Lin Yan had a good night's sleep. When he woke up, the sky was already bright.
Xiao Tian seemed to have forgotten to close the balcony door last night. The curtains were blown by the morning breeze, and the hot air in Rio mixed with the cold air in the room. It was quite uncomfortable.
Lin Yan rubbed his arms, which were frozen in ice and fire, and got out of bed. Ignoring Phyllostachys Pubescens, who was still sleeping soundly, he opened the curtains, stepped into the balcony, and closed the door behind him.
The Rio Hotel's specifications were much higher than the one in São Paulo. The wide balcony allowed Lin Yan to easily see the beautiful blue-green Atlantic Ocean. The view of the lagoon was magnificent.
Lin Yan sat on the balcony chair and tried his best to look into the distance, relaxing his body.
The sound of the waves crashing against the shore could be heard. Seagulls circled low in the sky, looking for food. The sun shone on the golden beach, and a few Brazilian teenagers ran past in a row, bouncing a football.
Lin Yan relaxed for about fifteen minutes before going back to his room to wash up, preparing to rush to the hotel's training room.
He had to hurry up and practice. There were still four days until the semi-finals.
Since the mid-season championship was held during the spring and summer season, the schedule was very tight. The finals would be held the day after the semi-finals, and there was no time to adjust the schedule.
When Lin Yan pushed open the door to the training room in his team uniform, White Crescent and doom were already sitting there, discussing something in low voices. The map of the Summoner's Canyon in front of them had been messed up by the marker pen in their hands.
They were also holding tablets in their hands, playing SKT's match video.
Doom wiped the ink off the whiteboard, then placed the five magnets representing SKT's members on the whiteboard. He sat there with White Crescent, analyzing SKT's movements and goals.
Their goal was definitely the finals, and their imaginary opponent was SKT, who was stronger in terms of raw power.
Lightning Wolves were known to be the vanguard of the Korean team in the best-of-one matches, but the disadvantage of playing against the Korean team in the best-of-five matches was obvious.
White Crescent studied SKT first. If Lightning Wolves made it to the finals, it would be good news for them.
After all, this opponent was much easier to deal with than SKT.
"Do you want to go play on the beach outside?" The door of the training room was pushed open, and the voice was heard before the person arrived.
He knew it was Lin Weixiang as soon as he heard it. He thoughtlessly put his hands on Lin Yan's shoulders and rubbed them hard.
"No, no." Lin Yan waved his hand. "We don't have much time to begin with. It won't be too late to play after we win the championship."
In four days, they had to prepare for the BO5 between the two teams. Lin Yan couldn't wait to skip his meals, so how could he still care about going out to play?
Xiao Tian, who had just walked into the training room, seemed to be tempted.
"If we go out to play and lose to G2 in the semi-finals, I'm afraid we'll be whipped by the netizens for an entire year."
Lin Yan reminded.
Xiao Tian looked at Lin Weixiang and thought of the Anti-Bar Carnival after VN's death roll.
He shuddered.
"I'm not going, I'm not going." Phyllostachys Pubescens quickly calmed down. "You can go play with Master Tear."
Lin Weixiang asked around and happily pulled Liu Qingsong along. The two of them ran to the beach wearing sunglasses and had fun like two huskies.
In the four days, other than filming the fist fight promotional video, pre-match interviews, and rehearsals, they spent the rest of their time in the training room.
Everyone in YM had the same thought in their hearts. Since they had sacrificed their holiday after the Spring Season and traveled half the world to get here, there was no reason for them to go back empty-handed.
In the afternoon of May 24th, YM left the hotel and took a bus to the semi-finals venue — the Rio Olympic Stadium.
The stadium had hosted the 2014 World Cup in Brazil and the 2016 Rio Olympic Games. It could accommodate up to sixty thousand spectators.
It was a veritable giant stadium.
The bus slowed down when it was two kilometers away from the stadium.
The streets were so congested that not even a drop of water could trickle through. There were all kinds of cars around, and the beeping of horns echoed through the windows of the bus.
For a moment, Lin Yan thought that he had arrived at Brother India's territory.
"They're all going to the stadium. We have to wait for a while." Guo Hao looked around and knew that they wouldn't be able to get there anytime soon.
"They're all going to watch the competition?" Jin Gong pulled open the curtains and looked out the window. "Isn't this too exaggerated?"
Outside the window, many Brazilians took out their phones and took photos of the bus with the fist symbol. They had excited smiles on their faces as they pointed at the bus and talked about something.
"There are only two subway lines in the entire city of Rio, and they're both concentrated in the northern area." Winston, who was sitting in the front row, had a camera around his neck. "The city is usually congested, and with the competition today, it's even more congested."
