With a smile on his face, Watch opened the first black ball in his hand, revealing the green ribbon inside.
When he opened it up, the black and gold icon appeared on it.
"The first team in the top half is RNG!"
Ze Yuan announced the results of the draw to the audience and explained the rules at the same time. "According to the rule that teams in the same group will not meet before the finals, the second team in Group B, G2, will definitely be in the bottom half!"
The guest did not stop and put his hand back into the glass bowl.
"Because the first draw is the results of the division, there are three black balls with the other teams' first team logos in the bowl …" Remember explained. "Anyway, all three of our teams are first in the group. This means that two teams will definitely meet in the same division."
"I hope we can see the internal battle of our LPL division in the top four." Ze Yuan gave his best wishes.
Watch opened the second ball, and the smile on his face became even brighter. He showed the content of the dazzling white ribbon to the audience.
"YM …" Remember hissed. "If that's the case, the two teams in the top half are confirmed to be RNG and YM!"
Li Yuanhao, who was standing beside Lin Yan, cursed in Chinese. His face was extremely pale.
Obviously, no team wanted to meet a monster like YM before the finals.
Broiler and Mr. Dai, who represented KT at the draw ceremony, looked at each other. Their eyes were full of relief.
They were assigned to the bottom half.
Although they thought that each other was a strong opponent, a clash between the two would definitely lead to a big battle.
That was much better than encountering YM.
Watch then opened the ribbon with the IG and KT logos.
On the big screen in the stadium, the four teams were first in a corner.
The four teams that were second in the group were about to be drawn. This would directly determine the results of the top eight knockout round.
Not only the audience, but even the representatives of the players on the field were very nervous.
Lin Ran, on the other hand, still had a look of confusion on his face.
It did not matter to him who was second in the group.
Watch came to the glass bowl with the other four black balls and put his hand in. Not long after, he took out one of them and opened it to show the audience.
The unique Black Knight logo appeared in front of everyone.
"G2!" Ze Yuan said loudly. "This time, they have triggered the avoidance rule. They will be in the bottom half."
"Our opponent is … Team IG!"
When he saw the G2 team logo appear below IG on the top eight section panel, Ah P let out a carefree smile.
Other than RNG, the other three first place teams did not have much of a chance of winning. IG looked like the weakest team.
This was an easy signing for G2.
Broiler, whose smile was full of collagen, walked down the steps and came to the summoner's trophy in the center of the stage with Ah P. After a friendly handshake, they went backstage.
"Then who will RNG's opponent be?" Ze Yuan was still trying to keep the suspense in the live broadcast room.
Watch had already revealed the answer.
The Little Bee logo represented the VIT team!
Since KT, which was in the same group as Little Bee, was in the bottom half of the group, the avoidance principle was not triggered. The VIT icon was closely connected to the RNG icon!
Although Li Yuanhao didn't think it was particularly good, it wasn't bad either.
In the second place of several groups, FNC was naturally the strongest, TL was recognized as the weakest, and VIT was in the middle.
He left the stage hand in hand with the Little Bee mid laner, Jiizuke.
Now there were only four players left on the stage. Anyone with a discerning eye could see that at this point, all the opponents in the section had been determined.
Caps also realized something and raised his face with a serious expression.
Watch paused for a moment, then took out a black ball and opened it to reveal the team logo inside.
TL。
"The avoidance principle has been triggered again. TL is in the same group as YM, so they avoided the top half of the group. They will have a contest with KT!"
The remaining players, Lin Yan and Little Hat, had a home.
The top eight sections were out.
Top half: RNG versus VIT, YM versus FNC.
Bottom half: IG versus G2, KT versus TL.
The Korean audience in the stands couldn't control their excitement and kept creating restless noises.
In Han Wenliu's live broadcast room on the mouse platform, the fans were also chattering non-stop.
[So cool, brother. Top eight against Liquid, top four against IG. Isn't KT guaranteed to enter the finals?]
[Good draw. Why do you say it's a good draw?]
[Sure enough, there's a bonus to luck in the local area. KT has been fighting all the way and has faced the weakest opponents, right?]
[So the final battle in Incheon will be between KT and YM. The first seed of the two divisions will collide head-on!]
[What if, I mean what if, FNC beats YM in the top eight?]
