#SKT: round two

[n0tananimegirl]

skts | Sleep Talking

Atsumu knew that Sakusa was weird way before they started dating. Back when they were friends and he began spending more time with the wing spiker, he discovered his quirks like how Omi only used specific lemon-scented surface cleaner; anything else was inadequate and not worth spending hard-earned money on.

He also liked to talk to his plants while he watered them (It helps them grow, Miya) and washed his clothes in a particular order; whites, colors, darks (it has to be that way, Atsumu.)

Sakusa Kiyoomi had many weird habits, weird things that Atsumu was hopelessly enamored with. After several months of being friends and two weeks of dating, he assumed he learned most of Sakusa’s quirks. He quickly found out that he was very very wrong.

It happened the third time he officially spent the night at Sakusa’s apartment as his boyfriend. His sweet Omi had fallen asleep quickly, tired after several rounds of mind-blowing sex leaving Atsumu’s mind to race and think about the euphoria he just experienced. He hadn’t been laying there long, at least he thought he hadn’t; shifting his gaze to the clock seeing that it was 2 am. Adjusting his body to turn and lay on his side, he faced a shirtless Omi. Unable to help himself, he placed a gentle kiss on the corner of that perfect mouth.

Just when he finally shut his eyes, he heard it.

“Gotta do it.”

It was a soft mumble, barely coherent, Atsumu wasn’t even sure he truly heard anything until it happened again. “Gotta save, Atsu.”

Atsumu’s eyes snapped open, turning his head to look at his boyfriend incredulously through the darkness “What?” He whispers hoping Omi would respond.

To his absolute glee, he does. Kiyoomi’s brows furrow before muttering “I gotta save Atsumu.”

Holy fuck. Sakusa sleep talks. Atsumu wasn’t sure he found this to be terrifying or hilarious. So he decides to attempt to coax more out of his slumbering boyfriend.

“Save me from what, baby?” Atsumu pressed, keeping his voice low, trying to hide his smile.

“From the volleyballs.”

A snort escaped him as he slapped a hand over his mouth to keep from laughing out loud and wake Omi up “From the what?“

“The volleyballs. They’re going to hurt him. Have to save him.” He said, a little louder this time. God, if he wasn’t looking right at him, Atsumu would have sworn Omi was awake but after waving a hand in front of his face; he confirmed that he was indeed sleeping.

Atsumu was trying, so, so hard to reign in his laughter. Fuck this was the funniest thing he’s ever experienced. “Gotta save him before Bokuto spikes one to his face and kills him.”

And that’s when he finally loses it. Atsumu lets out a laugh loud enough to startle his boyfriend awake.

“What the fuck? Atsumu, why are you laughing?” Kiyoomi grumbled sitting up to glare at the giggling blond next to him then glances over at the clock to see the time, groaning he plopped back into his pillow “Baby, it’s 2 in the goddamn morning, go to bed.”

“I’m sorry Omi.” He spoke through his laughter, reaching over to smooth down unruly curls, cajoling him back to sleep “I didn’t mean to wake ya up.”

Sakusa sleepily leaned into his touch and opened his arm for Atsumu to slot himself against his side, humming happily “Sleep, Atsu.” Omi murmured, kissing the crown of his head. He decided to keep the sleep-talking information to himself…for now.

The sleep talking happened more often than not; usually when Omi was exhausted from the day and promptly crashes as soon as his head hits the pillow. Half the time it’s hilarious, other times it's terrifying.

One time Atsumu had barely managed to fall asleep when Kiyoomi suddenly shot up from bed and said “If we don’t bleach the room, she will move in and infect us.” Then laid back down calmly as if he didn’t just scare the shit out of Atsumu.

Or the time he rolled over, grabbed the blond’s cheeks, and with all seriousness (as much as a sleeping person could) said “Violence causes and solves all problems.” Then knocked out again.

Needless to say, Kiyoomi either had Atsumu crying laughing or so freaked out, he couldn't go back to bed but there were those sweet little moments in between where Kiyoomi did things in his sleep that made Atsumu nearly combust.

It had been a long day for the both of them, an away game against the Green Rockets with an over two-hour bus ride back home. They played hard that day leaving their bodies fatigued and itching to get into bed.

Atsumu had been sleeping over at Sakusa’s more and more, though his boyfriend never complained, he never questioned it when Atsumu would follow him home, go through their nightly routines, and slide under the covers together.

Although he was tired, he couldn’t seem to shut his brain off for the night. Kiyoomi had quickly fallen asleep after kissing him and mumbling “Goodnight, baby.”

Atsumu sighed deeply, tossing and turning to get comfortable. It was frustrating he just wanted to sleep. He couldn’t stop thinking about their game, had he played enough, what could he have done better? They may have won but he knows there’s more improvement to make. Fuck he hadn’t had intrusive thoughts like this in a while.

He then felt Kiyoomi shift and turn to face him, Atsumu opened his mouth to apologize for moving around too much when he realized Kiyoomi's eyes are shut, brow furrowed indicating he was still sleeping. He froze when Kiyoomi raised a hand and cupped his face, thumb stoking his cheek softly “My perfect setter.” He hummed then his hand fell slack against his face.

Atsumu squeaked, removing the hand away “Omi?!” He whispered and yelled only to be met with silence.

Sleep did not come to him that night, he was too busy trying to calm his blushing face and racing heart. Sometimes Kiyoomi randomly kisses Atsumu on his head, cheek, or lips while completely asleep, murmuring sweet nothings.

It always left him like a puddle in the sheets.

But there was one sleep-talking incident that rivaled all the rest, one that nearly made Atsumu fall out of bed in surprise. He woke in the middle of the night to Kiyoomi burrowing his head into his neck, muttering words under his breath.

Atsumu whined slightly, upset Omi’s sleep talking woke him up. That is until he heard those soft words against golden tan skin. “I love you.”

Well, he was awake now. His face heated up as he tried to make sense of what the hell he just heard “What did ya say, Omi?” He asked gently, his heart was nearly beating out of his chest.

“Atsumu.” He sighed in reply, almost dream-like “I love you.”

Oh fuck. Oh fuck. Omi just told him he loves him. In his fucking sleep.

How does he handle this? Does he say it back? Wait that’s stupid, Omi’s not even awake. “I love you, I love you so much.”

Okay, he had to stop this before he dies of a heart attack. Sitting up in bed swiftly he roughly shook Sakusa’s shoulder.

“Baby? What happened?” Kiyoomi asked, his voice muddled with sleep.

“Did ya know ya talk in yer sleep?!” Atsumu questioned, sounding nearly hysterical.

“Shit, right. I forgot to tell you about that. Motoya used to make fun of me for it.” Kiyoomi stated as if it was the most normal thing in the world “Did I say something weird?”

Atsumu made a strangled noise and covered his face with his hands “Ya - erm- ya said ya loved me.”

He felt Kiyoomi stiffen beside him “Oh.”

“Oh?! That’s all ya have to say?” Atsumu asked looking at him through his fingers with a glare.

“I’m not sure what you want me to say Atsu, can we just talk about this tomorrow?” Kiyoomi sighed running a hand through his hair. He was nervous.

“Do ya?”

“Do I what?”

“Love me?” The question left his lips as he finally turned to face his boyfriend.

“Atsumu.”

“Kiyoomi.” Atsumu snarked back then lowered his voice to something smaller, more vulnerable “Do ya love me?”

Sakusa's head fell against Atsumu’s bare shoulder “Of course I do.”

“Oh.”

His boyfriend snorted a laugh “Oh? That’s all you have to say?“ he mocked.

“I love ya too. Just to be clear.” Atsumu mumbled, feeling a little embarrassed about this whole thing.

Kiyoomi rose to lean on one elbow hovering over Atsumu, he looked at the blond with pure adoration. The moon reflected on his porcelain skin “Yeah?”

“Yeah.” Atsumu breathed out, “I really, really love ya, Omi.”

Kiyoomi smiled, small but fond before leaning forward and pressing a gentle, passionate kiss against his lips, one that made his toes curl “Good. Glad we’re on the same page. We’ll talk more tomorrow, okay?”

Atsumu nodded feeling sleep come over him “Yeah, okay Omi.”

Sakusa pulled him into his arms and pecked his lips again “Goodnight baby, I love you.”

“I love ya too.”

[woodxstone]

JAPANESE BUDDHIST PRAYER BEADS

General

"The Buddhist rosary was introduced to Japan in the early stages of Japanese Buddhism... Although rosaries were probably considered valuable objects since the introduction of Buddhism in Japan, it seems they were not widely used in religious practices for another several centuries. Only by the Kamakura period (1185–1333) do prayer beads seem to have become common ritual implements."

"The form of the first prayer beads in Japan already varied, but over the centuries, the rosary was further modified to fit the usage and doctrine of different schools. As a result, various distinct forms developed, which can be easily distinguished from each other today. The rosaries differ, for example, in the number of larger beads, tassels, or beads on the strings attached to the larger beads... Also, the manner of how to hold a rosary differs depending on the school."

The most common term for the rosary is juzu 数珠 (Ch. shuzhu), literally “counting beads” or “telling beads,” which hints at the ritual usage of the beads for counting recitations. The other common term, nenju 念珠 (Ch. nianzhu), can be understood either as “recitation beads,” describing the beads as an aid in chanting practices, or as “mindfulness beads,” suggesting that “chanting is an aid to meditation and even a form of it.”

(from Prayer beads in Japanese Sōtō Zen, link under Sōtō)

Juzu beads in two different styles. Image from Wikimedia Commons by Suguri_F.

The number of beads

"The earliest text on prayer beads, the Mu huanzi jing, states that the rosary should have 108 beads, which is the most common number of beads in a Buddhist rosary. Other sutras further mention rosaries with 1,080, fifty-four, forty-two, twenty-seven, twenty-one, and fourteen beads. Lower numbers than 108 are encouraged, if one has difficulties obtaining 108 beads. Rosaries with thirty-six or eighteen beads are also used in Japan."

(from Prayer beads in Japanese Sōtō Zen, link under Sōtō)

108: The number 108 has many symbolic associations. Most commonly the 108 beads are associated with the 108 defilements. The number 108 further represents the 108 deities of the diamond realm (kongōkai) in esoteric Buddhism, or the 108 kinds of samādhi.

54: The number fifty-four stands for the fifty four stages of practice consisting of the ten stages of faith, ten abodes, ten practices, ten transferences of merit, ten grounds, and the four wholesome roots.

42: The number forty-two expresses the ten abodes, ten practices, ten transferences of merit, ten grounds, plus the two stages of “equal” and marvelous enlightenment (tōgaku and myōgaku).

27: Twenty-seven symbolizes the stages toward arhatship.

21: The number twenty-one further represents the ten grounds of inherent qualities, plus the ten grounds of the qualities produced by practice, plus buddhahood.

The names of the beads

"A rosary has at least one large bead, which is called the mother bead (boju) or parent bead (oya dama) alerting the user that they have finished one round of the rosary. When finishing one round, the user should not cross over the mother bead, as this would be a major offense; instead, they should reverse the direction."

