Chapter 255: Mid-Season Tournament First Battle! Easily Defeat FNC

Chapter 255: Mid-Season Tournament First Battle! Easily Defeat FNC

Walking down from Berlin Airport, everyone's steps were a little heavy. Although the flight was smooth, fatigue was inevitable after a long journey of nearly fifteen hours.

The team members yawned and dragged their slightly tired bodies forward, but the enthusiastic eyes of the Riot staff who had been waiting at the airport instantly dispelled their tiredness.

Li Yi spotted Ryze in the crowd and was shocked. This super boss actually came to pick them up in person? Ryze, like the other staff members, was all smiles, warmly welcoming the GT team.

Li Yi and Ryze had communicated after winning the World Championship last year. Seeing this, he extended his hand in a friendly manner and shook hands with Ryze. "Li! Welcome!" Ryze's voice was full of energy. "Thank you." Li Yi responded.

Everyone boarded the bus prepared by Riot. As soon as they sat down, Ryze asked Li Yi: "Li, what do you think of the current version update?" Li Yi answered without hesitation: "Very good."

Ryze laughed heartily and continued, "Hahaha, we plan to continue to liberate the position of the mid-lane mage... By then, I still want to see the top performance of the Lightning King." Li Yi raised the corner of his mouth and joked, "Is it the Thunder Force of Mechanical Ascension Viktor?"

After hearing this, Ruiz laughed even more happily, "Li...you are such an interesting person! I hope to see you again at the next award ceremony."

Inside the bus, the low hum of the engine and the noise outside the window intertwined. Wushuang and Lin Weixiang sat in the back seat, leaning forward slightly, their heads close together, whispering to each other.

Lin Weixiang opened his eyes wide, his face full of confusion. He nudged Wushuang with his elbow and whispered, "Brother Wang, when did Brother Yi learn English? He was talking to a foreigner just now, and he spoke so fluently."

Wushuang also looked confused. He curled his lips, shrugged and said, "I'm wondering too. I've never seen his English so good before."

Wushuang scratched his head, as if he suddenly remembered something, his eyes lit up, and he lowered his voice and said, "Oh, right, some time ago when I woke up at night, I saw Brother Yi still awake several times, holding a dictionary and memorizing words, with a small tape recorder next to him, listening to it from time to time. And when he played League of Legends rank, the battle songs he played were mostly English songs. I thought he was working hard at the time, but I didn't expect that he could speak so fluently in just a few months."

"You also said at the time... after learning English, if you can't stay in China anymore, you can go to Europe or North America to play in the league."

As he spoke, Wushuang couldn't help but show admiration and sighed softly: "This is Brother Yi's perseverance. If it were me, I wouldn't be able to hold on for a few days."

Lin Weixiang nodded silently in agreement, and the two of them looked at Li Yi, who was sitting in the front row and chatting happily with Ryze, their eyes full of admiration and emotion.

The bus started slowly and drove towards its destination, and the street scene of Berlin flashed by outside the window.

Li Yi leaned slightly to the side and cast his gaze through the car window toward the outside world. What came into view was a distinctive Baroque building.

This building is like a noble dressed in finery, exuding a luxurious atmosphere. The use of a large number of precious materials shows its extraordinary origin, and the bright colors are dazzling in the sun. Every carving and every color are telling the past glory and showing off the former wealth and status.

Not far away, another building caught his attention. It was a building in the Revival Classical style, with the columns in perfect proportions, showing the charm of classical aesthetics.

The semicircular arch is like the eyes of time, quietly gazing at the past. The unique design centered on the dome reminds people of Florence during the Renaissance, which was the golden age of flourishing art. This building seems to carry the soul of that era, transcending time and space and standing here.

The bus moved forward slowly, and the scenery on the street was like a slowly unfolding painting.

By chance, seeing such a street full of European style, Li Yi felt a special sense of comfort in his heart.

The exotic buildings and pedestrians walking on the streets were completely different from the scenes he was familiar with in his daily life. This novel experience made him temporarily forget the fatigue of the journey. He immersed himself in this unique atmosphere and quietly felt the charm of this city.

Li Yi leaned back on the bus seat and took out his phone from his pocket. The moment the screen lit up, a familiar interface came into view. He tapped his finger and the first thing he did was to send a message to his parents: "Mom and Dad, I landed safely. Berlin is pretty beautiful."

Then, he pressed the camera button at the exotic street scene outside the window, and a photo of European-style buildings was sent along with the message.

Almost instantly, a message from my parents popped up: "Son, safety comes first, competition comes second. Don't go out at night. I heard that it's very chaotic abroad, so you must be careful."