The Brazilian competition was similar to the Vietnamese competition. Although the professional players' standards were poor, the audience's enthusiasm for eSports was unusually high.
In their eyes, the MSI semi-finals was a high-level eSports competition, much higher than the Brazilian domestic league. Naturally, the audience's enthusiasm was high.
"But it's not a big problem." Winston picked up his camera and aimed it at the traffic outside the window. "When I was planning the trip, I had already reserved the time for the traffic jam."
The ten-kilometer journey from the hotel to the stadium took an hour. YM's team entered the Rio Olympic Stadium at the last minute.
Makeup, security checks, drinks filled …
White Crescent even took 15 minutes to explain the key points of this semi-finals to them. Then, the team members left the lounge under the urging of the competition staff.
Lin Yan stood in the middle of the team. When he took the elevator to the center of the stage, the noisy cheers and screams around him filled his ears.
"Next, let us welcome the first place of the MSI group stage — Young Miracles!"
Accompanied by the Brazilian host's passionate voice, Lin Yan and his teammates waved their arms and greeted the audience in all directions.
Lin Yan looked at the G2 team opposite him. Ah P had his eyes closed and his hands behind his back. His body swayed left and right, as if he was immersed in his own world.
…
"Welcome, everyone, to the live broadcast of the first semi-finals of the MSI."
Today's live broadcast commentator was Remember and Zeyuan.
"It should be two o 'clock in the morning in China," Zeyuan said. "Those who can get up and resist the sleepiness to watch the competition must be true fans of LPL."
Remember's voice was excited. "That's right. I believe YM's performance today will not disappoint everyone's expectations!"
There was no extra time to prepare. The metallic sound that symbolized the start of the BP match had already resounded throughout the stadium!
The Brazilian audience at the scene exploded into a deafening noise, preparing to welcome this semi-finals!
As YM was first in the group stage, they had the priority to choose the side in the semi-finals.
White Crescent chose the blue side, trying to use YM's outstanding hero pool to give the pressure of the BP match to G2.
He came up and suppressed Sindra first. His goal was quite simple — to force G2 to block Lucian.
This was an open conspiracy.
Broken Black Cutter's mid laner Lucian was the real ADC in this version. In the mid-game, he could even solo a tank. Those fake ADC could only run when they saw a hero like Shen in the mid-game.
G2's coach, Young Buck, was a chubby white man with a beard. He had led G2 to win three consecutive LEC trophies since last year.
Although last year's results were 2-8 in the MSI and 2-4 in the S6 World Championship, it was already enough to show his strength.
After all, for some teams, being an insider in the internal competition was a blessing.
(Little knowledge: Coach Young Buck left G2 after S7 to go to his arch-rival, FNC. In 2018, he led the team to the S8 Global Finals. He is considered a top coach in Europe.)
He decisively sent Lucian to the ban position, flipping through the notebook in his hand.
"Let's ban Kainan." White Crescent was in deep thought as she subconsciously pressed down on the spring of her pen. "They'll probably ban Shen. That way, you'll have a lot of room to play."
White Crescent's idea was very simple.
On the blue side, use the advantage of first selection to exchange bans with G2 and then give the team the advantage of a hero.
G2's coach frowned and thought for a moment before making a decision.
"G2's second ban position is given to Lulu!" Ze Yuan was a little surprised. "This move is a little strange …"
"Although support Lulu is very strong in the current version, YM usually doesn't grab support first." Remember was also puzzled. "They are more inclined to let Nakano and AD get the hero first."
"Lulu and the others should be able to use it themselves, right?"
On the field, White Crescent thought for a moment. "Ban Emerald God."
Emerald God's appearance rate in this MSI was quite high (see the picture in this chapter).
In fact, it had not been strengthened in the past few versions. It was even nerfed in version 7.3 (see picture).
The reason for Emerald God's sudden increase in appearance rate was very simple: it was very good at protecting the jungle in the early game.
The existence of the passive [Friend of the Forest] made it very easy for Emerald God to protect and invade the jungle in the early game. 2.5 seconds of channeling time could create a magical little plant in the jungle camp. After a certain amount of time, the jungle monsters could be happily sent away and the experience and gold reward would be obtained.
If one did not want to wait for a period of time, Emerald God only needed to use passive + Punishment to complete the jungle camp in an instant. This was extremely advantageous in anti-junglers.
In this version, invading junglers such as Nanqiang, Blind Monk, and Spider were very strong. Emerald God could effectively protect its own jungle in the early game and seize the opportunity to complete a quick anti-jungler.
