The evening of October 1, San Francisco local time.
Gu Xing opened the curtains in the training room and took a look at the sky. He found that the dark clouds there were extremely gloomy, as if they had completely enveloped the entire city, and there was very little sunlight.
Boss Ding Jun opened the door and walked in, holding several black umbrellas as dark as the sky in his hand, "Bring two more when you leave, so you don't get wet..."
Jin Wenhyuk, who was sorting out the team's admission documents, quickly stood up and put away his umbrella.
Today's VG game is the last one, and they can wait until 7pm to go to the Municipal Auditorium.
Hongmi is still reviewing the details of last night’s training match with Mr. Hou.
Manager Lu Wenjun stared at the live game on his monitor.
On the third match day, the battle between European and American enemies C9 and G2 in Group A is currently ongoing.
Now it seems that C9 has a big advantage.
Zven's condition in the G2 bottom lane was very average. Only 12 minutes into the game, he was pushed by his opponent Sneaky for a blood tower!
Perkz, the absolute core of the team, did not get any advantage when facing Jensen.
Losing the game seems to be a natural thing.
The moment the base was shattered, all members of G2 raised their crotches and made a praising face without saying a word.
Even though they are nicknamed the European Optimistic Family, they cannot withstand their three consecutive defeats at the beginning!
Unless there is a sudden explosion in the second round of the group stage, the other three teams in the same group will have to cooperate very well to have the possibility of competing for qualifying spots in the playoffs!
The next game is a battle of focus.
RNG vs. ROX.
Group B, where the two teams belong, had a truce on the first day of the opening, so this is only their second group match.
Both sides had won a victory before, but RNG was obviously more difficult.
They have not yet discussed a reasonable plan to solve the problem of tactical focus.
And I don’t know if Xiaohu is just acclimated to the local environment. After arriving in San Francisco, his competitive level immediately dropped several levels, and he was crushed under the tower by Kuro.
Looper on the top lane endured strong pressure from Smeb, the top player in this world championship, but struggled to maintain a balance in the lane.
Today's Xiang Guo is even more lost when facing Xiao Peanut.
The violent style of play that he was proud of was like a boat under the offensive frenzy set off by Peanut, and he couldn't find a way to counterattack!
RNG's final bottom lane combination couldn't stand up.
Uzi and Mata have only been getting along for half a year, and their tacit understanding is not as good as that of the ROX duo. Not to mention that the two Xuan Ming duo on the opposite side are also at their peak, and they use softness to overcome hardness without giving any chance!
Fifteen minutes into the game, RNG was 4,000 behind in economy, and the snowball was still getting bigger and bigger.
"Let's go, let's hurry up, brothers," Vincent came in and urged, "If anyone wants to have dinner, come to me!"
Several starting members waved their hands and refused.
Jack and World Girl are welcome to come.
In the first round of the group stage, only one game was played every day. The two of them were destined to not be able to play. There was no need to starve themselves. They grabbed the Mexican tacos that Vincent bought and stuffed them into their mouths.
Mr. Hou ate a banana to maintain his strength. He turned his head to look at Gu Xing and found that his jungler was breaking dark chocolate.
"Do you want it?" Gu Xing handed over a piece of Domori, which Thomason bought in the supermarket in San Francisco.
Easyhoon hesitated a little.
Then I heard the other person add, "It contains flavanols, which can appropriately speed up the blood flow in the brain and help you stay focused."
When Li Zhixun heard this, he no longer refused. After thanking him, he stuffed it into his mouth, letting the slightly astringent and mellow feeling spread in his mouth.
Ju Shengbin was very greedy and ran up to ask for a piece.
It can only be said that there is a reason why he chose Twitch as the champion skin. His eating movements are very similar to those of a rat. He grabs a small piece of black chocolate with both hands and pops it into his mouth.
Gu Xing saw that his teammates were very interested, so he simply divided the black and white skills.
Everyone packed their backpacks and filed out and took the elevator to the hotel lobby downstairs.
As a result, I happened to have a meeting with the SKT training department.
The head coach Kkoma wears a neat suit and a warm smile on his face. His face is elegant and easy-going, and he has the maturity and stability of a middle-aged man.
