October 31st was destined to be a sleepless night for many in the esports world. SKT, after a year's absence, once again ascended to the top of the world, winning their second world championship and writing a new chapter in their legend.
The end of the world championship also signaled the imminent conclusion of the League of Legends Season 5. Riot Games officially announced the Season 5 settlement date—the early morning of November 10th. The focus shifted from the world championship to the ranking leaderboards in various regions.
This day was anything but peaceful for the esports community. Countless players relentlessly fought for the rewards of victory, causing the ranking leaderboards in various regions to constantly shift.
However, this shift was largely limited to lower-ranked games; the rankings for higher ranks like Challenger remained largely unchanged. Therefore, for truly high-level solo queue players, this day was no different from any other.
Aside from one person
currently tied for first place on both the Korean and Chinese server rankings—a random player named Myth—
he shut down his stream early today, opened the Korean server client, and logged into his account, which he hadn't used in a week. However, he didn't open ranked mode; he was simply staring at an ID in his friends list.
Any LoL player would probably recognize this ID: it belonged to Myth, the mid-laner for SKT who had just won the World Championship in Berlin—and this ID was currently only one LP behind Dopa's account.
"Looks like a battle is inevitable today," Dopa said with a wry smile, touching his bald head. But his expression quickly hardened.
Dopa was determined to claim the title of number one on the Korean server, and that's where his bald head came from.
His vow to shave his head and achieve the top spot in both the Chinese and Korean esports scene moved countless people in the esports community. And indeed, he did. He now firmly holds the number one position on the Chinese server, and has also reached the top of the Korean server. The
Korean server truly lives up to its reputation as the world's strongest server; the leaderboard changes constantly every day, and one could easily be overtaken. Dopa painstakingly maintained his number one position on the Korean server until a week ago when he returned to Korea.
Similarly, this figure, considered a legend in the esports world, is also eyeing the number one spot on the Korean server!
"These points are skyrocketing! I've only been away from the Korean server for a few days, and you almost surpassed me," Dopa remarked, clicking his tongue as he looked at his recent record of 10 consecutive wins without a single loss.
What made Dopa a little uneasy was that the only hero used for these 10 consecutive wins was Ryze.
At the same time, the outside world was in an uproar. They have always been legendary figures in the e-sports circle, one is the strongest solo queue king, and the other is a legend with two world championship trophies on his head!
And at the last moment of the settlement, two IDs came online at the same time!
"Is this a battle for the top spot on the Korean server?"
"Tonight's going to be a real show, a solo queue legend versus the Demon King!"
This news spread like wildfire throughout the esports community, with many wondering who would claim the top spot.
"I think it's Dopa. He plays solo queue like it's nothing. His title as the joint number one in China and Korea isn't just for show."
"That's nothing. Dopa only reached number one while the Demon King was away. Now that he's back, he'll naturally take back the top spot."
Even before the two players clashed, their fans were already arguing fiercely. While they were bickering, time was slowly ticking away.
"What's going on? It's been several hours, and they still haven't started. Are they not playing today?" Many people were wondering why, seeing that it was almost 11 PM, the two players still hadn't begun their game.
The Korean server's observer (OB) system is very advanced, allowing players to see if they were in the game on the Challenger leaderboard.
"Impossible! With the Demon King's personality, how could he possibly give up the fight for the top spot in the Korean server?" someone retorted.
"If that's not the case, then..." many people suddenly realized, only to be interrupted by others
, "They're in!"
Many people could see on their computers that both were in spectator mode, meaning that the two had entered the game.
"Just as I thought, they're planning to decide the winner in one match right before the end of the season, to see who is truly the top player in the Korean server!!"
After several hours of waiting, the match finally began amidst much anticipation, and because it was the last match before the end of the season, many viewers were even more excited.
