King Ning, who was leading the way, saw EDG and FPX not far away at a glance. He grinned and greeted loudly:
"Hey, EDG and FPX are all here."< br/>
His eyes turned to Doinb, teasing with a bit of schadenfreude:
"I said Jin Gugu, how do you feel about your death group? Is it pressure? Shanda, you can't sleep at night?"
Doinb was not annoyed when he heard this, he just shrugged and responded:
"It's okay, just fight as hard as you can. It’s the D group that your IG is in. It seems to me that it’s quite difficult to beat. It has two strong bones, DWG and TL.” Upon hearing this, King Ning showed a look of disdain on his face and waved his hand:
"TL? What kind of rubbish team is that? Just torture them!"
JackeyLove walked straight up to Meiko and said hello familiarly:
"The field."
Meiko seemed to have a pretty good relationship with JackeyLove, and a smile appeared on her face:
/>
"Ah Shui, do you think it's difficult to play DWG?"
JackeyLove's eyes were full of confidence, and he analyzed:
"I have studied them carefully, and I feel that DWG's bottom lane combination should be a breakthrough for them. If your EDG can play well on this point, there shouldn't be a big problem."
He raised his chin slightly and continued, with unquestionable certainty in his tone:
"As for our IG bottom lane, that is definitely no problem. DWG is a team that mainly has strong midfielders and top junglers."
As JackeyLove spoke, he subconsciously glanced at Theshy and Rookie beside him, and added:
"However, our IG's upper midfielder is stronger than them! Therefore, we don't have much pressure to play DWG."
Wang Ning listened on the sidelines and raised his eyebrows slightly, seeming a little unhappy:
"Wait a minute, Ah Shui, what you just said was "upper midfielder"? Are you sure you are only talking about the linkage between the middle lane and the top lane, and not the "upper midfielder"?"
JackeyLove spread his hands and said innocently:
"What I said is the truth, is there any problem?"
Coach Abramovich saw this, came out to smooth things over at the right time, and said hello:
< br/> "Okay, everyone is here, let's go there together first, go to the designated area and wait there."
So, the three teams from the LPL division set off together in a mighty manner, passing through the bustling crowd and walking towards the player appearance area.
The appearance of three teams representing the highest strength of the LPL at the same time immediately attracted the attention of players from other regions around them, and they all looked at them with curiosity, scrutiny, or awe.
Su Mo has undoubtedly become the focus of everyone's attention.
"Brother Mo Zi! God Mo! Can you take a photo with me? Please, I am your loyal fan!"
"Brother Mo Zi, I am also a fan of yours, can you shake your hand?"
"Brother Mo Zi..."
There were shouts one after another, accompanied by scorching gazes.
Su Mo patiently greeted the players from other divisions along the way, shook hands with them in a friendly manner, and took photos with them.
After completing a set of procedures, Su Mo felt that a lot of his physical strength had been exhausted even before the official game started.
When the group of them was about to reach the end of the player corridor, a tall and imposing figure suddenly blocked Su Mo's path.
Chovy! Griffin's talented mid laner!
He stood there quietly, his posture tall and straight, like an unsheathed sword, with sharp edges and sharpness that no one dared to underestimate.
Chovy's sudden behavior and his slightly stern expression may make an uninformed person think that he is trying to "bully" Su Mo in public.
However, the next second, Chovy silently took out his mobile phone from his pocket, still expressionless, and said in a slightly jerky tone:
"Can... take a photo?"
Seeing this, Su Mo couldn't help but smile, and readily agreed: "Of course."
So, the two top mid laners stood side by side and looked at the camera of Chovy's phone together.
In front of the camera, Chovy's usually cold face showed a shy and shy smile, and he and Su Mo captured this precious moment together.
GRF jungler Tarzan, who was standing nearby with a straight face and a serious expression, waited until Chovy finished taking a photo with satisfaction, and then walked over and said in the same serious tone:
"Hello, player Mo, please...can I take a photo with you?"
"Okay." Su Mo did not refuse.
Seeing that the two core players in the midfielder and midfielder took the initiative to take a photo, other GRF players could not contain their excitement and followed them one after another, all wanting to take a photo with this legendary player.
