When Lin Yan woke up the next day, he realized how exaggerated the discussion on the internet was.
There were very few netizens discussing YM's entry into the top eight. Everyone was paying attention to the news of GEN's elimination.
Although GEN entered the international tournament as the third seed of the LCK division, no one really thought of them as a weak team before the tournament.
After all, they had also entered the international tournament last year and were the runner-up in the end.
However, GEN's performance this time made everyone's jaws drop.
Before the tournament, Fist had arranged for GEN to face MAD in the last match yesterday. They wanted to give them a point and let the Korean audience have a good night's sleep.
Unfortunately, they didn't expect Group A to fight until late at night. There was nothing interesting about this match.
GEN and MAD had both been eliminated and announced that they would not be able to enter the top eight. What was the point of watching the third and fourth place match?
Were the chefs practicing their cooking skills?
Some GEN fans didn't want to miss their home team's last match of the season. They still stayed in front of the computer, thinking that GEN could win and leave them some face.
The result disappointed them greatly.
In this King of Chefs competition, GEN was not in their best condition. They were still beaten by MAD in the early stages!
This time, UNIBOY and his teammates didn't give them a chance. They used Ryze's ultimate move, Warp Path Leap, to sneak into the Dragon's pit and quickly rushed to get Baron Nash!
The roar of the Dragon could be heard. The despair in its voice enveloped the five GEN players.
Facing the tide of super soldiers, they could only defend the main Crystal and the two front towers.
In the end, UNIBOY's Ryze drove the top laner Kenan into the arena. A wave of Heavenly Thunder melted everyone in GEN!
Xu Xiu slowly took off his headphones. His hair was messy and his eyes were lifeless.
His first international tournament ended with one win and five losses.
They were at the bottom of the group.
This performance naturally made the world focus on GEN. Criticism and criticism came from all the major forums. There were even signs of them breaking out of the circle. Many middle-aged people who didn't know what was going on came to watch the show.
No one expected that League of Legends, as a part of esports, would break out of the circle not because LCK took back the Summoner's Trophy from YM, but because GEN was eliminated in the group stage!
Amidst the overwhelming curses, the fans were the ones who cursed the most.
As the saying goes, the deeper the love, the deeper the hatred.
The fans had believed in GEN time and time again. They believed that GEN was only a little slow in the first round and that they would adjust back in the second round.
However, GEN did not win a single match in this round!
Losing to YM was pardonable. After all, they couldn't beat the opponent with pure strength. The fans didn't find it hard to accept at first.
Losing to TL meant that they were in a bad state. Their knowledge of the version was not as good as that of the North American coaches, so the fans could bear it.
But what did it mean to lose MAD?
How could a publicly recognized team of losers lose?
Ever since GEN lost to Liquid and was confirmed to have no chance of entering the knockout round, the news instantly appeared on the Korean web's Never trending list.
# 2018 League of Legends Global Finals Group A qualified teams have been confirmed!
# GEN eliminated in the group stage
# GEN status
The comments below were all mocking GEN.
[It's an experience I've never experienced before. It's amazing to see GEN being kicked out of Pusan with my own eyes.]
[GEN's fans played against YM in the first round and even went to the YM club to comment, asking them not to hold back when they played against TL … It's hilarious. In the end, GEN was double killed by Liquid and didn't even qualify for the overtime.]
[Who said GEN would rise in the second round?
Hahahaha, opening battle, life and death battle, honor battle, train station!]
[He is indeed the worst player in the LCK team, GEN G. He never disappoints when it comes to disappointing people!]
[Does anyone know the address of GEN club?
I want to send them something.]
[Congratulations to GEN for becoming the second team in Korea's LOL history to be eliminated in the group stage … Oh right, if we trace it back, it's actually the same team. GEN took the original spot of Samsung Ozone. Isn't this a coincidence?]
[The most terrible thing is that we may be disgusted again in two days. Don't forget that AF is now 0-3!]
There were also many Korean netizens who were worried about the results of LCK this year.
Starting from S4, LCK often took first place in the group stage. Even if YM appeared later, they were only one team. Overall, Korea's dominance in the group stage was still quite strong.
However, GEN had been eliminated in the group stage this year, and AF was also on the verge of elimination. In the top eight, KT was likely to be the only one left.
Lin Yan continued to look through the Chinese esports forums and found that the netizens were also ridiculing GEN.
Last year's world runner-up only managed to get into the top 16 with a different mid laner. It was a joke for the Chinese audience.
Xu Xiu, who was facing Lin Yan, had a bad reputation.
He used to be one of the three best mid laners in LCK along with Chovy and UCAL. However, when he came to the international stage, he was crushed. Naturally, he wasn't liked.