The Korean audience laughed.
From the group stage to the top eight, KT's road to promotion had been smooth sailing. Liquid looked like a noob. Although they had defeated GEN, KT was the number one seed of the Korean LCK League. How could they lose to the North American team easily?
Lin Yan also shook hands with Little Hat, who was a head shorter than him, and walked off the stage like an older brother holding his younger brother's hand.
The representatives of the other teams were still waiting in the common room backstage. Ah P came over and wanted to take a picture with Little Hat and Lin Yan.
"Come, come, come, the world's strongest mid laner wants to take a picture!"
Perkz put his arm around Broiler's shoulder. He didn't know how they became so close in such a short time.
Looking at Perkz's optimistic face, Caps felt depressed.
He could guess Ah P's real thoughts.
G2 was the third seed of the European division. It was considered a success for them to enter the top eight of the international competition this year.
Now, they were undoubtedly successful.
Even if they lost to IG, they wouldn't complain. The European audience wouldn't criticize G2 either.
But FNC, which Caps was in, was different.
As the double champions of spring and summer in the division, the European audience had high hopes for this veteran esports powerhouse. They felt that they could enter the top four or even stand at a higher place and regain the glory of winning the S1 Internet Cafe Championship.
This was expectation, but also an invisible shackle.
With such high expectations, Caps was obviously unhappy with the result of the draw.
He originally wanted to fight RNG. FNC thought that RNG was the weakest team in the group and they had hopes of toppling them.
But if they were to fight YM …
Cap felt that his team's prospects for this year's international competition were bleak.
FNC could only blame themselves. If they had won the game against AF earlier, they might have been able to get first place in the group.
The second place in the group was in a passive position. It wasn't realistic to rely on luck to send them weak opponents. In the knockout round, they would have to face strong teams all the way.
But Ah P's smile was too infectious. He passed on his optimism to Cap.
If they beat YM first, then RNG, and finally beat KT or IG …
Wouldn't they be able to sweep all the strong teams in China and Korea?
It was ridiculously high!
They had to have dreams. What if they came true?
Caps gave a smile that resembled Mr. Bean's.
Lin Ran, who was beside her, was frightened by her sudden change in attitude. He couldn't figure out what was going on with Little Red Riding Hood.
"Look at the camera!" Ah P grabbed Lin Yan's shoulder and gestured for him to focus.
The four of them made the classic thumbs up gesture to the camera. Their actions were uniform and looked quite comical.
Lin Yan had just finished taking a picture when VIT's mid laner ran over. Senior Brother and the others also wanted to join in the fun.
In the end, it turned into a group photo of the eight players.
Lin Ran thought that this was the end of the group photo session.
But when he returned to the hotel on the bus, he realized that he was too naive.
Wave after wave of pro players knocked on the door of YM's training room, hoping to exchange uniforms with Lin Yan and take a picture.
Lin Yan had only brought four short-sleeved uniforms this time. Other than the one he was wearing, he gave away the rest.
Luckily, Guo Hao was prepared. He brought a suitcase with him to Fusan to store the players' uniforms and spare peripherals.
The players from the various clubs swarmed over. Lin Yan's thumbs up never changed. He became a merciless group photo machine. His hands were almost numb.
Previously, because they had to prepare for the competition, the atmosphere was inevitably tense. No one had the energy to look for Lin Yan.
Now that the group stage was officially over, the eight teams that were eliminated would leave in the next two days. They finally had the time to take a picture with the top pro players they admired and leave behind beautiful memories of this trip to the World Championship.
After half an hour, Lin Yan and Guo Hao finally sent the passionate players away. However, the suitcase was stacked with various uniforms from the other clubs.
"FNC, TL, KT, AF, G2 …" Guo Hao counted them one by one and helped Lin Yan organize them. In the end, he found that there were signed short-sleeved shirts from fourteen clubs. "Wow, Brother Ran, are you collecting Dragon Balls here?"
"Including the one that Sect Master An exchanged earlier, we have all 15 Clubs' uniforms." Lin Ran gulped down half a cup of water to soothe his throat, which was about to explode with smoke.
Normally, teams in the same division rarely exchanged uniforms. However, Ouze and The Shy came over to join in the fun and gave Lin Yan two uniforms.