"Sometimes a rosary has two larger beads; in this case, the second larger bead is either called middle bead (nakadama), as it marks the middle of the rosary, or also mother bead. The other beads on the main string are called retainer beads (ju dama) or children beads (ko dama). There are four beads among the retainer beads that are usually of smaller size and/or different color. They are placed after the seventh and the twenty-first beads on both sides of the (main) mother bead and therefore mark the seventh or twenty-first recitation. These four beads are called shiten 四点 beads (lit. four point beads). They are often interpreted as the four heavenly kings (Shitennō), Jikokuten (Skt. Dhṛtarāṣṭra), Tamonten (also called Bishamonten, Skt. Vaiśravaṇa), Zōjōten (Skt. Virūḍhaka), and Kōmokuten (Skt. Virūpākṣa). The beads are therefore also called “four heavenly kings” (shiten 四天), a homophone of “four points.”

"The main mother bead, and sometimes also the middle bead, has tassels attached. Usually, there are two short strings with smaller beads, known as recorder beads (kishi dama) or disciple beads (deshi dama), attached to the main mother bead. These beads help to count the rounds of recitations. They are thought to symbolize the ten pāramitās or, especially if they are called disciple beads, the Buddha’s direct disciples. At the end of the strings just above the tassels are the recorder bead stoppers, which are called dewdrop beads (tsuyudama), because they are often shaped like teardrops. The string between the mother bead and the recorder beads has usually a small loop, and on one side of this loop is a small bead, which is called jōmyō 浄明 (lit. pure and bright)... The bead is also called successor bodhisattva (fusho bosatsu) because it might take the place of any recorder bead that might be broken."

(from Prayer beads in Japanese Sōtō Zen, link under Sōtō)

Prayer beads in different Japanese schools

Jōdō (Pure Land)

Nichiren

A set of garnet Nichiren Shoshu Juzu prayer beads. Image from Wikimedia Commons by BeccaTrans.

Ōbaku

Rinzai

Honren juzu beads used in the Rinzai sect of Zen Buddhism. Image from Wikimedia Commons by Peehyoro Acala.

Shingon

Sōtō

Dōgen, the founder of the Sōtō Zen school, wrote about prayer beads: “You should not hold a rosary in the hall" and later writes that a monk should not disturb others by making a sound with the rosary on the raised platform. Later still, he elaborates “In the study hall, you should not disturb the pure assembly by reading sutras with loud voices or loudly intoning poems. Do not boisterously raise your voice while chanting dharani. It is further discourteous to hold a rosary facing others.”

"Considering these three brief statements in Dōgen’s works, we can presume that the rosary played no significant role for Dōgen and his community. Yet some prayer beads left by early Sōtō monks have been regarded as temple treasures and have been venerated as a contact relic in remembrance of the master. One example is a rosary made of beautiful rock crystal that Keizan used and that is now preserved at the temple Yōkōji in Ishikawa prefecture."

The form of the Sōtō rosary changed over time. Today’s formal Sōtō rosary has 108 beads and two mother beads, one larger one, and a slightly smaller one, as well as the four point beads. It has tassels only on the main mother bead, but there are no beads on the strings attached to this bead. The contemporary formal Sōtō rosary also has a small metal ring, which symbolizes the circle of rebirth in the six realms. In the Rinzai and Ōbaku schools this ring is not part of the rosary and, therefore, a Sōtō rosary can easily be distinguished from rosaries of the other Zen schools. When Sōtō clerics added this metal ring is unclear. ...This metal ring was not part of the Sōtō rosary in the Tokugawa period and therefore must have been added later."

(from Prayer beads in Japanese Sōtō Zen, link below)

⚫️ Sōtō Zen - Wikipedia

⚫️ Prayer Beads in Japanese Sōtō Zen by Michaela Mross (link to download)

⚫️ Memorial service etiquette (sotozen.com)

Tendai

[thetoxicgamer]

When was the last time T1 played without Faker? A look at T1’s history with mid lane subs

Faker has been the League of Legends player T1 has constantly counted on to be a cornerstone of its starting lineup for more than 11 years. However, because of a right arm injury he sustained, Faker was taken out of the starting lineup this week. Faker said on Sunday, July 2 that he has been experiencing pain in his arm since last month and has been receiving treatment for his condition. On July 5, T1 kicked off the second round robin of the 2023 LCK Summer Split, and Faker was not present for the match. The Faker-less match for T1 was the first of its kind in over two years, and without their star in the lineup, the team was promptly disposed of by eighth-place DRX. There have only been a few occasions in recorded human history where Faker has been subbed out of T1’s lineup for a game, and almost every time, the move has been done in the name of strategy, not necessity. But with Faker’s physical condition at the top of T1’s priority list, the star was forced to take a backseat, with Challenger-level substitute Poby taking up the mid lane mantle for the team. T1 will sit in limbo for at least the next two weeks, according to an update from head coach (and Faker’s former teammate) Bengi. Until then, let’s take a look back at T1’s history as it relates to the substitutes who have played in place of Faker in the mid lane. When was the last time Faker was subbed out of T1’s lineup? The T1 mid lane position is absolutely unrivaled when it comes to job security, especially in recent years. Faker’s absence in the T1 lineup this week marked the first time the team played without the League GOAT in over two years. The last time Faker did not start a game for T1 was March 6, 2021, when the team started Clozer in the mid lane. In that two-game series vs. KT Rolster, Clozer played Zoe in both games, which was a common theme for the sub during his two-season tenure with T1. During his two years with T1, Clozer played Zoe in 13 games, winning 10 of those, according to League stats site Games of Legends. Overall, Clozer posted a 24-12 record in individual games played with T1, although his skills were not used in any international tournaments. Apart from Clozer (and most recently Poby), only three other players have ever played in the mid lane for SKT/T1 during the Faker era. Gori, who currently plays for Golden Guardians, played one game in 2019, while Pirean, who once played for Phoenix1 in the LCS, played 19 games for SKT during a down year for the franchise in 2018. Perhaps the most noteworthy sub to ever play mid for T1, though, was Easyhoon, who played a pivotal role in the team’s 2015 World Championship-winning season. That year, Easyhoon played 42 individual games for SKT, putting up a record of 34-8 in those games. Easyhoon was used most frequently as an alternative to Faker due to their differences in both champion pool and playstyle. While Faker was much more flashy, using champions like LeBlanc, Ezreal, and Ryze to put the team on his back, Easyhoon was more adept with control mages such as Cassiopeia, Xerath, and AP Lulu, all of which gave SKT more options to feed their resources into. When Easyhoon was in the lineup, you could usually bank on another SKT player shouldering the load, although it was still well within his skillset to carry SKT to victory. Following his time with SKT, Easyhoon finished out his brief, four-year career with Vici Gaming in China’s LPL, and the SKT/T1 franchise has not had as effective of a platoon at the mid lane position since. When will Faker return to the T1 lineup? With Faker’s status up in the air right now, it’s possible that Poby could be receiving an increased workload moving forward. Faker’s timetable for a return currently sits at two weeks, meaning he’ll be most likely to come back in time for T1’s July 21 match against Hanwha Life Esports. In those two weeks, though, Faker will likely miss at least three more matches, including a crucial one this Saturday, July 8, against the undefeated Gen.G. Read the full article

[gkmbmkf]

텐트 밖은 유럽 스페인 7회 다시 보기 tvN 7화 E07

텐트 밖은 유럽 스페인 7회 다시 보기 tvN 7화 E07 링크<<

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텐트 밖은 유럽 스페인 7회 다시 보기 tvN 7화 E07

I don't know StarCraft, but I know Lim Yo-Hwan.' [13] An icon symbolizing e-sports in the 2000s.

He is the great senior of all pro gamers who created a new concept of e-sports, put the league on the box office, and enabled countless juniors to become e-sports pro gamers, to the extent that his career can be said to be the histo텐트 밖은 유럽 스페인 7회 다시 보기 tvN 7화 E07ry of e-sports in Korea. It is no exaggeration to say that he is a first-generation e-sports star.

When Terran was a weak race, he won the title of Emperor of Terran with his unique bionic control and novel strategy, winning 2 consecutive championships in the Ongamenet Star League and 3 championships in both major league텐트 밖은 유럽 스페인 7회 다시 보기 tvN 7화 E07s, the only 2 consecutive gold medals in the WCG StarCraft category, advancing to the finals of the oldest individual league, etc. set a record.[14]

Above all, the true feat is the professional sporting of the game. Until Lim Yo-hwan brought in SK to found a corporate team, the reality was that pro gamers were very unstable jobs that depended only on prize money from competitions [15]. , It is significant in that it played a pioneering role in establ텐트 밖은 유럽 스페인 7회 다시 보기 tvN 7화 E07ishing a proper job as an office worker. There is even a point of view that if there had been no such activity, pro gamers would not have developed further in the past, and would have degenerated into a job that would disappear after surviving only on tournament prize money.

In addition, he played an important role in establishing the Air Force ACE, the world's first military professional gaming team, by making the conservative and naive, to say the least, move the first-class armed forces [16], keeping the c텐트 밖은 유럽 스페인 7회 다시 보기 tvN 7화 E07areers of numerous juniors unbroken, and so on. .

During his life as a gamer, he appeared on various terrestrial programs and served as an ambassador to publicize e-sports. In 2003, he appeared on KBS Morning Yard and was mistaken for a game addict, but in 2006, he appeared in a power interview and introduced the upgraded image of e-sports to the world. In addition, he appeared in various enterta텐트 밖은 유럽 스페인 7회 다시 보기 tvN 7화 E07inment programs such as Start Dream Team and Brain Survivor, and actively promoted e-sports by appearing in the movie 'I Can't Live Without Being Stolen' and KBS drama 'This is Love'.

In addition, in team competitions, KTF Magicence, which was at odds with Lim Yo-hwan's SKT T1, recruited Park Jung-seok, Hong Jin-ho, and Kang-min, who were anti-Lim Yo-hwan's symbols, to intensify competition among fandoms and 텐트 밖은 유럽 스페인 7회 다시 보기 tvN 7화 E07benefit from the promotional effect of the pro league.

In the heyday, the number of fan club members recorded 600,000, and after seeing the number of fan club members decrease to 400,000, he said that he felt the need to continuously renew himself, and he actually showed it. However, the 200,000 members did not leave because they did not like Lim Yo-hwan, and the main reason was that Daum organized a 텐트 밖은 유럽 스페인 7회 다시 보기 tvN 7화 E07large number of dormant IDs and duplicate IDs. Of course, in this case also, 'fan' can't have a big meaning, so it can be a motivation to renew your mindset. Just before retiring from Star Edition, the number of members of the fan club was about 450,000.[17]

[18]

In addition to the 'unorganized past record', a phenomenon that inevitably happens to old gamers, I have experienced both a falling win rate and a damaged personal record due to my will to be a gamer in my 30s, and both of the two 텐트 밖은 유럽 스페인 7회 다시 보기 tvN 7화 E07major individual leagues that I wanted to drink sweet water. The organizers put Lim Yo-hwan's name in their Hall of Fame, such as making Golden Mouth, the round of 32 system, and KPGA's MSL transfer, to promote his career. For example, Golden Mouth was created in a hurry when Lim Yo-hwan was able to aim for the championship again by advancing to the finals of So1 Star League 2005, which would later be his last finals. [19] MBC GAME also delivered the MSL winner's badge to Lim Yo-hwan in 2007 and put him in the MSL Hall of Champions. De텐트 밖은 유럽 스페인 7회 다시 보기 tvN 7화 E07spite these efforts, Lim Yo-hwan's performance decline since 2006 has been remarkable, and the records obtained as an exception are almost nonexistent due to the decline in individual skills.