Most people thought that AMD was better than Xu Xiu.
After all, those who didn't participate in the international stage were the best.
In addition to various Korean translations and scoring posts, there were also post-match interviews and compilation videos.
One of the photos attracted Lin Yan's attention.
The six members of GEN were wearing their team uniforms and walking on the streets of Busan. Under the backdrop of the bustling night scene, their backs looked extremely lonely and bleak.
There were also netizens who added a line of words — I don't regret it, I only regret it was too rushed.
Lin Yan saved this picture on his phone.
On the way to the practice room, he found that GEN had already checked out. They probably rushed back to Seoul and didn't want to stay in this sad place for too long.
The Chinese LOL circle was in a frenzy. Many people were already dreaming.
Other than YM, who was already in first place, the other two teams in the same division, IG and RNG, were also in first place in their groups.
If they could maintain this position, they would have three first places in the top eight. This would eliminate the possibility of internal strife!
What did this mean?
There might be three LPL teams surrounding KT in the top four!
People on the forums were already calculating the probability of this happening. They were having a lot of fun.
However, reality proved that they were happy too early.
…
That night, in the second round of Group B, RNG faced G2 again.
Heart saw that Ouze was in good condition in the first round, so they prioritized the bottom lane. They wanted to snatch Lucian first and let Uzi crush the bottom lane with his individual ability.
G2's response was also quite smart.
They gave the duo a functional hero and used pure brute force in the mid and jungle.
"RNG is betting." Goba frowned. "They're betting that G2's bottom lane won't be able to withstand Ouze's pressure and will collapse faster than their own top lane. This way, they can use the team's economy to support the top, mid, and jungle characters that are targeted in the lane."
YM had just finished a practice match with KT. After the replay, they were waiting for Jin Gong's Korean Zhajiangmian takeout. They took the time to watch the match.
"I don't think it's possible," Lin Yan said honestly. "In this version, it's very difficult for the bottom lane to have an exaggerated advantage."
This sentence received the approval of the two ADCs in the team.
After all, the opponent was also a professional player. If they really wanted to hide, it was inevitable that they would be suppressed. However, it was not realistic to burst the lane.
Unless they frequently asked other teammates to come over and help, they could quickly snowball and push the tower.
However, Canyon Vanguard was spawned in eight minutes, and the bottom lane's spawn time was close to one minute and forty seconds.
In other words, there was only six minutes and twenty seconds left for RNG to suppress the bottom lane. If they could not break the situation, G2's mid and jungle would definitely take down Canyon Vanguard and try to push down a tower to switch lanes.
Just as Lin Yan thought, G2's Ember + Tam was only used to clear troops in the lane. They didn't even attack Ouze. He prevented the troops from entering the tower while preserving his health as much as possible so that Casa couldn't come over to the tower.
At the same time, Jankos was also constantly putting pressure on the top lane.
Letme used Crab in this game. This hero's ability to defend against gank wasn't very good. Wunder's Sword Demon rose to level six and activated a large tower. He cooperated with Jankos' Zhao Xin to forcefully kill Yan Junze. Then, he used Triumphant Return + Annihilation to retreat out of the tower's range.
The death of the top lane caused Urgot to completely lose control of the top lane. After Wunder took the initiative, he quickly spread his advantage to the entire top lane and prepared for the Canyon Vanguard that was spawned in eight minutes.
At this time, Ouze and Shi Senming were still pushing the tower in the bottom lane. G2's Edisi and the support were clearing troops. If you want to go over the tower, I'll hold onto Tam and can definitely protect your Ember.
Jankos used the advantage of having two solo lanes in the mid and top lane to successfully take down Canyon Vanguard. He placed it in the mid lane and wanted to help Perkz get a tower.
Xiao Ming had no choice but to rush to the mid lane to help Li Yuanhao defend the tower.
G2's bottom lane took this opportunity to quickly push the tower and chase Ouze out of the experience zone.
Uzi's face flushed red, but he didn't dare to say anything.
Lucian, whose equipment hadn't been completed yet, definitely couldn't face the enemy duo. He could only obediently hide in the grass in front of the second tower and wait for his Shi Senming to come back and help.
Ouze's advantage hadn't been completely established yet when the ten-odd last hits that he was leading with were instantly wiped out.
The mid lane was even hit by Canyon Vanguard and lost a lot of health. The disadvantage of the top lane was still there.
RNG's bottom lane couldn't break through, and their top, middle, and jungle were in a dangerous situation where they were about to be crushed.
Perkz became the last straw that broke the camel's back.
