Chapter 129 Chaotic World Championship! "Yang's Influence"
Chapter 129 Chaotic World Championship! "Yang's Influence"
On September 2022, 9, the three LPL teams went to the airport, ready to take the same flight to the other side of the earth.
The reason why there are only three teams is because the qualifying match starting on the 30th is in Mexico City, which is not convenient for the group stage in New York City. The fourth seed RNG has already gone there early to prepare for the match.
"Everyone, check to make sure you don't leave anything behind. If you get on the plane, you won't be able to come back!"
“Mask, mask, mask!”
"From now on, whenever you go out and breathe outdoor air, you have to keep your mask on your face!"
The sound of the wheels hitting the steps echoed in the base, and EDG members hurried downstairs dragging their suitcases.
When we arrived at the airport, the other two teams had already gathered there.
"Look! That's a huge rambutan!?" Ye Bo saw a furry red giant from a distance.
"Oh my god, it looks like Brother Shuizi!" Jiejie squinted his eyes and moved closer, staring at the big head and the more he looked at it, the more it resembled him.
Jack Ai watched the man staring at his superior, and proudly shook his bright red hair in front of his forehead.
"Brother Shuizi, when did you dye your hair this color? It's so red!" Meiko couldn't help but tease.
"It's for good luck, and we'll try to get off to a good start!"
"But isn't red in the alliance an unlucky color of failure?" Ye Bo muttered to himself, "And red can also mean an ominous old age, a sign of a body covered in red hair."
Jack loves reading and doesn't really read novels. He didn't take Ye Bo's grumbling to heart: "Feudal superstition is not encouraged, Master Ye, that's impossible!"
"Don't you see what we got? We don't know how we lost in this group stage!"
"My favorite La Dancing family motto is that we can start studying our opponents for the elimination rounds now. What do you think, Director? This is what I will be talking about when the time comes!"
Mingkai, who was standing by, shuddered when he heard these familiar words, but he couldn't be happy.
Damn it, our EDG has the worst luck in draws!
As long as we enter the S game, we must play against T1. Is this a family curse for us EDG?
In fact, this is indeed the case.
Group C, where TES is located, is undoubtedly the luckiest. As the only "non-Korean group", the No. 1 seed matched is a European team, and it is almost clear that DRX will make it to the qualifying round.
In the current perception, DRX is undoubtedly the weakest team among the four LCK representative teams.
Whether looking at historical records or playoff performance, they cannot be compared with the previous three teams!
Although JDG drew the strongest GEN.G on the board, the other team is a North American team ranked last. Their threat factor is obviously not as high as that of EDG's group, G2, which has caused a lot of trouble to LPL.
Then there is naturally no need to say much about RNG.
Not only because the No. 9 seed in Group D is the North American C, which has been consistently lagging behind for many years.
Moreover, the founder of "1020", who makes RNG fans tremble when they hear the news, has been taken away by EDG!
Ye Bo stood in front of the plane, took a photo of himself and the big plane behind him, and sent it to {A Loving Family} to inform himself that he was ready to leave.
Soon, several long voice messages popped up in the group, mostly Ye Ying's nagging.
"Be sure to wear a mask, don't go out on the streets alone, and don't go out at night. Everyone there has a gun and it will be chaotic."
"Master Ye is on board!"
The EDG members who were preparing to board the plane at the back shouted, and seeing Ye Bo standing there, they turned around and stood together waiting.
The thoughtful Saint Spear Brother noticed that Ye Bo was listening to the voice message, and trotted over to help him carry the small bag he was carrying so that it would be easier for the other party to reply to the message. Ye Bo also gave him a grateful look.
"Oh, don't worry, mom. I'm going to New York, not the Indian jungle. It's not that dangerous. Don't worry."
After replying to the message, Ye Bo followed his teammates into the cabin and found his seat.
I sat down and adjusted my breathing, but my fingers unconsciously stroked the seat belt around my waist.
This is his first time on a plane.
Before long, a slight feeling of weightlessness came over me.
The next moment, when I looked out the window, the land of the motherland had gradually begun to become blurred and shrink.
Fortunately, after getting used to it, the experience of flying was not that noticeable. It was even quieter than a high-speed train, so Ye Bo quickly adapted.
He then closed his eyes and his consciousness entered another world.
The "Summer Season Champion" trophy is significantly more valuable than the "Regular Season MVP" trophy, and it also provides [3 Legendary Essences] that can be used to improve {Basic Physical Talents}.
