Chapter 262 KZ1 has always been our first choice!

Chapter 262 KZ1 has always been our first choice!

Chapter 262 KZ has always been our first choice!
When the fifth day of competition ended and the four qualifying teams were determined, GT held its first major interview of the mid-season tournament.

The team members sat in their seats, with relaxed and confident looks on their faces, ready to answer questions from reporters.

At first, the interview atmosphere was very harmonious. The questions raised by the reporters were relatively routine, and the team members also talked freely, sharing interesting stories from the game and their experiences in team building.

A female reporter asked the jungler Wushuang with a smile: "Le Yan, your dragon-stealing skills in the game were so cool. Do you have any secrets to dragon-stealing that you can share? Is there any special hand speed technique, or is it all based on metaphysical luck?"

Wushuang scratched his head and answered with a smile: "Actually, there is no secret. The main thing is that I think the middle lane is the best. We can win even if we can't grab the big dragon. So every time I see that the health is almost up, I rush up to punish it. Maybe I'm lucky, I can grab it every time." This caused a laugh at the scene.

Then, a male reporter asked the support player Xiao Ming: "Liu Qingsong, you and AD player Lin Weixiang have always had a very good rapport. Have you been secretly practicing any 'telepathy' secrets?"

Liu Qingsong shook his head and said, "There is no such thing as a cheat. We just play rank together every day and communicate a lot. We know what each other is thinking, so we naturally have a tacit understanding. If there really is a cheat, I will definitely not share it with you." There was another burst of laughter at the scene.

Suddenly, a Korean reporter stood up and asked, "Excuse me, when facing KZ in the semi-finals, did you feel a lot of pressure? Did you need to use hidden tactics to break through KZ?" As soon as this question came out, the whole audience fell silent.

Immediately afterwards, reporters from all over the world could not help but murmur.

Some reporters murmured quietly: "As expected of Koreans, KZ was double-killed by GT in the group stage, and they can still ask such a question."

Judging from the actual performance in these two group matches, anyone with a little insight can clearly perceive the huge gap in strength between the two teams.

Not to mention that this is GT, the first in the group, versus KZ, the fourth.

With such an obvious comparison of strength, it is obvious that the Korean has no good intentions when he raises such a question.

In fact, the outcome of a game never depends solely on the performance on the field. Off-field factors can also have a huge impact.

When holding competitions in Europe, they cannot simply unplug the network cable like some unfair competitions in the past, nor can they arbitrarily make some outrageous additional rules such as "the player loses if the mouse moves outside the mouse pad."

However, these people still racked their brains to come up with disgusting tricks.

It is normal to mention the semi-final opponents during the interview, but the way they asked questions contained hidden meanings.

They often try to influence the contestants' mentality by asking seemingly ordinary but deliberately directed questions. Moreover, they are quite "experienced" in this regard. After all, they have used these little tricks quite often.

The Korean reporter listened to the ridicule coming from all directions, but his face still kept a smile on his face, without any emotion fluctuating at all.

It seemed as if these taunts were nothing but a breeze that did not matter to him. He was still immersed in his self-righteous "tactics", as if he was sure that this problem could cause trouble to the GT team invisibly and create even the slightest psychological advantage for the KZ team, which would give them a chance to win the game...

After hearing this question, Li Yi couldn't help but raise the corners of his mouth slightly, revealing a slightly playful smile.

Wow, the Koreans did these little tricks during last year’s mid-season tournament. I thought this year would be different, but it’s still the same old tricks. Can’t they think of any other tricks?

However, he quickly collected his thoughts, looked calm, and responded directly: "When I first saw the rules of the Mid-Season Invitational, I felt it was a pity. In the past, the first place could choose their own opponents in the knockout stage. At that time, we thought that if we could choose, we would directly play against KZ in the knockout stage." He paused slightly, and glanced around the scene, his eyes revealing confidence and calmness.

"As the world turns out, KZ couldn't even keep their second place in the group. They barely qualified for the knockout stage and qualified as fourth place."