The second Canyon Vanguard spawned around 15 minutes ago. His Sindra hid a ball and then used EQ to instantly push the two RNG players. Wunder's Sword Magician immediately started hacking, and his big moves were constantly refreshed. The rest of RNG could only helplessly retreat!
After taking down the second Canyon Vanguard, G2 took the opportunity to get a tower in the middle lane, completely establishing their early game advantage.
Lucian could only be described as powerless at this moment. He couldn't do anything at all. With only a range of 500 yards, if he dared to slide forward and fight with G2's top, middle, and jungle, he would be chased and beaten up.
As for the other RNG players who were at a disadvantage, they could only place their last hope on Ouze. They fed him a lot of money and forced Uzi to pull out the new version of the blue sucking knife before the Dragon spawned.
G2 didn't waste any time. After 20 minutes, they started to surround the Dragon pit and tried to force the RNG players to fight to the death here.
RNG, on the other hand, wasn't in such a hurry. They just wandered around outside the Dragon pit.
In any case, G2's bottom lane was Ember and Tam. The speed of the Rush Dragon was simply too slow. They weren't afraid that the opponent would suddenly disappear and take down Baron Nash.
The tug-of-war between the two sides went on for 29 minutes.
Ah P and Wunder both had three-piece sets. They supported WADID to activate [Abyss Stealth] and used his big move to forcefully connect with RNG's team.
Ouze and the others were already prepared. The moment Tam's big move appeared, they used their crowd control and damage output.
However, Tam's calmness was quite amazing. He didn't die immediately after activating his white shield.
Wunder even used his golden body to dodge a large number of skills.
RNG's focus attack was exactly what G2 wanted. They just wanted to stall.
As long as they could stall for time until the other teammates arrived, they could start the team battle.
Ember sniped from afar while Jankos' Zhao Xin rushed in. He used [New Moon Guard] to chase the RNG players away and save his brothers first.
RNG's disadvantage was exposed at this moment.
Their Uzi was the only one who was ahead of their opponents in terms of development. Uzi's control was full, and he kept sliding, pouring all of his damage onto Sword Demon.
However, Wunder easily sliced Shi Senming's Hammer Rock to death, and the instant recovery of his HP made Lucian's explosive attack useless!
Uzi was dumbfounded.
He slid and did another set of damage output. This time, Ah P first used a weakling's scatter to get a golden body. Then, he used [Energy Pour] and Ember's long-range snipe to successfully kill Casa's Troll.
Sword Demon received an assist and his health increased by a lot!
Ouze fought for a few seconds and used the new version of the blue sucking knife to pour in a full set of damage output. However, Yatux was still full of health!
What a sin!
Jankos' Zhao Xin left the third part of his Q's [Triple Claw]. Seeing that Ouze still wanted to attack, he used his E [Fearless Charge] and sent him flying into the air with a normal attack.
The fourth shot of Ember's big move pierced through the air and successfully hit Lucian's body, instantly lowering his health!
"It's gone, it's gone!"
Lin Weixiang was very familiar with this kind of script.
Yesterday, when he faced MAD, he was treated like this.
As long as the opponent left a small crowd control in the mid and jungle, the following damage output was enough to kill Edisi.
No matter how fat you were, before the three pieces of the ADC set, there was basically no defense, unless the opponent was Grasshopper or Scorpion.
This game was the same for Ouze. In a disadvantageous situation, there was nothing wrong with the high damage output from the C position. He had to carry the heavy burden of the team's damage output.
Now that he was in the air, Uzi's Lucian had lost all ability to protect himself and was killed by Sword Demon Q3's Flash!
RNG, who had lost three of their top players, was immediately defeated. They could only quickly retreat and try to preserve the team's strength.
However, Sword Demon respawned in the great destruction and moved at an astonishing speed. He caught up and slashed at them.
In the end, RNG traded two for five and killed Jankos and the support WADID. However, all of their members were killed.
G2 easily got the Dragon's buff and began to move forward.
Lucian, who was at a great disadvantage, had no room to maneuver.
35 minutes later, the team battle began again.
This time, Ouze gathered two balls on the ground. While Uzi was about to go forward to attack, he used the Flash to force the balls into Ouze's Flash. At the same time, he was left with low HP and had to return to the city to resupply.
In the time before Ouze returned, RNG lost their most important backline damage output. Wunder, who was in the front, was even more unscrupulous. There was no damage that could kill him in one shot.
When Ouze rejoined the battle, he found that his other four teammates had already been killed by Atokus's sword.
He struggled to defend the base and replaced Jankos and Ember. However, he was forced into a corner by P's weak players. Tam Q's Giant Tongue Whip slowed down and Wunder rushed forward to kill Lucian with a Death Sword Aura.
