A palm stretched out from the darkness and clenched into a fist the next moment, smashing the glass-like barrier between it and reality with great force!
The logo of Fist Entertainment appeared in front of everyone in the stadium and the plaza.
The cheers of the fans did not stop. The 18000 seats on the three floors of the Oriental Sports Center were filled to the brim. The cheers were loud enough to penetrate the screens and reach the ears of the millions of viewers watching the livestream!
At 4 PM Beijing time, the livestream channels of the competition were flooded with viewers. The total number of viewers in the Korean, English, and Chinese channel easily exceeded a million, and the number was still increasing.
The bandwidth of the livestream channels in the country was running out. The department head saw that the backend numbers had easily exceeded his expectations. He could only grit his teeth and snatch resources from the other big streamers to meet the demand of the competition.
"Go, YM!"
In the front row of the inner court, a muscular man holding YM's black and red flag shouted. The sea of spectators behind him instantly boiled over. Their cheers for YM gathered together and lingered in every corner of the Oriental Sports Center!
The competition had not even started, but they were already in a frenzy!
The black and red flag representing YM covered more than 80% of the stadium. The remaining 20% belonged to SKT.
It was completely different from last year's international competition.
The fans used their actions to tell everyone that this was LPL's home ground!
The Western reporters used their cameras to record everything. They did not dare to add any filters. If something went wrong, they would have to take responsibility.
The main stage was dark. The fist logo on the big screen in the stadium slowly disappeared into the darkness. It was replaced by the bright Oriental Pearl Tower in the night.
The background music of "That's The End" played. The perspective on the big screen slowly moved down. Along with Faker's own narration appeared.
"A year ago, we lost the title of the world's strongest team." His expression was cold. He remembered the rule of keeping his hands in his pockets when taking photos. "Today, I'm standing here not to prove anything, but to take back what we've lost with my own hands!
"This time, I'm 100% confident. No team has a stronger desire to win than us …" He pointed to his chest, where the team logo had two golden pentagrams. "Because we're SKT. Because I'm Faker."
This domineering statement from Faker's mouth naturally attracted a lot of screams from the audience.
[He's Brother Ma, Faker is Brother Li?]
[Who is Big Brother Li?
Li Haoyu of Sicca?]
[Not my Anshan Da Faker?]
The bullet screen was still arguing fiercely when Little Peanut, with delicate features, slowly walked into the camera from the side.
"I lost to Tian in the semifinals of S6, and now it's another semifinal. I'm here with ROX's vengeance."
"Today, I'll prove on this stage who's the world's number one jungler!" Little Peanut raised his head slightly and crossed his arms as he stood next to Faker.
[Little Peanut, you're starting again?]
[I feel like the translator is messing with me. Are they bullying me because I don't understand Korean?]
[Old Ancestor Sai Wen: Last year, you beat me to 4396. That's not enough, is it?]
The six SKT players stood in front of the Oriental Pearl Tower.
Then the camera cut to the other side of the Bund. Xiao Tian, who was squinting, appeared in front of everyone.
"Everyone knows that SKT is the top super team in the world …" Phyllostachys Pubescens leaned against the red brick wall of the Shanghai Alley. "But last year, YM added 'one of the best' to their title. I think the results of today's semifinal will not change."
The camera turned 90 degrees. Lin Yan's handsome face could be seen from above, and the camera could not find anything wrong with it.
"I think that in the seventh year of the League of Legends global finals, the double world championship is barely worthy of being called a dynasty. If it's two consecutive championships, it'll be even more valuable …"
His calm voice was transmitted to the ears of every audience in the stadium through the sound effects.
"Moreover, if YM can still win the championship this year, then the 2016 and 2017 global finals will belong to LPL. At that time, we can confidently say that YM is the number one team in the world, and LPL is the number one division in the world."
The crowd below the stage was instantly filled with noise!
The LPL audience had been longing for the number one division for too long. From the ancient era of S2 to today, they had been waiting for a full six years.
YM's victory in 2016 at the darkest moment gave them confidence. Now that the dawn had arrived, they were full of confidence and prepared to welcome the light!
[YM go go go!]
Tens of thousands of audience members waved the support sticks in their hands. Their voices swept through the Dongfang Sports Center like an avalanche.
In the last scene of the promo, Lin Yan stood by the Bund River, looking across the river with his teammates.