"Look, our opponent in the knockout stage is Kingzone again. But to be honest, if we can still choose our opponent now, we will choose Fnatic. The reason is simple, Fnatic is second in the group and they are stronger... For us, the knockout stage should be played against strong opponents, that's enough!"

When Li Yi said this, the reporters at the scene were stunned at first, and then a low laugh spread among the crowd like ripples.

The laughter was not loud, but it was quite aggressive, like a silent mockery. Although no one said it explicitly, the implication was obvious: KZ really didn't seem to be worthy of being compared with GT.

The Korean reporter who asked the tricky question had a slight pause on his smile at this moment, and he must have felt bad.

He had intended to create some trouble for GT by asking questions, but he didn't expect to be tricked by Li Yi's words and ended up humiliating himself.

Looking back to before the start of the Mid-Season Invitational, everyone had high expectations for KZ. They all felt that they were firmly in the first tier and could easily compete with GT.

Who could have expected that the actual situation of the group stage would be so surprising. The strength gap between the two teams was so huge. This result was really beyond everyone's expectations, and made those who were optimistic about KZ at the beginning seem a little ridiculous.

For a team like this that has never proven its strength in the world arena, no matter how much you say, it will be in vain.

The only way to succeed is to show your strength in the game.

Otherwise, it would be easy to get slapped in the face right after the game.

Fortunately, when they felt something was wrong in the second day of the game, many people stopped betting on KZ.

After all, the only Korean division that is famous worldwide is SKT.

They can believe that SKT can do it. Except for Xiaohuasheng, the other five players of KZ are not the top players in the LCK region.

The domestic audience watching the live interview were relieved to see this scene. "The God of Show is worthy of being the God of Show. When he encountered the Koreans' weirdness, he didn't tolerate it at all and directly fought back with full firepower!" The barrage scrolled wildly, and the screen was full of praise for Li Yi.

Netizens have long been fed up with the mysterious self-confidence of Koreans in the e-sports circle, and now seeing Li Yi's domineering response, they feel completely refreshed.

After all, with GT's current crushing record of ten consecutive wins on the field, plus the Grand Slam honors won by Xiu Shen leading the team, they have every reason to respond in this way.

[We GT are really strong, the first Grand Slam team in League of Legends, unlike some people who only know how to talk. Koreans always like to do these things that humiliate themselves, so don't blame us for being rude! ]

Similar comments can be seen everywhere on social platforms. Everyone gave thumbs up to Li Yi and the GT team, thinking that this is the attitude that a Chinese e-sports team should have. They should never back down in the face of unwarranted provocations and should speak with their strength and attitude.

"Arrogant guys!" The KZ team was staring at the live interview screen in the backstage. The head coach was furious at the moment, and his voice was a little exasperated: "Are they serious? They planned to play against us in the semifinals from the beginning. Do they really think we are soft persimmons that can be easily bullied!?"

Peanut was also furious, with veins bulging on his forehead. "GT really thought they could hold us down with those two group matches?" He paused, clenched his fists, and spoke word by word. "BO1 is obviously more dependent on luck, which doesn't mean anything. BO5 is completely different in terms of intensity. They don't think they can hold us down with BO5, do they?
"Brothers, if we don't fight back fiercely, everyone will think we are softies in the future!" The man next to him also said along with Xiao Huasheng.

"Ash bastards, we must beat them in the semi-finals!" The emotions of everyone in the KZ backstage were instantly ignited, and they shouted out their unwillingness in their hearts with a roar.

The two Xuanming elders looked at Bdd and asked loudly: "Pucheng, are you still afraid of Sease now?"

Bdd gritted his teeth, his eyes full of ruthlessness: "Fuck you! I want to operate!" When he said this, he seemed to have completely forgotten how he was targeted by sease and "ordered" many times in the previous two games.

Following this outburst, the KZ backstage instantly became lively. The players patted each other on the shoulders, hugged each other, and cheered each other on. The passionate shouts of "Come on" continued one after another.

Their faces were full of determination and unity, as if they could really wash away their previous shame in the upcoming semi-final in Paris and make everyone look at them with new eyes.

