It has to be said that the official has indeed shown some skill in balancing all parties skillfully.
Of course, this also highlights the seriousness of a problem from another aspect.
They would rather make an exception for Su Mo to have a supreme TOP 0 seat, and are determined not to leave a place for the North American region, as if that region never existed on the map.
Su Mo tapped his fingertips and exited the hilarious list post, and continued to search the hot posts on the forum.
Soon, another eye-catching title grabbed his attention - #S9 Global Finals Team Strength Rating#.
Su Mo went in with great interest and found that there was a lot of content inside, including almost all the representative teams from the four major competition regions.
The gradient of the ratings is clear and clear, with the highest being S+, followed by S, A+, A, B+, and B grade.
The first thing that catches the eye is the team rating of the LPL division.
However, what is interesting is that there are entries for four teams in the LPL division, namely: EDG, EDG (without Mo), FPX, and IG.
Under the special "EDG (without Mo)" entry, there is a line of small text note: "Specifically refers to the EDG team when Brother Mozi does not appear."
This is the first time Su Mo has seen such a detailed and special rating method for a single player. No other team has enjoyed such an "honor".
EDG is impressively ranked at the top level of S+. The only team alongside them is the legendary team T1.
However, upon closer inspection, EDG's name is ranked before T1, which undoubtedly implies that in the official eyes, EDG's overall strength is slightly better than T1.
Su Mo's eyes continued to scan downwards. The S-level area was occupied by three powerful teams: GRF, FPX, and IG.
Further down in the A+ level teams, there are DWG, EDG (without Mo), and G2.
According to the logic of this list, even if Su Mo does not play, EDG is strong enough to compete with G2, and may even win. However, if they play against DWG, there is a risk of overturning.
Su Mo did not take a closer look at the lower-level teams. After all, those teams had relatively limited impact on the top teams in the LCK and LPL divisions.
As soon as this rating list came out, the comment area below the post, as expected, immediately turned into a battlefield filled with smoke.
This is normal. After all, the more teams that are pulled out for evaluation at the same time, the more difficult it will be to reach a broad consensus.
If we only evaluate the strength of one or two teams, we may be able to gain general recognition among the fan base.
However, once the number of teams evaluated increases to five or six, it becomes extremely difficult to form a unified opinion.
Putting together more than a dozen teams with different styles and good abilities to comment like this at once is almost equivalent to deliberately provoking disputes and igniting topics.
"Xiao Mo, are you concentrating on reading posts again?" A familiar and somewhat joking voice came from behind him.
Su Mo turned around when he heard the sound, and saw the factory director quietly standing behind him without knowing it, with a smiling expression on his face.
Su Mo was startled by his elusive behavior and couldn't help complaining: "I said to the factory director, can you make a little noise when you walk? It's so sneaky and scary!"
Everyone else in the training room also stopped what they were doing at this moment and spread out to rest. It seemed that they had just finished a tense training match.
However, the factory director himself did not participate in the training match just now. It was Jiejie who played, and he stood leisurely beside him, lowering his head and fiddling with his mobile phone.
Su Mo's mouth raised slightly, with a mysterious smile, and continued: "Director, do you know where you rank among the official S9 top 20 candidates?"
Hearing this, the factory director's eyes suddenly looked a little lazy. The light came on, and his body unconsciously leaned forward a little, and asked with obvious excitement: "How many? Tell me quickly, how many places are you in the queue?" Seeing his eager look, Su Mo deliberately let it slip and prolonged his tone slowly to whet his appetite.
Then, he slowly uttered four words: "List, top, no, name."
When the factory director heard this, he was stunned for a moment, and then categorically denied it: "Impossible! This is absolutely impossible! Which low-grade pheasant media made the list?"
Su Mo responded calmly: "It's official, Riot officially released it personally. Do you think I would waste my time reading those pheasant media things?"
The director still shook his head stubbornly, his face It was filled with disbelief: "Impossible, why don't you do this, do you think I will be fooled by you?"
As he said that, the factory director couldn't wait to take out his mobile phone, slide his fingers quickly on the screen, and start searching seriously.
After watching for a long time, his brows gradually furrowed and the expression on his face became serious, as if he finally felt that something was wrong.
"Tch, this kind of list is a poisonous milk list, who really cares." Although the factory director muttered with pretense of disdain, the word "care" was clearly written all over the slightly lowered corner of his mouth and the twinkling eyes.
