Jessica

I hit post and not spoiler by accident 🙈.

They did not lose. Tong Yao and Lu Yeu played in the match and then he got better and played in the finals.

Throughout the novel they talk about the korean teams a lot and play games. As the korean teams are very strong and must of the time beat the Chinese teams. That's why a few teams have Korean players as they are said to be very good players.

This drama has a lot of actors. As soon as I see some of them I already dislike their character as they were not good people in their other dramas. Lol, and surprise surprise they aren't good in this too. Some were pretty goof villians and I also liked them.
My 1 + year of Cdramas have really introduced me to many actors.

Okay thank you for the well thought out reply. The initial comment did not bring across with you later comment did.
In the novel and this drama she was chosen based on her ability. No one knew that she was a female because she never did live streams with her camera on. The team only knew she was a female after they made contact with her.

I think they are doing a good job so far with the drama and even without reading it is enjoyable. I like it so much more as I have read the novel and always enjoy seeing what I have read made into movies or shows.

Also thanks for the discussion :).

Yes I do think they did a disservice to her character. I really hope the coming episodes really show out more of Tong Yao character.

Let me correct you... As I don't know how you could have missed all of the practicing that Tong Yao was doing from the time she hit the base. You should probably go back and watch episodes 2,3,4,5 etc to see how much work she was putting in be it attending team strategy meetings, streaming, working with Ming God or just working on her own. Slacking off even a few scenes you see her alone in the training room and the others weren't even awake or her and Ming God alone training. Episode 3 especially showed how hard she was working as she made a Webio post about being exhausted as a dog.
I don't know if you work or not but if you are a working person and you do not even have a little time to shop or even hang out with friends and get drunk or even wear make up well you really need to go have some fun. As too much work and no rest will make you ill. I personally do not drink, nor wear make up but that does not mean that any WOMAN that does so is doing useless stuff that is what they like and enjoy.
As for getting drunk. In the novel Tong Yao is only 19 and that was her first time drinking, she kept repeating that she didn't drink alcohol but ice tea. I believe that she didn't know that she would get so drunk. Why did she go and get drunk? The team had a practice match with TaT and Ah Tai in particular loves to break the moral of midsolo players before they get too strong or even when they are strong. That is why Lu Si Cheng (Chessman) did not want them to do the match with TaT in the first place. As many teams lost players after playing with them (the players stopped competing professionally). After they lost the video was leaked and she was then being criticized and bulled online. Now you tell me how many people who are bullied online and mind you someone who has never experienced something like that handle it? It would not be all sunshine and daisy.
As for the make up why didn't you speak about K being very specific about his lipstick colours and all the other things the others had to say. Obviously a woman's make up would take longer than a man. However make up is not something that she is into but knowing how many women are interested in the sport can she not make a little fuss about her make up so as not to be bullied online for not looking nice enough. Then after they were waiting for her she needed to change her clothes after everyone left.
I am not praising the drama I am and just stating my opinions just like yours and mine are the complete opposite of yours.

Why should the only reason Tong Yao is taken seriously or get respect is if she does not wear a short skirt or shorts. That's just some sexism right there. If the only thing another professional can is the clothes their colleague wears and not their talent then something is wrong with that persons view. She is a women why is her uniform sexy because she has on a skirt. Women also think that men look sexy too in their pants.
Plus she stood out when she was chosen from all those other male professional male players I am sure they could have chosen to join the team and non-professional gamers. That was with skill not because of her gender.

I really took exception to your comment of useless stuff. Why do we look at women wearing make up it that's their thing, doing girl stuff and wearing sexy undergarments in this manner. So in order for a women to make it in a mans world she should throw away all her feminity (girl stuff) and act more like a man do manly stuff?
1. When she used the beauty lens it was to try and avoid those female fans and even men from talking about her not being pretty enough. That's why even when she played games all this time she never turned on her camera. She wanted people to comment on how she played more than her face.
2. Did you see the choice she made when she choose her undergarment. Would the rabbit and carrot print be considered sexy by many. It is her friend who carried her shopping.
3. Was the whole team not doing make up for their team photographs to be used. Didn't one other person also say something about his makeup.

How do you think it will look when all the other team members are looking good either while streaming or in those photographs and she looks plain? Do you think they will be looking at her stats then.
Women always have to prove themselves a 1000% more than men and it's other women too that add to this pressure. Did you think she made it to the top of the server and wasn't a professional player because she did not improve herself. Or was picked without her identity being know because she wasn't good enough out of all the other players?

This comment section took me back to the last day of the drama Moonlight lol. Everyone sharing links to watch out the last few episodes.

His mother set the blind date for him. He went to it and told the girl that they aren't suitable (rejected her). She also didn't want to go on a blind date but after she saw how handsome he was she changed her mind. Someone made a joke about her being his fiancee. I think his brother because he was the one to give out the wechat.
No break up and his mother never met Tong Yao. However she liked her when she finally found put he had a GF.

He was 25.

In the novel someone just said fiancee as a joke. She was a blind date that his mom set up and after she saw him she decided that she could date him. But was rejected from the get go. They never broke up.
But these dramas like to make unnecessary conflict so maybe she will be more annoying.

I find some of the changes from the novel to the drama are very unnecessary.
1. Her mother was the one who convinced her to join the team. So why make her mom so resistant to it.
2. Mings retirement announcement was in between the gaming rounds and nobody knew about it.
3. Tong Yao had already made up her mind when she got to the match and Mings announcement made it more settled in her mind.
3. The ex does not go to the bar. Ai Jai would have never called him.
4. But the biggest one for me is K. He does not have a problem with Tong Yao. So his coldness to her was so shocking to me.
So many more changes were made.

However I am enjoying this adaptation so I am not bothered to the extent that I would drop the drama. As all books (novels) to drama, tv shows, movies, series etc will not always go according to every detail. Script writers would have no job lol lol.

I keep thinking that the male lead expressions and actions does not look as serious and cold as in the love. Maybe because he has like a baby face and also he was very playful in Courtlady so that's what I am seeing. However I do think it will work well for the later part of the drama.
I think Tong Yao is a little more assertive.
These opinions do not take away from their acting as I think they are doing a good job. You cannot always portray every single thing from a novel to drama.

Would you like a me to tell you? This would be according to the novel.

No love triangle. That's just a scene with other gamers.

This isn't true. Just watching the 1st 2 episodes and I saw many changes. The order in which things happened, how she joined the team, her mother etc. But it's a good adaptation and the story is flowing so far.