NJseal

Inside the VIP booth of the Great Wall Internet Cafe.
As soon as Lin Xiao spoke, the others also realized.
That right, in tomorrow's exhibition match, isn't the SD Team going to face South Korea's NJseal?
The reigning world champions of last season.
The NJseal team featured Pone, recognized as the world's number one mid laner, and Kaos, a peak-tier jungler.
Purely comparing the players' individual skills: in the mid lane, Pone and the SD Team's SD.Two were evenly matched; in the jungle, Kaos and SD.Four were neck and neck.
Even though they were shocked by the SD Team's incredible performance during this tournament, everyone in the Great Wall Internet Cafe's VIP booth had no doubt that when they went up against NJseal's mid-jungle duo, they might find themselves at a slight disadvantage.
This would be a true clash of titans.
A peak duel of pure skill, without any gimmicks.
You have a perfectly coordinated mid-jungle duo that swept through the Hero Cup to take the championship; but my mid-jungle duo has actually won a world championship!
Mao Zi's eyes lit up: "Damn, just thinking about it gets my blood pumping!"
But Liu Ge suddenly gasped: "Wait, has the SD Team already reached a level where they can stand shoulder-to-shoulder with NJseal?"
Liu Ge's perspective was clearly different from the others, but it hit the nail on the head—
At this moment, the direction of everyone's discussion in the VIP booth was about which team in the world could deal with the SD Team's mid-jungle duo... This was placing the SD Team, a "rookie" team, on a much higher pedestal!
As soon as those words were spoken, the others in the booth felt as if they had just woken up from a dream:
"Holy shit, that's right! They are clearly just a rookie team participating in the Hero Cup, so why does it feel like they are already one of the world's top powerhouse teams?"
"The CN server couldn't stop them, and the Korean and EU servers couldn't either. That only leaves a few teams... Damn, is the SD Team really that strong?"
"If they even take down NJseal in tomorrow's exhibition match... wouldn't the SD Team skyrocket to the top overnight!?"
Lao Xiao spoke with a tone full of awe, and the entire booth fell silent for a moment.
What would defeating NJseal mean?
It meant the entire League of Legends esports world would erupt in excitement!
It meant a dark horse team would violently storm the highest throne of the pro scene, toppling the previous season's champions!
If that scene really happened...
It would absolutely be the biggest, most sensational news since the start of the year!
...
Listening to everyone's heated discussion, Lin Xiao shook his head while eating chocolate:
"Toppling NJseal... is still not very realistic..."
A certain someone muttered.
Of course, he believed that his former teammates' mid-jungle synergy was not inferior to NJseal's Pone and Kaos.
But the problem was, the enemy mid-jungle duo tomorrow wouldn't be intimidated by their presence like other teams.
Therefore, in terms of mid-jungle tactical effectiveness, the two sides would likely be evenly matched at best.
What remained to be evaluated was the mechanical skill of the other positions, as well as their tactical execution and drafting.
And for the SD Team, which relied on their mid-jungle duo as their core win condition, their chances against NJseal would probably be... a thirty-seventy split at best.
In other words, in tomorrow's exhibition match between North America's SD Team and South Korea's NJseal, the odds of victory were only thirty to seventy.
Of course, this didn't mean tomorrow's match would be any less exciting.
In fact, Lin Xiao had no doubt that the quality of tomorrow's exhibition match would be on par with the semifinals or finals of the previous World Championship!
The reason was simple—
With the SD Team's current situation, they would definitely continue to play around their mid-jungle duo as their core strategy;
And a proud team like NJseal wouldn't reveal too many pocket strategies in an exhibition match either. They would likely also rely on their mid-jungle duo to clash head-on with the SD Team's core strengths.
Soldier against soldier.
General against general.
King against King!
"Well, in that case, tomorrow's match will indeed be very interesting..."
Lin Xiao muttered to himself.
...
That night, South Korea, NJseal Team's training base.
Watching a video of the Hero Cup finals on his computer screen, Kaos, the team's jungler, frowned and evaluated:
"This SD Team... their jungler plays very well."
Beside him, Pone, the world's current number one mid laner, withdrew his gaze from the Blue Team's mid lane Twisted Fate on the screen: "SD.Two, their mid laner, is also very strong..."
To receive a "very strong" evaluation from Pone was extremely rare.
Because Pone had only given such an evaluation three times before.
Once to NJwolf's mid laner, Kla, from their sister team; once to Flow, Europe's number one mid laner; and once to Shuang Leng Mo He of the CN server's Nine Heavens Team.
Those people were all God-tier mid laners standing at the very peak of the League of Legends professional scene.
And now, the ID "SD.Two" had been added to the list of players Pone respected.
Kaos's lips curled into a wild, unbridled smile: "Since they also use a mid-jungle core strategy, I can't wait to meet them—"
...
The next day at 4:30 PM.
In Seoul, South Korea, the three-thousand-seat arena was packed to the brim, completely sold out.
The first two rows were filled with professional players from various teams participating in the Hero Cup. Along with the spectators in the back rows, they were here to watch today's exhibition match between the Hero Cup champions, North America's SD Team, and the strongest team in Korea and the world, NJseal.
Amidst the glamorous female host's introduction, the players from both teams took the stage from either side.
They were greeted by a thunderous wave of cheers and applause that shook the entire arena:
NJseal! —NJseal! —NJseal! —
Sunnyday! —Sunnyday! —Sunnyday! —
Both teams—one having put on a flawless performance to sweep the Hero Cup, and the other being the strongest team in the world in the hearts of Korean players—enjoyed incredibly high popularity.
In the player spectator area below the stage, Jiang Hao Jie looked at the fiery atmosphere with envy: "Sigh, why didn't we get such thunderous applause during our finals yesterday..."
Beside him, Jian Yu Ke adjusted his glasses and smiled: "There's no point in comparing that. Just focus on the match."
Jiang Hao Jie pouted, and just as he was about to speak, the Korean host on stage announced that the players were entering their respective booths, preparing to start the match.