"You're really a celebrity." Lin Weixiang felt like he had eaten a lemon.
As a substitute, he naturally didn't receive much attention. Big Brow didn't even have the chance to change uniforms.
"I'm a damn celebrity," Lin Yan rubbed his cheeks. "My face is almost stiff from smiling."
The training room finally quieted down.
Gouba carefully analyzed FNC's performance in the group stage. He wanted to provide some help for YM in the knockout stage.
Red Mi was more direct. He took out the six group stage matches and reviewed them one by one. He wanted to catch the traitor.
In his opinion, the fact that FNC could become second in Group D and didn't even have to play overtime meant that there was something wrong with the team.
Homme found a loophole after searching for a while.
After a night of rest, the YM players gathered together for a pre-tournament meeting.
The schedule for this year's international tournament was very tight.
After the group stage matches on the 17th, the semi-finals would begin on the 20th of October.
Moreover, there would be a best-of-five every afternoon and night. The semi-finals would be decided in two days.
There wasn't much time left for the eight teams to study their opponents.
Red Mi didn't bother with the fancy talk and went straight to the point.
"Before we study FNC's weakness, we need to know what kind of team they are."
He listed the data directly.
"LCS .EU's summer tournament won't be included in the scope of our investigation. After all, there are a lot of changes. Let's look at FNC's performance in the group stage." Red Mi used a laser pointer to draw on the screen. "In the first fifteen minutes, their mid laner affinity rate was very high. It was a full 21%. Their bottom laner affinity rate was the lowest, only 7%. Their top laner affinity rate was slightly higher, but it was still less than 10%.
"Obviously, FNC is a team that relies on the mid laner to play the early game. The jungler, Broxah, almost never goes to the bottom lane to initiate a gank. His tactical thinking is very clear, and that is to help Caps open up the game."
Little Hat was now FNC's top player. Moreover, the importance of the mid laner in the current version was self-evident. Which jungler wouldn't help their team's absolute core?
"In the middle of the game, FNC likes to release Ou Cheng and keep roaming … It's worth mentioning that this release method is slightly passive. It's not that the jungler pushes the tower and helps the support out of the lane. Instead, after the jungler switches lanes, the support lets Ou Cheng roam to other places to provide support.
"At this time, FNC's rhythm changes to the jungler's coordination. The two starting points set up vision in the jungle to create space for the duo to develop."
Red Rice continued, "In addition, both of FNC's top laners are more stable. The difference is in the middle of the game. Soaz is used to playing a blue-collar hero and moves with the rest of the team, but he doesn't play many times. The starting BWIPO likes to lead the lane alone, and most of the time, he uses a character that's suitable for solo laning.
"Their overall tactical style is more of a management style." He emphasized this point to attract the attention of the rest of the team. "They don't like to fight in the early game like IG. Instead, they're used to switching lanes and positioning control until the middle and late game, waiting for the duo of Ou Cheng and Caps to take over the game.
"If you want to find a similar team to use this system as a template …"
Lin Yan raised his hand. "I think it's a bit like SKT in the past."
The top laner liked to lead the lane, and the jungler stayed in the mid lane to help the big boss. The bottom lane transitioned smoothly during the laning phase, and in the middle of the game, the support roamed to form a coordination, leaving the ADC alone to develop and catch up.
In addition, their playstyle was more of a late game, and they waited for the duo to take over the team battle. It sounded very similar to SKT in S5 and S6.
After listening to Jiang Chenglu's translation, Red Rice gave Lin Yan an affirmative answer. "That's right, they're a bit similar to SKT, but they have a lot of flaws.
"First of all, their individual strength. There's a certain gap between their positions and the top SKT. I'm sure all of you know this, so I don't need to explain further."
A few of the team members nodded.
They had fought against SKT in the S6 World Championship, and the pressure they felt could only be described as exaggerated.
The current FNC team clearly did not have that kind of top-notch individual strength. A few of their positions could be considered top-notch, but they were not the best.
"The second point, which is also the key to our meeting today … the hero pool."
Red Rice gave a chart.
On it were the heroes that Ou Cheng had used in the group battle.
There were three heroes in total.
Chiwil, Little Cannon, and Ember.
"Ember is the most popular hero in the current version, and is second only to Ice as a top-notch tool. As for the other two, only Ou Cheng uses them."