On the other side of the Huangpu River, Li Xianghe stood in front of his teammates. His arms were crossed over his chest, facing the cold autumn wind. His gaze was as sharp as a torch.
The two world-class mid laners looked at each other across the river, pushing the atmosphere of the stadium to its climax!
The big screen once again fell into darkness. The cheers died down, but the heated atmosphere did not subside. The audience could even hear each other's heavy breathing.
The background music changed again. "World Championship 2017" echoed through the stands with outstanding sound effects.
The sound was melodious, and the melody was majestic. Fist lived up to its name as a music company. This song had been used in the international stage since its debut in 2016.
Unlike last year, Fist had added the ancient instruments of the host country, China, to the melody to commemorate the host country of this year's international tournament.
The next moment, the lights were turned on again, and the stage appeared in front of the audience!
The innermost wall was occupied by a giant dragon, holding the Summoner's Trophy tightly in its arms. The camera slowly zoomed out, and Ren Dong, dressed in a black Tang suit, came to the front of the stage.
"Good afternoon, Summoners of Shanghai!"
He said loudly. "After four weeks of intense fighting, only four teams are left in the 2017 League of Legends Global Finals. Today, two of the best teams in China and abroad will have an exciting showdown at the Dongfang Sports Center!"
"SKT and YM, from their historical battle records to their star player matchups, the two teams have a deep relationship …"
At this time, the director showed the previous battle records of the two teams.
2016 Global Finals YM3-2 SKT
2017 Mid-Season Champions YM3-1 SKT
The audience below the stage once again let out a deafening roar. The two victories of YM and SKT in the finals had fulfilled many people's dreams. The memory was so deep that it was difficult to erase it!
"Even though SKT lost twice against YM, no one will doubt their ambition to win the championship as they have made it to the top four of the global finals for the third year in a row. On the other hand, YM, a local team in the LPL, aims to defend their title." Ren Dong looked at the audience on the stands. "However, after this match, only one team will get the ticket to the Bird's Nest finals!"
"Today, I have a partner who is also my opponent …" Ren Dong waved his arm. "Let's welcome OGN commentator, Roaring Emperor CasterJun!"
Under the thunderous applause of the audience, Roaring Emperor CasterJun walked quickly onto the stage.
He bowed to the audience to thank them for their applause, and then said in a broken Mandarin that he had learned on the spot, "Peng Youmeng from the damage, hello everyone!"
The YM team members, who were waiting backstage, laughed out loud when they heard this. The originally tense and serious atmosphere was instantly washed away.
"This guy is really funny. His Mandarin is on par with Knight." Phyllostachys Pubescens spoke two words in Mandarin. This was his normal operation.
Roaring Emperor also knew that the Mandarin he had learned was lame, so he decisively switched back to his mother tongue.
After introducing SKT's glorious history this year, he opened his arms and shouted, "Let us welcome the 2013 and 2015 League of Legends Global Finals champions …"
“SKTelecomT1！”
He dragged the last syllable to its limit, and his angry voice instantly ignited the atmosphere in the stadium.
Following Roaring Emperor's team introduction, the members of SKT filed out and walked steadily onto the stage.
"Top Laner Huni, Jungler Peanut, Mid Laner Faker!"
As one of the most popular foreign players in the League of Legends esports scene, Li Xianghe's appearance on stage was unsurprisingly met with cheers from the entire stadium. Even the audience members who were holding up YM signboards were not stingy with their applause!
Li Xianghe had experienced the peaks and valleys of the past few years. He was not surprised by the warm welcome from a foreign country, and he calmly waved his hand in greeting.
Faker was considered one of the celebrity players in the entire League with the most casual fans. In his early years, he had always been a high-profile player, relying on his skills and hard work to attract a large number of fans.
In recent years, he had become more mature and introverted. In addition, he was a simple-minded person in real life. Even if his results this year were not as glorious as before, it did not affect the rapid increase in his number of fans.
"Bottom Laner Bang, support Wolf!
And their head coach Kkoma and substitute Blank! "
Li Zaiwan tilted his head, and the middle and ring fingers of his left hand curled up, making a classic gesture that looked extremely abstract. It looked like he had watched too many 6 + 1 movies.
"Let us once again welcome SKTelecom T1 with a round of applause!"