He reached the finals in 2001, 2002, 2004 and 2005, and in 2005, he reached the finals of the Ongamenet Star League once again. Han Dong-wook has not advanced to the finals since winning the championship in 2006 and last enterin텐트 밖은 유럽 스페인 7회 다시 보기 tvN 7화 E07g the individual league in 2007. A match-fixer also won the Ongamenet Star League championship in 2007, but since 2008, he has not even advanced to the round of 36 in the Star League. In fact, among the old gamers, the only players who made it to the finals with a difference in time by year were Yunyeol Lee in 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, and Seongjun Park in 2004, 2005, and 2008.

[ikchen]

Storm King’s Thunder - Take Two: Defending Nightstone

Last time: After arriving at Nightstone our heroes discovered that it had been attacked by giants, the Nightstone had been stolen, and all the villagers had fled to some nearby caves.

In addition to all of that, the village was swarming with Goblins! Oh no! 

Fortunately our heroes were quick to take action, either killing the Goblins, or driving them out of the village, and the day was saved. Sort of. 

Now, after a short night’s rest, it was time to find out who the mysterious traveler was, who claimed to have been left behind in the village...

Near the end of his early morning watch Eraiel, the Half-Elven Bard was approached by said stranger, who’d by now introduced herself as Kella - now mysteriously without her trusted pet-snake by her side. She informed him that a group of “friends” were coming to the village soon, and that she was going to lower the drawbridge for them.

Unsure what to do about this situation (but not the slightest bit suspicious, after all, what bad things could come from the friends of such a lovely lady), Eraiel decided to ring the church bell to wake everyone up.

After a short round of confused sleepy discussion our heroes decided to go and greet the strangers, arriving on horseback.

Their charismatic leader, Xolkin, was happy to be introduced to our heroes as the actual owner of Abbie, the flying snake. However, as it turned out all of the new arrivals were members of the infamous Zhentarim, a guild of mercenaries, smugglers, thieves, and even slavers with the goal to rule the lands from the shadows.

Outraged by this revelation Wren challenged the mercenaries to leave the village alone, but Xolkin would’t give up so quickly - he drank a mysterious potion and told his subordinated to apprehend our heroes.

After a some tense minutes which included a few close brushes with death our heroes managed to defeat the troublemakers, and apprehend Kella, Xolkin, and 3 of their thugs.

Abbie, the flying snake, decided the best plan was to head off, now that her master and mistress had been captured, even though Wren tried hard to convince her to stay. 

Slightly exhausted the group decided to look around the village to find helpful things, and after a bit of searching and some lock-picking they found a potion of healing, a healer’s kit and... a holy symbol of Asmodeus! in the local healer's hut. Wisely, they decided to leave the holy symbol alone, and just took the healing items. 

Wren, meanwhile, decided to try her luck with the Tressym again - a small adorable cat with wings - and after finding out his name, Rillix, and feeding him some chicken, she certainly was in the little creature’s good books.

After resting for a while, and binding their wounds, it was time to head out to find the missing villagers. Or was it? One of the guards, keeping watch, spotted a huge horde of Orcs coming towards the village. Quickly the drawbridge was raised, and everyone took a stand on the watchtowers. 

At longest longbow range Tibby started firing - severely damaging what seemed to be the leader of the horde, a massive Orc riding on an Axebeak, before he could even come close enough to the village to return fire.

There was however another equally dangerous Orc, also riding an Axebeak: Norgra, an Eye of Gruumsh, blessed by their evil god with spellcasting powers!

She tried to convince our heroes to help them with some mind magic, and Eraiel, Nissa, and Caeleth found themselves under her spell. Fortunately she wasn’t strong enough to make the spell last longer than a few seconds, so the drawbridge wasn’t lowered enough to let the Orcish horde into the village

Once the horde was in javelin throwing range the fight got serious: Two of our heroes went down, and only some quick laying on hands, and goodberries saved them!

Fortunately at that point it became clear what the Orcs were running from: A group of Elves, presumably from the nearby forest, were chasing them! Together with their helpful arrows, and two brave town guards, the group managed to drive the horde away into the nearby hills.

After they’d deemed the town safe once again Wren went out to track the Axebeak of the Orc leader. Having read about this species of prehistoric birds before she knew how to attract it - a freshly slaughtered chicken would surely get it’s attention! And sure enough, just around dawn the majestic poultry approached her (and the fresh meat), and with some incredible luck on her part she managed to convince it to let her ride it!

Meanwhile Caeleth had discovered that the orcs were wearing necklaces made from Elven ears, and decided the best way to deal with this heinous crime was to ritually burn the ears.

Since both those attacks had worn out our heroes’ resources they decided to better postpone the rescue mission to the next morning, and after a nice long rest, off they went, northwards, following the tracks the villagers had left during their exodus...

[blrowanduck]

The Tantric Staff

In Sanscrit it is called a khaṭvāṅga, खट्वाङ्ग. Which is derived from khatva, meaning a cot-like bed, compounded with anga which is a word for one of the legs of the bed. This type of bed was also the form of the funeral bier. It is easy to image that dwellers of the cemetery grounds such as Kapalikas, Aghoris, Kalamukhas, Nagas and Kanphats using this Anga to break bones, coconuts and bel fruit, and likely as ritual tools and emblems.

As an example, the kapalikas were originally miscreants who had been sentenced to a twelve-year term of penance for the crime of inadvertently killing or injuring a Brahmin. The penitent was prescribed to dwell in a forest hut, at a desolate crossroads, in a charnel ground, or under a tree; to live by begging; to practice austerities; and to wear a loin-cloth of hemp, dog, or donkey-skin. They also had to carry the emblems of a human skull as an alms-bowl, and the skull of the Brahmin they had slain mounted upon a wooden staff as a banner.These Hindu kapalika ascetics soon evolved into an extreme outcaste sect of the 'left-hand' tantric path (Skt. vamamarg) of shakti or goddess worship. The early Buddhist tantric yogins and yoginis adopted the same goddess or dakini attributes of the kapalikas. These attributes consisted of; bone ornaments, an animal skin loincloth, marks of human ash, a skull-cup, damaru, flaying knife, thighbone trumpet, and the skull-topped Tantric staff or khaṭvāṅga" When the Brahmin victim's skull is united with the lathe turned cot leg with its top bulb by an iron shaft molded into a trident on its end the shape of the khaṭvāṅga took on its early theoretical form:

A trident, skull, vase (round knob), vishvavajra (square section), upper shaft (bulbs), lower shaft (tapering leg). Early artistic depictions of the Buddhist khaṭvāṅga portray it as a sturdy skull topped club, as an adoption of a Tribal leaders shaman's staff. In the hands of Tibetian artists the vast majority of Indian weapons took on a much more refined and aesthetic quality.

The khaṭvāṅga is quite a beautiful object, which looks kind of like a walking stick with three upward pointing prongs. An explanation of the khaṭvāṅga is very difficult. Suffice to say, the kapāla (skull-cup) and the khaṭvāṅga (trident) are considered to be two of the greatest substances in the vajrayana, especially if you are one of the highest vajrayana practitioners. In a metaphorical sense, the khaṭvāṅga is also an attribute of a wanderer. It symbolises the practice of a wanderer: a tantric practice whereby the world is always looked on as a strange world, as though it were a place never before encountered. It is as if it is your very first time to visit this earth. In short, having the attitude of a wanderer is also similar to being someone with no food, no mat, no Lonely Planet book in your bag; let alone credit-cards, or a mobile phone to call home with. And as tantric practitioners, it is quite important that you always try to develop the attitude of a wanderer in looking at the world.

As far as the outer symbolism is concerned; the crossed vajra represents the earth that forms the base of the mandala of Mount Meru. The vase with its four leaf shaped pendants represents Mt Meru and its four faces. The freshly severed head above it (red in colour) represents the six heavens of the desire realm (kamaloka) gods. The decaying severed head above that (blue or green in colour) represents the eighteen heavens of the form realm (rupaloka). The decaying head indicates the death of desire in the gods that abide in these heavens. The fleshless skull above that (white in colour) represents the four heavens of the formless realm (arupaloka). The absence of flesh indicates the death of both desire and hatred in these gods. The trident represents the Three Jewels, and the Buddhas of past, present, and future. The hanging damaru and bell represent the union of skilful means and wisdom. The triple-valance pendant symbolises the victory banner placed at the peak of Mount Sumeru. The hanging white scarf tied around the vase represents the mountain and great salt ocean that surround Mount Sumeru.

The inner symbolism is as follows: The crossed vajra symbolises: the purified four elements of earth, water, fire, and air; the four activities (karmas); and the four doors of liberation (emptiness, signlessness, wishlessness, and lack of composition). The vase represents the non-conceptual awareness of mind as the perfection of wisdom's "nectar of attainment". The freshly severed head symbolises the nirmanakaya, and the emptiness of cause. The decaying head symbolises the sambhogakaya, and the emptiness of effect. The completely exposed skull symbolises the dharmakaya, and the emptiness of phenomena. The trident represents the three channels, with the flames around the central channel symbolising the ascent of the inner fire of tummo (Wyl. gtum mo). The meaning of the hanging damaru and bell remain unchanged, while the tri-coloured valance indicates the three vehicles of Hinayana (yellow), Mahayana (red), and Vajrayana (blue). The hanging white scarf symbolises the teachings of all the nine yanas.

In terms of "secret" symbolism: The visualized form of the diety, "Chakrasamvara" arises as a vision and transforms into the body mandala and the khaṭvāṅga transforms into the 62 dieties that reside in the mandala. The khatvanga, as the essence of Chakrasamvara, symbolises his sixty-two deity mandala. The golden vase at the khatvanga's 'heart' symbolises Chakrasamvara's mandala palace. The amrita contained in the vase represents Chakrasamvara himself as the 'essence of great bliss' (Skt. mahasukha). The vishvavajra represents the eight deities of the 'commitment wheel', which arise as the channels of tongue, navel, sex tip, anus, brow, ears, eyes and nostrils. The lower blue head represents the sixteen blue deities of the 'mind wheel'. The middle red head represents the sixteen red deities of the 'speech wheel'. The white skull above represents the sixteen white deities of the 'body wheel'. The five-pointed vajra represents the four directional deities of the 'great bliss wheel', which surround the union of Chakrasamvara and Vajravarahi. Collectively the deities of these five wheels comprise the sixty-two deities of Chakrasamvara's mandala. The eight-sided white sandal wood shaft symbolises the eight great charnel grounds, and the half-vajra at its base symbolises the vajra-tent protection wheel which encircles the charnel grounds.