After taking photos with everyone in GRF one by one, Su Mo was able to continue walking forward.
"Faker."
After walking a few steps, Su Mo met another important old acquaintance - Faker, Lee Sang Hyuk.
· Faker is currently leading the T1 players to gather in the designated area.
Seeing Su Mo approaching, Faker showed a heartfelt and understanding smile on his face, and took the initiative to say hello:
"Hello, player Mo."
Su Mo smiled and responded: "Just call me Su Mo, Brother Xianghe."
Faker heard this and said politely: "Then you can just call me Xianghe."
Su Mo nodded, and then said, with a hint of concern in his tone:
"The group you are assigned to as T1 this time has quite a competitive pressure, and the difficulty is not small."
/>
Faker seemed quite optimistic. He smiled gently and said:
"This is good, it just makes it easier for us to improve the overall strength of the team faster, and to be more familiar with and understand the current version of the game."
Su Mo nodded with deep understanding: "Indeed, the stage of the S game itself is a process of continuous learning and evolution."
The two were chatting easily when suddenly, another group of people wearing uniforms came towards them.
I saw Aker leading the DWG team members and approaching here.
In the DWG team, except for Aker, most of the other players, whether it is jungle king Canyon or top laner Nuguri, are relatively taciturn, either looking down at their phones, or looking blank, as if they are wandering in the world.
In contrast, Aker is more lively and outgoing.
"Senior Faker! Player Mo!" As soon as Aker approached, he greeted the two of them warmly.
Nuguri also walked up to Su Mo and greeted him respectfully: "Hello, player Mo."
Su Mo stretched out his hand and shook Nuguri in a friendly way.
This Nuguri player, while shaking hands with Su Mo, even bent down slightly and bowed. His attitude was so humble and respectful that it was really extraordinary.
While greeting Faker and Su Mo, he also inadvertently glanced at the IG people not far away.
After all, DWG and IG are placed in the same group and will soon face each other in the arena.
On the other side, Nuguri walked directly in front of Theshy and greeted him respectfully again: "Senior Theshy."
Su Mo looked on, feeling a little strange in his heart.
This Nuguri seems to have a particularly special and respectful feeling for Theshy, but Theshy's attitude towards him is relatively cold and calm.
Su Mo suddenly remembered that he had seen an interview article about Nuguri on the Internet before.
In that interview, Nuguri seems to have mentioned that he often watches the game videos of Theshy and Su Mo to learn and understand the top laner's playing style and skills.
It is estimated that it is precisely for this reason that he has such deep respect for these two players.
At the same time, the auditorium at the competition site was already packed with people and all seats were occupied.
Happy audiences from all over the world and from different competition regions are gathered together at this moment.
They held a variety of support cards in their hands, which were filled with blessings and shouts for the teams and players they supported, covering almost all participating teams.
In the official broadcast booth of the LPL competition area, the passionate voice of the commentator sounded:
"Okay, audience friends at the scene and in front of the screen, good evening! Welcome to the group stage of the 2019 League of Legends Global Finals on time!"
His partner Miller also followed up, his tone also full of expectation:
"Yes, I have kept all the viewers waiting for so long! We have finally waited for the official start of the group stage! However, before the group stage officially starts, there will be a simple and grand player debut ceremony."
"At that time, a total of sixteen top teams from various major competition regions will appear on stage one after another! This naturally includes the three glorious teams representing our LPL region - EDG, FPX and IG!"
On the main stage of the competition, the brilliant lights shined, and the host took the stage with confident steps.
After a short and exciting opening remarks, the host began to use a high tone to invite each participating team to appear on stage one by one!
"Now, let us use the warmest and loudest applause to welcome the No. 1 seed from our LPL division, the legendary team - E! D! G!"
As soon as the host finished speaking, the audience seat was instantly ignited, and the roar of the mountain and tsunami swept over like a wave:
ceddie' to the deafening cheers, the EDG players, wearing brand new uniforms, walked out of the player tunnel one by one and stepped onto the gorgeous stage.
The person walking in the front was Su Mo.
Su Mo's handsome makeup photos and personal close-ups also appeared on the giant LED screen in the center of the main stage.