Roaring Emperor finally used a long voice to end his team's introduction.
In the short period of cheering, Ren Dong picked up the microphone with an excited expression. "I think everyone in the audience is very familiar with the team that will be coming out next."
"Let us shout out their names together …"
At this moment, the sound wave that erupted from the stands was enough to destroy all obstacles, and it soared into the sky!
“YoungMiracles！”
The seven members of YM stepped onto the stage one by one, and the cheers of the audience around them rose again!
"Top Laner Gimgoon, Jungler Tian, Mid Laner Ran …" Ren Dong was forced to put down the microphone and pause the introduction of the team members. This was because the moment the audience saw Lin Yan, the cheers that erupted were louder than any of the previous players!
Even with the help of the microphone, Ren Dong was not sure if his voice would be able to cover the huge sound wave that filled the sky.
In the hotel suite, Lin Mingdong glanced at the time, closed the document in his hand, and rubbed the space between his eyebrows. As soon as he opened the live broadcast, he heard the audience shouting Lin Yan's name.
The boy on the stage was calm and composed, and between his eyebrows was an endless amount of high-spirited and indomitable spirit.
He smiled with satisfaction, and turned his head sideways to look through the full-length mirror in the room, only to see that the color of his hair was getting lighter and lighter.
Lin Mingdong suddenly remembered something, and opened an online shopping app.
…
Ten seconds later, the sound of the audience gradually decreased, and Ren Dong continued to say, "Bottom Laner Jackeylove, support Crisp, and their coach Crescent and substitute LWX!"
He waved his arm hard, and used all his strength to shout:
"Let us once again welcome the 2016 League of Legends Global Finals champion team, Young Miracles!"
The live audience had endless energy today, and they burst out shouting and cheering again and again!
Although Ren Dong's team introduction was not as passionate as Roaring Emperor's, the enthusiastic audience made up for the gap between them!
"Heroes chase after legends, let us look forward to today's pinnacle showdown!"
The screen of the audience who were watching the live broadcast fell into darkness once again, and another version of the Fist's trailer appeared before their eyes.
China's unique ink painting style rendered the Bund and the Oriental Pearl Tower unique. Then, the 10 semi-finalists and their respective heroes appeared one after another, and the ink painting style made everything look ancient.
After Faker and Ryze disappeared from the audience's sight, a Yodel riding on a Galaxy Magic Mech broke through the heavy fog and jumped out. The weapon in his hand kept spitting out raging flames. In the ink painting, these balls of flames looked like scattered clouds.
One of the clouds was quickly enlarged, and the audience could see Lin Yan standing sideways in the clouds, making his nose bridge look high and handsome.
[Handsome, handsome, handsome!]
[I want to slide on Lin Yan's nose bridge!]
[This ink painting style is a little handsome, and I'm so scared that I quickly touched my face to make sure I'm better than him.]
…
Today's commentators were still Doll, Mille, and Remember.
Previously, Ze Yuan and Justice Pioneer Zhang Dapao had made up the commentary panel, and the three commentators did not dawdle and immediately went straight to the point.
"Today's highlight showdown has attracted the attention of millions of people around the world, and it's easy to break Fist's viewership record in recent years …" Doll had already obtained the data from the director, and he had a rough idea of what to expect.
"After all, the two teams in this match have monopolized all the global championships for the past three years. Whether it's the team's honor or the quality of their star players, they're all at the top of the world," Remember explained.
Mille added, "There's been a lot of discussion online these days, saying that this match is a preview of the S7 finals, and that the winner will pick up the Summoner's Trophy in the Bird's Nest."
"It's true that YM and SKT are in the bottom half of the bracket, and the previously eliminated Dragon Ball is also a hot favorite for this year's championship." Doll nodded, and he received a notification from the director through his headset. "However, we still don't know who the champion will be, but today we'll know who will be the first to enter the Bird's Nest finals!"
With a crisp clang, the BP of the first small round of the semifinals had begun!
The audience below the stage could no longer hold back, and they waved their wrists, causing the support sticks to collide with each other!
"SKT has the priority to pick the side in this semifinals, and they've banned Kainan!"
White Crescent took a deep breath, readjusted herself, and banned Callista.
Kkoma was obviously prepared, and he banned Dusk for the second round, not wanting to give Jack a powerful hero that he could easily pick.