[koigate]

How The Five Heads Land On LPL’s Blame Mountain

header for 背锅吧, a Chinese league community

背锅吧, literal translation of the name means “taking blames”, 锅 is wok, the action of carrying a big iron wok on your back means you’re taking the blames/fall for the failure.

a 背锅 meme

They have a tradition which has been strictly carried out since the day of founding, each year after worlds, they would pick one single LPL player(excpet for 2017 which I’ll explain later) who should be blamed the most for LPL not winning an international trophy, and paint his face on the blame mountain, which will be the community’s header for an entire year. Keep in mind 背锅吧 has 2,303,106 followers, it’s one of the biggest league communities and yes, pros visit it too.

Without further delay let’s dive into each head on the mountain.

First Head — Illusion

former iG jungler, Illusion可见影子

背锅吧 was founded in 2014, so when choosing for the first head, they went for the easiest target. At S2 worlds, only two LPL teams played, WE was beaten by 6 hour of silver scrapes. On the other hand, iG went out in the first round of elimination, got clean 0–2'd by M5. So picking from iG players is obvious, but who? Back then iG’s roster was Pdd, Illusion, Zz1tai, Kid and Xiaoxiao. There’s no way to sugarcoat it, Illusion has the least fans among the five, and jungler can always be at fault when losing, so he became the first head.

Second Head — Lucky

former Royal jungler Lucky

Royal was clean 0–3'd by SKT T1 at worlds 2013 final. Jungler Lucky’s Elise was outshined by Bengi’s Jarvan in game 1, which earned him the nicknme of “Spider man”. He wasn’t the worst performer that year, but he was the least favorite one.

Third Head — Pomelo

former OMG jungler/support Pomelo

OMG started out strong in 2013, but only achieved stardom level in 2014. They were invited to play in 2014 All Star Event in Paris, and made it all the way into the final by beating C9. At the time, OMG was seen as the best team in China, and SKT T1 has been living under the shadow of the Samsung kingdom since spring, fans had high hopes of OMG bringing back LPL’s first international trophy, and most of all, defeating the demon king by doing so.

Yet again, 0–3'd by SKT T1, the frustration level among fans were high, and jungler Pomelo, who did this ↓↓↓ in game 1 became the easiest target.

He encountered Bengi cashing his jungle and threw his spear for one tiny 4 gold of creep, which caused his life and team’s first blood. Level 4 Patheon challenging level 6 Kha’Zix became a well known meme and Pomelo landed on the blame montain.

Pomelo didn’t necessarily costed OMG the entire game, but nobody landed on blame mountain because they deserved to.

Fourth Head — TBQ

former LGD jungler TBQ

There’s no way around it, 2015 LGD was claimed to win worlds and failed to make it out of groups, leaving out meta op pick Morde three times was also a big meme. Of all five of LGD players, TBQ was choose as head on the blame mountain mostly because in their game against kt, when kt’s draft was Renekton/Gragas/Lulu/Morde/Thresh, this is TBQ’s Eve item builds:

And he was seen constantly running away from enemies, not doing what an Eve should do(sneak out from behind to gank).

Another reason as to why he’s on the mountain is because after worlds, there were rumors going around about him participating in betting, which never had any evidence, but doesn’t stop fans from pouring their frustration on one single target.

GodV also has a “honorary” mention above the montain.

GodV’s backwards Varus Q

Fifth Head — Clearlove

EDG’s jungler, Clearlove

Clearlove is on the mountain because of that one game at worlds 2016 where his Leesin’s damage was 4396. His not being able to sacrifice himself for gank, always being seen running away from fights(in this community’s eye) is another reason.

Sixth Man — Bang

2017’s 背锅吧 header

This was last year’s header. Two LPL teams made it into the semi final, them losing to SKT T1 and the eventual champion Samsung both in intense best of fives has made the community decided to give LPL players a break, also because there was a bigger target, Bang.

In the final, Bang’s Tristana in game 3 failed a rocket jump and died first resulting in SSG securing baron is the key moment for why he’s on the mountain. Faker’s cry after losing the final touched many hearts, and hating on Bang helps some of them getting over the frustration.

Seventh Man — Uzi

The community is currently furious to see Uzi appear on the head as a cute cartoon character but not carved on the blame mountain, they’re posting threads to question mods’ decision everyday since the new header was put up.

This toxic wild side of Chinese league community is very different from the weibo fandom, but both are true sides of the Chinese league community. When it comes to talking trash, Chinese fans beat most people.

[gainsbourg17-blog]

The Success and Failure of "Peanut", and a New Challenge

In February of 2015, a young player from Najin e-mFire showed up. He boasted his debut along with 8 months of being a practice member, and solo rank no.1. Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to show his full potential on the team. His official record was 7 wins and 10 losses. This was considerably good, for a rookie. Soon, this rookie joined ROX Tigers. He was reunited with Kim “Ssong” Sang-soo, who first led him to Najin e-mFire. That year, he became the champion of the LCK and KeSPA cup, and went up to the semifinals in that year’s Worlds, solidifying his name in the memory of LoL fans; that name is Han “Peanut” Wang-ho. However, his stay at ROX Tigers ended at just 1 year, and he went to the world’s best team, SKT T1. All LoL fans’ were watching Peanut. If he could grasp the Summoner's Cup, there would be no doubt of him being the world’s best jungler. Unfortunately, reality was cruel. Although he won the spring season and MSI, criticizing voices rose as he was cut off, leaving him as the runner-up at the summer season and Worlds. Being 2nd place in the world isn’t a title easily earned, but the expectations for SKT T1 were higher than that. This was simply too much for this young 20-year-old to handle; he had too much pressure on him, an amount he hadn’t experienced in previous teams. As a result, he left SKT T1 as his contract expired. Peanut looked back at his career and talked about why he left the team.

“I took some time to rest after Worlds, and coach Kang Dong-hun called me after my contract expired with SKT T1. I could have looked for foreign teams, but I wanted to play in Korea so I refused before even hearing any offers [from foreign teams]. I think I wanted to win at Worlds, since I lost at the finals. As soon as I entered the team house, I got the impression that the atmosphere was very lively. I already knew Beom-hyeon (GorillA) and Jong-in (PraY), and the other teammates were overly friendly so I was able to fit in quickly. It really hasn’t been long, but my teammates were impressive. When we had scrimmages, I found  ways I could help Dong-ha (Khan), Bo-seong (Bdd) and Kwang-hee (Rascal). These teammates had certain areas that they didn’t know as much about. It was surprising that they made such good results without being thoroughly prepared. Of course, I was worried about hurting their pride, since this is the first time we’re playing together. But everyone had the will to perform better, so we talked about each others’ problems very bluntly and frankly. We tried to develop [our skills] through the feedback.”

Just as Peanut said, Longzhu reached out for him first. As Longzhu realized the lack of experience at this year’s Worlds, they needed a player with a lot of experience, and head coach Kang Dong-hun moved quickly and took in Peanut. Fans were thrilled with the news of the transfer. The fans who still missed ROX Tigers cheered for the reunion of the PrillA duo and Peanut. Soon after, some unpleasant rumors began following Peanut like a shadow; people were saying that he didn’t leave and was actually released by SKT T1 due to a feud. “We ended the discussion on the contract in good terms. During the 5 days when I was looking for a new team, there was so much gossip on community websites. I thought that I would get tortured with insults whether I win or lose. The important thing was that SKT T1 made up most of my career, and I learned many things there. The results weren’t too good. We were good at the spring season and MSI so we won, but we weren’t good enough afterwards. It was my fault. Especially round 2 of the summer season; that was the worst.”

Since he carried the high expectations of being SKT T1’s jungler, criticism against Peanut didn’t loosen up. The critics went further and started scorning his previous career, and pointed out that he didn’t have what was needed to win. Peanut showed confidence by saying “Being 2nd place means that there’s a high possibility of winning.” “There were only two mistakes I made at the KeSPA Cup. One was dying in the 5th set trying to penetrate with Lee Sin, but this didn’t affect the game much. But we lost the 2nd set because I lost my cool, and started making mistakes. I wasn’t able to sleep after losing like that (Laughs).  4 competitions in a row in 2nd place…. But I’m still confident since I got to the finals in all of this year’s competitions, and being 2nd place means that there’s a high possibility of winning. So I don’t mind all the harsh words directed at me. I will definitely make improvements, and I have a lot up my sleeve to help out Longzhu Gaming. It was a bit regretful not being able to win the KeSPA Cup, which closed the door to this year, but I have a more intense desire to learn, so I’m happy enough.”

Peanut briefly looked back at his career. Reflecting his year, he seemed to be thinking of Najin e-mFire and ROX Tigers as well as SKT T1. He started talking about ‘learning’ after that moment of thought. We were able to hear about the life of a professional gamer, and the life of Han Wang-ho.

“While I was in Najin e-mFire, I didn’t have much time to play in competitions, so I was busy learning. As I joined ROX Tigers, it felt like I knew everything to this world. I think I had the thing that people said I needed to ‘win’. And since my other teammates had more experience, the environment was set for me to become better. Back then, I was good all year, and I thought that ‘It’s simple, I can be good all the time just like now.’ Thinking back on that, what the elders said was all true. Coach Park Jung-seok always said that nothing in life is certain. I felt that to the bone this year. Next year will be my 4th year already as a professional, and everybody is surprised when they hear that. Now that there are a lot of younger players, I start to tease them by starting sentences with “When I was your age-“(Laughs). Of course, I’m still young too, but looking at myself playing in a new team for just a bit and yet adapting quickly to the environment made me feel like a veteran. And…. What do I want to say? I think I was blessed to meet good people. Coach Park Jung-seok, Jeong No-chul (NoFe), Kim Sang-soo (Ssong), Choi Byeong-hun (cCarter) and Kim Jeong-gyun (kkOma). The coaching staff always looked after me even outside of matches. And I think that there’s a lot to learn from the current coaches since all of them have so much experience. The most impressive player I’ve ever met was Sang-hyeok (Faker). Everybody probably wonders ‘what is that man like when he plays games’. I had the chance to learn from him being together in SKT T1, he has some kind of aura that makes him different from others.”