RNG was regretfully defeated!
"This is bad …" Jack's expression did not look good. "Will there be a civil war in the top eight?"
If RNG became the second in the group, the probability of a civil war would greatly increase.
"Don't jinx it." Mongoose wanted to beat up Shiba Inu. "It's not like we'll lose in overtime!"
They originally thought that RNG would dominate Group B, but now G2 had appeared out of nowhere. However, the remaining FW and Vietnam's wild card PVB were mediocre.
RNG and G2 should take them down without any suspense and then proceed to overtime to determine the winner.
However, Lightning Wolf suddenly made a move.
They, who had been silent for a long time, used Snakey's rhythm to kill Jankos in the jungle. Then, they started to attack the middle lane.
Even though Lightning Wolf had lost Casa, his wolf scent had not changed.
Snakey used the bottom lane advantage to constantly harass Jankos in the jungle, making him suffer.
Fengtang also temporarily suppressed P with the help of his teammates.
Lightning Wolf was doing well in the bottom half of the map.
However, Hanabi, who was fighting alone in the top lane, was having a hard time.
She was afraid that Jankos would seize the opportunity and could only attack from the back. This caused the gap between her and Wunder to grow bigger and bigger.
Fortunately, Lightning Wolf had a clear goal in this round and specially asked Hanabi to choose Aoun. She just had to rely on the top lane to gain experience.
In 25 minutes, Wunder had suppressed the opponent with nearly 80 last hits, but he only had two sets.
He had indeed suppressed Hanabi's development, but that was all.
At that moment, Fengtang had already looted his third big item. He gathered with his teammates and prepared to push forward.
The advantage of positioning was completely useless in the team battle. Although the top laner was very important in this version, Wunder was helpless in the face of FW's four wolf-like teammates.
"Lightning Wolf can actually win?"
Lin Yan, who was in the Korean server's Rank, took off his earphones and was about to get a glass of water when he heard Gou Ba's excited voice.
On the screen, FW had a huge advantage. They had taken down the Ancient Dragon and were prepared to end the competition in one go!
G2 could not do anything alone. They could only watch as Lightning Wolf destroyed their base bit by bit!
"This way, as long as RNG wins two consecutive victories, they won't have to play overtime!"
After Heart lost the first round of the second round, they immediately chose to change their lineup and let Spicy Saucepan replace Casa. It was obvious that they wanted to dominate the top half of the map.
They had seized the opportunity to beat up Hanabi.
If they were to make a ranking of the top laners in this international competition, Hanabi would definitely be the last.
After five matches, he was suppressed by 80 attacks per match. Basically, every time the camera switched to the top lane, he could be seen getting beaten up.
After a summer of training, Yan Junze had finally made some progress in Sword Demon. Although there were still many shortcomings in terms of entering the team battle, there was not much of a problem with the familiarity of his combo and his basic skills.
Both sides fought for 33 minutes and 40 seconds. RNG successfully defeated Lightning Wolf and obtained the fourth point in the group stage.
Next, they would face PVB back-to-back. Although Vietnam was the most outstanding wild card in recent years, it was only a wild card area after all.
It was a little difficult to scam LPL.
The difference between tactics and operations was obvious.
RNG bloomed on three fronts and crushed their opponents.
Just like that, they ended the group stage with a record of 5 wins and 1 loss, locking in first place in the group in advance.
Although G2 had also taken down PVB, they had lost two matches and lost the opportunity to play overtime. They could only qualify as second place.
In the LPL official livestream, the audience finally heaved a sigh of relief.
[That was so scary. I thought RNG was going to be defeated by G2.]
[Lightning Wolf is indeed a good brother!]
[Boohoo, not only did Lightning Wolf contribute to RNG, but he also helped G2 defeat. He's so gentle. I'm going to cry …]
[I was scared silly by RNG in the first match today. Why are you always thinking about your bottom lane?]
[It's so hard to beat the third seed of Europe … Why do I feel that RNG's prospects are not too optimistic this year?]
As for Group C, everyone thought that KT and his three weaklings would make it.
However, VIT obviously did not think so.
The team almost crushed KT in the second round. If not for the team's mistake in the later stages that allowed their opponents to rob all the neutral resources, KT would have lost their first international competition.
100T had already done his best.
However, in such a group, the only thing he could do was to crush G-Rex.
He fought VIT to the death but still did not manage to win.
Other than KT, the other qualified team in Group C was Little Bee VIT.
Group D's competition was held on the last day of the group stage.
The first match was between AF and IG.
The brutality of the battle was beyond everyone's imagination.