Mille was not surprised by YM's second ban. "Jess … they're trying to restrict Huni's solo carry."
Although armor piercing had been nerfed in the mid-season version, Jess had started to shine in the first half of the summer tournaments of the major leagues.
This was not unrelated to the popularity of Censer, as the mainstream support roles were occupied by Lulu, Kkoma, and Law, which led to the top and middle laners having to play the frontline role.
It was not impossible to choose a team with four late-game damage output cores and a brittle support. IG liked to play this way, but it was not the mainstream playstyle in the current version.
With the addition of the tank equipment [Gargoyle Plate Armor] and [Adaptive Helmet], the top lane ecosystem seemed to be dominated by tank tanks.
However, it was not that simple. After two weeks of grinding in the Censer version, the top lane ecosystem had quickly taken another step forward.
Tank heroes generally had short arms, and this was related to the design principle of fists. Survival, control, and damage output were the three core points, and most heroes could only gain one or two points.
There were very few heroes who could get three points. Swordlady and Qing Gang Yin were rare all-around heroes, but they also suffered a lot of blows because of this. If the basic values were not reduced, these two heroes would dominate the professional competition for a long time.
Tanks had basic control skills, and their survival was also guaranteed, so their damage output would definitely be weakened. Range was an important part of the damage output environment, and naturally, it was inevitably limited by fists.
Tanks with short arms were prevalent, and the top laners Jess and Nar were born.
These two heroes were considered long-ranged heroes in the top lane. The higher the range difference in the hands of the player, the more obvious the advantage would be. If a pro player were to use these two heroes against a tank, they would be able to suppress the tank through the distance between the two heroes, making it hard for the opponent to breathe.
Nar was considered mild in the early stages, and its suppression of tank heroes was mainly reflected in the later stages of the lane. The percentage damage of W [Excitement] combined with the slowing effect of Big Ice Hammer, as long as it caught the enemy's top laner, it could stick all the way to death.
Jess was considered a hero in another dimension, and his lane was specialized in dealing with short arms.
The lane was very long, and the professional Jess could even use the aggro range of minions to push the enemy's top laner out of the experience zone at level 1.
As long as he had a certain amount of control over the minions, he could push the minions into the opponent's defense tower when the third wave of artillery soldiers arrived. Jess could do whatever he wanted in front of the tower while the tank was replenishing the minions, and constantly consume the enemy's top laner.
If he was more ruthless, he could shake the jungler. At that time, there would be no difficulty in overtaking a level 1 tank who had not received any experience.
Jess, this kind of lane dominator, was simply a dimensionality reduction blow to the top laner. This idea was very simple and crude – suppress the development of the enemy's top laner through the lane.
Tank equipment was indeed very cost-effective now, but you also had to have the money to pay for it!
As long as the suppression was successful in the early stage, the position of the tank hero would become very awkward. He could not win against Jess, and it was difficult for him to stay under the tower and eat minions; his role in the team was not as good as Jess, who was invincible in the middle stage.
It was unrealistic to want to drag it to the late stage. At this time, Jess relied on the single lane advantage and was likely to have a big equipment lead. With this kind of equipment gap, the opponent had already begun to use Jess's Enhanced Poke to try to force Baron Nash.
After all, they could not expect every opponent to torture Dragon like they did in EDG, right?
"SKT's last ban in the first round is given to Karma!" Remember was very surprised. "Are they trying to restrict Ran's mid laner?"
"Should be …" Mille pondered for two seconds and said, "If they want to restrict Liu Qingsong's soft support, Lady Wind, who currently has a higher overall win rate in the competition, should be a good choice."
White Crescent raised his eyebrows. He did not understand Kkoma's intention.
If they wanted to restrict Censer's mid laner, there was still Lulu outside. Moreover, the super strong system of Princes and Galio had not been separated yet.
If YM did not choose to ban these three heroes, the blue side SKT could only choose between Princes and Galio. However, this way, Lulu would be released; if Kkoma insisted on snatching Lulu, YM would be able to get Princes and Galio.
No matter what, YM would not lose out. White Crescent pondered for a long time and decided to continue targeting Huni. He would ban Shen, who had both solo and team support abilities.
"SKT's first pick, they've snatched Princes!"
White Crescent's eyebrows relaxed. "Galio and … Lulu, what do you think?"