Suddenly, the director seemed to have discovered a new world. His eyes suddenly lit up. He quickly turned the page back to the front and read it again carefully. Then, he couldn't help it anymore and burst into laughter:
"Hahahaha! It turns out that you kid is not on the list either! How dare you accuse me? Aren't you also on the list? Hahahaha, I'm laughing so hard!"
The factory director's uncontrollable laughter, although the volume was deliberately lowered, still attracted the attention of others like a magnet.
Meiko came over at a leisurely pace, curiously poked her head and asked: "What are you two talking about? Are you so happy, talking about it makes everyone happy?"
The factory director was proud of himself. Yangdi pointed to the screen of his mobile phone and said to Meiko: "Look at this, the repertoire before the S competition, the ranking of the top twenty players! Our classmate Xiao Mo is not on the list this time! It seems that Riot officials are not going to spoil him this time!"
Meiko glanced at the screen, but there was no look of surprise on her face. She just said calmly: "Oh, I've just seen this. It seems that because Brother Mo Zi played too few games in the summer games and the data is insufficient, it is not easy to be included in the regular list."
The director was reluctant, He continued to emphasize: "No matter what the reason is, he is not on the list this time. You can't deny this!"
Meiko reached out and gently swiped down a few times on the screen of the director's mobile phone. At the same time, he said slowly: "Yes, Riot officials have arranged a separate TOP for him. 0's special position."
"TOP 0?" The factory director was filled with disbelief when he heard this.
However, when he scrolled to the bottom of the list and found that he could continue to scroll down, Su Mo's handsome makeup photo suddenly appeared at the top of the screen!
The eye-catching words "TOP 0" are so real!
Meiko saw this and continued to add: "The official emotional intelligence of Riot Games should not be that low. If Brother Mo is not included in this list, the authority and attention of this list will definitely be disliked and questioned by countless players."
Su Mo was smiling and watching all this quietly, while the director's mentality at this moment was completely explosive.
【Get torture points +30 from Clearlove】
The factory director took a deep breath, finally recovered from the shock, and then started the crazy output mode: "I suggest that this kind of rubbish list should not be ranked in the future! What double standards, it is simply embarrassing!"
In the next few days, the originally quiet hotel gradually became lively.
Teams from all major competition regions around the world have arrived and checked into this officially designated hotel.
Now that everyone lives under the same roof, the main purpose is to facilitate each other's invitations to training matches and conduct pre-match communication and testing.
Of course, as the hosts of this S competition, the three teams in the LEC division naturally have the convenience of location. Most of them choose to prepare for the competition at the club training base that is more familiar and convenient to them.
At the same time, media reporters from various competition regions, like sharks smelling blood, began to "bomb" the major teams, especially the popular teams.
EDG is undoubtedly the absolute core focus in this media storm.
Almost every day, reporters from different media come to make appointments for interviews, and sometimes we even have to receive several groups of people in one day.
Su Mo is the core of the core, becoming the focus of all shots and questions.
Although most of the questions asked by the reporters were similar, Su Mo still had to patiently repeat his answers over and over again, maintaining the professionalism of a professional player.
Soon, the much-anticipated S9 Global Finals qualifying stage officially kicked off.
Since the LCK division failed to successfully defend its S championship last year, their third seed team DWG this year had to start from the play-in stage to fight for the precious group stage qualification.
Just as the flames of the qualifying rounds were just igniting, the more exciting group stage draw ceremony was also held as scheduled.
Although there are still four places to advance through the play-in rounds that have not yet been finalized, this does not affect the draw.
Just use four temporary codenames to represent these seats. When all the qualifying rounds are over, it will naturally become clear which team these four codenames represent.
As night fell, the EDG players gathered in front of the large projection screen in the training room, preparing to watch this fateful draw ceremony.
This can be regarded as an essential repertoire before the start of every S game, full of unknowns and excitement.
Coach Abu saw this and greeted him enthusiastically: "Oh, you are here, please sit down quickly, please sit down quickly, the lottery ceremony is about to begin."
Luo Xin adjusted the angle of the camera and said with a smile: "Then I'm welcome, let's start shooting! Just treat me as if I don't exist. Just say what you want as usual. Just be natural."
It's true that during the draw ceremony of the S competition in the past, there were often many famous scenes that people talked about, such as Xiaohu's classic "second laugh".
Hence, the team photographer of each team will completely record the entire process of the team watching the draw, hoping to capture some real and interesting reactions of the players.
The EDG team members have long been accustomed to this kind of shooting.
