At the expedition ceremony site, as the light curtain slowly opened, various scenery of Summoner's Rift appeared.
The members of Snake, IG and RNG faced the audience and stood in a row along the center line.
The on-site host Zhu Zhen took the microphone and kept talking. With background music and ribbons flying in the sky, the expedition ceremony, which lasted for more than 5 minutes, officially ended.
Compared with the boring prelude of dozens of minutes, there is not much novelty in the expedition ceremony.
The only innovation is probably the conquest.
Different from the previous ones, this one is a hooded jacket similar to a windbreaker, which is red and black and looks cooler.
It's even a little different, a secondary school style from a magic academy.
For example, Xiangguo looks like Harry Potter when he puts on this outfit.
Some netizens got creative and made their clothes burst into clouds of fire, transforming them into Akatsuki organizations instantly.
After all, when the LPL official issued the official announcement of the S8 expedition, many netizens sent their blessings below, hoping that the LPL can achieve greater glory!
The three seeds for the LPL have been determined, and the quotas for other divisions have also been announced.
According to the official announcement, the draw ceremony for the 2018 League of Legends Global Finals will be held at 8 o'clock in the evening on September 23.
At that time, all major teams will be informed of their group status in the World Championship.
When seeing the list of selected teams in each major competition area, many league fans were filled with emotion.
The first is the TSM team in the North American division.
The North American cult has stretched its crotch this time.
In the LCS summer semifinals, TSM lost to C9 2:3. In the subsequent third place match, they defeated 100T with a score of 3:2 to win third place, gaining hope in the qualifiers.
Unfortunately, in the final decider of the North American qualifiers, they lost to C9 again, and were swept by the opponent 0:3, giving up their spot in the S8 qualifying round. This was the first time in their team history that they missed the global finals.
The once-splendid old team, the magical slogan that many viewers couldn't help shouting, completely fell silent in S8. A new batch of North American teams emerged, and the old teams withered and were overthrown by the waves.
On September 17th, two players in the TSM team, Hauntzer and Mithy, announced their departure from the team in advance before the transfer window opened.
It is not difficult to imagine that such a huge setback has caused huge changes within TSM.
The decline of established teams is not limited to the North American region, there is also an example in the Korean region.
It is the SKT team that many people are optimistic about.
SKT has undergone great changes this season. Even their support Wolf sometimes goes to the jungle, but unfortunately with little success. In the spring split, they were eliminated by KT 3:1 in the first round of the playoffs. Unexpectedly, not only did they not have a breakthrough in the summer split,
On the contrary, it is even worse!
Due to their poor regular season record, SKT missed the summer playoffs. This is the first time that SKT has missed the playoffs since the two teams were merged into one team.
In the next regional qualifiers, SKT met Samsung in the first round. Even though Samsung changed its name, its divinity is still there and it is still the god of bubble games.
SKT lost to GEN 2:3, was eliminated and missed the 2018 global finals.
S3 world champion, S5 world champion, S6S7 and Snake battled to the top of the world. SKT was powerful and glorious for a while, becoming the most successful team in the league, but they finally came to their end.
Many people felt sad.
Voices like this appeared in some forums:
"The showdown between Brother Li in the World Championships has officially come to an end."
"Comparing the Big Devil, I understand Brother Hao's terror even more. The Big Devil has left the world stage, but Brother Hao is still there and at his peak."
"Snake is now the favorite to win the championship and is very likely to win three consecutive championships this year!"
"SKT was also very strong before, but couldn't win the third championship. It feels like a curse. I hope it doesn't fall on Snake."
Others said:
"Don't miss this World Championship. I always have an ominous premonition that I will miss one of Brother Hao's games."
"..."
People are constantly discussing, and each major competition area is studying the version and opponents. They are very busy these days.
8.18 has been updated. The powerful Akali has been cut off from her ultimate damage, and the recently fiery Braum has been cut off.