What he said wasn’t long, but we were able to see that Peanut felt and learned many things from his past, and he was thankful. Now the only thing left for him to do is be recognized as one of the best by all. To do so, he wants to grab hold of that Summoner’s Cup, and Longzhu Gaming is one of the best contenders to make that desire a reality. “When I first went to the team house, Dong-ha (Khan) called me ‘master’. After I died to a jungle monster, he warned me that if I still want to be called master, I can’t do stuff like that. He always said that it’s the jungler’s fault if the top laner doesn’t perform well. There’s no reason for the jungler to perform badly (Laughs). I actually thought Dong-ha (Khan) would have a strong personality, but he actually is very mild and easygoing. He respects his teammates’ advice and tries hard to fix his weaknesses. And Kwang-hee (Rascal) is really close with Dong-ha, so there’s great synergy between them. I’ve never seen such competition in a position in my career. And Bo-seong (Bdd) is just really good. It’s hard to express why he is good; there are still many things that he doesn’t know, but he’s good. I took a long time to fix my flaws to become good, but Bo-seong improves almost instantly after getting feedback. Lastly, there’s something I want to say to the fans. Normally I always say ‘Thank you’. I do feel sorry for always saying the same thing over and over again, but this is what I really feel towards you, and that’s why I express it. I was thankful for the support of the fans while I was having a hard time, and I thought that I should be good, thinking of all those fans that cheer me on. I want to make fans out of the people who don’t like me as well. I really will do my best to accomplish that. I thought a lot about my career and the past through this interview. I’m thankful for everyone that gave me advice; that became the blood and flesh of the man named Han Wang-ho. I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for them, and I wouldn’t even have had the chance to say so. I am a really lucky man.”  ◆

[thefox1982]

Suddenly Orks

It's been a while since the last post. The party had moved on to Tyranny of Dragons, and in truth I found myself hamstrung, since I'd laid so much backstory to seque into Hoard of the Dragon Queen, only to find that the story was poor, it was level inappropriate (for these character). On top of this I discovered that not on did Storm King's Thunder allow characters to come in at level 5, it's more fun.

Now c-19 is happening, one of my players can't play because he's being supportive to his partner and child and another doesn't want to play because he doesn't like fantasy grounds and it's working for fg unity to get a full release. So not wishing to advance Tyranny of Dragons in their absence we started on Storm King's Thunder. Two of my existing players, assisted by two sidekicks to round out a party.

I started by bamboozling the characters. The book has some story threads that could be created for other things the giants are doing, including the idea that a hill giant had transformed a village into pigs and his clan were eating them. In a prologue to the events Arthur Quinn brings a carter over to the party's table in tavern and badgers him into retelling his story. The carter and his boy had been to Ornbridge, a small market town on a toll bridge, to make a delivery. On arrival they'd found the town abandoned and the streets filled with pigs. While investigating the carter and his sun took refuge in the inn when a pair of hill giants walked into the town, picking up pigs and putting them in a cage carried by one of them. While hiding the carter claims a grey pig gave him the exact expression of the old potman that worked at that very inn. At this Quinn roars with laughter, and the carter leaves the table cursing the thief as he leaves.

Boon Douglas thoughtfully points out that bandits would have looted the town, and orcs would have burnt it to the ground. He wonders aloud if there might be riches awaiting them in that abandoned town. And so the party sets off. Along the way the uh stop at Nightstone and enter the adventure.

The players think Ornbridge is an actual destination, which it could be, but I'm not intending it to be. Instead they've cleared the town of goblins, negotiated the release of the town with the Zhentarim and brought the guards out of the manor house. At the end of the session they re-entered the town to find the Zhents taking up defensive positions at the gate as an orc warband attempts to enter the town.

LMoP was quite easy on the party, and having to restart at first level in SKT has been a shock to them, people have had to make death saves already. So leaving the session on a cliff hanger with the risk of orcs is quite fun, they've gone from having to infiltrate the town to having to defend it.

[namisashimi]

Yicun: ‘League of Legends deserves to be understood by more.’

source. yicun special column (mirror) by danneergou (丹尼二狗) and yicun (一村) for pentaq. images by yicun.

translator. it’s been forever, but maya brought my attention to this article by the lpl photographer, yicun, on his experiences at worlds this year. it’s actually a really fascinating and very personal reflection, and i hope you enjoy reading it as much as i did.

Because for those who don't understand, there's so much more excitement to be experienced.

From our first interview with him during the 2016 Mid-Autumn Festival, PentaQ has known this LPL photographer for more than a year. Since we didn’t meet him on the competitive stage, our understanding and knowledge of Yicun comes more from his photography - in it, you can find all that is League of Legends. That five-colored stage, that youthful, passionately shouting audience, the champions lifting their trophy and their glory, the losers crying in the corner, or even those busy passerbys coming and going.

Before the 2017 World Finals began, PentaQ published a series of 'Pre-Game Special Columns,' one of which was on Yicun. In that article, Yicun used photography to reminisce about how from when he first encountered League of Legends at All-Stars 2013 to now. After the finals, we once again contacted Yicun in hopes that we could hear his new feelings after the entire Worlds weekend.

And so, in the same place we saw the same old Yicun – dressed in athletic gear, full of life. From his arrival in Wuhan on 9/20 to his return to Shanghai on 11/5, he said this hectic yet fulfilling journey of a month and a half let him once again see the heyday of esports.

post-worlds memory: a heart under the giant championship cup.

the longest, yet the happiest worlds.

If I had to remember the last time I worked for this long, I would look back to Season 5 Worlds, two years ago. If I calculated carefully, it would only be shorter than this year’s by a few days – that was 9/26/2015, when I and some friends went to watch a concert by Rene Liu, then hurried to Paris.

A person in a foreign country will have a lot of boring moments, a lot of spare time – after all, that place is someone else's center stage, and where you live will not be that close to the players and the competition. But when this year’s Worlds came to China, my life had nothing else. Every day was Season 7 Worlds; there was no spare time, no leisurely moments – just focusing on one thing. Time really flew.

yicun in 2015: carrying his bag and his camera, he followed the world championships across europe.

Looking back on S5, the biggest feeling at the time was regret, but this year - perhaps some people might disagree with me, but I think SSG lives up to this championship. When I experienced this year’s Worlds, I realized the championship was not just determined by strength on paper, but rather by willpower. Sometimes, what we are battling with is not just skill and strategy, not just the player’s in-game performance, but rather their mental strength - in groups, SSG didn’t perform well and lost two matches in a row to RNG, but once they entered the playoffs, they became the team that wanted to win the most.

In competitive sports, ‘the one who is brave wins on a narrow path.’ In that moment, whoever could endure to the end won.

No matter what, looking back on that one and a half months - perhaps it was a shot that was both the longest and yet felt the shortest. It seems like only yesterday that I was preparing my luggage, yet now, the battle in the Bird’s Nest has drawn its curtains.

from short sleeves to long sleeves, from Wuhan to Guangzhou, to Shanghai, to Beijing - a month and a half’s ‘strange journey.’

from play-ins to groups, from excitement and worry to pity.

Most of the time, my photography plan isn’t officially set, but rather determined by myself. To me, photographing Worlds is a kind of mission, a kind of responsibility. It’s not that someone else is making me take these, but rather that I want to take them. To be honest, the official commission I received didn’t include Play-Ins, but I felt that anywhere that had LPL teams, I should attend.

Because I hoped that no matter what the result, even if WE could not make it out of Play-Ins, I could still faithfully chronicle this moment.

Throughout the entirety of Play-Ins, WE still had some stumbles. Apart from the LCK, this was almost a rehearsal for the performance of the other major regions, so even though the wind was calm, the waves were choppy. Compared to later rounds, I was more anxious during Play-Ins, because this was the first year this stage existed and many didn’t consider it a serious competition. As a result, I was all the more worried that WE might not make it out. However, even as I worried over this, I saw the analyst team working to help the LPL. At the time, the three teams had already come to Wuhan and started practicing, and we could once again see the strength of the LPL working together.

the play-ins were a part of we’s world championship experience.

Because my hometown is Huangshi, Wuhan was very close to home. I had originally planned to visit home after Play-Ins ended, but for various reasons failed to do so - I’m usually someone who returns home periodically, but this Worlds, after Play-Ins began I didn’t go home at all.

In the groups, EDG was truly worth pitying. They really had the ability to get out of groups. Sometimes, though, you just get unlucky; that’s all that can be said.

You see, in this year’s Worlds, the Western teams really are not weak. From certain standpoints, the Western teams and the SEA teams have a greater tactical ability than LPL teams, or even LCK teams. Asian teams are more stable in their basic mechanics, in their fighting and teamwork than the West, but when something unusual happens, or when there’s a patch change, our ability to react is less than those of other regions. We are too used to following our own tempo in the game. So, even if it’s just my own opinion, when EDG faced C9, perhaps they had yet to adjust themselves to their best form.

If you want to talk about pain, this year’s EDG was not as painful as that of the past two years. After all, that year was far more regretful. Speaking of something that left a serious impression on me: after EDG lost, Clearlove walked off the stage. At that time, he hadn’t yet gotten his mindset out of the game, and as he walked onto the stairs and saw me, he said something like this.

‘What’s left depends on WE and RNG.’

So, I want to say - our players have their own shared honor, and this honor, it all exists in each of their hearts.

even if i can’t go on, then please take my hopes with you and go forward. this is the honor of a region.

to touch hearts, to leave no regrets.

Quarterfinals and semifinals - one in Guangzhou, one in Shanghai. Comparatively speaking, the quarterfinals most touched our hearts, while the semifinals most caught our attention and left us with no regrets.

Of my entire Worlds photography journey, the quarterfinals were the most unforgettable. Here, whether they sadly left the stage or continued on, each team had their own story to tell.

For example, FNC vs. RNG. I had followed FNC for a long time, while RNG was one of our LPL teams. I liked both teams a lot, so I felt like I had returned to that quarterfinals in 2015, where FNC faced EDG. Another game was MSF vs. SKT. MSF performed incredibly well, and I really hoped they could win. To me, the quarterfinals brought all the highlights from the group stages together. In groups, even if you lost every game the first week, you’d still have a thread of life to cling to in the second week. Quarterfinals were different. If you lost, you lost - win or die.

Luckily, both our LPL teams took the win.

Ah, the quarterfinals. How many years had it been since we last broke out of quarterfinals? That was really a different feeling. In past years, my heart would always feel empty after quarterfinals, because our team was out. Semifinals, finals - those photos were all taken for someone else to see.

The position I gave myself was not just for Worlds, but also for the LPL. So once the LPL teams had all left, my heart would feel that ‘emptiness.’ Even in the Bird’s Nest, it was the same. I knew that in my life, I wouldn’t have many opportunities to take photos in the Bird’s Nest, but as the as the 11/4 finals drew closer, I was more willing to ‘pull myself out’ and experience the match as a spectator - it had been a very long time since I last watched a game as an ordinary spectator.

So if the end result of the quarterfinals were happiness, then in Shanghai, in what could truly be called the ‘esports headquarters,’ what we welcomed was the pain of the LPL teams being eliminated.

Compared to those of the last two years, this year’s results are, of course, slightly better, and perhaps even reminiscent of S4 - really, so close. Even though the Chinese teams didn’t make it to the Bird’s Nest, this year was still a successful year for the LPL. Even if we didn’t have the best competitive results, through our matches we had broadcasted the culture that belonged to us, that belonged to League of Legends. The people around me who played other games had begun to appreciate League of Legends; my friends from other careers, who had no relationship to the game, were also supporting League of Legends, supporting the Bird’s Nest, supporting the S7 World Championships.