Moreover, unlike S6, the decrease in the jungle's respawn rate had greatly increased the cost and benefits of invading and anti-invading the jungle. Originally, if a group of junglers was countered, they could wait for 100 seconds for the next respawn. Now, the time cost had increased by 50 seconds.
It was very difficult for heroes such as Nanqiang and Blind Monk to invade Emerald God's jungle. Moreover, if they were not careful, half of the jungle would be countered. In this situation, carnivorous junglers would basically be disconnected.
Xiao Tian and Lin Yan would definitely go to the anti-G2 jungle. Emerald God could not be released.
"G2's last ban position is given to Tam. They are targeting the Prophet!"
White Crescent looked at the screen and clicked on the pen.
Due to G2's slightly strange BP strategy, there were now many strong heroes released outside.
However, there was only one support position left, Karma.
If they got Karma, then the red side G2's first and second hand would definitely get the strong heroes of the other lanes.
"Take Karma first. We can waver for a bit." White Crescent did not hesitate and planned to push back Lin Yan's choice.
He was not afraid of countering moves as they came.
This was because YM's hero pool was much deeper than G2's.
G2 took Shen and Ice.
It was still acceptable.
"If I'm not wrong, YM will take Verus and Blind Monk …" The commentators guessed YM's next choice. "These are the remaining T1-level heroes outside."
As expected, YM locked down these two characters very quickly.
G2 added Spider Queen at the end of the first round.
In the second round, both sides went for the mid laner that the other side had not shown.
Clockwork, Enchantress, Fox, and Ryze were all sent to the ban position.
White Crescent knew that G2 was relying on Ah P's personal ability now. As long as he could suppress Perkz, G2 would be instantly silenced.
G2's coach also knew that he could not let Lin Yan get a convenient hero. Ah P had to at least get a hero that was evenly matched to ensure that he would not be suppressed by Lin Yan.
"Are the two teams testing the hero pool of the mid laners?" Ze Yuan's tone was exaggerated. "Both sides have banned a total of six mid laners in two rounds!"
G2's coach rubbed his beard.
"Malzahar," he said to his team members.
He decided to leave the last counter position to Ah P.
"Can Galio and Qing Gang Yin do it?" White Crescent asked. He still planned to let the Prophet take Karma to ensure the strength of the bottom lane.
"Yes, yes," Jin Gong answered repeatedly.
Galio was not easy to play against Shen in the top lane, but at least he could keep up with the support.
G2's coach paced back and forth at the back.
He knew the power of Lin Yan's Qing Gang Yin.
He patted Ah P's shoulder and discussed with his mid laner.
"Now Ah P hasn't chosen a hero yet. Let's see his last choice …" Ze Yuan's voice just fell.
G2's Lock Lady Gunner.
"What?!" He remembered that he was very surprised by G2's fifth choice. "This is a support Lady Gunner!"
"G2 is going to use Ice + Lady Gunner to hit YM's unshifted bottom lane and replicate the classic showdown of the S6 finals!"
"Grasshopper is a swing choice. It's going to be used by Ah P to hit Qing Gang Yin!"
Malzahar relied on the passive immunity effect of [Void Travel] to resist Qing Gang Yin's rush control. At the same time, his big move [Grip of the Underworld] could also be used with the jungler to forcibly kill Qing Gang Yin in the mid lane.
Like the support Lady Gunner, this was a strange move. In the entire spring competition, Grasshopper was used as a support, and Lady Gunner only appeared once. As usual, it was used to hit Ella.
White Crescent did not expect that the opposing coach also liked to swing. He was comparable to RNG's coach Brother Feng.
He fell into an inexplicable excitement.
This was the impulse and joy of meeting an old friend in a foreign land.
It turned out that everyone was from the same school!
You and Brother Feng swing the hero, I swing the position, we are all swingers!
Let's swing together!
"Take Lin Yan, you take Galio and hit him. Let Jin Gong take Qing Gang Yin to the top lane." He had always been able to adapt to the situation.
In this case, he did not dare to change the lane again. Jin Gong was still not very adapted to the lane environment of the middle lane. To be safe, they still played the position they were best at.
Lin Yan shook his hand. "Galio is not easy to hit Grasshopper."
Malzahar had percentage damage to tank Galio's speed was not slow, and the silence effect of Q's [Void Summon] also somewhat restrained Galio's big move.
"But between Qing Gang Yin and Galio, we will definitely choose to sacrifice Galio." White Crescent said with a smile.
Qing Gang Yin, who ate resources in the middle of the game, was certainly not bad. Galio, who was a meat lump, was suppressed. Anyway, it was a team battle protection.