What makes some RNG fans uneasy is that Kai'Sa was also slashed, and her passive damage was changed from 20% of the lost health in the later stage to 15%, and her killing ability was reduced.
AD players are in pain, especially players like Uzi who have recently used Kai'Sa as their trump card.
Lucian's Q skill damage was enhanced, which made Snake fans smile.
The team that uses Lucian the most recently is the Snake team. This is related to their game rhythm.
In addition to some other small changes, the official took the opportunity to update a batch of O'Side skins.
At the same time, version 8.19 of the World Championship will also be officially released on the third day after the lottery ceremony.
For the teams participating in the playoffs, they only have one week to adapt. The subsequent playoffs will become a reference template for the major group stage teams.
On September 23, at eight o'clock in the evening, Team Snake was brightly lit.
Li Hao and others all sat around the screen, watching the lottery ceremony.
Colonel Guan and Shiyi sat at the commentary table and talked.
At the lottery site, the eldest princess Flame had already put her hand deep into the lottery pool.
For LPL viewers, they don't care too much about the play-in area, because the LPL World Championship record is very strong, and the third seed also directly advanced to the group stage, which is a natural advantage.
When all the qualifying groups have been drawn, the exciting moment has just begun.
Each major team is eyeing the lottery pool, hoping to be placed in a less competitive group.
The top seed in Group A was drawn, which is the FW team from the LMS division.
For the teams in Pool 2, Group A has become the group they expected.
In recent years, Flash Wolf has become a weak persimmon due to its ferocious civil war and foreign war.
The eldest princess put her hand deep into the lottery pool. After a while of stirring, a small silver ball was taken out.
When it was revealed, there was a black team banner. The eldest princess smiled slightly and showed it to the camera.
Top seed in Group B: Snake!
For some reason, when seeing this team name, many people seemed to have an illusion in their minds. A poisonous snake raised its head and spit out the snake's message, which made people feel chilled.
In an instant, Group B was marked as a death group.
From this moment on, no team in the second pool wants to go to Group B. This is not only the deterrent of the second consecutive S championship, but what the major teams are even more afraid of is Snake's combat power at this time.
In a team with high-quality members, a complete lineup, and a team that has been baptized in many world championships, there is also a well-deserved number one player in the league.
This is already a space-time battleship that surpasses the Galaxy Battleship!
Snake even won the summer split, setting an unimaginable record.
In the group stage, I collided with Snake and it was a tough match.
The No. 1 seed in Group C was also drawn one after another, and it was the Korean team KT, while the No. 1 seed in Group D was FNC.
FNC should not be underestimated. This is the year when the king of Europe rises.
In the AFS team base in the Korean competition, everyone from the coaching staff to the players was smiling.
The eldest princess drew the AFS team tag and they entered Group A.
This group of people really wanted to treat the eldest princess to a meal, and then drink a glass of Hallasan together to express their gratitude, because they got a great draw and there was no pressure to qualify.
If AFS is happy, then North America's No. 1 seed Team Liquid is like eating shit.
They like to mention Group B.
The North American senior brother who transferred to TL also stiffened a bit.
In the Los Angeles base, Doublelift stared at the lottery screen and Snake above TL's head. Li Hao's figure appeared in his mind again.
Everyone knows that they are unlucky!
The drawing of lots continues, some people are happy and some are sad.
In addition to the TL team, another lucky player in Group B is VIT. They are the second seed in Europe and second only to the King of Europe this season.
After being drawn into Group B, VIT's Italian mid laner Izuke jumped excitedly in the base because he met his idol.
"Are you excited to face The King?"
Jungler Kikis asked with a smile.
This sentence immediately calmed down Izuke. He touched his beard and scratched the hairline very far back. He seemed to have realized something, and the smile gradually disappeared on his mature face.
Yeah, what am I excited about?
AD player Attila joked: "Man, are you in a hurry to get on the background wall, just like Bilson did."
rizuke: ""
The drawing ceremony is over and the current groupings for the group stage are announced.