Rita sat down in the empty seat next to Su Mo, turned her head and asked softly: "Brother Mo Zi, which teams do you think are your ideal opponents in the group stage? Are there any teams you particularly don't want to meet in advance?" The explanation is not very in-depth. I feel that if everyone can reach the World Championship, their strength should be similar." Meiko interjected at this time, with a hint of fear in his tone: "I personally feel that the GRF team in the LCK looks particularly fierce this year. As long as they don't encounter GRF in the group stage, other teams will be fine."
Iboy put forward a different view. He frowned and said: "I think the G2 team is a bit too magical. It feels like they have a chance to win against anyone, but they may lose against anyone at the same time. The state is ups and downs. I would rather encounter a tough guy like GRF in the group stage than be in a group with G2."
Meiko blinked narrowly and joked: " You kid, are you really psychologically affected by that Perkz? If you let him know that you are so afraid of him, he will be so excited that he will jump on your face and taunt you like crazy." Hearing this, Iboy curled his lips in disdain: "It has nothing to do with the guy P, it's mainly because of the style of their entire G2 team...it gives people a very magical feeling and is unpredictable."
Rita listened to the conversation between the two and couldn't help but remind: "Well... although G2 is indeed very strong, but... they are the number one seed in the LEC region, and like you EDG, they will be divided into different groups, so you will definitely not encounter G2 in the group stage..." Meiko and Iboy heard this, their expressions froze for an instant, and they looked at each other awkwardly.
Meiko quickly turned to Luo Xin and said with a hint of pleading: "Beauty Luo Xin, please, please, can you help me cut this paragraph? I don't want this conversation to be spread out and others see us looking so embarrassed."
Su Mo, fearing that the world would not be in chaos, stood aside and said, "Don't cut it! I think this will make it look real and cute!"
Luo Xin playfully stuck out her tongue. Although she didn't say anything, her sly eyes already showed her attitude - this wonderful tidbit must be preserved!
On the big screen, the lights were focused, and the host stepped onto the lottery stage with steady steps and began to introduce the lottery rules of this group stage in detail.
The rules are basically the same as in previous years: a total of sixteen teams in the group stage will be evenly divided into four groups, with four teams in each group.
The core principle is that teams in the same group cannot be from the same division.
At the same time, the No. 1 seed teams in the four major divisions (LPL, LCK, LEC, and LCS) will also be evenly distributed into four different groups as the seed teams for each group.
The first round of draws is to determine the order of the top seeded teams in these four groups.
The lottery guests appeared with warm applause and walked towards the lottery pool where the nameplate of the No. 1 seed team was placed, ready to draw the first lucky winner.
· Everyone in the EDG training room held their breath at this moment and stared at the screen intently. There was a tense atmosphere in the air.
The first tag with the team's LOGO printed on it was slowly pulled out by the lottery guests and solemnly unfolded in front of the camera.
The host's high-pitched voice then sounded: "The first number one seed team to be drawn is - G2 Esports from the LEC region!"
Him followed by the drawing of the second lottery.
“The second team is from our LPL division, EDG!”
The LPL fans cheered, and the EDG players secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
The third lot.
"It's from the LCK region, T1!"
The name of the legend attracted a lot of admiration.
The fourth and final No. 1 seed pick.
"The last number one seed is - from LC Liquid!"
At this point, the order of the first seed teams in the four groups has been settled.
Next, is the more critical and exciting draw of the second seed pool.
In this pool, there are eight small balls representing the second seed team.
"The first second-seeded team to be drawn is - GRF!"
Along with the host's announcement, the name of the GRF team appeared on the big screen, and they were drawn into Group A, which is the group where G2 Esports is!
Meiko jumped up from his seat upon seeing this, waved his fist excitedly, and cheered: "Nais! That's great! As long as we don't encounter GRF in the group stage, we don't care about other teams!"
The draw ceremony is still going on in an orderly manner.
"The next team is——JT!"
When hearing these two concise letters, everyone in the EDG training room couldn't help but look at each other with a trace of doubt in their eyes.
"This JT... is a team from which division?" The director touched his chin and muttered in a low voice.
Coach Abramovich explained in a timely manner: "It's the No. 1 seed from the LMS division this year."
"Ah? The No. 1 seed in the LMS division? So... what about the veteran powerhouse Flash Wolves? Are they gone?" Meiko asked in surprise, after all, the Flash Wolves have maintained their dominance in the LMS division all year round.
The factory director couldn't help laughing when he heard this: "Haha, I really didn't expect that even though it is as strong as the Flash Wolf, it sometimes stumbles and cannot even get the first place in its own division."