After completely digesting and training the two legendary essences from last time, the physical talent displayed on Ye Bo's panel has increased from {2 years old} → {32 years old}.
And Ye Bo had obviously begun to have some vague "feelings".
How should I describe this feeling? It's not an obvious improvement like faster reaction.
Like more energy? Healthier? Stronger immunity?
Anyway, I am not as out of breath when I run in the morning.
There is indeed a feeling of becoming "younger"!
But it is obvious that this youthfulness does not refer to changes in age.
After all, Ye Bo is only 18 years old. If he really follows this literal meaning, he will become a dozen years younger. Wouldn't that mean he will turn back into a baby's physique!
This result confirmed my previous guess. Due to the system's misalignment, the original [repair] for old Dengbo would most likely become an [evolution] effect when applied to myself!
As for the more specific effects, perhaps as the function description suggests, you need to wait until your physical talent reaches the maximum value before you can unlock the improvement of the {depth limit of special abilities}.
The training method is very simple—it is actually the various basic skills of League of Legends.
For example, Ye Bo’s previous two trainings were respectively "Use basic attacks to kill 10000 soldiers" and "Use pure movement to dodge skills 10000 times" in the special trial field.
The special trial field is like a ping-pong machine for training soldiers. There will be a constant flow of soldiers to replenish, and AI heroes will automatically change and cast skills from all angles.
The good news is that this training mode does not take up the time of the {Trial Field}, and can be paused and continued at any time.
This is very convenient for Ye Bo.
The flight to New York takes more than ten hours. The discussions around us were lively at first, but soon fell silent. Everyone chose to spend the time sleeping.
13 hours passed in the blink of an eye.
When the timer set by Ye Bo arrives, he will automatically leave the virtual space.
What caught my eye were the huge heads staring at me from all directions.
"I lost a monster!"
The red-haired monster Jack Ai said, "Master Ye, I thought the things on the Internet were made up. It turns out you can really sleepwalk?"
"Everyone says it's spicy, but what is sleepwalking? Our Master Ye is training even when he's sleeping!" Jiejie said with a smile.
"Believe it, believe it, I believe it~"
Although the training mode was not as intense as the trial field, and Ye Bo would not suddenly shout "Double Sword Slash!", slight twitching of his hands was still unavoidable.
The EDG members were naturally not surprised.
But the others found it very interesting and came to visit quite often during the flight.
"Let's go, let's get off the plane."
"Everyone should be careful and try not to have close contact with foreigners, especially those who are no longer wearing masks."
Nowadays, the number of international flights has generally dropped to a freezing point, but the number of passengers is still very high, and many international students still want to study in the United States.
The attitude towards prevention and control abroad is very different from that in China. Those who survived are basically already in a state of Chongyang without wearing masks.
Fortunately, the LPL players were all in business class, so they could avoid contact as much as possible after getting off the plane.
The crowd separated into teams as if they were running away from a poisoned person, and boarded buses with fist logos printed on them.
"We need to be quarantined when we arrive at the hotel," the Riot staff accompanying the team reminded them, "We will deliver three meals a day to the door of your room, and you need to be tested every day."
After all, this World Championship is held in Riot's official hometown, so all conditions are relatively complete, and the hotel is located in the center of New York City.
As soon as Ye Bo landed, he took photos of his itinerary and sent them back to the WeChat group to reassure his family.
Then he opened the window a little to let in some fresh air and looked out at the strange scenery outside in a trance.
The world championship journey that I have always dreamed of.
From this moment on, I have finally officially embarked on my journey!
"S-match! I'll be the one to do it!"
".Wait, what's that smell? It stinks!"
"Damn it, didn't they say the air in New York is sweet? If I didn't know, I would have thought this was India. It stinks even more than Xuanjun's dick!"
"Get lost! But it really stinks. What is that?"
Ye Bo quickly closed the window and waited for a while for the odor to dissipate.
Mingkai, who had been to the United States, explained to everyone that it was because the "leaves" had been legalized in New York State since 21.
It was Ye Bo's first time to go abroad. After he learned what "leaf" was, he felt that he had a new understanding of this place.
I had been planning to go for a walk when the game was over, but now I have completely given up the idea.
However, in order not to worry his mother, Ye Bo deliberately avoided those areas when taking pictures of the street scenes along the way.
After arriving at the officially booked hotel, each player was isolated individually, and the team manager Mingkai was responsible for sending everyone to the room one by one.