Group A: FW, AFS, PVB (Vietnam VCS)
Group B: Snake, TL, VIT
Group C:KT,MAD(LMS),RNG
Group D:FNC,100,IG
…
LPL players are happy.
"IG and RNG don't have much pressure to qualify, and Snake is even better. The Snake team collides with European and American teams, which is simply a dimensionality reduction blow."
"Eldest brother, I'm so pitiful. I bumped into my brother Hao again."
"Actually, I think Snake is the same no matter which group he is placed in. It's basically a defeat. I originally thought that the version would gradually target Snake, but I didn't expect that it would become more and more beneficial to them. It's just stupid!"
"Yes, there are not many teams that can compete with Snake at a fast pace, especially in the mid-lane duel. I'm afraid Brother Wolfberry will be the only one!"
"The three LPL teams are all very strong, this is our show!"
"..."
After being shortlisted into the groupings, each team had a clearer goal. In addition to studying the version, they began to focus on analyzing their opponents.
Especially the players who are about to face off against each other need to understand the characteristics of the enemy, the habits of the hero and the intentions of certain actions.
Before the World Championship officially starts, collecting enough information will also test the team's ability.
Although Snake drew a good lottery, they were not careless. Li Hao also picked up the information of the VIT and TL teams.
same
VIT mid laner Ji Zuke and TL mid laner P Huang also picked up information about Li Hao.
The two of them were in similar moods, and they were beating drums in their hearts.
Because their information is similar, the interpretation of Li Hao on paper is quite shocking.
Even data analysts can’t find any flaws!
To put it bluntly, the only flaw is that I like to work hard.
The final summary is: "As long as you use operations to attack The King when The King is operating, the laning problem will be solved."
Both Geizuke and P Huang shouted Fake.
On September 24, the LPL team left a photo in the aviation hall of the S8 expedition. They were dragging the same team suitcases and dressed neatly.
E-sports media people began to report the relevant news, and the LPL official also issued a push message that "S8 officially sets sail."
While LPL fans were discussing it, the group had already boarded the plane, and after more than 8 hours of travel, they arrived at Incheon Airport.
They didn't stop for long, they came to Seoul from Incheon, which was the first stop of the World Championship.
Over in Seoul, Riot staff had already arrived in advance to pick them up at their hotel, which is near Myeongdong and the surrounding area is very bustling.
The teams that come to compete are basically arranged nearby, and there are special training rooms.
These training rooms are not big, but the requirements for professional players are not high, as long as they have equipment.
Two days later, version 8.19 arrived on time.
This is the version of this World Championship and will not be adjusted until the end of S8.
On the basis of 8.18, some changes were made in 8.19, such as the traditional singles such as Noshou and Sword Lady were strengthened.
The veteran junglers Prince, Mantis, and Spider have all been strengthened, and the support has also been adjusted to some extent.
In the LPL training room, Uzi flipped through the new version, hoping for a miracle to happen.
But, there are no miracles.
There are no callbacks to the attributes of AD heroes, and this is still not a comfortable version for AD players.
Not only Uzi was depressed, but the RNG uniform staff was also depressed.
This is not good news.
On Snake's side, except for Li Hao who was not surprised, Chris Zuowu and others all calmed down.
The smaller the changes, the better!
The last thing they want to see now is changes. It would be best if there were no changes at all. When S8 is finished, they don’t care what tricks Riot wants to do.
Inside we are rivals, outside we are brothers.
In the next few days, the three teams played training matches together, and at the same time figured out some of their own routines to save their cards for the World Championship.
During this period, you will also receive invitations to training matches from other teams.
Basically, everyone is welcome. Before the start of the World Championship, many teams played a round with each other.
What surprised some melon-eaters was that the conditions of this year’s training matches were very different!
"Snake has been winning consecutively in training matches recently. Is this true?"
"Really, Miller asked Zuo Wu last time and got a positive answer. Snake controlled thunder and lightning in the training match."