He paused and added in a relaxed tone: "But no matter what, this JT team should not pose much of a threat to us."
The tense atmosphere of the draw continued, and soon it entered the third round, which is the draw for the third seed pool.
The C9 team was drawn out and entered Group A, in the same group as G2 and GRF.
Su Mo looked at the lineup of Group A and commented thoughtfully: "I feel that the configuration of Group A is already a bit like a group of death."
The director waved his hand disapprovingly and retorted: "C9 is no longer good now, and it is worse than before. They only qualified as the second seed of the LCS this time."
Su Mo held a different view. He carefully analyzed: "However, based on the experience of past world championships, although C9 may often not be able to beat TL in their own league, when it comes to the international competition stage, their performance will often be more outstanding and stable than TL."
「GAM!」
Group B, the group where EDG is located, also welcomed a new member of theirs.
"GAM? Isn't this a team from the wild card division?" The director was stunned for a moment, and then the corners of his mouth couldn't help but raise, with a relaxed and cheerful smile on his face. Suddenly, he felt that the pressure to qualify for the group was suddenly reduced.
FPX!”
Following this, the LPL’s second seed FPX team was also drawn out!
They were divided into Group C, which is the group where the legendary team T1 is!
What's even more coincidental is that there is already a strong team from Europe in Group C - FNC!
Meiko looked at the lineup of Group C, couldn't help but smacked her lips, and commented: "Why do I feel that the lineup of Group C is also an out-and-out death group? It seems that none of the teams in it is good."
Su Mo nodded in agreement: "That's true. The strength of the teams in Group C is quite good, and the intensity of competition is probably on par with Group A."
He paused and added his own opinion: "Actually, I feel that at present, the biggest problem is that most of the relatively weaker teams seem to be assigned to our Group B. This will inevitably lead to a sharp increase in the competitive pressure of several other groups. "
Jiejie couldn't help but have a trace of worry on his young face when he heard this: "Then...will this prevent us from learning too many valuable things in the group stage, thus affecting our performance and status in the knockout stage?"
The factory director retorted disapprovingly, showing the experience and cunning of a veteran: "Boy, you have to think about the problem from another angle. The less competitive pressure in our group is actually a good thing. In this way, we can retain more tactics and routines in the group stage and avoid exposing our cards prematurely. Moreover, the strong teams in other groups cannot analyze too much valuable content from our group stage games."
Humbling after listening to the factory director's "high talk", Su Mo couldn't help but give him a thumbs up, with a bit of ridicule in his tone: "Awesome, factory director! When it comes to sneaking around and hiding tactics, You're the best at it!"
The factory director had a proud smile on his face when he heard the first half of the sentence, but when he suddenly heard the words "sneaking the chicken and the dog", the smile suddenly froze on his face.
Luo Xin and Rita next to them couldn't help covering their mouths and laughing secretly.
The factory director originally wanted to have a "reasonable argument" with Su Mo and argue that what he was doing was not called sneaking around, but called tactical reserves.
However, considering that Luo Xin's camera was still faithfully recording all this, he finally wisely chose to stop and remain silent.
The drawing ceremony is still going on, and finally it’s time to draw the last seed pool.
This pool contains the code balls representing the four teams that have successfully advanced from the qualifying rounds.
Although the specific names of these four teams cannot be determined at this moment, using four temporary code names is enough to complete the entire lottery process.
When the last code ball was drawn, the group stage grouping situation was also settled.
Coach Abu stood up, clapped his hands, and concluded: "Okay, everyone, now our group stage grouping situation has been completely revealed. Our EDG is divided into Group B, and the currently confirmed opponents are the JT team from the LMS division, and the GAM team from the Vietnam division. There is also a team that needs to wait until the finals are completed before we can determine who it is."
He paused and continued his analysis: "Judging from the current situation in the qualifying rounds, there is a high probability that the last opponent in our group will be the DWG team from the LCK. DWG can be said to be the strongest team on paper among all the teams in the qualifying rounds. However, considering that the strength of the other two teams in our group is relatively limited, even if we really draw DWG, the pressure on our group to qualify will be It shouldn't be too big. "
Hearing this, the factory director showed uncontrollable joy on his face and cheered: "It seems that there is no pressure on us to advance to the group stage! Next, we only need to focus on researching and targeting the top teams in other groups. I have to say that this time in the S competition, we are very lucky!"
Su Mo took out his cell phone and took a casual look. He found that the LPL expedition group was as lively as a pot exploding.