‘fighting’ might be the best descriptor of the lpl. it implies ‘no matter who wins or loses, we will put in our best effort.’

After the semi-finals ended, many people said it was like the end of youth.

Hearing this, I felt comforted rather than miserable. Whether our youth had come to an end was not for us to say, but if you could wholeheartedly say something like that, it meant League of Legends had completely affected you, that it had become a part of your youth. Those who said ‘my youth has ended,’ congratulations. You have become adults. But if you are willing to wait, League of Legends is really just like you. It too is growing up.

So, I don’t think ‘youth has ended’ is a sad topic. No matter what, it proves ‘once, it existed.’

So, I don’t care ‘whether youth has ended or not,’ ‘whether the game was deleted or not,’ what I care about is if it really gives you happiness.

league of legends deserves to be understood by more.

Honestly, that day in the Bird’s Nest, before the game started I was worrying the seats wouldn’t fill up, and then the photographs would look ugly. But after Jay Chou finished his song and Legends Never Die began, I looked all around me and discovered I had already sunk into a sea of people.

During the finals, I mostly enjoyed the game from a spectator perspective. Because I spent most of my time in the audience, my photographs were largely of the whole venue; because the stage was so distant, I didn’t take many pictures of the players or match details. There was one photograph - during the most critical moment in the third game of SKT vs SSG, I caught the last rays of the setting sun. The second the setting sun passed through the Bird’s Nest, Faker secured first blood. I had a strange premonition: this could be Faker’s last first blood in this year’s World Championships.

the last ray of the setting sun filters through the top of the Bird’s Nest, alighting on the faces of the audience.

-- but since I’ve been talking so much, many of these questions have been brought up already. So I wonder, is it still important to discuss the final victory more?

I think back to six or seven years ago, maybe 2011 or 2012. I was still in Beijing then and had yet to take up a League of Legends-related photography job. I would often go to the Water Cube to swim, and no matter how many times I saw the Bird’s Nest, how many times I saw the Water Cube, I would never have thought that one day, we would be hosting an esports competition there.

And now, in this very moment, it is truly a golden age, a golden age that belongs to esports.

I began to photograph esports in 2006. In these ten years, I have been through the rise and fall of many games, and I have experienced many of what I felt were golden ages. When I photographed CS, I found like that was a golden age; when I photographed DOTA, I felt like that was also a golden age. But thinking about it now, for those of us in the gaming sphere that was definitely the case, but that’s only a small group of people who love games. It is still a very small circle.

Whereas now, I truly feel the real golden age is not just something that occurs within the community. It needs to influence more people, more people outside its usual sphere of influence, like your parents, like your friends, like those strangers who walk past you - allowing those beside us, who have no understanding of the game, to still feel the beauty of esports. This is something that League of Legends’ World Championships has accomplished.

these musicians from all around the world - in their creations is the best evidence of the golden age.

It’s just like the Kaiyung golden age in the Tang Dynasty. The development of our economy, the strength of our country - those were only internal things. What really radiated out and influenced the whole world was our history, our culture. This kind of intangible power is what endures.

League of Legends is the same way; it is not just a competitive sport. It has the positive energy of a competitive sport, the ability to excite people, but now and in the near future, we can still have more - music, movies, and even more forms of art. We will always be growing. We have not stalled.

In the past, when I photographed esports and games, I’d always have this desire to photograph ‘culture’ - at that time, I didn’t realize what I photographed was actually ‘culture.’

League of Legends deserves to be understood by more.

And to those who do not understand it, I say - there’s so much more excitement to experience.

yicun has many good photographs, but few are of him. this one, taken by ren yijun, is of him at the sixth anniversary celebration.

postscript: a moment for those who left.

'Taking photos is like being a historian. Even if they're not pretty, I still need to document them.'

'Even after so many years of photography, I wouldn't rate my skill too highly. I don't think I'm a talented photographer, but I do think I'm one with a sense of responsibility.'

'I don't take photos just to please people, but rather I hope they'll be like a slice of time, a truthful reflection of what happened.'

'I like photographs with stories. Only those have life.'

As a photographer, Yicun is constantly adjusting his own trajectory, constantly questioning what kind of photographer he wants to be, what kind of photos he wants to take. But his target has never changed: to chase the truth of a photo, to use the photo to tell a story.

So, at the end of this article, we've included some of Yicun's photographs. These represent the departure of the LPL teams from the 2017 World Championships, and in their moments, a story from Yicun's first-person perspective.

Of course, this kind of outcome may have left some people sad, but as Yicun wrote in his previous column, for some things 'the longer we wait, the happier we are when they are fulfilled.'

The night EDG was eliminated, after everyone had left, I went to their practice room and happened to encounter Meiko and iBoy. They were packing their things and preparing to leave. I noticed a commemorative coin left had been left on the desk; each player only got one, so it was especially precious. I asked them, why aren't you taking it? Meiko looked at it and said he was afraid that seeing it later would make him sad, that I should take it as a gift.

The day RNG was eliminated, Mlxg was the last to leave the stage. Even off-stage, he still sat taciturn in his seat, giving the impression that he had turned to stone.

11/14, after the final battle in the Bird's Nest, shouts of 'RNG' were suddenly heard on the stream. At that time, Ming sent me a message – he said, when he heard the audience shouting RNG's name, his heart felt 'empty.' In that moment, I could feel how his heart had stirred, how much he wished that the team appearing there was really RNG.

WE was eliminated in the quarterfinals. After the game, Condi kept smacking the hand-warmers against the chair, hitting it again and again. To him, that may have been a way to vent.

The night WE was eliminated, Mystic and his little sister were outside the hotel. To Mystic, China will always be a foreign country, yet he has made it his home for the sake of his dreams. When he meets his countrymen, his real family, that strong feeling of closeness will burst out.

In the end – thank you, Yicun, for making time for us.

[thewickedwizardofoz]

TSM @ Worlds

I know probably many of my followers don’t care about League but I do need to rant somewhere!!!! I’ll put it under so u can easily skip if you don’t care

I am just so disappointed. TSM yet again split games with everyone in their groups. 1-1 vs everyone at MSI 2017, except SKT who 2-0′d them. 1-1 vs FW and WE, and 1-2 against MSF at this year’s world’s. Even last year 1-1 against SSG (although, admittedly 2-0 against SPY and 0-2 against RNG). Like, this just highlights their inability to adapt to situations at international events; I cannot fathom how TSM always look so good and then just fall flat on their faces.

Their draft is awful. I like the first ban phase though. TSM showed an unwillingness to pick or ban Janna in previous games so I’m glad she was gone first. I thought that TSM would probably win if they had a 4 tank comp and Double on Trist, so MSF taking Galio and J4 off the table is great from MSF. The Kalista must ban really hurt TSM imo since they weren’t on blue they didn’t have that 3rd ban available for another champion like Karma or Taric to ban away, so they had to ban Kalista and Rakan. I think if TSM could’ve forced play-making supports out of MSF, they would’ve won. Biofrost on Thresh or Alistair would’ve looked SO much better than on Karma - that being said, Biofrost still did good on Karma, she’s just too weak right now. 

Then MSF first-picked Taric. Which is fine TSM probably knew they’d play Karma into Taric, but my question is why did you first pick Kog and Sej? They’re not bad but Gragas is MUCH better into Taric AND Kog’maw, so you should take it away to hurt the Taric pick and protect your Kog’maw. However - Tristana would’ve been the better pick imo. She can Buster Shot away the Cosmic Radiance’d tank running at them cancelling the Taric ult and pick basically; she can keep herself safe since Double seemed to forget where his flash key was; and she can go into a side-lane and create pressure!!!! Why bother with Kog’maw? You don’t have Janna or Lulu to protect him. You don’t have Taric to protect him. Nami’s laning and ardent-proccing is ineffective and Karma also can only shield him, providing only a root for CC. Kog’maw needs a better back-line to protect him.

Ban phase 2 is fine, trading one ban in each solo lane. It looked like TSM wanted to first pick Cho’gath and I don’t know why they didn’t. With Mao and Gnar off the table who do you expect to match up to him? Cass is off the table and you already picked Kog, WHO are you going to pick against him if you don’t pick him? They pick Jayce and I thought they wanted to put Bjerg on him but as I’m looking at it again, I realise they didn’t because there were no tanks left to play. Who is Hauntzer gonna play if they first pick Jayce and give it to Bjerg? Shen? what’s he gonna do on shen with TSM’s shitty early game? like just pick the Cho’gath, better late-game scaling and objective control with feast; how can you possibly let it through when you had the first pick in the second pick phase? See my problem with Jayce is that he is a poke-heavy champion, reliant on the 1v1 in a side-lane and individual out play in order to help win the game. You’re not gonna see a Jayce team-fight better than Cho. If you wanted to give MSF Cho, you can’t pick Kog’maw. Cho will build Adaptive Helm/Thornmail and take no damage from Kog. He already took no damage from Jayce! You need someone to shred Cho if you’re going to let him through. Tristana, Twitch, Xayah -- you had your pick of the litter because MSF first picked Taric. If you thought about first-picking Jayce after the second round of bans, you needed to prepare better for the tank - ban away Cho and let Mao through or pick an AD that can actually shred him.

Then PoE picked Oriana which is fine. But if you wanted to let Hauntzer take Jayce, you need to take a more early game mid focussed mid so Bjerg can push in on Ori’s poor early waveclear and roam up top and protect Hauntzer. Ryze isn’t going to out-push Ori despite having a way to roam up. Pick Taliyah, pick Fizz, someone who will give you pressure in mid - either through wave clear and roams (Taliyah) or kill pressure (Fizz) drawing Maxlore away from top. Even Syndra can push in Oriana then roam up, take ghost and go up there. Instead TSM attempted to index a little bit into the early game (Jayce and Karma) while still keeping their late game insurance (Sej, Kog, and Ryze).

But it doesn’t work like that with Jayce. You need to index harder into the early game in order to keep him relevant and ahead. Jayce from behind does nothing. Poke champions are RELIANT on snow-balling. 

Then the actual game. Sven’s pathing was just awful. How do you plan on protecting Hauntzer if you force him to leash enemy blue and then go take your red and then your blue? Either fully clear Maxlore’s blue-side jungle preventing him from going up there without being in a huge deficit or start on your blue side and then go up and gank level 2 after taking your red. If Sven attempting to clear wolves on MSF’s jungle he would’ve had to fight Maxlore, if they both recalled it’s still a win and pressure for Hauntzer, he knows where the Gragas is and has another wave or two to bully Alphari before both junglers get out onto the map. And guess what, if Gragas and Sej both have to back after a fight in MSF blue side jungle - Sven can go to his red side and gank top after a clear. Where is Maxlore gonna go? To his red side because that’s where his camps are. Unless he wants to gank a level 4 Jayce as a level 2 Gragas.

Then, every other lane can’t exert enough pressure to keep Maxlore away from top-side. Karma/Kog aren’t pushing in Xayah/Taric, and PoE is throwing out his ulti everywhere to chunk out Bjerg and Sven preventing them from roaming. 