Li Yi looked at the screen, the corners of his mouth slightly raised, and his fingers quickly typed "OK" and sent it back.

After finishing the conversation with his parents, Li Yi was about to put his phone back into his pocket when a new message alert suddenly sounded.

He turned on the screen again with some doubts, and it turned out to be a message from Zhizhen Yushuang Xiran. Li Yi was slightly startled. Ever since the last time she showed off her sister and caused an online storm, Xiran had deliberately kept a distance from him. He did not force her too much, and he thought that things in the relationship should be left to nature.

Moreover, as a professional player, he knows very well that staying single can help maintain his competitive state to a certain extent, just like the four-time champion Faker, who has always kept himself clean. Perhaps he will never meet someone like Eun Jung who can make his heart beat faster.

Li Yi looked at Xi Ran's message, thought for a moment, and simply replied with a "thank you". Then, he put his phone aside, closed his eyes, and began to sort out the next game arrangements in his mind.

About half an hour later, the bus slowly stopped and we finally arrived at our destination.

When everyone got off the car, they saw the room that had been generously arranged for them. Although they were tired from the long journey, they still managed to suppress their sleepiness. After a simple wash, they all lay down on the bed and quickly fell asleep.

This time, all 14 teams participating in the mid-season tournament were arranged in the same hotel. The hotel is in an excellent location, close to the European LCS studio, which provides great convenience for event-related itineraries.

However, unlike the GT team which had just arrived and was still slowly adapting to the environment, those teams that needed to participate in the qualifying round had already plunged into the fierce competition on the day the GT team arrived.

There are a total of 10 teams participating in this qualifying round, and the competition is extremely fierce, because in the end only 2 teams can successfully advance and get tickets to the final group stage.

But some people can already make judgments before the knockout rounds even begin.

The two teams that advance are definitely from Vietnam and Taiwan.

Although the competition has been held for so many years and the gap between the major leagues is narrowing, a wild card is still a wild card, and the gap in level and tactical ability with the major leagues remains.

So no one really thinks that the other eight teams can squeeze out the places belonging to the original division.

During the first two days, the members of the GT team mainly rested in the hotel, trying to adjust to the jet lag and get into the best condition as soon as possible.

As soon as the time difference was reversed, other teams immediately sent invitations, hoping to have training matches with the GT team, and everyone quickly plunged into intense pre-match preparations.

As time went by, the situation of the play-in round gradually became clear. The EVS team from Vietnam and the Flash Wolves team from the LMS region successfully broke through the siege with their outstanding performance and won precious places in the group stage.

This is exactly what everyone judged before the game.

In the next group stage, the six teams will compete in a double round-robin format. The competition rules stipulate that the top four teams will advance to the Bo6 knockout stage; if the points are the same, an extra game will be played to ensure the fairness and accuracy of the ranking.

On May 5, the sun was still shining on the streets of Berlin, but for many teams, their mid-season journey had come to an end.

These teams have packed their bags and are ready to leave Berlin and go home. Although the results are not satisfactory, they still think that this competition is a valuable experience and participation is the most important thing.

Not all teams can gain experience from the World Championship.

Having already played in the World Championship once, I am even more looking forward to the upcoming Global Finals.

For the teams that successfully advanced, including the GT team, the real fierce competition in the 2018 Mid-Season Championship has just begun.

In the days after arriving in Berlin, the GT team was eager to quickly adapt to the game rhythm and version changes through training matches, but the results were not satisfactory.

Their performance in the scrims was really poor, and compared to other teams, their adaptation to the version seemed to be a far cry from that of other teams. The team's win rate was pitifully low, only 40%, and they always lost more than they won against all kinds of opponents.

As a coach, Li Jiongjun is under great pressure at the moment. After each training match, he frowns and thinks back to every detail of the match. He knows that as a coach, he must find out the root cause of the training match failure as soon as possible, otherwise he will be in big trouble in the official match.

During those days, Li Jiongjun was extremely anxious and tossed and turned in bed at night, unable to fall asleep.

He kept thinking, is there something wrong with the tactical arrangement? Or is it that the players don't understand the new version thoroughly enough? Or is it that everyone's mentality is not stable enough? Questions circled in his mind, making him suffer.

Until the 10th, the situation finally took a turn for the better. In the training match, the players seemed to have suddenly regained their form, winning all three games, and playing every game with great enthusiasm.

Seeing the players' tacit cooperation and precise operations on the court, Li Jiongjun's frown finally relaxed.

He knew that he could finally have a good sleep tonight, and the previous haze was swept away at this moment. Everyone was full of confidence in the upcoming group match.

On May 5, the sun shone on the streets of Berlin, and the air was filled with tension and anticipation.