"Tsk tsk." Lin Yan lowered his head and adjusted the position of his wrist guard. He did not raise any objections.
Now that Karma was banned, only Lulu and Lady Wind were left outside of the strong soft support Censer. Lady Wind's win rate was indeed higher.
However, they were still inclined to pick Lulu.
First of all, Lulu's laning ability was much stronger than Lady Wind's. This was good news for YM's bottom laner. Liu Qingsong and Jack's laning ability was obviously no match for the mace duo when they were not meditating.
Exchanging Lulu for Lady Wind, a weaker team battle performance in exchange for a stronger laning ability, was not a loss.
Secondly, this Lulu could be used to prevent Faker from using her as a mid laner. This hero was invincible in the early stages of the game, and Galio was no match for him.
Lin Yan was not sure if Faker had learned Lulu from his old teammate Otto, the spacer from Anshan. It would be safer to take her out.
Seeing the opponent's hero choice, Kkoma's mouth was almost crooked to the sky.
"Rambo and …" Mille saw SKT's choice and widened his eyes. The wrinkles on his forehead seemed to be leaning towards James. "Lucian!"
"SKT took Lucian!"
The spectator stands were in an uproar.
Even though Bang's Lucian was very strong, it was almost impossible for Censer's version of Lu Xian to go down.
Even though Huni was the pioneer of solo laning Lucian in the professional scene, he had been taught a lesson by Big Tree with two guns. It was not considered SKT's usual strategy.
With this choice, there was a high chance that Faker would go down the middle lane to fight against Galio!
[Giving him a taste of his own medicine?]
[Be direct, just steal it and be done with it!]
[Hohoho, last year Brother Ran used Lucian's face to kill Faker. Is he really going to take revenge today?]
YM's team voice chat saw this somewhat unexpected choice and kept discussing it.
"Are they going to send Galio to the top lane?" White Crescent wiped the cold sweat off his forehead. He knew that he had been tricked.
SKT had purposely released Lulu and Galio so that YM could snatch these two heroes. This way, Liu Qingsong's wandering support would be tied down by YM!
This week, SKT had not been idle.
Everyone knew that there might not be enough Ban slots to deal with YM, so they took a different approach and used another method to tie Liu Qingsong to the line and make him unable to move!
White Crescent's biggest task in this semifinals was to make Lin Yan feel comfortable. "Should I get you an easier hero?"
Galio's Lucian was so strong that even a soldier would not dare to eat it.
"… That's not a good idea. Jin Gong will be under too much pressure. Besides, other than an ADC mid laner like Little Pao, there aren't many good heroes to fight against Lucian." Lin Yan took a sip of water. "I'll take Galio."
Although he said that, a dark thought flashed through Lin Ran's mind.
However, as the countdown was about to end, Lin Yan had to put the idea aside for now.
White Crescent gave Xiao Tian a Wine Barrel to increase their jungle resistance. Otherwise, SKT's Lucian + Princes mid laner combination would give them no chance to breathe.
In the second round, YM and SKT attacked their opponents' weak points as usual.
White Crescent banned Luo and Zephyr, the two heroes that Wolf was good at. Kkoma blocked Gnar and Big Bug.
"YM's fourth choice, Verus!"
White Crescent left the counter slot for Jin Gong. Even though their opponent had Rambo, there was still a hidden danger of switching lanes.
Kkoma chose Little Pao and Gem, revealing his entire lineup.
"Can Qing Gang Yin do it?"
White Crescent was certain of his judgment. Even though he had been tricked, he was relieved. "We need a hero who can bring Galio into the game."
"But it's difficult for me to fight Rambo." Jin Gong was honest. "I can't win by switching lanes."
Even though he said that, he still complied with the team's request.
Both sides' lineups were decided. SKT chose Faker to control Lucian.
Blue SKT: top laner Rambo, jungler Princes, mid laner Lucian, bottom laner Little Pao + Gem.
Red YM: top laner Qing Gang Yin, jungler Wine Barrel, mid laner Galio, bottom laner Verus, and Lulu!
"Remember to complete the strategy that we set up before the match. Take it slow and don't panic …" White Crescent reminded them. "As long as you execute the strategy well, you'll win the match."
After saying that, he took off his headphones and shook hands with Kkoma.
Amidst the cheers of the audience, the Summoner's Canyon descended!