The more Lin Ran walked forward, the louder the cheers from the audience in front of him became. The noise gathered together and was reflected by the walls of the stadium. It mixed with the sound waves that came from behind and filled his ears with noise!
The live audience held up banners and support items with [YM # WIN] to welcome their arrival!
The seven players and coach White Crescent surrounded the high platform in the center of the stage, their eyes fixed on the huge trophy in the hands of Lin Yan and Jin Gong.
Except for Lin Yan, the Siberian, Mongoose, and Jack, the other four were seeing the Summoner's Trophy for the first time. It was inevitable that they were curious.
Thinking of this, Lin Yan was still a little resentful.
After winning the championship last year, Fist had taken the original trophy, which was the Summoner's Trophy that he and Jin Gong were carrying, back to the headquarters. If YM wanted the trophy, they would have to spend 25000 USD to buy a replica that was a quarter of the size of the original.
Guo Hao had transferred the money to BMW at the end of last year after getting sponsorship. However, Fist did not do anything after receiving the money. A year had passed and there was no sign of the Summoner's Trophy. YM could only borrow Lin Yan's FMVP trophy from Su Cheng to put on display.
Although it was very valuable, it was still too small. The visual impact was not just a little bit better than the Summoner's Trophy.
Phyllostachys Pubescens could not help but look at Lin Weixiang and Liu Qingsong's dazed eyes. "Look at your useless faces. Brother Ran was right. Our goal is the Bird's Nest!"
"Don't, don't, don't... Let's get into the top eight first." Lin Yan became very conservative. "Let's try not to be the godfather. Let's catch up to EDG's best record first."
"You can do it, YM!" the muscular man yelled loudly.
With the big brother taking the lead, the audience below the stage once again raised their voices after a short pause. The enclosed stadium was instantly filled with the sound of cheers!
This was the charm of playing on home ground!
The voices from below the stage filled the ears of the YM members. Without the soundproof headphones, they could not hear what the other party was saying.
Lin Yan and Jin Gong placed the Summoner's Trophy on the stage after receiving the signal from the staff.
The spotlights above the stage suddenly turned on and shone on the silver Summoner's Trophy, which instantly shone brightly!
"Let us give another round of applause to Team YM!"
Ren Dong, who had a microphone, was unable to suppress the heated atmosphere in the stadium even with the help of the sound amplification equipment. Lin Yan and his teammates bowed and retreated to the back amidst thunderous applause.
"Next, let us welcome the champions of two global finals, SKT team!"
As the most popular overseas team in the country, SKT also received enthusiastic cheers from the live audience!
Li Xianghe led several other players onto the stage. When he passed by the Summoner's Trophy, he did not hide his ambition, like a lion who wanted to take his prey for himself.
He raised his head slightly and met Lin Yan's eyes. Li Xianghe turned his head and waved to the live audience.
If SKT was here to snatch the Summoner's Trophy, then Samsung was here for revenge. When they stepped onto the stage, everyone, from Coach Edgar to the team members, had their eyes on YM.
In a moment, they would meet their nemesis in the opening match!
However, this was only their wishful thinking. YM did not even look at Samsung. In Lin Yan's eyes, Samsung was just a team that he had defeated in the quarterfinals last year.
At that time, we accidentally ran over them and didn't even know we had run them over.
"The 16 teams have assembled." Ren Dong looked at the top teams from all over the world standing on the stage. He waved his arms and said, "Heroes pursue the legend. Now, the 2017 League of Legends Global Finals officially begins!"
The 16 teams left the stage one by one. Both sides returned to the waiting room and took out their fist-tested peripherals before stepping onto the stage again.
The audience below the stage was still cheering loudly. Lin Yan plugged his mouse and keyboard into the interface on the table, then started the game and adjusted the settings.
"Everyone, fight harder today. Let's get off to a good start." Lin Yan put on his soundproof headphones and communicated with his teammates.
Although he had relieved himself of the pressure on his shoulders, there was still a fire in his heart that had nowhere to vent. Today, he would start with Samsung!
"Welcome everyone to the Wuhan Sports Center!"
