Chapter 58: Pei Le, Who Got Stabbed Because of His Stinginess.

"What's most commendable is that JM has figured out a way to monetize gaming traffic, providing a great reference for insiders," a female executive wearing gold-rimmed glasses said, pointing at the sponsored ad on the right shoulder of the NXG team jerseys in the livestream.

Esports teams were not easy to run. Without a steady source of funding, they could easily collapse and disband midway.

On the original timeline of the world, most teams that made an appearance in the LPL during Season 3 tended to last only one or two seasons before vanishing.

Quite a few people in the room nodded subconsciously.

If even teams could secure sponsorships, there was no reason the league organizers couldn't do the same.

"What do you all think? Any thoughts on NXG?" The executive who was very optimistic about NXG turned around to look at the crowd.

"Old Hu, spit it out. Stop keeping us in suspense."

The detail-oriented female executive was the first to catch the executive's drift. "Are you saying they should be the target for our promotional resource investment for the first batch of LPL teams?"

"Mhm, I want to choose NXG!"

The executive known as Old Hu fixed his gaze on the livestream feed. "Don't you all think NXG is the most suitable candidate for promotion?"

"The team owner himself is a gaming expert who understands the game, and as a top graduate from Nanjing University, he has his own unique insights into club and team management. In just a few months, he has trained a professionally managed team..."

"NXG also has a very positive image, making them indeed suitable as the primary recommendation for the professional league."

The manager in charge of promotional resources gave an affirmative nod. "With Nanjing University backing NXG, it will also be relatively easy for us to guide public opinion at a societal level."

"So, how much should we invest?"

"How about featuring the team directly on the game client's homepage banner? The preseason match results have to be posted anyway."

"Would that be too fast? What about WE?"

"Hey, haven't they even played their matches yet?"

"Besides, that fellow Pei Le—how should I put it?—is somewhat petty. A team that won a World Championship ends up with less hype than a newcomer squad."

"Furthermore, judging all the way from the qualifiers, NXG's strength is top-tier."

"Putting everything else aside, just look at the team's hardware setup—NXG is even equipped with a team bus, while WE's players still have to take the subway to matches..."

Our Boss Pei could never have imagined that in the new season, due to his "thriftiness," he would suffer a treacherous backstab from the LPL tournament organizers.

...

In the player booth, on the side of the BLQG team.

With a massive gap in strength laid out before them, the players skipped the stages of bold declarations and whispering entirely, and their communication channel was rapidly heading toward absolute silence.

"Ahem, brothers, we haven't even played the match yet. We shouldn't scare ourselves."

As the captain and the player with the highest ranked tier, NovaSlash tried hard to stir up everyone's morale.

There was no help for it; his luck was terrible, and who else could be blamed for drawing the ultimate boss of the qualifiers right at the start?

"Captain, when novels write like that, it's under the premise that the team has a hidden powerhouse pretending to be a pig to eat the tiger. It seems we don't have one."

"Hey, no matter what, we can't lose our momentum. Momentum, understand? Even if we die, we die going down fighting head-on."

"I'm telling you, I've figured out a super team composition these past few days. As long as we execute it well, we still have a chance to take down NXG! The opponents have been so popular online lately—if we win today, becoming famous overnight is not a dream!"

"Captain, don't tell me you're looking at JM's Season 3 patch analysis and guides."

"..."

After a brief equipment testing period, the referee used voice comms to prompt and pull the players of both teams into the match lobby one after another.

Entering the LPL Preseason—although not yet the official main event—the match preparation process was much more refined compared to the previous qualifiers.

NXG-door: "NXG is ready!"
BLQG-NovaSlash: "BLQG is ready too!"

As the team captains clicked ready in the chat channel, the head referee launched the game.

The 2013 LPL Preseason, Group Double-Elimination Stage, Match One officially begins!

Blue side NXG, Purple side BLQG!

"First, ban the opponent's AD Ezreal!"

The tactical clipboard in Jiang Ming's hand was certainly not meant to be a decoration; the A4 paper clipped onto it was filled with data regarding their opponents, NXG.

Even a lion hunting a rabbit uses its full strength. BLQG's strongest player was their AD carry, and any player who could reach Challenger playing AD in this era was basically a mechanically gifted monster. Ezreal, a champion with superb survivability and a favorite of the player, was naturally the prime target for a ban.

On the blue side, first pick Song Yuan nodded, located Ezreal's avatar, and sent him straight to the shadow realm.

"Ah... My Ezreal!"

A wave of wailing echoed from the purple side's booth.

As his signature signature pick, under normal circumstances, being banned might have made NovaSlash feel smug, thinking the opponent feared his powerful carry capability.

But now, facing an opponent far superior in strength to themselves, that ban meant the enemy was going all out and wouldn't give them the slightest opening.

Helplessly, BLQG had to ban Thresh as their first response for the support position.

Ever since this new support—who combined initiation, crowd control, shields, and rescue mechanics all into one—was released, he rapidly became the premier choice for bottom-lane support players across all tiers.

Outplay potential and overpowered mechanics!

NovaSlash, who had researched NXG, knew very well that he couldn't let the opponent's shotcalling support get his hands on this champion.

The first three ban-pick turns didn't waste too much time.

Once the latency of the live game interface ended, Gragas was also locked in as the red side's final ban.

NXG's first pick: Lee Sin!

As the current jungle overlord, before Kha'Zix, Nidalee, and other monsters joined the jungle party, Lee Sin was worth a first-round pick in every aspect.

Picking a jungler as the blue side's first choice also reduced the risk of being countered by the opposing team's later picks.

However, it was obvious that without tactical guidance, the unguided purple side lacked corresponding draft-phase thinking.

First and second picks directly revealed the bot-lane combination of Caitlyn and Zyra.

"Zyra and Caitlyn!"

A very classic Season 3 fast-push combination. In the absence of Thresh, Zyra could also undertake some counter-engagement duties.

From the perspective of drafting combinations, the BLQG team indeed showed a bit of professional team proficiency.

Perhaps audience members and opponents outside the match couldn't imagine that during the game, Jiang Ming, acting as the opponent, even had time to comment on their drafting strategy.

"Pick Janna and Varus!"

Since the opponents had already revealed their bot-lane duo, his own side certainly didn't need to hide anything anymore; they could just take the fight head-on.

Janna's shield could effectively deal with Zyra's poke in this patch, and in the meantime, Varus wouldn't face too much pressure in the lane matchup against Caitlyn.

The purple side's third and fourth picks locked in Jarvan IV for the jungle and Kennen for the top lane.

Seeing the Electrical Rat instantly, Jiang Ming couldn't help but laugh bitterly.

No, picking Kennen into Janna? Even if you have Jarvan IV helping to provide terrain with his ultimate, it's useless.

Seeing such novel and unorthodox drafting from the opponents, Jiang Ming gave up on any plans for his own fourth and fifth picks to pull out novel strategies.

He directly locked in two versatile, all-purpose champions: Renekton and Orianna!