Just a little short in height.
"Good evening everyone," he greeted the members of the VG training department in English with a Korean accent, and then looked at Easyhoon, "Long time no see, Jihoon."
Li Zhixun glanced at the SKT players across from him, and among them were his familiar partners and friends.
He responded in a low voice, and after a brief exchange of greetings, he huddled in the corner and stopped talking.
Imp, on the other hand, raised a smile and yelled in Chinese at Bang, "Why don't you call me brother if you bring me a basket?"
Ju Shengbin is very familiar with him.
Compared with last year's World Championships, Bae Junzhi is much slimmer, and his face is smaller, which makes his thick eyebrows and big eyes even more prominent.
"Lanzi?" He frowned, showing a confused expression, "Brother Shengbin, what does this mean?"
Ju Shengbin reacted quickly and said, "I mean to praise you for playing well. The LPL's saying is similar to our '?? (Dafa)'."
Bae Junzhi showed an expression of sudden realization.
His knowledge of Chinese is quite shallow, and he is limited to common expressions such as hello and thank you.
Bang doesn't understand a dialect like "basket" at all.
After hearing Gu Shengbin's explanation, he immediately pointed to Faker and Wolf, who were close to him, and imitated the pronunciation, "Basket basket!"
Yu Wenbo hid behind Gu Xing, covering his mouth for fear of laughing out loud.
He is half a head shorter than Gu Xing.
Half of Jack's head.
Now Yu Wenbo's body was twitching, and the sides of his head were exposed from behind Gu Xing's neck, shaking around quite a bit comically.
Brother Long and others couldn't help but laugh.
The chat between Gu Shengbin and Bang diluted the calm, awkward and weird atmosphere between the two parties.
Blank Xiaohei chatted with Gu Xing for a while, and the two teams said goodbye at the door of the hotel. It was already raining lightly in the sky.
Gu Xing opened the black umbrella in his hand.
"Good guy," Yu Wenbo looked at it for a moment and said casually, "This umbrella is really big."
Gu Xing also followed Jack's gaze and found that the black umbrella could completely cover their bodies, "Mr. Que, I don't know where Boss Ding found it..."
He hasn't finished speaking yet.
I saw a bald head appearing in front of me!
Under the dim sky, with only street lights around to provide lighting, the shiny bald head brings great visual impact!
"Wow..." Yu Wenbo's eyes widened and he subconsciously rubbed his thick black hair.
Gu Xing was also doing the same action.
The bald man in front is wearing a team uniform, with Forg1ven's ID printed on the back of his neck.
Sure enough, it was H2K's bottom shooter Ou Tu.
Among all the 16 participating teams, he is the only one with particularly thin hair.
There is still a little residue near the temples, and the scalp is exposed directly from the top of the Tianling Cap.
The key point is that Forg1ven's head is quite pointed, like an egg with the top peeled off.
"This is really the Mediterranean," Yu Wenbo huddled under an umbrella and complained in a low voice, "Why are you bald at such a young age?"
Gu Xing answered, "I heard that Forg1ven is a Greek, and her Mediterranean hairstyle is also suitable for Sister Li..."
However, he felt that it was not good to talk about others behind their backs, so he did not say any more.
Yu Wenbo suddenly muttered, "Did he work as a programmer before?"
An idea flashed in Gu Xing's mind.
He used the hand that was not holding the umbrella to quickly jump on the keyboard of his mobile phone, "You won't be bald after you learn computers, right?"
It was morning in China on the other side of the ocean. Gu Pan quickly replied with a question mark, and then added a message, [Gu Pan, if you want to find something, you can just say it]
As they walked into the municipal auditorium, the brother and sister chatted on the phone.
Ever since Gu Xing arrived in San Francisco, he had not communicated much with Gu Pan. He basically only communicated with his girlfriend occasionally during video calls.
Early this morning when he was chatting with Shen Guanshan, he found that Gu Pan was not there. When he asked, he found out that his sister had participated in many clubs and was busy during the National Day holiday, wandering around Peking University.