With the opening match of this division's celebrity team, YM, there was no need to elaborate on the commentary. Doll Mille appeared in the live broadcast room.
"In the first match, YM, the first seed of the LPL division, will face off against the third seed of the LCK division, SSG!" Mille took advantage of the fact that the match had not yet begun to reveal the information to the audience.
"It can be said that Samsung didn't shed a single drop of blood in the qualifiers. They entered the group stage with a perfect record. They should have a better understanding of the global finals of 7.18 than YM. After all, we didn't participate in the qualifiers."
Doll nodded in agreement with his partner's point of view. "However, there are pros and cons to this qualifier. Even though they were the first to adapt to the new version, Samsung must have exposed some of their tactics. It's up to YM's coaches to come up with a countermeasure."
In the waiting room, Su Cheng, who had just turned on the big screen and hadn't had time to turn off the commentary, almost couldn't hold back her laughter when she heard Doll's words.
Samsung won all their matches in the qualifiers, so they could honestly choose the most powerful hero in the version. They could crush their opponents with pure strength. What tactics could they reveal?
Even though the commentators and the audience all thought that Samsung's individual strength was average except for Cuvee, that was only when compared to the top teams. Compared to the teams in the wild card division, they were in a completely different world.
Su Cheng dug through the recordings of Samsung's seven matches in the qualifiers and found that their goal was very clear. They didn't reveal any tactics and relied purely on pure strength to win.
From Sindra to Rock Sparrow, the mid laner heroes that Crown brought out dominated the battle. The top laner, Cuvee, was the one who led the team all the way to the end. Relying on his individual strength, he displayed his 41 points to the fullest.
Under these circumstances, Samsung's tactical information was close to zero.
Because both sides were in the same group, YM and Samsung hadn't played a single practice match. Their understanding of each other's tactics was still limited to the recordings of the summer tournament and the bubble tournament from a month ago.
Su Cheng quickly picked up the remote control and switched channels. During the international tournament, the waiting room was set up according to Fist's official requirements. The backstage screen had a total of three different signal choices — the host's commentary channel, the commentary channel of the team's region, and a non-commentator channel connected to the player's microphone.
In reality, the first two channels felt a bit superfluous because no professional team would choose to listen to the commentary when they had a microphone.
After switching to the player's microphone channel, Su Cheng and a few YM employees finally sat down.
"That's good." Guo Hao let out a sigh of relief, but then he heard Jack say from the player's seat:
"Brother Ran, you said to play harder?
Then how about I take on Draven? Hammer Stone is more reliable when it comes to tearing open wounds. We can team up. "
"F * ck off, let's pick a normal lineup for the opening match. Let's win the match first." Lin Yan didn't agree. "We'll do it after we've confirmed our qualification."
On the commentary platform, Doll and Mille were still warming up the spotlight of the match. The atmosphere in the stadium continued to heat up, and countless viewers who couldn't watch the match in person clicked on the livestream channel.
All the livestream platforms that had obtained the right to broadcast S7 were currently experiencing peak traffic. This was the first time a League of Legends international tournament was held in China, and the audience's enthusiasm was terrifying!
While the players were still adjusting their equipment, the director didn't stay idle and changed the camera angle.
This was an interview filmed after arriving at the Wuhan Sports Center that day. After putting on his makeup, the handsome and cheerful Lin Yan sat in a chair.
"Before the tournament, the officials placed you at the top of the top 20 players in this international tournament. What do you think about this?"
Lin Yan pondered for two seconds, and his voice was full of confidence. "I think it's reasonable. The top 20 rankings aren't a prediction of a player's ability, but more like a summary of everyone's performance over the past year.
"Based on my performance over the past year, I don't think there's anyone more qualified than me to take the top spot."
The audience below the stage let out sparse, good-natured laughter. Lin Ran completed the grand slam in a year. Although he was still a step behind Faker in terms of historical glory, Lin Ran was indeed worthy of being at the top of the top 20 in terms of strength and glory in this year.
"Then what are your and your team's goals for this year's international tournament?" The interviewer didn't give up and continued to ask.