According to the normal process, at this time, the screen will usually display various dazzling data obtained by the players in the just-concluded summer competition.
However, it is very regrettable that because Su Mo played so few games in the summer split, the sample data is not enough for effective statistics and display.
Therefore, the official made adjustments very cleverly and chose to present the heavy personal honors he received in his career on the big screen one by one.
2017 League of Legends Mid-Season Championship Invitational Champion!
2017 League of Legends Global Finals Champion!
2018 League of Legends Mid-Season Championship Invitational Champion!
2018 League of Legends Global Finals Champion!
Every honor represents a glorious past.
The true honor is worth it!
After EDG made their debut, it was the turn of the other two teams in the LPL division - FPX and IG.
The members of the two teams also received extremely warm welcomes and cheers from the LPL fans at the scene when they came on stage.
After all, on the stage of the World Championship, all LPL teams are members of the same family, and everyone will unite and work together to cheer for the LPL division.
"Next, let us applaud the No. 1 seed from the LCK division, the legendary dynasty - T1!"
Following the host's introduction, Faker took the lead in leading the T1 players and stepped onto the stage with his head held high!
"Ahhh! Faker! Faker!"
Countless Faker loyal fans at the scene erupted into bursts of piercing screams, expressing their love and admiration for this legendary player.
After the T1 team debuted, it was the turn of the other two powerful teams in the LCK division-GRF and DWG.
Subsequently, representative teams from other major competition areas took the stage one after another.
A moment later, when all sixteen participating teams came on stage and stood side by side on the wide stage, the lights suddenly dimmed.
Immediately afterwards, the official theme promotional video of this S9 Global Finals began to play on the home screen!
The theme of this promotional video is "Phoenix"!
In fact, even before the promotional video was officially released, many players and fans were already discussing and speculating enthusiastically on the Internet.
In last year's S8 Global Finals, the theme of the promotional video was "Rise", which told the glorious story of the EDG team successfully defending the title and forging a consecutive championship dynasty.
This year's theme "Nirvana" is obviously no longer directed at EDG.
Many people speculate that this theme is more like an allusion to the legendary team of LCK-T1!
Because in this year's T1, except for the soul figure Faker who still sticks to the mid lane position, the other four positions of the team have all undergone major changes. It can almost be said that they have experienced a reorganization like rebirth from the ashes.
Furthermore, their performance in the LCK summer playoffs was exactly the same as EDG's performance in the LPL. They both had a poor record in the regular season, but in the end they staged a miracle of winning the championship with one through four.
From all aspects, T1 seems to perfectly fit the theme of "Nirvana".
Of course, these are just speculations and analyzes by netizens. As for how Riot officials conceived and considered the promotional video when it was produced, outsiders have no way of knowing.
This time, the S9 promotional video does not have a unique protagonist in an absolute sense.
In other words, every participating team is the protagonist in this promotional video.
For EDG, this is the last step and the most critical step in their pursuit of an unprecedented three consecutive championships.
For Faker and his T1, this is the year they complete their self-salvation, strive to rise from the ashes, and return to the top of the world.
For top European and American teams like G2, this may be their closest opportunity to the S Championship trophy.
After all, over the years, the strength gap between the major competition regions has been shrinking at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Especially in the LEC division, they have tried their best to form a star-studded "Galactic Battleship" like G2, aiming to win the championship.
After the magnificent promotional video was played, the lights on the stage suddenly turned on again.
However, there are only two teams left on the stage at this moment - the two sides of the opening match, EDG and SPY.
Attentive viewers will find that on EDG’s side, the figures of the factory director and Su Mo have quietly disappeared.
The two of them have now returned to the lounge backstage, preparing to enter the spectator mode to cheer for their teammates who are about to appear.
Su Mo's mentality is relatively relaxed.
After all, there is still a certain gap between SPY, the opponent in the opening match, and EDG in terms of paper strength.
If they can't even beat SPY, then EDG will really have a big problem, but this is obviously unlikely to happen.
The players from both sides were in position, and the game quickly entered the BP (hero banning and selection) phase.