Red Rice explained, "If Chiwil's R [Hunt] is of some help to the team, then what about Little Cannon?
"The three heroes he uses have a common trait — they clear the lane extremely quickly.
"These characters can use their lane clearing speed to quickly farm money in the middle of the game to replenish their economy. Moreover, they are very effective when defending. This is very compatible with his and FNC's playstyle. Especially for ADCs like Little Cannon and Chiwil, who need a three-piece set to unleash their full potential, the team's ability to operate is extremely high. Otherwise, with the current pace of the game, these archers would not be able to last until their equipment is completed," Red Rice said.
As an older generation of ADCs, Ou Cheng had a common problem — farming.
I'll eat my economy first, and whether I can carry it or not is up to fate.
However, the biggest difference between him and Ouze was in the lane.
Uzi belonged to the aggressive lane type. His own suppressive ability was already very strong, and he would often summon someone to help and completely destroy the opponent's bottom lane.
Ou Cheng, on the other hand, was invisible in lane. Most of the time, the audience would not feel that he was there. Only when the team was fighting could they discover his existence.
Chiwil and Little Cannon were archers that were very useful in the middle and late game. The former had high AoE damage, and W [Ricochet]'s AoE damage was very impressive. The latter had the advantage of range and could steal damage from afar.
"Ou Cheng and FNC's playstyles complement each other. His own strong development ability and his position in team battles allow him to control these core archers in the late game. It is also because of Ou Cheng's DPS that FNC chose to drag out the late game and wait for the duo to lead the team to victory," Red Rice concluded.
"He doesn't play Lucian, right?"
Jack took Ou Cheng's current Korean server rank map from the analyst. On it were the characters he had recently used, and there were very few Lucian characters.
"That's right. Ou Cheng isn't very interested in ADCs that need to open up the lane."
Rekkles liked to use Lucian in 2014, but ever since the design and range were changed, he didn't play it much.
A range of 500 yards was a bit shabby for Lucian. Positioning also became a character that needed to have a certain advantage in the lane to be able to contribute equally to the opponent's ADC in team battles.
Even if the changes to the Blue Sucking Sword strengthened Lucian, it still couldn't change the inherent flaw of having short arms. The scene of Ouze's Holy Lance Ranger being destroyed by G2's jungler a few days ago was still vivid in his mind.
"The best-of-five the day after tomorrow is to target Ou Cheng's hero pool …" Red Rice explained his thoughts.
The quarterfinals were still held in Busan. Lin Yan and his teammates didn't need to spend time traveling. They just needed to continue training in Busan.
However, half of the rooms on the same floor of the hotel were empty. Every night, the noise in the corridor disappeared without a trace.
It was soon October 20th.
Today, there would be two best-of-five matches in the first half. YM and RNG would both be participating.
When Lin Yan rushed to the stadium, he didn't forget to look at the esports forums on his phone.
There were no matches in the past two days, but the netizens weren't idle. They had been thinking of ways to gain experience.
In the forums, LPL's public opinion was positive.
[Popular knowledge: In the quarterfinals, the first four groups are all Asian teams, and the second place teams are all European and American teams.]
[YM, RNG, IG, and KT are in the semifinals. LPL's three ninjas are surrounding KT. There's nothing wrong with this script, right?]
[F * ck, three LPL teams are estimated to be in the semifinals. I didn't even dare to dream about it before the competition.]
[This year is really the year with the most hope for LPL!]
[As long as IG kills KT in the semifinals, should we …]
[Don't worry, okay?
What if the European and American teams go all out in the knockout rounds this year?]
Lin Yan looked at the prediction posts of the European, American, and Korean commentators before the competition and found that these commentators were all crazy about YM. Some people even said that they would win the championship again.
"I don't think I need to say more about YM's stability as the original Centaur, right?"
When CloudTemplar was analyzing the knockout rounds in his live broadcast room, he spread out his hands. "I don't even know what they have to do to not make it to the finals."
"Can RNG and FNC beat YM?" He looked at the camera and said in an incomparably sincere tone, "It's very blue."
When Lin Yan saw this, he felt that this person's words were ridiculous. He put away his phone.
Looking through the bus window, the Busan Convention and Exhibition Center was right in front of them.