Lin Yan was about to answer subconsciously, but he paused and took back the words that were about to come out of his mouth. He glanced at the reporter and felt that this person was digging a hole for him.
Saying that his goal was to be the champion was not a problem with his and YM's current strength. However, the competition was so long that Lin Yan wasn't absolutely confident. What if they didn't win the championship in the end?
Lin Yan didn't think that others wouldn't use this kind of pre-tournament interview to punish him.
If he said that "reaching the top four is considered a success", it sounded modest at first, but the audience would definitely be dissatisfied.
This year was their home game, and YM was the first seed, symbolizing the strongest team in the LPL. Saying something like that would definitely be scolded.
Lin Yan specialized in "EQ". He thought for a moment and gave his answer.
"Because this year is the first time an international tournament is held in the LPL region, and we're the LPL summer champions, it seems like we have to show a very aggressive and ambitious side," Lin Yan said on the screen, holding the microphone. "However, my team and I are more pragmatic. I hope to move forward step by step and use our strength and results to prove to the audience that YM will stand on a higher stage."
His words were watertight. Lin Yan didn't give them a chance to take advantage of the loophole to punish him.
[Just charge and it's over!]
[LPL is sure to win!]
[Dream on! I'm waiting for the finals of the Bird's Nest!]
"The BP has begun!"
Mille suddenly raised his voice. At this time, YM and SSG's icons and player IDs appeared on both sides of the big screen in the stadium.
"The first match of the 2017 League of Legends Global Finals begins now!"
The group stage was a double loop of four teams, so there was no problem with choosing sides. Every team would have priority in choosing sides when they faced off against their opponents.
For this match, Samsung took the initiative to choose the blue side. They immediately banned Luo, Liu Qingsong's best hero.
Callista was banned by White Crescent. Although this legendary warrior with a spear from Shadow Island was nerfed in the 7.18 World Finals, it did not affect her overly strong bottom lane position.
Moreover, Callista was also Chi Di's favorite hero. Although Samsung's performance in the LCK League was average, and they did not establish a strong dominance like SKT's Dragon Ball, Chi Di's Skateboard Shoes' win rate was still as high as 73.2%. This was enough to prove his unique understanding of this hero.
Samsung took out Kenan again. Their head coach Edgar's skill was unquestionable. In terms of coaching ability, he did not lose to Kkoma.
Currently, the top lane AP hero Kenan and Rambo were split into two. From his point of view, YM's system was unable to use the top lane Rambo. As long as he banned the power rat Kenan, it would be equivalent to crippling YM's top lane AP hero, and indirectly crippling Lin Ran's unique AD mid laner.
"YM banned Master An's very good Piggy Sister in an attempt to block the jungler. Samsung banned Ran's Sindra at the last moment!"
"Samsung did not ban Xiao Tian's Spider Queen in the first round, mainly because this hero was targeted by Fist in version 7.18." Mille glanced at the BP panel and explained to the audience who did not pay much attention to the content of the update. "Humanoid form W [Self-Destructing Spider] and Spider form E [Coiled Silk] have both been nerfed."
Since the 2015 Global Finals, Spider Queen had relied on her strong early game rhythm and mid-game dominance to secure her position as the top jungler. This situation had been maintained until the 2017 Summer League. For nearly two years, Spider Queen had been ranked in the top five jungler in terms of appearance and win rate.
If Blind Monk was the king of ranked games in the major servers, then Spider Queen was undoubtedly the evergreen tree in the professional scene.
With such an arrogant and beautiful Spider Queen in front of her, Fist Designer Chunli naturally couldn't sit idly by and do nothing. More importantly, this was one of Little Tian's unique skills, and she wasn't inferior to another Spider Queen enthusiast, Little Peanut.
Wholeheartedly wanting to weaken YM, he used the same method he had used to weaken Swordsister and studied Spider Queen Elise.
The nerf to E [Coiled Silk] was simple and crude — it increased the cooldown time. Now that Coiled Silk was maxed out, its cooldown time was increased by four seconds compared to the previous version.
As for the nerf to Humanoid form W [Self-Destructing Spider], Chun Li had put in a lot of effort. He first reduced the damage, then increased the damage of the skill.