Gu Xing believed that it was necessary for him to give appropriate care and remind him of some necessary matters.
"Oh, I know, you're almost 19, do you think you're my child?" Gu Pan kept it in his mind and still kept the harsh words, and then chose to change the subject, "Don't you have a competition today, do you still have time to chat with me?
"
"We haven't entered the venue yet, and there's nothing going on on the way." Gu Xing stepped over the puddle in front of the backstage passage of the Municipal Auditorium, closed his umbrella while not forgetting to give the short-legged Jack a hand, "I'll hang up later."
"Oh..." Gu Pan fell into silence.
It wasn't until Gu Xing thought there was something wrong with the signal that he heard the other party say dryly, "Perform well today. You have already performed very well in the first two games of the World Championship. You are no worse than your opponent, so don't underestimate yourself."
Gu Pan knows what kind of opponent VG will face today.
I also know that Gu Xing's career has been going smoothly up to now and he has not suffered any setbacks.
She was also worried that her brother's mentality would be affected if he lost the game.
Gu Xing chuckled softly, "I know, do you think I am a person with mental problems?"
He hung up the voice call, shook off the water droplets on his umbrella, and strode into the tunnel following his teammates.
Before entering the team lounge where the VG team logo was hanging, Gu Xing happened to meet the RNG players who were stepping down.
They looked annoyed, and their foreheads were covered with sweat.
The grumpy Mata was still yelling something loudly in broken Mandarin.
One look and it was clear that they were defeated by the Tigers.
When Xiaohu saw Gu Xing, he smiled bitterly.
"Are you okay?" Gu Xing asked with concern.
Li Yuanhao's tone was full of helplessness, "I can only say that it's okay..."
To say it was particularly sad would not be a stretch.
After all, all viewers feel that there is a gap between LPL and LCK that is difficult to bridge.
Even Xiaohu himself didn’t think RNG could beat ROX before the game.
He just got beaten up for a whole game, and now his brain is a little groggy.
"Come on," he encouraged while holding the keyboard and mouse, "try to tear off a piece of flesh from SKT!"
Although Xiaohu is not very optimistic about VG, he does not hesitate to say a few good words.
Gu Xing simply comforted the incense pot next to him.
He knew that the other party's emotional intelligence was low and he might say something outrageous again. Before Liu Shiyu could say anything, he followed Hongmi into the lounge.
After handing the peripherals to the on-site staff for testing, the group put on makeup and stayed in the room.
Mr. Hou looked through Hongmi's notebook and never missed any opportunity to improve himself.
Gu Xing was digging through Blank's information, trying to find flaws in his playing style.
According to the news learned before the game, SKT will still play Xiaohei today, and Bengi will be responsible for guarding the water fountain.
He felt a little regretful in his heart.
Gu Xing has always wanted to fight with Bengi.
He felt that the opponent, as the only double-champion jungler in the history of League of Legends e-sports, must be outstanding.
But Bengi seems to really want to retire.
Even if Blank is the main culprit for SKT's loss to KT in this summer split, the team has no plans to re-activate the double-champion jungler.
Even in the training match, Gu Xing didn't meet Bengi.
He seemed to have quietly disappeared from the professional scene.
But from a certain perspective, this is also good news for VG.
The integration between Blank and other members of SKT is obviously not as good as that of Ben Ji, and he has little experience, so he seems to be a good breakthrough point!
On the TV screen in the lounge, the second major upset of this World Championship broke out.
Flash Wolves, the number one seed in the Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan divisions, last year's top eight team, lost to the CIS wildcard ANX!
"Oh..." Manager Lu Wenjun shook his head repeatedly, "What happened this year? The wild card has to make big news?"
The scene where EDG lost to Brazil on the first match day is still vivid in my mind.
Today, the CIS took away its second victory from the five major competition regions!
Moreover, this game was devastating throughout.
During the transition phase after the laning phase, Flash Wolf was manipulated by ANX!
"This lane change is really rubbish," Jack couldn't help but say, "It's really a shame for the LMS region. The operation can't even win the wild card?"
According to general knowledge, the most obvious lead between the teams in the five major regions and the wild cards is at the operational level.