After all, they are the LCK Spring Champions!
After GT's interview video was transmitted to South Korea, it undoubtedly added another huge rock to the already difficult situation of the KZ team, and KZ was once again under tremendous pressure.

South Korea's LCK audience has been following the MSI competition closely and is looking forward to it.

But KZ's current record is really appalling. In the total 10 games in the group stage, they only won 5.

Not only were they killed twice by GT, but they also lost consecutively to FNC, TL and Flash Wolves.

They could only win two games against the Vietnamese team EVOS and get some guaranteed points. Other than that, they really couldn't produce any results that would impress anyone.

As the LCK Spring Split champion, KZ's performance at MSI was simply embarrassing.

Looking back at the history of the LCK region, there has never been a championship team that performed so badly.

Their performance on the field was that all the players seemed to be in very poor condition. Every game was outrageous, they made all kinds of mistakes, and their operations and decisions were difficult to understand. They were completely unlike the level that a championship team should have. It is no wonder that the Korean audiences were greatly disappointed, and emotions of anger and dissatisfaction continued to spread on the Internet.

Judging from KZ's performance in the group stage, there is indeed a big gap between them and GT. In this state, KZ does not have much chance of winning in the semi-finals against GT, which has won ten consecutive games.

All of this can only be blamed on KZ itself. It performed poorly in the group stage and ultimately only got fourth place, so it had to face the top-ranked GT in the semi-finals.

If they could maintain their second place, why would they be in such trouble?

Being eliminated in the semi-finals would undoubtedly be a huge humiliation for this LCK Spring Championship team, and it would be a complete disgrace.

After all, even if you get second place, at least you still have a fig leaf to save face.

However, some Korean audiences also feel that this may be a great opportunity.

After all, e-sports competitions are full of variables. If KZ can really defeat the popular GT in the knockout stage, it means that one foot has already stepped into the threshold of the mid-season championship.

After all, in their opinion, the remaining two teams, FNC and Flash Wolves, do not pose a substantial threat to KZ, and they are very confident about this.

This idea of ​​KZ fans is indeed very beautiful, as if they have already seen the scene of defeating GT and holding the trophy.

But the most realistic question facing us is how to win the game?

This problem is also a problem for everyone in KZ.

Although everyone seemed to be full of confidence after venting their feelings in the backstage, it is impossible for the confidence of all KZ members to be fully restored just by those few passionate words.

When the heat in your head gradually subsides and you calm down, you have to start thinking about how to play the next game.

Coach Cui racked his brains but couldn't think of an effective solution.

But before that, Brother A had mentioned to him that he had a competition idea targeting GT.

He thought that as the head coach, it was normal for him to discuss tactics with the assistant coach.

He was also making his own calculations in his mind: If this tactic didn't work and he lost the subsequent game, he could put the blame firmly on Brother A. After all, this was a tactic formulated by Brother A and had nothing to do with him.

But if you win the game, it will be even easier. You can just take the credit yourself and no one can take it away from you.

So, Coach Cui calmed down his emotions, and with a bit of pretended dignity, he walked towards the direction where Brother A was, ready to start this "tactical discussion".

This big interview made the already highly anticipated semi-final full of highlights before it even started.

On one side is GT, which showed absolute dominance in the group stage and advanced with ten consecutive wins. On the other side is KZ, the LCK Spring Champion but performed poorly in the group stage and urgently needs to prove itself. Everyone is looking forward to it.

Domestic audiences are full of confidence in GT and appear quite optimistic.

After all, considering GT's current hot form, it is hard to imagine that they will fail in the semi-finals.

Their tacit teamwork on the field, the players' superb individual operations, and the rhythm of the game that they can handle with ease when facing various opponents all make the audience believe that they have enough strength to continue to advance on the stage of the mid-season game.

Amid the expectations and heated discussions of global audiences, the four teams that successfully advanced to the knockout stage all plunged into intensive training.

Soon it was the day for the semi-finals...

(End of this chapter)