"Tanks have no human rights, right?" Lin Yan was a little dissatisfied.
"Tanks want human rights?" Jin Gong snorted. "I want to laugh."
On the commentary platform, Ze Yuan did not remember the situation of the hero swinging in the top lane of YM.
"YM is still not changing the hero?" Ze Yuan looked at the countdown on the OB screen and was a little impatient.
The Chinese live broadcast was also full of question marks.
"The countdown is over, the lineup has been confirmed!"
Just like he did not guess G2's female gunner, he remembered that this time, he did not guess YM's hero choice.
"Is it really mid laner Galio?"
Ze Yuan shouted there. "Ever since Galio was remade, he has been used to take the top lane. He has never been hit!"
(2017 MSI Mid Lane Hero Usage Chart) "My Old Swan, what new tricks is Ran up to this time!" Remember to sound excited.
The lineup of both sides had been confirmed.
Blue YM: Top Lane Qing Gang Yin, Jungler Blind Monk, Mid Lane Galio, Bottom Lane Verus + Karma.
Red G2: Top Lane Shen, Jungler Spider, Mid Lane Malzahar, Bottom Lane Ice + Female Gunner.
The moment the lineup was confirmed, the tens of thousands of Brazilian spectators at the scene let out loud cheers and cheers. The sound gathered together and even spread out of the open-air giant stadium!
This semi-final had been hidden from the start. The repeated swings and restrained choices made the Brazilian spectators, who had not seen many top teams, feel satisfied!
At the same time, the Chinese live broadcast was also boiling.
[Is Ran's new job coming?]
[I already used Galio to take the middle lane. This hero is much better than taking the top lane. He can fly up and down!]
[Yes, yes, yes. The teams that used Galio as the top lane were all stupid. Why don't you be a coach?
You can win S7!]
In fact, there was a reason why Galio did not take the middle lane.
Because when he was just remade, he was a pure tank hero and had a good percentage of damage. Against Lu Shen, Titan, Wine Barrel, and Bobby, these tank gods, he could not be at a disadvantage. In the middle and late game, he could win support and group protection.
But in version 7.7, when the Spring Season was about to end, Galio was hit hard. The passive [Colossus Bash] output was reduced, and the percentage of damage from Q [War Squall] was cut. Some of the damage was transferred to AP.
(Galio version 7.7 changes are shown in the picture.)
This weakened Galio's position as the top lane.
At that time, the middle lane was the world of heroes like Lucian and Sindra.
Although Galio's support ability was good after level 6, it was difficult for him to take the top lane in the early and middle stages of the game.
In this version, junglers had to do something before level 6. If heroes like Blind Monk and Spider did not have an advantage in the early stages, the situation would be quite difficult.
In this case, Galio did not have an advantage in the early stages of support compared to Lucian and Sindra.
Moreover, Galio's damage was not enough after being nerfed.
In the current version where tanks dominated the top lane, if Galio was chosen as the mid laner, the pressure on the other three teammates would be too great.
But now that the four teammates of YM were not lacking in damage, Lin Yan could be at ease and choose boldly.
"I'll bring Purify. Prophet, don't be too fierce in the lane."
Jack looked at the opposing team's Ice + Lancer bottom lane choice and could not help but think back to last year's S6 semifinals when the Tigers pulled out this strange move.
If he brought a healer and got hit by Ice's arrow, it would be a dead end.
Jack would rather give up some of his lane suppression and bring Purify to save his life.
Lin Yan still switched to Teleport to ensure the safety of his teammates. Ah P's Grasshopper carried Sprint. Although this skill had been nerfed by Lin Yan, the mid laner could still use it.
Both teams entered Summoner's Canyon and began the first small round of the MSI semifinals amidst the cheers of the audience!
Lin Yan went out to buy a Corruption Potion and an accessory to scan. He marked a signal on the map and commanded his teammates to fight a level one team.
He controlled the huge Galio to walk at the front and led his teammates into the G2 jungle like a hen leading four chicks.
G2 knew the strength of Galio and Qing Gang Yin and decisively avoided the battle. They only left a defensive eye position in their own jungle in advance.
But Lin Yan guessed the position of the Fake Eye.
Scanning the path between the blue BUFF and the Demonic Swamp Frogs' camp, Lin Ran, Little Tian, and Jin Gong shared the experience points of the Fake Eye.
Just one Fake Eye was removed and the Brazilian audience in the stadium erupted in enthusiastic cheers!
The YM players could still hear the sound through their soundproof headphones. The eSports atmosphere in Brazil was amazing!