Teams in small competition areas don't even understand the basic concepts of operations. They often don't get a single kill, but their economy is stretched by thousands.
As a result, Flash Wolf proved with facts that they don’t know how to operate it!
"Karsa is also outrageous," Yu Wenbo muttered, "She starts sleepwalking as soon as the laning phase is over, Karsa? Pizza is just about the same!"
Gu Xing interjected, "This CIS team seems to be really good. H2K almost lost to them the day before yesterday. If Jankos hadn't shown off his power, ANX might have won two consecutive games now..."
Today's penultimate match is between H2K and SSG in Group C.
Jankos proved to Samsung what it means to be the founder of Olaf's jungle, a berserker who wreaked havoc in the opponent's jungle in the early stage!
Leader An was caught off guard by the enemy's fierce fighting style, and his position was almost blown apart!
In the lane, Ou Tu also suppressed the fledgling Chichi Emperor.
Seeing that Samsung is about to send the LCK region to its first defeat in the S6 World Championship.
Mid laner Crown stepped up at the critical moment.
The reputation of Crown is not great, but now its strength is truly top among the best.
He beat Yue Lun against his opponent, and with one hand, Victor fired lasers across the court!
Jankos and his teammates tried their best, but they couldn't reverse the huge disadvantage in the middle!
Samsung fought fiercely for 40 minutes and got their first big dragon. As their lineup gradually exerted its strength in the later stage, their chances of winning were getting better and better!
Gu Xing didn't have time to look any further, so he picked up the Ferrari red keyboard and jet black mouse and got ready to go on stage.
"Don't put too much pressure on yourself," Jin Wenhe still reassured the players, "Everyone treats this game as a training match, winning or losing is not a big deal."
The staff knocked on the door to notify the contestants to come on stage.
Ding Jun gathered everyone into a circle.
The team members stretched out their palms and folded them together, and finally raised their arms while shouting in unison, "VG must win."
The restless and loud sound echoed heavily in the closed room.
…
"Congratulations to SSG for defeating H2K and winning the key battle to advance to the group stage," Wawa first summarized the previous game. "Brother Crown's Victor's proficiency is too high. One person did 44.3% of the team's damage, and the last wave of the team was even more...
The output set knocked Ryu out instantly!"
His partner Miller had just finished explaining a long game and let out a breath.
"LCK is indeed strong, SSG is only their third seed, and it seems likely to win the first place in Group C..."
He adjusted his mood and shouted loudly, "The next game can be called the highlight of the third match day!"
"VG, the summer champion from our LPL region, will face off against the two-time global finals champion SKT!"
The director gives a preview of the data before the game.
"VG has played two games so far, and the team's average death rate per game is only 0.5..." Watou laughed out loud when he saw this, "The battle loss ratio of all five players is as high as the sky!"
Below the personal makeup photos of VG players, the lowest KDA is 12.
The highest Gu Xing battle loss ratio is as high as 28!
"In the first two games against European and American teams, Xiao Gu hit really hard. There is no doubt that he is a top-tier jungler in the world," Miller said with emotion. "Let's see how it goes against Blank today. This will be his upper limit."
The best stage!”
Although SKT's data is also good, it seems far less explosive than VG.
Even so, no one dares to underestimate them.
The audience all understood that SKT was just a hot team before, without showing any tactical reserves. It was a sure win from the beginning, and they didn't take C9 and G2 seriously at all!
"It's worth mentioning that today is also the first time Easyhoon meets his old club after leaving SKT," Wawa said in a loud voice, "Let's see who wins!"
Thanks to Riot's schedule, today's last game begins. It's already noon in the East Eighth District of China, and countless viewers are pouring into the LPL live broadcast room.
The density of the barrage has reached an exaggerated level, so dense that it is impossible to see clearly!
[Today VG will be considered successful if it can last for 35 minutes. Is this a reasonable goal? 】
[I think it’s OK, I’m mentally prepared to lose the game]
[Who are the people who badmouth the LPL? 】
[VG can beat Europe and the United States, they must have the strength, but it’s still too easy to compete with SKT]
[Look at our second seed EDG, they can’t even beat the Brazilian wild card; RNG was beaten by ROX today. What gives you the illusion that LPL is very strong? 】
The camera focuses on the VG player seats.