"This is a US server super account distributed by Riot. You can use it for training recently. Remember to adjust to the jet lag and catch up on sleep first to ensure your condition. This is the most important thing!"
"If you have any questions, just call me. I'll be next door."
Ye Bo nodded, took the peripherals from the other party, and turned to enter the room to start the 7-day quarantine. The room was not small, there was a computer with good configuration, but there was nothing special, which was enough for an e-sports player.
But Ye Bo was not ready to sleep.
The training mode on the plane just now had already replenished his sleep. Now he was full of energy, so he directly logged into the official US server account, ready to play a few games to warm up his hands.
And the "jet lag" problem that gives many players a headache is almost non-existent for Ye Bo.
As long as you slightly adjust the time and enter the {Trial Field} at the time when the time difference should arrive and click the BUG, the time difference can be corrected.
The world championship is getting closer.
Before the start of the play-in round, fans could only look for information on social media to learn about each team’s preparations and personal safety.
Soon, the contestants’ accounts were exposed by UP hosts and fans, who observed the contestants’ training status.
[Snail Shell is still awesome! 79% win rate, 436 points in the US Grandmaster, almost King in just a few days, is he really "as bad as a Grandmaster"? 】
[If you want to rank higher, you have to look at my Chinese kung fu. 80 win rate, 636 points, King! I should be the highest ranked among all the super accounts, right? I'm already ranked 77th! ]
[Haha, Ip Man just relies on the number of matches. He has fought dozens more matches than me. I would have become the champion even though I have fought so many matches!]
[You've never taken math classes? You don't understand the value of having more matches and a higher winning rate, right? ]
[I can only say don't be too optimistic. Maokai can't move once he lands. I don't know how EDG will play this game without a coach!]
[I reasonably suspect that this is an excuse EDG made in advance for being eliminated in the top 16 of the death group. Otherwise, why is my brother Top Esports not positive? Could it be because my brother dyed his hair red? ]
[Haha, don't even think of using the sheep as an excuse! Everyone has been a sheep before! I'll see which B will be eliminated in the top 16 this year! ]
On the second day after landing in the United States, coach Mao Kai was confirmed to be positive and had a high fever of 39.6 degrees and was bedridden.
Fortunately, the rest of the EDG members were isolated in time and did not get infected.
But I understand everything.
The lack of a coach does not have much impact on EDG at the moment.
As the time came to the 30th, all professional players' US server accounts basically began to enter dormancy.
The reason is simple——————because from today, the [Qualifying Round] officially starts!
All players also started to meet up for some competition training matches to reduce qualifying training.
And as an outpost for the World Championship.
There is no doubt that the qualifying round will be a place for all teams to verify their understanding of the latest World Championship version remotely!
"Cancel~account~!"
"This solo kill is terrible. It seems like Xiaohu's enchantress is still asleep."
“Zeka’s Akali is something.”
The most noteworthy match in the qualifying round is undoubtedly the battle between DRX and RNG, the fourth seed between the China and South Korea regions.
Coincidentally, the two teams were assigned to the same group and were about to engage in a head-on battle!
It’s a pity that RNG failed to defeat the opponent. The two sides fought for 42 minutes, and in the end DRX showed a stronger competitive performance.
"I have to say, this version seems to be quite suitable for alpacas and the others," Meiko muttered to himself.
"Zeli was nerfed to the point where she can't be played anymore, and Skateboard Shoes was also nerfed. Now the policewoman's ice is very strong. These are the specialties of Alpaca."
In fact, Zeli had already been greatly weakened in the version after the playoffs version, but it was not highlighted because the version was used in the bubble match.
The last straw that caused Zeli to completely decline was that her paired partner Lulu was also severely nerfed, resulting in only one cat combination left, making it difficult to choose in BP.
In addition, heroes such as Policewoman, Ashe, Miss Fortune, and EZ have been strengthened.
This naturally leads to an infinite reduction in Zeli's selection rate.
"But looking at it this way, Monkey King is indeed not that good anymore. After this minor rework, Tree is really quite powerful." Jiejie paid more attention to the changes in the jungle position.
"Well, there are a lot of changes in each position. My mid laner has the least changes. Except for Victor, it seems that the key points are still the same."
In the absence of the coach, White Crescent, the original coach of TES next door, volunteered to come to EDG to help coach.
But it was immediately and decisively rejected by everyone in EDG.