They needed to draft better, but they also needed to play better. Biofrost was doing all he could to poke the Xayah/Taric and Double was also trying to fight be he’s just too squishy and they have no CC vs the root/stun on MSF bot. Bjerg stayed in lane almost the entire time, only once ulting top whereas PoE was doing his job keeping Bjerg mid and chunking out Sven from time to time. Sven ganked like once in top despite 3-buffing and being a level or 2 ahead of the Gragas on the later-game Sej - not to mention he didn’t even use R - Glacial Prison until like 23 minutes in ON A TANK NO LESS.

They needed the Galio if they wanted to give Hauntzer Jayce but MSF banned it in phase 1 so why pick Jayce at all. Pick a tank. Go harder on protecting Doublelift. If you pick Cho/Ryze or something I think it’s fine.

[austinplaysrpgs-blog]

Storm King's Thunder, Part 1

Part 2 here

This is a continuation of Lost Mine of Phandelver, this segue to SKT picks up at level 4 and this is where most of the other characters enter the narrative, after the previous characters perished in Wave Echo Cave.

Player Characters:

Milo Underbough - Lightfoot Halfling Wizard, Chaotic Good

I’m playing Milo. Milo grew up the youngest child of a wealthy merchant family. He had terrible spending habits that nearly financially ruined the Underbough Company before he was cut off. In order to maintain his lifestyle, he turned to a life of crime, using his talent with Divination magics to fix games at the largest gambling den in Neverwinter, The Golden Shadow, hidden below Tymora’s temple. But he couldn’t resist the opportunity to reach for more. He was caught with his hands in the metaphorical cookie jar and now he’s on the run. He’s found his way to Phandalin and looks for opportunities to adventure, hoping to keep away from civilization for long periods of time. His first instinct is to flee, and he often does, but his desire to do the right thing often brings him back to the fray. This internal struggle is a driving force for him. He worships Tymora, the goddess of luck.

Basil - Half Elf Rogue, Chaotic Neutral

Basil grew up in Pinecove Grove just outside of Neverwinter Wood. Hyuth Kolstag killed his family when he was very young. He escaped to Mirabar. He was caught picking pockets to buy dinner by Coriander, a nimble halfling woman. She taught him the ropes of being a thief, but his new life couldn’t satiate his desire for vengeance on Kolstag. Later, Coriander would introduce him to Lavendar, the leader of an assassin’s guild. She taught Basil how to kill, and he was a very enthusiastic student. He took every contract he could, hoping that one day, Hyuth Kolstag would be the name given to him. That day finally came, and Basil joined an adventuring party, hoping to get close to Kolstag without garnering suspicion.

Aden - Half Elf Paladin, Chaotic Good

Aden grew up in the fishing village of Turtlebrooke. It was later attacked, raided, and destroyed. He hid and was one of the only surviving townspeople. He vowed to defend those too weak to protect themselves. He’s taken a path for vengeance. His family worshiped Tymora, so now when someone evil’s luck runs out, he is who they have to face.

Guck - Human Barbarian, Chaotic Neutral

Guck grew up on the streets of Craghammer. His parents died when he was six years old in a mining accident. He was not treated well and bears a grudge against smallfolk. He channeled the rage of his upbringing to become a renowned fighter. His abrasive personality hasn’t earned him many friends, but no one doubts his ability to get things done.

Guck is contacted in Phandalin by his compatriots in the Harpers, and given orders to gather a party and meet with Dartha in the town of Triboar. After a series of interviews, he selects a group of talented individuals that he believes is most capable of completing whatever task they will be given. We meet in the local tavern and split the gear and money of Guck’s previous, expired companions.

We make several detours on our way to Triboar, hoping to make some cash on the side. First, we head to Old Owl Well. There is a tent set up outside of the tower, and Aden calls out. A man bursts out of the tent, clearly nervous, and asks what we’re is doing all the way out here. We tell him that the druid that frequented Phandalin has been missing for several weeks, and we decided to check out landmarks in the area to see if anyone had seen him. He quickly shoots down the idea, sharing that he’s been out here studying in the area for a long time. If the druid had come through here, he’d have seen him for sure. He mentions that orcs have been spotted nearby and asks if we can take care of them, promising a reward.

We approach Wyvern Tor. The old wyvern nesting ground has reportedly been taken over by a scouting party of orcs, and there is a reward for clearing them out back in Phandalin as well. Cautiously, Basil sneaks up to the entrance. There’s a large, decaying body laying just outside of the entrance. Upon further inspection, the head is missing, and a greataxe is buried in its back. Basil waves the rest of us over. The area appears to be empty aside from some banners with three black arrows. Around 10 pairs of footprints lead north towards Neverwinter Wood.

“Well, the place is cleared out. Maybe we can use this body to prove we killed the orcs?” Milo suggests. We place the body on a banner and drag the body back towards Phandalin. On our way back, we come across an overturned wagon. A hill giant hunches over it, pulling food out and stuffing it in his bag. Naturally we assault the giant and slay him with some effort.

We stop by Old Owl Well again to camp that night. Guck passes by the tent to check out the tower itself. Inside, he runs into a crowd of zombies. He turns tail and bolts outside, zombies on his tail. The same man from before emerges from his tent, yelling at us, “What are you doing? Why did you come back here? Please don’t hurt them.” We turn on him and he flees. We leave the orc body for the zombies to feed on and burn the man’s tent. Milo and Basil sneak into the tower to loot and find a chest. Inside is a magical stone of some sort. They pocket it and slip out.

Without a reward to collect, we opt to push forward to Triboar. The town is fairly busy, filled with traders making their way back and forth between port cities before propagating their wares to the rest of the realm. We visit Dartha, the local Harper leader. She informs us that orc raiding parties have been spotted in the hills nearby. They’ve sent men out on patrol, but the men have been out for several days and need relief. That’s the reason we were summoned here. At dawn the next day, we are to meet the men out in the hills and assist in fending off the orcs.

We take the rest of the day to familiarize ourselves with the town and its inhabitants. Basil and Milo visit the wizard Hyuth Kolstag. He is not happy to have visitors and turns us away rudely. Seeing that Kolstag’s home is well defended, Basil realizes he needs a different strategy. He and Milo head to the tavern and play a drinking game. Despite his stature, Milo wins a few rounds in when Basil passes out.

The next morning, as the town is awakening, a boulder comes crashing through the belltower in the center of town. On the outskirts of town, fire giants are lobbing stones into town. Before them, a small host of orcs & orogs charges in. With so many soldiers gone, the town is nearly defenseless. Most of the townspeople flee for their lives, but a select few stay behind, us included. Milo runs for the stable, grabs his donkey Seymour, and rides out of town. While we engage the orcs, the two fire giants make their way to the center of town and start digging.

Milo is afraid, but hearing the suffering behind him, knows that he needs to do something to help. He leaves Seymour out by the road and runs back to town. The battle is going surprisingly well thanks to the presence of the party. Ghelryn Foehammer(henceforth lovingly referred to as Foe by Milo), the local dwarf blacksmith, is downed and nearly dies, saved just in time by Milo. Hyuth Kolstag is among those fighting, and appears to be wearing down, so Basil decides that now is his chance to strike.

“Trust me,” he says to Milo, and launches an arrow into Kolstag’s leg. Kolstag falls to one knee. In a panic, he turns invisible, fleeing the battle. Hopefully he believes that was an honest mistake, Basil thinks.

As the townspeople mop up the remaining orcs, the attention turns to the giants, who are still digging a massive hole. After exchanging a few blows, the giants decide their objective can wait, turning to flee back into the hills. Guck wants to chase them down and fight them man to man, but we manage to talk him down. Fires are put out, and the injured are cared for. Milo and Foe form a strong emotional bond. “Us smallfolk have to stick together,” Milo says.

Several townspeople perished in the attack, and those living are in shock. Giants being this aggressive is basically unheard of, especially this far south. 

[wulfderg]

Haters Guide to Worlds Knockout stage (LoL)

(This was written before Knockouts stage which as already ended)

After the craziest play-in stage and group stage in League of Legends history, knockouts is gonna be full of silver scrapes.

Griffin

With having HKA in our group and the dumpster fire that was C9 you had an easy guaranteed spot into the knockout stage but then showed everyone your full power by defeating G2 two times in a row to take 1st seed in group A after losing to them in your first game you'll have an easy game against the 2nd seed from one of the weakest groups. Top 4 is easy but good luck playing either FPX or Fnatic. Time for you to prove that the LCK is back!

Invictus Gaming

You also had an easy group playing against another LCS failure in Team Liquid and AHG and despite being the world champions DAMWON proved that the LCK is relevant again you need to fight back to defend your title but this year it'll be an uphill battle. This year I expect nothing. If last year was the failure of the LCK this year is the fail of the LCS and LPL and the beginning of the LEC era. Prove me wrong.

FPX

Your the LPL’s brightest hope but you've got some roadblocks ahead of you.

You lost to J team in your first game. Need I say more?

The LoL gods have not to pity for you, you've got a quarterfinal matchup against the team that made the demon king look like a civilian. Good luck  

Fnatic

In the group of death which no one could predict you looked all but dead after the first round, the decision to do what you always do and destroy everything in your path in the second half. In a group with SKT, RNG and the team that probably didn't deserve their spot over Mammoth and UoL in Clutch Gaming. Everyone is looking at you as tournament favourites and to make the G2 Fnatic dream final a reality. The LEC era has begun it started in Vietnam and will continue in Germany, Spain and France on home soil it's time to finally take Fnatics second world championship.

SKT

The days of SKT making every world final every time they attend is over and winning the majority of them don't even think about it. You made it out of the group of death sure but Fnatic came for your souls and the rest of Europe will want to dance on your grave. quarterfinal game against Splyce most possibly G2 in semis and Fnatic in the grand finals. The 3 horsemen of the apocalypse.  

Splyce

The team that was taken to a game 5 in the playing is now in the knockout stage. Knowing how dominant the LEC has been the storyline of SKT making finals the appearance of every world could be over. SKT is one of the tournament favourites but they've got a gauntlet to run through and it starts with Splyce. Splyce had a hard time in the group stage almost being knocked out by the J team who took some insane upsets against FPX but had a relatively easy group. This game will be hard but I can definitely see Splyce continuing the storyline from last year where no LCK teams made semi-finals. 

DAMWON

After joining the LCK this year they made it very clear that DAMWON wasn't gonna be relegated at the end of spring placing 4th place and then going one step further taking the 3rd LCK seed to worlds being the first Korean team in the play-in stage.

Undefeated in the play-in stage only losing one game in the best of 5 against Lowkey. 