Because this is the first official game under the new version of S9, the coaches and players on both sides base their BP on their teams’ understanding of the current version.
The BP speed of both sides is very fast, with almost no hesitation or hesitation.
After the BP session ended, the lineups of both sides were finally determined, and the game officially entered the loading screen.
In this opening game, EDG's jungler Jiejie did play quite unrestrained and confident.
He directly locked the hero Li Qing, the blind monk, and made it clear that he wanted to focus on an early and mid-term offensive rhythm.
The SPY team on the opposite side did not show any fear or retreat at all.
Their mid laner actually took out the weird LeBlanc, and the support position even more shockingly chose an unconventional hero - Steam Robot Blitzcrank!
The factory director had an expression of disbelief on his face when he saw the opponent's lineup, and exclaimed:
"What's going on? Is the opponent so confident? They even dare to bring out heroes like robot assists?"
Su Mo was on the side, analyzing calmly. Get up:
"This may not necessarily be entirely out of self-confidence, but may also be a desperate attempt to give it a go. Their SPY coaching staff and players may also know clearly that if they choose a regular lineup and play against us step by step, then their hope of winning will definitely be very slim."
"But if they choose a lineup that is eccentric and unexpected, then the result will either be a very ugly loss, or they may create a miracle and win an upset." Hearing this, the factory director smiled in realization: "I understand! Isn't this just gambling? Using this high-risk, high-reward style of play to try for a miracle?"
Su Mo nodded. He nodded and responded: "You can think so. In the face of the absolute strength gap, the weaker side often has to adopt this unconventional method if it wants to defeat the strong."
The game officially started, and Coach Abu also returned to the lounge from the BP room. He walked up to Su Mo and asked slightly nervously:
"How is it? Xiao Mo, do you think we can win this round?"
Su Mo's tone was still calm and determined: "If you win, you can definitely win."
"That's okay, that's okay." After hearing Su Mo's words, Coach Abu felt a little relieved.
However, when the game actually started, the development of the situation on the field surprised everyone. It was not as simple as everyone expected!
· The robot assistant selected by SPY actually worked wonders, and it didn’t just rely on luck.
The game progressed to the bottom lane, and the junglers of both sides chose to gank the bottom lane at the same time, but neither side knew the other's jungler's movements in advance.
Thresh, controlled by Meiko, was the first to throw out his death sentence, hoping to hook the opponent's ADC first.
However, this hook was unfortunately empty.
However, at the same moment when Thresh unhooked, SPY's robot assistance on the opposite side seized the brief moment of stiffness after Thresh unhooked, accurately threw a mechanical flying claw, and hit Meiko's Thresh steadily!
Meiko was caught off guard and was pulled back from the tower by the robot!
The three heroes of SPY on the opposite side immediately focused their fire output. Although there were also three people on EDG's side, Meiko was the first to focus fire, causing EDG's formation to be instantly disrupted, and the situation became completely different.
In the end, this wave of 3V3 team battle in the bottom lane ended with EDG killing three people and replacing one person from the opponent.
The SPY team has made a lot of money in this battle.
The director couldn’t help but exclaimed when he saw this scene: "Ah? No way! Are we going to lose this game?"
Su Mo still had a faint smile on his face and said calmly:
"The strength of the SPY team, In fact, it is not as weak as we thought. Nowadays, all major competition areas are progressing and developing rapidly, and it is normal for this situation to occur. "
In the next game, SPY's robot assistant seemed to have identified Meiko's Thresh and kept staring at him.
When Thresh takes out the hook, his body will have a short standing motion to cast, which gives the robot a chance to hit the back.
As long as Thresh dares to use the hook, the robot's hook will almost always hit, unless Meiko uses Flash to avoid it.
After suffering two losses in a row, Meiko obviously became a little hesitant to take action easily.
Happily, Thresh's lantern skill can also rescue his teammates at critical moments, so that this hero will not be completely useless.
The situation on the court was very anxious at one time. The two sides were going back and forth, and it was not as one-sided as expected before the game.
Watching the game, Coach Abramovich was worried and his palms were sweating.
However, fortunately, the EDG players are still more solid and experienced than the SPY players in terms of personal basic skills and operational details.