The nerf did not seem to be too severe, but it was a real blow to the Spider Queen's aorta.
The reason was simple. The attributes and mechanics of the Spider Queen meant that she was destined to be the same as Rambo.
Spellcaster's Shoes, Spellcaster's Rod, and Landry's Torture were the three most suitable equipment for Spellcaster's Penetration.
The nerf to the basic damage of the skill and the increase to the Spellcaster's damage was enough to force the Spider Queen to advance and retreat.
If she continued to have three pieces of equipment with low magic power and high penetration, then W [Self-Destructing Spider]'s damage would naturally be reduced. If she changed to equipment with high magic power and low penetration, then the damage of her other skills would also be reduced. Her early burst would not be able to keep up with her ability to one-shot her opponents.
Thus, the nerf plan for Spider Queen was completed.
When Edgar first saw this update, his face was beaming with joy. There was no other reason other than the fact that Samsung had three biggest imaginary enemies in the international tournament — YM in the LPL division, SKT, and Dragon Ball in the same division.
Their three teams' junglers Phyllostachys Pubescens, Little Peanut, and Cuzz were all proficient in Spiders. Coincidentally, Sect Leader An's Spider Queen looked like she had eaten too much grass — she was a little green.
Chun Li's attack not only helped Samsung get rid of their three biggest imaginary enemy jungler proficient heroes, but also helped Sect Leader An get through the difficult situation. If Spider Queen was not nerfed, Samsung would have to ban Callista and the Spider Queen once they were on the red side in the global finals. At that time, the pressure on BP would be immense.
Initially, Samsung was worried about their prospects in the international tournament. They thought that they would tie with Ghost Foot Seven's best performance in the international tournament like last year.
But now, they had raised their position by a lot. In Edgar's mind, they would pass if they could get into the top four. They might even topple YM!
After thinking about it, White Crescent gave her last ban to Gnar.
"Blue side, one of the three stars, decisively take the prince!"
"How about Wind Lady and Galio?" White Crescent asked from behind Lin Yan.
Lin Yan frowned slightly. "If I use Galio, he will definitely take Rock Sparrow. It won't be easy to deal with."
It was no secret that Crown was proficient in Rock Sparrow. As his professional career progressed, his personal ability had declined, and he preferred to use his rich experience to win games. A hero like Rock Sparrow, who cleared troops quickly and had no cost, suited his playstyle very well.
"But let's take these two heroes first."
Lin Yan watched the BP countdown and could not think of a better idea. Wind Lady and Galio were not weak either, so there was no problem in picking them.
Samsung locked onto Rock Sparrow and Lulu, and their strength was also quite good. YM, on the other hand, locked onto the jungler Wine Barrel in the last position of the first round.
In the second round of BP, White Crescent sent Dusk and Little Pao to ban — they were one of the few archers in the Censer version who had strong self-defense abilities other than Callista.
Edgar saw that White Crescent wanted to pair Jack with Big Mouth to complete the Galio + Big Mouth combo, but he had no way to block it.
Although the number of archers who could play in the Censer version was not small, Callista, Dusk, and Little Pao had already been banned. If he banned Big Mouth as well, YM would definitely snatch Verus in the second round, leaving only Policewoman and Mouse, two archer heroes who would not be comfortable facing Verus and Wind Lady.
The game between the coaches of both sides had begun since the opening match of the group stage. No one wanted to lose the victory of this game. Each team only had a total of six group stage matches to play. Losing one match could cause the team to lose the first place in the group stage, which would affect the situation of the top eight teams in the knockout round.
"Samsung finally chose to ban Kenji and Shen in the second round to restrict Jin Gong!"
Doll frowned slightly. "Now the remaining strong top laners are heroes like Big Bug and Big Tree. There don't seem to be many choices left for Jin Gong …"
White Crescent first took down Big Mouth for Jack. With the double protection of Galio and Wind Lady, it provided sufficient protection for him.
After taking care of Jack for a year, White Crescent only wanted to give the previous owner, Hanyi, a thumbs up and a five-star rating.
This double-edged sword was very useful. Jack's most prominent feature was his aggressive style. He could deal enough damage without consuming too many resources. Since his debut, his damage conversion rate and average damage output were among the best.