Gu Xing's body moved the chair around, his movements calm and composed.
However, his eyes caught a glimpse of the Marquis next to him, crossing his hands and kneading his knuckles, looking unnatural.
"Are you not scared anymore?" He asked in a teasing tone, "Don't panic, Li Zhixun!"
Easyhoon looked at the neatly arranged string of IDs opposite the custom room, feeling an inexplicable throbbing in his heart.
"What's so scary?" Gu Shengbin was still arrogant, "Stay stable in the middle of this round and wait until the nest comes to carry!"
Xiao Duan and Brother Long looked serious.
SKT is currently the number one team in the world in terms of honor. Both of them came up from low-level leagues all the way. They never thought they could compete with a team of this level before.
At this moment, I am looking forward to and nervous, and my mood is extremely complicated.
Gu Xing turned his head to look at the players' bench opposite.
The stage in the Municipal Auditorium is not big, and his eyesight has always been good, and he can even see the profiles of some SKT players clearly.
Everyone seems to be relaxed, and coach Kkoma is also talking and laughing with the players.
Gu Xing wanted to speak again, but he heard the referee's voice command indicating that BP was about to begin, and he quickly sat upright to prepare for the battle.
The sonorous and powerful crisp sound echoed throughout the audience.
The BP panel appears in front of all viewers!
"SKT is on the blue side in this game, and they ban Rambo first!"
When the baby saw this scene, his words were full of regret.
"Xiao Gu also said in an interview yesterday that he wanted to see Duke's Rambo level, but he didn't expect that SKT banned it themselves!"
He felt that with Gu Xing's military training experience against top laner Rambo, if Duke really dared to pick him, VG might be able to find a breakthrough in the early stage.
Hongmi thought for a moment and decided to block the troll.
Riot Games has seen VG's pioneering move in using Trundle's support before, and the results have been great.
The designer team felt that it was unfair for Trolls to be placed in the bottom lane, and they were severely weakened in version 6.17.
The cooldown of E [Ice Pillar] has been greatly increased. After reaching full level, the cooldown is increased by 3 seconds compared to the original.
It would undoubtedly be a heavy blow to the main E's auxiliary troll.
However, Trundle in the upper unit did not suffer too much, and his strength was still sufficient.
Especially Duke, he used Trolls in all the first two group matches and resolutely implemented the split push strategy.
You can hardly see him on the frontal battlefield, and everyone said that he was not given the wrong nickname. There must be a reason why Du Buchuan has such a famous reputation.
Four teammates created space for Duke, allowing the top laner to exert pressure on the wing.
This trick works every time!
Trolls can be called the perfect performer in the current version of SKT's sideline operations.
Hongmi didn't want to cause trouble to the team, so he simply banned it.
Kkoma tugged on his tie and put his palms on the team members' gaming chairs, "Jai Wan, I'll help you send Zyra on the opposite side to the ban position. This will make Kalma's intensity very high. You and Junzhi must fight for it as a partner."
Right to the line.”
Li Zaiwan, the only Li brother in the team, nodded, his small eyes almost narrowed into slits under the accumulation of fat on his face.
But people should not be judged by their appearance. Wolf has been performing very steadily for a year from the end of last year's S game to now. He is definitely the world's number one support!
"VG chose to ban Victor, one of the strongest mid laners in the current version... Huh?" Miller felt suspicious.
In his opinion, there is no problem with the Marquis' Victor proficiency.
Now except for Syndra, one of the biggest bugs, professional teams rarely rush to grab the mid laner. VG, who is on the red side, can wait until they take down Victor with one or two hands!
Miller was very surprised by Hongmi's move.
Kkoma scratched his eyebrows and turned the pen in his hand habitually.
He saw Hongmi's plan.
According to the interpretation of the game in the past few days, everyone generally believes that Leopard Girl is a well-deserved T0 hero, and Syndra is closely followed, basically in the state of buying a house in the Ban position.