FPX, Doinb: "Ahhhh? We FPX, T1, and FNC are divided into a group? Why is this? Help!"
IG, Ning: "In this group, don't you just torture them? Only T1 can beat them a little bit, and what about FN? C, don’t just hang up and fight?”
FPX, Lwx: “It’s easy to say, then you can do it!”
IG, Ning: “If I can switch groups, I will definitely switch with you! If T1 is eliminated in the group stage early, we can lock in the championship position in advance!”
IG, Baolan: "Ahem, the above remarks only represent the personal thoughts of player Gao Zhenning and have nothing to do with the overall stance of our IG team."
IG, Rookie: "Okay, King Ning! Go up and beat them one-on-five, defeat them!"
FPX, Doinb: "Didn't you notice? The B group that EDG drew is so easy! I It feels like if I were to play, I would be fine! In this group, I can advance even with my eyes closed!" EDG, Clearlove9: "No way, who made us the No. 1 seed in the LPL? This is the special treatment of the No. 1 seed, I can't envy it."
The next time will be intense and hard training day after day, all to make the best preparation for the upcoming group stage.
A week passed quietly amid the high-intensity training and tactical discussions of the team members.
The final stage of the competition has finally come to an end!
The four teams that finally made it out of the playoffs and advanced to the group stage are: DWG from the LCK division, CG from the LCS division, and HKA from the S division of the LEC division.
In this way, the final complete list of the four groups in the S9 Global Finals group stage has finally been determined:
Group A: G2, GRF, C9, HKA
Group B: EDG, JT, GAM, SPY
Group C: T1, FNC, FPX, CG
Group D: TL, AHQ, IG, DWG
After the final quotas for each group have been settled, there are only two short days left for each team to make targeted preparations.
The much-anticipated S9 Global Finals group stage has finally officially begun!
In the competition venue, in the spacious and bright lounge backstage, the EDG players were sitting upright, looking attentively waiting for the upcoming game.
According to the schedule, the opening match of this S tournament group stage will be the SPY team, the third seed in the host LEC division, against the No. 1 seed in the LPL division, EDG!
I saw Coach Abramovich standing in front of the players and giving his final instructions in a serious tone: "Everyone, this is about to be our EDG's first official game in this S competition. Please show your best competitive state! Although on paper, our opponent SPY is not particularly strong, but we We must not take this lightly! Not only must we win, but we must win beautifully and show the momentum of our LPL championship!” Su Mo turned his eyes to Jiejie beside him and was keenly aware of the unnoticeable nervousness on the young jungler’s face at this moment.
After all, this is the first time in his career that he has stepped onto the stage of the S competition, and one can imagine his inner excitement and anxiety.
"Xiaojie, relax, don't think too much," Su Mo comforted him gently, "Just treat this game as an ordinary training match that we usually play." Hearing this, Jiejie nodded vigorously, with a hint of tension in his voice: "Well, Brother Mo Zi, I, I'm fine."
The factory director was on the side, encouraging in his own unique way: "Take out your best, most confident, most aggressive hero, go up and defeat the opponent's jungle area, and completely brutalize them! Let them see what the true strength of the No. 1 seed in the LPL region is!"
After hearing this, Su Mo couldn't help but smile and joked: "Let me tell you, director, you, a dignified No. 1 seed in the LPL, are going to torture a No. 3 seed in the LEC region. Is there any point in bragging about it? Don't let the fight go back and forth, that would be a shame!"
A moment later, Coach Abu He looked at his watch and reminded: "It's almost time, we should prepare to go on the court. According to the procedure, there will be a simple debut session first, let's go up together."
So, everyone in EDG packed their team uniforms, stood up, and prepared to welcome their first appearance on the S9 stage.
Walking out of the lounge, Su Mo found that many people had gathered in the player tunnel outside.
Competitors from all major competition areas have put on neat team uniforms and gathered together in twos and threes, chatting in low voices, waiting for the moment to appear on the stage.
"EDG! Brother Mozi!" A familiar and loud voice came through the crowd.
Su Mo followed the sound and saw Doinb leading the FPX team members towards them with a smile on his face.
Su Mo also responded with a smile: "Hey, isn't this Silver Coin Brother! This time you are assigned to a veritable group of death. You must perform well and don't let me lose sight of you FPX people in the knockout stage."
Hearing this, Doinb still looked like an optimistic person. He smiled and said, "It's okay. We don't have high requirements. Qualifying for second place in the group is considered a success!"