League of Legends fans around the world are focusing their attention on the upcoming mid-season group stage. They are either sitting in front of their computer screens or gathering in e-sports venues, eagerly waiting for the start of this e-sports feast.

The members of the GT team, dressed in neat uniforms, boarded the bus to the competition venue in high spirits. Inside the bus, the atmosphere was warm and full of fighting spirit.

The players exchanged tactical ideas in a low voice, with confidence shining in their eyes. At the same time, there were players and staff from other teams on the bus. Although they came from different regions, they were brought together by the common e-sports dream.

Compared to the global finals, the group stage schedule is more compact and reasonable. The six teams will play every day until the double round-robin BO1 system is completed, a total of ten games.

The outcome of each game is related to the team's points and ranking. The top four teams will advance to the knockout stage. The fierce competition makes every team dare not slack off.

As the Grand Slam team last year, GT is undoubtedly the favorite to win this mid-season tournament. The super strength they have shown in previous events has made e-sports fans around the world place high hopes on them.

The audience in the LPL region were even more delighted, and they were impressed by the rapid and shocking rise of the LPL region.

Once upon a time, LPL faced many challenges in international competitions, but now it can shine on the world stage. It all seems like a dream.

However, there was a familiar figure missing from the stage of this mid-season tournament: Faker. This legendary player in the League of Legends world did not appear in this mid-season tournament.

Representing the LCK region is their new king, the kz team.

The kz team shoulders the expectations of everyone in the Korean region and is determined to restore the glory of the LCK region.

They have been making their way through the Korean division and their strength should not be underestimated.

For them, this mid-season tournament is a great opportunity to prove themselves, and also a battlefield to declare to the world that the LCK region is still strong.

Facing the camera, the members of the kz team had firm eyes and exuded a confidence that no one else could do it better than them.

Brother Hanzi said steadily: "This mid-season tournament is the stage for our KZ to shine. We will use our strength to write a glorious chapter for KZ and let everyone witness the strength of the LCK region!"

Jungler Peanut added: "Every practice and every preparation is for this moment. On the court, we will hold the victory firmly in our hands with the most perfect coordination and top-notch operations."

BDD was also full of fighting spirit: "We have fought our way through all the obstacles just to stand at a higher level. This time, the championship trophy will definitely belong to us!"

Their words were full of desire for victory, and they firmly believed that in this mid-season tournament, the kz team would become the most dazzling presence and let the glory of kz shine throughout the world.

Such confident words make the LCK region quite optimistic.

GT created a Grand Slam record.

But times have changed. KZ's team style is very restrained from GT. I believe they will perfectly display the style of the LCK region in the game.

But before that, they have to enjoy GT's opening performance!

The opening match was between last year's Grand Slam team GT and FNC, known as the "King of Europe". The game was full of tension from the beginning.

Before the game started, the atmosphere was already ignited, with cheers and shouts from the audience.

The "Hat King" of the FNC team was obviously well prepared. He used his ultimate right at the start and picked Yasuo in seconds, trying to use this highly entertaining mid-lane hero to implement a black technology tactic and give the GT team a warning.

This selection of players instantly made the audience excited, and everyone was looking forward to the next game.

On the GT team side, Li Yi calmly took out Ryze. Seeing this scene, Riot boss Ryze, who was watching the game in the backstage, raised the corners of his mouth slightly, revealing a barely perceptible smile.

After the game started, FNC relied on their carefully designed lineup system to play well in the first twenty minutes and did not fall behind too much.

Cap's Yasuo also showed strong suppression power in the early laning phase, bringing considerable pressure to GT team's mid lane.

However, the situation changed after 25 minutes into the game.

Li Yi's Ryze began to exert his strength, relying on the powerful support ability of his ultimate skill, Realm Warp, to frequently lead his teammates in setting the pace.

Every time he drove to support, he could accurately find the opponent's flaws and create good offensive opportunities for the GT team.

Although FNC fought hard, they gradually began to be unable to cope with the orderly rhythm of the GT team.

In the next six minutes, the GT team pushed the rhythm operation to the extreme.

They quickly widened the economic gap to 11,000 by constantly killing opponents and controlling map resources.

With the huge economic advantage, the GT team easily took down the Baron, and then launched a powerful attack, directly pushing down the FNC base.

At the end of the game, the audience burst into thunderous applause and cheers.

Li Yi's Ryze's final record was 8-0-7, and his superb performance amazed everyone.

All members of the GT team showed unparalleled form in this game, and they proved their strength as the favorites to win the championship.

The victory in this game not only gave the GT team a good start in the mid-season tournament, but also made the domestic audiences excited.

They left messages on social media, full of imagination and anticipation for the GT team's next game.

(End of this chapter)