Normally, the red side should be responsible for blocking Nidalee.
Otherwise, the blue side will definitely lock the Leopard Girl down with a grab.
But VG never touched Leopard Girl before this game!
Kkoma understands that Hongmi is kicking the ball to itself.
If he releases Syndra, VG will most likely not ban Leopard Girl.
If both sides take an overly strong character, VG can still choose a version of the character on the red side in the second place.
If Kkoma bans Syndra, Redmi will ban Nidalee.
It's a matter of choice.
Is it worth it to trade Syndra and another first option for Leopard Girl?
Kkoma looked at Xiao Hei and asked kindly, "Shanjiu, are you confident in your Leopard Girl?"
When Gu Xing looked over before, he thought that SKT was all a group of weird people with a weird mentality and would not be affected by the outside world at all.
However, he only saw the side faces of the two Wolf Sticks. The two players who adhered to mass conservation in the bottom lane were wider and completely covered the others.
Gu Xing didn't see the restraint written on Blank's face at that time.
Xiaohei is an exception in SKT.
His mentality is really not good.
Even though he has won the MSI championship with the team, Xiaohei is still not confident in himself.
However, Kkoma is willing to train and trust him and give him great autonomy.
Such as now.
If Xiaohei says nothing, Kkoma will ban Syndra without saying a word.
Blank thought carefully and believed that he could not live up to the expectations of his head coach.
"...Yes, I, Leopard Girl, will definitely win."
Kkoma laughed and asked his team members to disable ice.
Ashe can use Eagle Spirit to detect the situation in the jungle, but he doesn't want to let it go to his opponent.
Now that Xiao Hei has obtained the Leopard Girl, let’s end the battle in the wild area!
"VG blocked Jace... released Leopard Girl and Syndra, a very bold decision!"
Wawa gushed, "SKT locked Leopard Girl in seconds, VG got Syndra and Jhin!"
"The strength of this pair of double Cs is still stable," Miller nodded in agreement, "SKT got Ezreal and Karma in the second and third picks, the Wolf Stick's signature combination!"
Bang's eyes are full of confidence.
There is no doubt about his mastery of EZ. There is even a nickname named after his ID circulating on the Internet - Bang Zeriel, which shows his strength.
Hongmi pinched his jungler's shoulder and asked, "What are you going to use?"
Gu Xing briefly thought about jungle heroes in several versions.
"Blind monk."
Olaf is too easily kited by Leopard.
In contrast, Li Qing, who has excellent flexibility, is a good choice when facing Leopard Girl.
This is the same as what Redmi thinks.
"In the sales phase, you should choose Nami. The laning pressure against Jin will be a bit high, just like when playing C9 in the last game. After Shengbin's Youmeng is released, you can switch from defense to offense..." He said roughly After a few sentences, Duan Deliang listened to his heart and asked the players to lock the hero.
"SKT got the clockwork mid laner, and top laner Duke took out Gnar, wanting to continue the single-band route!"
In fact, Gnar is not the best choice. Ike is more suitable for Duke.
But Kkoma had no choice.
If you get Ekko, the team's spell damage will be too much.
He can only choose Gnar to supplement certain physical output.
"VG got top laner Ekko and prepared to counterattack. The hero itself is easier to defeat Gnar. Especially in the first two versions of Gnar, the cooldown of E [Light Jump] was weakened, so there is no problem..."
Miller was very satisfied, "In this case, Duke's split push on the wing will be greatly hindered in the mid-term!"
Ten players from both sides exchanged heroes and officially determined the lineup.
Blue side SKT: top laner Gnar, jungler Leopard Girl, mid laner Clockwork Demon, bottom lane EZ+Karma.
Red side VG: top laner Ekko, jungler Lee Sin, midlane Syndra, bottom lane Jhin + Nami.
The coaches of the two teams came to the center of the stage to shake hands and prepare to enter the Summoner's Rift!
－－－－－－Digression－－－－－
Today is a special day, so I have to spend less time with my partner...
We will continue to intensify our efforts to update tomorrow.
G2's midfielder and jungler are really strong, and Lu Bu seems a bit outrageous.