G2

You won MSI by giving us the fastest best of 5 in International League history and have dominated the LEC since its inception. Need I say more? Yes, Fnatic almost beat you in 2 best of fives in a row but in this new meta, you look far too good in bot lane with the prominence of mages this tournament. I think Fnatic will win but it'll be very close. They found themselves in group D for group stage joining them were current world champion Invictus, MSI finalist and absolute failure Team Liquid and LMS 2nd seed ahq. Easy 5-1 only losing to Liquid. Now they find themselves playing the literal peak of League of legends. No, it isn't from Korea, no it isn't the unkillable demon king Faker and the fallen SKT dynasty. It's the gods of Europe looking for a grand slam on home soil G2 esports. This is a very easy prediction, the tournament favourites vs the lowest seed from the region that got destroyed last year by every other major region. I'll happily watch that 2 years in a row.

Predictions

[yourgamecheats]

League of Legends Worlds Semifinals Drew in Nearly 4 Million Concurrent Viewers at Peak

League of Legends Worlds Semifinals Drew in Nearly 4 Million Concurrent Viewers at Peak

This past weekend, the semifinal round of the League of Legends World Championship 2019 took place in two much-anticipated matchups between G2 Esports and SK Telecom T1 while FunPlus Phoenix took on Invictus Gaming. While both series’ ended up being fantastic in their own ways, Sunday’s showdown between SKT and G2 ended up being record-breaking.

During its peak on Sunday, the broadcast between G2…

[ikchen]

Storm King’s Thunder - Take Two: New Beginnings

I finally get to DM again, and I’m running Storm King’s Thunder, a pre-written 5e adventure that takes place in the Sword Coast a few years after Rise of Tiamat (1489), where the evil Cult of the Dragon Queen had tried their best to raise Tiamat, but was thwarted last minute by a handful of brave adventurers.

Now Faerun has returned to it’s usual pace, but new evil is stirring: Multiple reports of giant attacks of various kinds have reached the bigger cities of the North! What could’ve happened to stirr giantkind out of their reclusive contemplacy? It is up to our heroes to find out!

The party consists of:

Wren Appleblossom, a Halfling Druid (played by @neorxnawang) who left her tiny village to gain more experience to prepare herself for her role as the future village Druid.

Nissa Salazar, a Turami (Human) Paladin of Tyr (played by @captainviolet) who’s travelling the world to find a suitable resting place for the ashes of a long forgotten hero.

Caeleth, an Eladrin (Elven) Wizard, who left the Feywild to check up on a possible disturbance of the Prime Plane’s Ley Lines with the help of Wren.

Tibby aka Tip Of The Mountain, a Tabaxi (Ocelot) Ranger, who came all the way from the far away continent of Maztica and is eager to explore new and interesting places.

Eraiel Zamar, a Half Elven Bard with family problems, who was kicked out of the pirate town of Luskan for yet undisclosed reasons.

The adventure starts a few miles outside of the small town of Nightstone, just south of Waterdeep. Our heroes are heading there to check on the Nightstone, a (slightly) magical artefact from olden times. After two days of travel they reach the village, only to find it’s watch towers deserted, and the incessant ringing of a bell signalling trouble.

They decide to be careful and sneak up to the drawbridge at the village’s gate, noticing several tracks on the way that seem to indicate a large number of people have recently left the village, and other people, maybe not entirely human, have approached instead. Still sneaking they dare to enter the village, only to immediately be attacked by two rabid Worgs. After a few scary rounds they defeat those, and get to look around. Something strange seems to have happened in the village: Where once stood the gleaming obsidian Nightstone, now there’s only a hole. In addition to that, multiple houses have been destroyed by massive boulders that look like they fell out of the sky!

The bell is still ringing so they go check there first. Instead of frightened humans they find two Goblins playing with the rope and delighting in the noises the bell makes. After a bit of confusion about Goblin alignments they deal with those two, and head to the town’s inn next. Two boulders have smashed through the roof of this building, taking down one of the upstairs rooms and wrecking the kitchen. First they find a surprisingly dead Goblin, mysteriously shot by a crossbow bolt, then a very much alive Goblin girl in what’s left of the kitchen, stuffing a bag bigger than her with all the food and shiny things she could find. They decide to just tie her up and question her for the moment (and keep feeding her muffins...), Tibby decides not to let the grilled chicken go to waste and instead eat it, and Wren goes to check out the upstairs rooms, where she finds a confused Human Traveller, who claims she’s just passing through and was knocked unconscious by a falling boulder. The party notices her unusual pet, a flying snake named Abbie, but decides not to question her story more for the moment.

After searching a few more buildings and finding more Goblins, some of them chasing chickens, some dancing with pumpkins on their heads - they manage to trick those into running away - and a few unfortunately deceased people, the party heads to the village’s Keep, surrounded by a moat. The bridge crossing the moat is broken, but Caeleth just teleports over and a few minutes later a rope bridge is providing access for everyone else. Inside the Keep they find four Guards mourning the town’s High Steward, Lady Velrosa Nandar! Caeleth is mortified that all of these dead people have not been mourned properly so far, and that, of course, proper burial customs must be started immediately, as custom among his people, but the rest of the party explains that that’s not how things work here and that there are more important things to consider for the moment. Still, Eraiel gets to play some sad music for the deceased.

The guards explain to the rest of the group that a day ago a flying castle appeared out of the air, dropping boulders on the village, and most of the people fled towards the caves to the north of the village. Once the village was abandoned four giants came down, lifted the Nightstone into the flying castle, and flew away with it. This coincides with the story they heard from Dum-Dum, the Goblin girl: Yesterday many humans came to their caves, where they got captured by Hark, the leader of the Goblin tribe, who then sent out some of the younger Goblins to plunder the village.

The guards ask the party to clear the town of the remaining goblins while they’d repair the bridge over the moat, so they hurry to complete that task while there’s still some daylight remaining - after all humans and halflings aren’t any use in the dark - and afterwards retire to the inn to discuss what to do next. Everyone agrees that they should raise the drawbridge to protect themselves from nightly attacks, and that someone should keep watch.

[esportsrush-blog]

Griffins - Five as one

Post URL - https://esportsrush.com/griffins-five-as-one/

Griffins - Five as one

The underdogs.

I’m sure most people following the League Championship are aware of a recently formed team that is taking the LCK by storm: Griffins. The team has brought it’s A-game to every match changing up its strategy from a gold funneling team comp to an outright late game scaling team composition and has executed each strategy with utter perfection. The Griffins are clearly the underdogs this season, with a group of five challenger players that nobody knew about. When they first made their debut against Hanwha life, people were expecting a body bag beatdown. What they got instead was the show of a lifetime.

[caption id="attachment_1595" align="aligncenter" width="900"] The bot lane for griffin[/caption]

Who are the Griffin's?

The team currently holds the top seat in the LCK and it doesn’t look like they’ll be leaving it any time soon. What made the creatures with heads of birds and lionlike bodies creatures of myth were of course, the people and in the Championship with scores of fans cheering them on you can be sure the griffins are a team thats here to stay. The Griffins roster comprises of : Sword : Choi "Sword" Sung-won is a top laner for Griffin. Tarzan : Lee "Tarzan" Seung-yong is the jungler for Griffin. Rather and Chovy : Jeong "Chovy" Ji-hoon and Ji hun Shin "Rather" Hyeong-seop are the two oscillating mid laners for Griffin. Viper : Park "Viper" Do-hyeon is the bot laner for Griffin. Lehends : Son "Lehends" Si-woo is the support for Griffin. Kim cvMax Dae-ho is the coach for Griffin.

[caption id="attachment_1598" align="aligncenter" width="600"] From the left Tarzan, Chovy, Rather, Lehends, Viper and Sword[/caption]

Where did they begin?

Only last year, this team lost all their matches in the second round of the 2017 Challengers Korea Spring Split and was nearly relegated. In the following round 1 of the summer split, they went 3-4 and didn’t leave a very strong impression. However, after Kim “cvMax” Dae-ho joined the team as head coach, Griffin began to rise. The team that was nearly relegated finished 3rd in the regular season and 4th in the playoffs. In the KeSPA Cup tournament that followed, they defeated Afreeca Freecs and eventually lost to SKT T1 in the quarterfinals after a close full-set match. Commenting on Griffin’s performance against SKT, Lee “CloudTemplar” Hyun-woo said “I think we’ll be seeing Griffin more often from now on.” [caption id="attachment_1599" align="aligncenter" width="954"] Lehends and Chovy[/caption]

Kim “cvMax” Dae-ho

Griffin’s history thus far can be divided into two eras: before and after cvMax. Their results became drastically better after cvMax was named as head coach. He often answers questions on his team starting with: “I can’t tell you in detail because we need to hide our tactics…” but he still offers small hints about the secret to Griffin’s strength. In an earlier interview, cvMax said “What our team is aiming for is having one big brain that has the capacity of five brains controlling all five champions. Like one person playing an RTS game, controlling all five champions. That way, no calls are needed and there’s no need to debate. Our ultimate goal is to make plays without any calls.” This matches up with what Song “Lehends” Si-woo said about the team motto being “Five as one” in an interview after defeating Kingzone. [caption id="attachment_1600" align="aligncenter" width="600"] Kim “cvMax” Dae-ho Team Griffin's current coach[/caption]

Griffin’s shotcalling

Compared to other teams, they’re very quiet and calm during fights. Another rule that cvMax considers to be important is ‘no risk – low return’. They aim to gain advantages in small ways that have no risks. In the current meta, if a team gains a slight advantage and rolls the snowball in the early game, it’s nearly impossible to turn the game around later. If it is possible to gain small leads without risking anything, it could be the best tactic ever. Playing according to this plan, Griffin lanes safely and doesn’t risk making unnecessary plays. Naturally, warding up the jungle is more convenient for the team and also allows them to take initiative in the game.

Griffin of Teamfights, “Five as one”

Of course, even if the head coach is the best ever, it is the players who play the game. If the players aren’t able to carry out what the head coach has in mind, all the tactics in the world would mean nothing. The most impressive part of Griffin this season is their unbelievable teamfights. These amazing teamfights are the best proof and execution of the team’s “five as one” mantra; it really does seem like all the champions were being micro-controlled by one person. Park “Viper” Do-hyeon and Son “Lehends” Si-woo joined the team before the spring split in order to provide a synergy boost with Choi “Sword” Sung-won, Lee “Tarzan” Seung-yong, and Shin “Rather” Hyeong-seop, all of whom played together for a while. With the addition of rookie Jeong “Chovy” Ji-hoon, the teamwork and synergy they have is at a matchless level. They came back from many losing games through some extraordinary teamfights and earned themselves the nickname: “Griffin of teamfights.”

Griffin of teamfights.

Among them, there are players that stick out more than the others. ADC Viper is called ‘the next Faker’ by some fans, due to his exceptional mechanics and wide range of champions. In the 2018 LCK Summer Split, he played traditional marksman ADC champions only twice, and one of those two times was as mid lane Kai’Sa (Game 1 against SKT). Many say that his Vladimir is even better than the mid laners. [caption id="attachment_1601" align="aligncenter" width="909"] League Championship - Korea[/caption]

Esports, League of Legends

Chovy, cvMax, E-sports, gaming, Griffin, LCK, LCK teams, League, league of legends, Lehends, lol, Rather, Sword, Tarzan, viper, worlds