The street lamps along the way had already been hung with advertising for the quarterfinals. Lin Yan and the Korean star player, Smeb, stood face to face. Behind them were The Sh, Ou Cheng, Perkz, and the others.
As they got closer to the stadium, Lin Yan could see a long line of people preparing to go through the security check.
As there were no Korean teams participating on the first day of the knockout rounds, most of the people who came to the Busan Convention and Exhibition Center today were LPL fans. Korea was not far away to begin with, so it was not difficult for them to come and watch a match.
The audience held up all kinds of support items for YM. When they saw the bus with the Fist Gaming Company's logo driving over, the commotion became much louder.
Lin Yan waved at the supporters in all directions. Under the guidance of the staff, he entered the Convention and Exhibition Center through another entrance.
The match started at 5 pm local time in Korea. After returning from the dressing room, there was still more than an hour to rest. Lin Yan lay on the gaming chair and closed his eyes to rest and clear his mind.
The actions of the other four members of the starting lineup were similar.
Everyone tried to clear their minds of distracting thoughts so that their bodies and minds could maintain sufficient concentration when the match started.
Red Mi was still writing and drawing in the notebook with the BP train of thought. In his mind, he kept deducing the possible responses that the other party could make. He tried his best to do the best within a limited range and get a suitable lineup for his team members.
Time flew by.
It was only when Winston knocked on the door and entered that the calm situation was broken.
Everyone filed out and went through the backstage passageway to the main stage.
"You guys just have to walk according to your positions during the rehearsal. It's not difficult …" Winston reminded them, then patted the players' shoulders one by one. "Do your best."
He knew what YM's goal was for this year's international competition.
The group stage was considered to have a higher tolerance for mistakes. It was not a big deal to lose a few matches.
But in the knockout rounds, the situation was completely different.
They had to win three sets of best-of-five matches in a row.
There could not be any mistakes in between. Otherwise, all their efforts would be for naught.
Taking advantage of the time before they went on stage, Lin Yan called for his teammates to form a circle.
"No matter what happens in the next match … stay calm and maintain communication." His tone was solemn. "Believe in yourself and believe in your teammates."
Lin Yan reached out his hand. Everyone's palms were stacked together, feeling each other's strength.
"YM …"
"Do your best!" The six members shouted in unison and pressed their hands down.
"Let's go, let's go!" Lin Yan clapped his hands. "Let's show the other side what a true double champion is!"
The players were excited and prepared to go on stage to fight.
FNC Spring and Summer European Championship?
YM had one too.
Moreover, there were two summoner trophies in a row. It was truly a double championship!
"Welcome to Pusan!" Roaring Emperor stood on the stage and faced the audience.
"From today onwards, the global finals will enter the white-hot stage. The teams standing on the stage will only have one chance. If they win, they will continue to move forward. If they lose, they will leave with regret!
"Let us welcome the two teams in the first round of the knockout stage with a warm round of applause!"
"First of all, the first seed from LCS. EU, the champion of the S1 global finals … Fnatic!"
Roaring Emperor waved his arm, and the six members of FNC and the head coach entered through the backstage passageway, appearing in front of all the audience!
"Top laner Bwipo, jungler Broxah, mid laner Caps, bottom laner Rekkles, support Hylissang, substitute Soaz, and head coach Yongbuck!"
When the host introduced them, all of Ou Ban FNC looked cold and seemed to be under a lot of pressure.
Only Ou Cheng was an exception. He even made a heart to his fans, seeming to be in a good mood.
The audience was not stingy with their applause, giving the European powerhouse enough respect.
"Next, welcome …" Roaring Emperor took a deep breath and suddenly raised his voice. "2015 and 2016 global finals champion, LPL's first seed — Young Miracles!"
Accompanied by the tsunami-like cheers from the audience, Jin Gong stepped onto the stage with his teammates!
"Top laner GimGoon, jungler Tian, mid laner Ran, bottom laner Jackeylove, support Crisp, substitute LWX, and head coach Homme!"
This lineup was incomparably luxurious. It was half a small goal and could be said to be the salary ceiling of League of Legends esports.
Just the name alone was enough to scare people.
"Once again, we welcome the arrival of the two teams!"
Roaring Emperor's voice was filled with passion. "The first match of the first day of the elimination round … officially begins!"