In other words, he was milking the grass. White Crescent was never worried about Jack's damage.
However, the other end of the double-edged sword was equally sharp. In order to maximize his damage, he was used to standing in more dangerous positions to deal damage to his opponents. Coupled with his classic tank-Q physique, Jack often died suddenly.
White Crescent tried to change Jack's playstyle, but to no avail. He had to start from the perspective of the lineup and try to make up for Jack's shortcomings as much as possible.
The double insurance lineup of Wind Lady and Galio was very suitable for him. The Shiba Inu kept pushing forward. As long as his teammates could provide protection from the side, this Mad Dog playstyle would also work.
"Samsung has decided to take down Verus and … King of Troll!"
Mille hissed softly. "They want to restrain YM's protection system and break Galio's meat shield in the front row!"
Troll's King of Troll was very easy to deal with the top laners. His R [Might is Right] could absorb the target's maximum health and double resistance. When he entered the team battle, his ultimate move would be used on the opposing tank. While destroying the opponent's front row, his own tankiness would also be improved qualitatively.
More importantly, Troll's hero could easily score 41 points. He was very much in line with Samsung's current playstyle.
"Let's see what hero Gongzi will choose." Doll had a bad feeling. "Samsung's lineup is quite complete. Gongzi's hero pool doesn't seem to have any heroes that can take down Troll. Kenji has also been banned!"
Mille suggested. "Should we try Jayce? This hero, Khan, is very effective. He has no problem suppressing the short-handed Troll in the top lane …"
On the big screen in the stadium, the YM players were still discussing how to deal with the situation. Time passed second by second. Seeing that it was about to enter the final five-second countdown, Liu Qingsong, who was on the fifth floor, finally decided on a hero.
Precision was the difference between butchering and surgery!
Short, sky-gray hair, a huge Hex mechanical lower body, and a pair of deadly grappling hooks hanging next to the blades!
"Bronze Shadow Camille!
Jin Gong wants to use this hero to face Troll. It looks really good! "Mille's voice was loud.
"In this way, YM's lineup has been confirmed. Ran's Galio is still trustworthy. The top laner, Bronze Shadow, will be a big hit to Samsung's backline in the team battle!"
As soon as Doll's voice fell, he heard an uproar from the audience. Exclamations converged and echoed heavily in the enclosed stadium!
YM's top lane switched heroes at the last moment of the fixed position!
"What's going on? Ran wants to play the mid laner, Qing Gang Ying?" He was used to being surprised. "Gongzi wants to use Galio to tank the top lane?"
"In this way, Qing Gang Ying will indeed pose a threat to Rock Sparrow in the middle lane, but Galio's radiation ability will be reduced a lot. It will be difficult for him to cover the three lanes with his big move." Mille frowned. "There are pros and cons. Since YM has made this choice, they must have their reasons. Maybe in the coaches' minds, the mid laner, Qing Gang Ying, is better than the top laner."
The bullet screen of the game's live broadcast was densely filled with comments.
[The opening game is already a performance?
This is too cool. The mid laner, Qing Gang Ying, is too disgusting. The mid laner, Qing Gang Ying, E Flash, ER Policewoman .jpg]
[Mystic: F * ck, this is going to be a flogging?]
[Last year, Crown Champion was killed by Ran. Let's see how long he can last this year?]
[Taking the mid laner, Qing Gang Ying, is to make a breakthrough in the middle lane. As long as the middle lane explodes, the situation can be revived.]
The audience ridiculed and guessed, and the full lineup had been revealed on the big screen while the players were loading the game map.
Blue SSG: Top Laner, Troll, Jungler, Princes, Mid Laner, Verus + Lulu.
Red YM: Top Galio, Jungler, Wine Barrel, Mid Laner, Big Mouth + Wind Girl.
The moment the Summoner's Canyon appeared, the audience waved their support items in their hands to create restless sounds.
"YM, come on!" The voice full of energy appeared again, taking the lead to encourage the host, YM.
The next moment, cheers for YM swept through the Wuhan Sports Center like a wave!