In the unfavorable situation of falling behind in the early game, EDG relied on its better last-minute damage and resource control to even the economy, and in the subsequent games, it gradually achieved a lead.
The director saw this and couldn't help complaining: "I have now discovered that although these European and American teams often come up with some novel ideas in tactics and routines, their players generally have some problems in basic skills. Therefore, they can often have some advantages in the early stages of the game, but in the middle and late stages, it is difficult to win the game."
Su Mo agreed: "That's true. If the players in the European and American competitions can solidly develop their basic skills and reach the same level as our players in the LPL and LCK competitions, then with their tactical innovation capabilities, they will definitely not be unable to win even an S championship for so many years."
Soon, the game reached a critical turning point.
EDG's mid laner Scout, controlling his signature hero Lissandra, seized the opportunity during a small-scale team battle in the middle and accurately completed a wave of single-player instant kills on SPY's top lane hero!
Subsequently, he forced a team battle and cooperated with his teammates who arrived in time to successfully win this key team battle. He pushed away the opponent's base crystal in one go and helped EDG win the first victory of this S competition with great difficulty.
Seeing this, Coach Abramovich breathed a long sigh of relief, with an expression of appreciation on his face:
"At the critical moment, it still depends on Scout's stable performance! It seems that we still underestimated the other teams in the same group. This issue must be paid enough attention in the future."
After winning the opening game, the EDG players walked down from the game seats and returned to the lounge.
Although they won the game, there was not much joy at all on the faces of the team members.
Most of them frowned slightly and looked solemn. They were obviously dissatisfied with their performance in the game just now and felt that they had not handled many details well.
Coach Abu stepped forward, patted the players on the shoulders, and gently comforted:
"Thank you, everyone has worked hard. We did make a lot of mistakes in this game, and this is not the true level that our EDG team should perform."
"But, this is understandable. After all, this is our first game in this S competition, and everyone may be a little nervous and not completely relaxed. After we go back, we can adjust our state and play well in the next game."
· EDG's players sat down silently, preparing to watch the games of other groups, while also reviewing the previous defeat in their minds.
Su Mo took out his mobile phone and glanced at major e-sports forums and social media out of habit.
As expected, at this moment, LPL fans on the Internet have already expressed some pessimistic views on EDG’s performance just now:
"Why do you feel that EDG didn't play as well as they did in the LPL in this game?"
"Are you a little acclimatized? Or maybe the time difference hasn't been fully adjusted yet?"
"Oh my god, this is just the third team in the LEC. No. 1 seed team, is EDG playing so hard? "
"Something's wrong, something's wrong! Even if Brother Mo Zi didn't play, EDG shouldn't be at this stumbling level!"
A moment later, the second game of the S9 group stage officially started.
The two sides facing each other are the T1 team and the FNC team from Group C.
Coach Abramovich immediately greeted: "Okay, don't think about the game just now. Let's take a good look at the T1 game and focus on observing their understanding and tactical arrangements of this new version." Upon hearing this, the EDG players put down their mobile phones one after another and focused their attention on the big screen.
Players from both sides appeared one after another. On the T1 team’s side, the players were wearing brand new uniforms, with three shining stars embroidered on the chests of the uniforms, representing their supreme glory of winning the S competition three times!
The director was also very knowledgeable in giving a big close-up shot of the three stars on the T1 team uniform.
Meiko saw this scene, her eyes were full of envy and yearning, and she couldn't help but whisper:
"When can we, EDG, also embroider three stars on our team uniforms?"
Iboy stood aside and responded firmly: "Just this year! Believe me, just this year!"
He paused, and then added passionately: "No! If we want to do it, let's just get five stars! He won five consecutive championships and directly made history!" Su Mo couldn't help being amused after hearing this, and also joked: "How about we just get a fifteen-star uniform? Five big stars on the inside of the uniform, representing the five S-level championships, and ten small stars around the outside, representing the ten LPL league championships?"
Upon hearing this, Meiko exclaimed exaggeratedly: "Oh my God! Brother Mo Zi, are you not going to leave a way for other teams to survive? You want to win all the championships and leave none for others?"