IG relied on their three-lane advantage to secure a 5k economic advantage at the 20 minute mark.
However, team Africa did not let up and did not let the gap continue to widen.
IG did not expect their opponents to be so tenacious. They immediately launched a flurry of attacks and started to engage in team battles. They wanted to destroy their opponents with swift and violent attacks.
AF gave it their all and countered every move that came their way. They actually managed to defend against IG's attacks.
The Korean audience in the Busan Convention and Exhibition Center applauded excitedly for the team. They felt that team Africa would be able to make a comeback in the next round.
After 41 minutes of fierce fighting, the AFs finally couldn't hold on any longer.
The Sh's top laner soloed Kiin's Sword Demon on the side lane!
The resurrection time was as long as a minute.
IG successfully outnumbered them and took advantage of the difference in numbers to get the Ancient Dragon!
The Ancient Dragon's buff completely tipped the scales in IG's favor.
At 43 minutes, IG finally won!
AF with 0 wins and 4 losses could only swallow the bitter fruit.
Currently, they only had a theoretical possibility of qualifying.
After FNC defeated C9 for their third victory, the last remaining possibility vanished into thin air.
AF, like GEN, bid farewell to the global finals in advance!
The Korean audience could not believe it, but there was nothing they could do.
FNC was already celebrating their qualification after winning the game.
The director even gave a close-up of AF's lounge backstage.
Kiin's eyes were filled with confusion and self-blame.
If he had been more stable in the face of IG and not been single-handedly killed by The Sh …
Was there still a chance for everything to turn around?
What was done could not be undone. He could not change all of this.
On the other hand, Baidu Cloud C9 wanted to fight for a qualification. After all, as the Light of North America, they could not fall behind when they saw TL enter the top eight.
However, the two opponents in the same group were terrifyingly strong.
Europe's number one seed, FNC, won the spring and summer double this year. IG was invincible in the regular season.
These two mountains were firmly on top of their heads. C9 could not overcome them no matter what.
In the end, AF tore off a piece of flesh from FNC before they died so that they would not leave the stage of the global finals with the shame of zero wins.
C9 had no choice but to die.
IG won the first place in the group, while FNC was ranked second and successfully entered the knockout stage.
"The level of Europe is quite strong this year."
Lin Yan said to Li Yuanhao next to him.
They were watching Group D's game backstage.
In the next draw ceremony for the knockout stage, each team needed to send someone to appear on stage.
YM and RNG both chose midlaner.
When Cancel heard Lin Yan's words, he immediately nodded in agreement. "They are really strong …"
"It's mainly because the individual strength of the mid and top lanes are good, and their jungler styles are very compatible."
Li Yuanhao had played against G2 in the group stage and naturally knew how good they were.
If the Lightning Wolf had not given them a ride that day, RNG and G2 would not have had such a high chance of winning if they had really gone to overtime.
This was undoubtedly the year of the European team's talent spurt out.
Little Hat was gradually maturing, and Bwipo was good in solo play.
Wunder and Perkz were equally strong.
Little Bee's midlaner was also very good.
The European team's adaptability to the new version was terrifying. Players who were already very good at the cup system, coupled with mature coaches and analysts, could often increase their winning rate in the second round of the group stage by a large margin.
This year, all three teams had entered the top eight knockout stage. The number was exactly the same as in the LPL, which was enough to prove their strength.
"Let's go, let's go to the draw!" Lin Yan patted his butt and got up. He went to the stage under the guidance of the staff.
Roaring Emperor was already waiting on the stage.
"After eight days of fighting, the number of teams that can stay here has been reduced by half. Let's take a look at the teams that have entered the top eight!"
"First, the absolute king, YM, who is aiming for the dynasty!"
When Lin Yan stepped onto the stage, the audience burst into thunderous cheers!
Because there was an IG match today, there were many LPL fans who came to watch the game live.
They waved their flags and shouted in the stands, warmly welcoming the arrival of Lin Yan.
"Next, TL, who is entering the knockout stage for the first time!"
Then, the representatives of RNG, G2, KT, VIT, IG, and FNC appeared on the stage one after another.
The representative of the first team in the group stood on Lin Yan's side, while the second team ran to the opposite side.
"Let's welcome the 2018 League of Legends global finals knockout stage guest … Watch!"
Korea's attitude towards the draw this year was still very clear. The guest must be handsome.
There was Princess Flame in front and Watch behind. It was indeed very pleasing to the eye.
Watch, who was wearing a neat suit, bowed to the audience and put his hand into the glass basin, stirring slowly …
Everyone held their breath.
The fate of the eight teams in the knockout stage was about to be decided!