At this time, Ye Bo, holding a small notebook, was recording BP matters.
Almost no resolution was passed, and everyone seemed to just take it for granted and naturally agreed to this "substitute coach".
In the World Championship version, Maokai has undergone a minor rework and has become a must-pick option.
On the contrary, Monkey King, who dominated the summer season, had a lot of basic stats cut. In addition, with the great enhancements to heroes such as Graves, Lee Sin, and Centaur, his selection rate plummeted like that of Zeli.
As everyone expected, the changes made on the eve of the World Championship indeed led to a drastic change in the environment!
In the early version.
It is clear that there is not much difference in everyone's understanding of the version.
"Actually, I think the impact of RNG losing three yangs is quite large. I hope it won't affect the group stage."
Ming Kai, who was standing by to assist Ye Bo and act as a "coach assistant", couldn't help but worry for his old opponent.
After all, they heard that RNG killed three people as soon as they landed in Mexico City.
Followed by.
On October 10, National Day, something even more terrifying happened.
This finally made everyone take "Yang's Influence" more seriously.
Because RNG actually lost to DFM in the qualifying round!
We successfully broke the historical record of LPL against LJL and were honored to become the first LPL team in history to lose to the Japanese division!
This defeat, which absolutely exceeded everyone's expectations, sparked a wave of pessimism online.
[It’s really hot! From this perspective, LPL will definitely be really hot this year! ]
[Huh? I thought it wasn't RNG 3 to 1? How come it looks like DFM 3 to 1?]
[How shameless! You can even lose your daily life, who else can you lose next? You want to lose Vietnam too? You really have no shame! ]
[Don't be so mean, RNG can only go to Group D, they can't lose to Vietnam, at most they can lose to North America! ]
[Report! The latest news is that someone from DK seems to have been infected. RNG is so lucky! ]
[I understand, I understand! It's all strategy. If you use Yang first, you won't use Yang later. When the game is halfway through, you can transform into the Roaring Heavenly Lord and attack directly in the face. This is a sure win in the second round! ]
Although there was the controversy of losing to the Japanese team.
However, the competitiveness of the qualifying round was not very high, and it was obvious that there was a gap in strength between the two sides. The final places in the group stage were not affected.
The four teams that emerged from the group stage were also divided into four groups based on the principle of zone avoidance.
The final groupings of the group stage have been released one after another————
Group A: EDG, T1, G2, DFM
Group B: GEN.G, JDG, 100T, FNC
Group C: RGE, TES, GAM, DRX
Group D: C9, CFO, DK, RNG
Three days later.
Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden, New York City.
“Dear audience friends from all over the world! Now please give the warmest applause to welcome the champion of the last 2021 World Finals to return the trophy!”
“Let’s shout their names together: Edward Gaming!”
The bearded host at the scene shouted at the top of his lungs.
This is a regular feature of the opening ceremony every year, allowing the previous champion to return the trophy in person.
The meaning of the ceremony may be to tell everyone: there is no eternal champion. Only by constantly moving forward and improving and becoming the strongest every year can you be qualified to hold the trophy again or for the first time.
Of course, not all championship teams can perform this ceremony "personally".
For example, FPX in S10 failed to make it to the world championship, and the staff finally paid for it.
The five people standing in the player channel walked out together. Ye Bo stood in the middle, holding the base of the Summoner's Trophy in his hand.
In the S12 season, the Summoner's Trophy, which has been passed down for 11 years, was also "remade", and its style and design have been completely changed.
So, in fact, this is the first time that everyone in EDG has seen the Summoner's Trophy.
This new Summoner's Trophy also has a very appropriate and meaningful slogan————
《Opening, a new era! 》
The spotlights in the venue flashed wildly on the trophy, and the glittering silver light was extremely eye-catching!
The five EDG players did not leave the field after returning the Summoner's Trophy, but stood beside the trophy and waited quietly.
Ye Bo, who was standing nearby, was staring at the highest symbol of honor in the Summoner's Rift, just like all the players and spectators around him.
The other four people also couldn't help but glance at the trophy from time to time.
Everyone's eyes were extremely fiery.
"In the next month, the top teams from all over the world will engage in fierce battles in Summoner's Rift. Only the final winner will be able to succeed in chasing stars and hold the throne!"
"Then let us wait and see which eight strong teams will stand out in the group stage!"
"The first to appear is our defending champion! EDG!"
(End of this chapter)