After the players from T1 and FNC appeared on the stage, the game quickly entered the BP stage.
In this game, SKT (T1)'s lineup selection seemed very conventional and conservative, and they did not come up with anything particularly novel.
I guess they, like EDG, don't want to expose too many tactical reserves prematurely in the first game of the group stage.
Faker is in the middle, directly locking a hand of Akali, which is used to face the little mage Vega who is chosen by FNC in the opposite lane.
Coach Abu frowned slightly when he saw the choice of FNC's mid laner. He felt something was wrong:
"Little Mage? Is this hero very strong in this version? Scout, what do you think?"
Scout thought seriously for a moment and replied: "In terms of strength, I can only say it's average. I feel that FNC chose the Little Mage mainly to target T1. The entry system of the lineup. You see, the heroes selected by T1, Vampire, Akali, Kai'Sa, Tauren, and Blind Sin, are almost all heroes who need to rush into the opponent's formation to deal damage. And the little mage's E skill "Distortion Space" can effectively isolate the battlefield and limit the entry of T1 heroes." Coach Abu nodded thoughtfully after hearing this: "Well, what you said makes sense."
The factory director stood aside and said disapprovingly: "However, the gap in personal hard power between the two players is still there. In this case, engaging in these fancy tricks may not have much practical significance."
However, when the game really started, the development of the situation on the field once again exceeded everyone's expectations and was completely different from what they had imagined.
In the early stages of the game, both teams played extremely steadily, developing steadily without too many kills.
The T1 team has also tried to initiate several attacks, but FNC's vision control was very good, and the players played very cautiously, not giving T1 any chance.
Finally waited until the middle of the game, and the two sides finally had the opportunity to engage in a large-scale team battle.
At this time, the role of the little mage in FNC’s mid lane really came to light!
Whenever the heroes of T1 want to enter the field to start a group, the little mage's E skill "Distorted Space" can always be released accurately at key positions, causing the subsequent heroes of T1 to be unable to keep up with the output in time, and the formation is instantly disconnected.
The director looked at the stalemate on the screen and couldn't help but murmured in a low voice:
"Team T1...can't lose to FNC in the first game of the group stage, right? How does this feel? It seems like it's really going to happen?"
The final result was really shocking - Team T1 really lost to the FNC team from Europe in the first game of the group stage!
At this moment, everyone in the EDG lounge was dumbfounded.
Meiko couldn't help complaining: "I feel like the T1 game was completely destroyed by the little mage from FNC! Moreover, it's not because of how brilliant the little mage player is, it's just because of his E skill, which is too restrained against the T1 lineup!"
Iboy was also filled with emotion. Qiandi said: "It's outrageous! The overall strength of the European and American divisions has indeed risen to the naked eye. It is much stronger than before."
The game is still going on. Next up is the second seed FPX team in the LPL division. They will face the CG team from the LCS division.
Su Mo picked up his phone and glanced at the LPL expedition group, and found that the FPX team members were frantically sending messages in the group.
FPX, Doinb: "Brothers, brothers! Come on, help us FPX! Withstand the pressure!"
FPX, Tian: "The current situation of our Group C is really hard to understand! T1 can lose to FNC, doesn't that mean that FNC also has great hope of advancing from our group of death? This is a complete mess, everything is in chaos. Ah! It feels like losing to anyone is very dangerous, we have to win CG steadily!"
IG, Ning: "I say Team Phoenix, if you can't even beat CG, then I suggest you don't play in the subsequent games, just quit the game and swim back to the LPL."
EDG, Mo: "Well, I think so too."
IG, Jackeylove: "Wow! Even Brother Mo Zi said this. Brothers of FPX, are you feeling a lot of pressure now?"
However, fortunately, things did not develop in the worst direction.
In the end, the FPX team relied on its superior strength to steadily win over the CG team and get a good start in the S9 World Championship.
An hour later, the EDG team also ushered in their second group match of the day.
This time the opponent is the JT team from the LMS division!
Facing the relatively weak JT, EDG did not give their opponents another chance, and ultimately passed the test relatively easily, successfully ending all today's games.
Winning both games and achieving a perfect record of 2-0 gave EDG a good start in their group stage journey.