congratulate BJBS on their excellent performance in the first game."
"Yes, congratulations to them on taking a 1-0 lead. We also hope that our MGB team can make good adjustments during the break and perform well in the next two matches."
With two commentators offering sufficiently tactful summaries, the players from both teams stood up and returned to their respective locker rooms, officially marking the halftime break for Finals B05.
However, while the game was temporarily suspended on the field, the storm outside was just beginning.
Let's fight it out!
"I'm terrified! Is Crush going to get swept 3-0 in the finals too?"
Posted by: I only watch matches, I don't play ranked games!
As the title suggests: The 9th City Championship is about to end. The team called BJBS has been undefeated all the way to the finals, and in the first game, they almost defeated their opponent with zero points.
The most impressive thing is that they didn't play the reckless style, but rather a strategic approach – the kind of strategy that Koreans used in the World Championship.
Brothers, you guys think about it, you really think about it.
This year at S5, three of our teams went out. LGD and IG were swept out of the group stage, and EDG was swept 3-0 by FNC. The whole game was like a ranked game, with mindless fighting, reckless resource feeding, and no control of wards.
When I came back and saw that a team was actually using a strategy of strategic maneuvering in the City Championship, and they still managed to do so poorly.
What's this called? Grassroots first, professional sleepover?
First floor: [Based on their performance in the first game, unless the MGB players cheat, I really can't imagine them not getting swept 3-0 in the following games.]
Second floor: [Is this a city-conquering competition where it's all about brute force and brawling, and the winner is simply a master of strategy? It's so entertaining!]
Third floor: [You should know that BJBS didn't even lose a single game. What's most impressive is that they didn't play the reckless, individualistic style; they used macro-management—the kind of macro-management the Koreans used in the World Championship.]
Fourth Floor: [Speaking of reckless players, MGB is the real reckless one. He picks a late-game composition and mindlessly fights everyone. Even the commentators were speechless.]
Fifth floor: [This is the power of the 100-ton king in the Chinese server; he crushes everyone he encounters.]
Sixth floor: [Here's a joke: LPL teams got utterly crushed by Korean macro play, while lower-level domestic teams are playing macro-management. Has LPL been practicing some kind of terrible game these past few years?]
7th Floor: [That's what I wanted to say too. Take, for example, the S5 match between LGD and KT this year. They had such a huge early-game advantage, but the opponent dragged it out and slowly rallied. When will our teams learn to control resources? All they know is to engage in team fights!]
8th Floor: [You guys are really over-dramatizing the City Championship. Do you think grassroots teams have the strength of professional teams? The premise of good macro play is not getting crushed in lane. I'm telling you, they don't even need LPL; they'd get a beating in LSPL.]
Ninth floor: [Upstairs user confirmed to be a brainless fan!]
10th Floor: [Friendly reminder, the LSPL team you mentioned, BJBS, played against a team that underwent financial restructuring but still had the original roster before the semifinals.]
Eleventh Floor: [Let's analyze this rationally. The BJBS playstyle might work in lower-level matches, but that doesn't mean it will work in the LPL. Why? Because even if LPL teams have terrible tactical execution, they still have individual skill. If you get pressured in lane, what's the point of any macro play?]
The real problem is—why don't LPL teams poach coaches and strategists from these high-performing teams? Do you have a mid-laner with Faker's global vision? Are you just relying on Korean imports to be the brains, while your own players are just responsible for mindless plays?
Floor 12: [Dude, you've hit the nail on the head. The biggest takeaway from watching S5 this year is that it's not that our mechanics are bad, it's that our thinking is lacking. We don't know what to do in the mid-game, no one positions themselves in advance when resources refresh, and no one goes back to base to buy items. Who teaches us these things? The Korean imports aren't coaches; they leave after the match. Ultimately, the youth training system never taught us this.]
In the first game, MGB deliberately chose a late-game focused lineup, but frequently engaged in team fights and head-on confrontations in the early game. Viewers who watched from beginning to end shared their opinions in the live chat and comments section.
Interestingly, no matter which angle the discussion takes, it always ends up back to the LPL – as if the team's misjudgments in decision-making reflect something much bigger.
As more and more people joined the discussion, the number of viewers for this final match quietly climbed to an astonishing number, with the online viewership in the upper right corner of the live stream constantly increasing.
The ten-minute halftime break passed quickly amidst the noise.
The two teams took to the court again, and the red and blue teams switched places in the second game.
After a brief draft phase, the lineups for both sides were finalized.
Blue team BJBS: Top lane Shen, Jungle Elise, Mid lane Cassiopeia, Bot lane Ashe and Alistar.
Red team MGB: Top lane Fizz, Jungle Gragas, Mid lane Lulu, Bot lane Lucian and Annie.
After being taught a lesson in the first game, MGB learned a lot in the draft phase. Not only did they stop picking those brainless late-game combinations, but they also boldly picked the purple-skinned garlic for the mid lane, a champion that could survive in lane and support teammates in team fights.
Unfortunately, despite the change in lineup, the gap in overall team strength meant that the outcome of the match could not be altered.
In the second game, both sides initially engaged in normal laning phases.
However, just four minutes later, relying on the minion wave advantage brought by the mid laner's individual skill, the Spider successfully invaded the lower jungle of the Gragas.
In addition, MGB's bot lane was too eager to gain an advantage in the lane and pushed too far forward, which allowed Spider to easily flank them.
With a double kill from the Minotaur and the Spider's cocoon, the three members of BJBS easily secured the first blood.
With the duo lane at a disadvantage, the Spider began to constantly invade the jungle to find the Gragas's location for her teammates.
With the jungler no longer a threat, the mid-lane Cassiopeia has shed her cautious facade and become extremely aggressive.
At seven minutes and fifty seconds, after depleting most of his opponent's health, Fu Shiyan used his R-flash to freeze Lulu, successfully achieving his first solo kill in the City Championship finals.