"Fuck, I'm a little panicked. I control thunder and lightning in training matches, and it's easy to stretch my hips in the main match. This is often the case, such as TSM. In the past, the Snakes liked to hide their tactics in training matches, so that people couldn't see the depth. Will they not hide it this year?
?Not so good"
Someone in the comment area responded with a smiley face:
"Brother, you look like a new driver at first sight. Snake basically played well in the training matches before, mainly because of Brother Hao. He likes to take advantage of the situation in training matches, so the Snake team has fluctuations."
"You are so brave! I dare to say that Brother Hao has taken advantage of you and failed! My brother Hao is called to train teammates and strengthen them. If you don't understand, don't say anything (arrogant face)"
"Brother Wolfberry: I'm too tired from acting. I don't want to act anymore. I'll beat you all the way this year!"
Someone guessed something and said with emotion:
"This year's Snake is very ruthless. Everyone knows that they are here for the dynasty. There is no need to show weakness at this time. They will crush them all the way and the pressure on their opponents will be even greater."
…
On October 3rd, halfway through the S8 qualifying round, another revelation came from the major teams. The news was so overwhelming that it once stole the news from the qualifying round.
Snake continues to dominate training matches, and is rumored to have been beaten in all major competitions. Currently, it has an exaggerated record of more than 20 consecutive victories.
Some teams with a good reputation even had a real fight with Snake in the training matches, using familiar lineups to fight hard, but in the end they were ruthlessly suppressed and were beaten without any sound.
This news should be true, the major teams remained silent, and no one said that they beat the Snake Team.
Someone broke the even more exaggerated news. The Samsung team approached the Snakes to play a training match, but The King scored a superb record in less than 15 minutes. Samsung played GG ahead of schedule.
A substitute champion from a European team stood up and said this:
"The King was very strong in training matches. Many teams' mid laners were single-killed by their opponents. He is extremely strong. This will be an exciting world championship!"
The words of the European substitute king stirred up a wave of waves again, which corresponded to the news revealed by the old players before.
Everything shows that Brother Hao is playing the training match seriously, even playing it as the main match!
Let’s take a look at Riot’s official list of the strongest players this season.
The one in the NO1 position is still the same ID!
These news caused heated discussions and made S8 even more popular.
If the league's number one player doesn't pull back, do you want to start showing dominance from the training games?
Some people also speculated:
"This is The King's peak year. He himself knows very well that he may never be able to reach this state again in the future, so he chose to squander as much as he could at the last moment, leaving an absolutely legendary season and letting people see his dominance.
What is power?"
"I have a hunch! This year's S8 will definitely be crazy, and the first player in the league will go completely crazy!"
Under all the momentum, the group stage has not yet begun, and the major mid laners feel slightly suffocated.
The storm is about to come and the wind is filling the building
The wolf is coming!
No, the poisonous snake is coming!
…
Because of the high popularity, Aunt Yu Shuang from the LPL even came over for an interview, and Snake did not refuse.
However, Yu Shuang did not interview Li Hao himself, but found Brother Holy Spear.
Facing Yu Shuang's series of questions, Flando kept nodding, and he said seriously to the camera:
"Yes, both."
"Brother Hao has been very scary lately. He often kills his opponents alone. I didn't see him smile, nor did I see him excited. He just kept killing, just like killing pigs, without blinking an eye."
"When I go to bed at night, I cover myself with an extra layer of quilt. I am not frozen by the air conditioner, but in the same room as Brother Hao. I can feel the murderous aura, which makes me feel cold too."
"If the hero can kill teammates, I will definitely give first blood."
"..."
Fans who saw this interview video burst out laughing, Flandre was so funny.
However, Brother Hao has been very fierce recently and it seems to be true.
At five o'clock in the afternoon on October 7, the suspense of the qualifying round ended.
G2, GEN, C9, and GRX advanced one after another, and they were assigned to the ABCD group.