"Hopefully they won't be teammates." Many people began to pray, and then entered their interface through live streams or spectators, immediately breathing a sigh of relief. They
were indeed separated into two sides, Dopa on the purple side and [the other player] on the blue side, but Dopa was on the first floor while [the other player] was on the fifth floor.
"Will Dopa not get the mid lane position? The fifth floor player?" many people began to worry about this, as both players were clearly famous mid laners, and these viewers had waited so long just to see their mid lane clash.
"Do you think this is a Bronze game? Fighting for positions? In high-level games, people usually give up their positions if they see someone they know. This match is so important; the Korean server shows both teams' IDs, so I'm sure the teammates will understand and give up their positions." Some people scoffed at these concerns, but they did get to the point.
However, what happened next made many people's hearts skip a beat
. The first pick naturally chose mid, while Dopa's team instantly picked Fizz, and the second pick picked Hecarim.
"What? Someone actually dares to steal Dopa's position now?"
"Who is this? What's going on? Didn't they see Dopa was there? Daring to steal his position!" Many people were indignant at this sight.
"It's over, we're going to win, Dopa won't get mid lane!"
"What's the point of this?"
Countless people were disappointed and frustrated. After all, if it weren't for the laning phase, this match would have been much less exciting.
Actually, it wasn't just the audience who were frustrated; Dopa himself was also frustrated, scratching his head. He couldn't blame the player for getting the position, because he hadn't announced his own. He shared the same thought as the audience: his teammate would give up his position.
"Isn't this guy always jungle?" Dopa looked at the ID and scratched his head strangely. He wasn't unfamiliar with the ID; it was currently ranked 11th in the Korean server, and Dopa had matched with it a few times before.
"Is he practicing a new champion?" Dopa smiled wryly, a sense of unease creeping into his mind.
If they lost this match, his months-long hard-earned rank 1 on the Korean server would be handed over!
"I can only pray he doesn't feed too much." Dopa couldn't help but shake his head, forced to choose ADC, hoping to control the game.
However, even he secretly shook his head, sighing that the game was already over.
Not only did this player often play jungle, but the most important thing was that the opponent's champion
was that familiar 450 gold champion, the one that had made him a legend at Worlds—Ryze!
The match finally officially began. Many people were quite resentful, but nothing could be changed now. Although the match was somewhat diminished by his position, this game, which would determine the top spot on the Korean server rankings, still kept many watching.
"Hopefully this Fizz can hold on and not feed too much. Let's wait." Many of Dopa's fans, watching the bouncy Fizz on screen, wanted nothing more than to kill him and his family, yet offered their sincerest prayers for his survival.
"Hehe, I didn't expect to return to the top of the Korean server in such a dramatic match." Fans grinned, believing victory was assured.
In their eyes, only a few familiar faces like Dopa could compare to him in the world. This Fizz, who used to play jungle, was far beyond their reach, especially since he was playing his most popular champion. Everyone's
attention quickly focused on the mid lane, where Ryze and Fizz were laning.
"Guess at what level he'll start killing Fizz?" Many people thought this was an unbeatable contest.
As soon as this question was asked, countless people started laughing. Some said level one, some said level two.
Time slowly passed, and unexpectedly, the Fizz, whom they thought would die at level one or two, successfully survived to level four.
"Why isn't he making a move yet?" Many people were a little surprised.
"Don't rush, it's not that easy. Do you think the opponent is Bronze? Even if he used to be a jungler, he was a Challenger jungler. Do you think this is a Bronze game? You think you can just easily crush him?" Some frequent viewers of the stream said, "Wait a minute, Ryze's power spike is after level 6. I reckon he's looking for a weakness in the opponent's positioning right now."
Just as they predicted, after level 6, the positioning became aggressive, suppressing Fizz so much that he seemed to be struggling to breathe, constantly controlling the number of passive stacks on his body.
"Hehe, see, this Fizz will probably have trouble even getting experience soon." Those who made the predictions were starting to feel smug, but they were startled by a playful voice on the screen,
"Shark!"