LOL: My talent is top-tier, my professional skills are unparalleled.

Chapter 401 Groupings Finalized! Rising Star Griffin!

"The 'four guarantees' are unlikely to become the mainstream."

Maokai also shared his opinion: "Given the teamfight strength of champions like Aatrox, Akali, and Irelia, AD champions are unlikely to have much room to perform."

"Moreover, if you use a tank hero to lane against these heroes, even the hero with the worst laning ability, Aatrox, can probably crush the tank hero."

Maokai hit the nail on the head.

The strength of warrior heroes is obvious; they can easily defeat tanks in lane and crush marksmen in team fights!
"However, that doesn't stop us from making preparations."

Maokai didn't rule out any possibility, since no one knows exactly how things will develop in the future, and what if RNG really does start a trend?

It's always good to have a backup plan.

Just as EDG was making intensive preparations for the group stage.

The qualifying rounds have officially begun.

Riot Games has further expanded the number of wildcard regions to participate in the World Championship this year, aiming to increase the attention given to the World Championship.

After all, for regions without a proper league, having a team from their region make it to the main stage of the World Championship would greatly boost local viewership.

Brazil is the most typical example.

During the S6 World Championship, INTZ from Brazil made it into the main event, and the Brazilian "Saint Monk" even kicked EDG so hard that it ignited the League of Legends atmosphere throughout Brazil.

Even today, despite Brazil lacking a formal league, the atmosphere for watching matches is no less vibrant than that in Taiwan.

However, the teams in the wildcard region vary greatly in strength, and most importantly, four teams from the regular leagues will be included, making it difficult for them to compete.

You can't expect wildcard teams to beat LCK's Griffin, or Europe's G2, or North America's C9.

Even the worst team, GRX from the LMS region, is not one that most wildcard teams can defeat.

Even if GRX is at its worst, their players are still Challenger in the Korean server. Players from some wildcard teams, on the other hand, would at best only reach Diamond or Master level in the Korean server.

In fact, the results were all pretty much the same. The qualifying rounds were also divided into 4 groups, with 3 teams in each group. In the end, the team ranked first in each group would play against the team ranked second in their group, which of course had to be a cross-group match.

The competition lasted four days.

Four teams were ultimately selected.

They are C9, G2, GRX, and Griffin!

As expected, the draw ceremony continued immediately after the qualifying rounds ended, and the final group stage draw was officially determined.

The four teams in Group A are: EDG, PVB, VIT, and Griffin.

The four teams in Group B are: Flash Wolves, RNG, SKT, and C9.

The four teams in Group C are: KT, MAD, TL, and G2.

The four teams in Group D are: Fnatic, 100T, IG, and GRX.

This grouping was largely as expected; Griffin, a team comprised of LCK's new generation of rookies, was placed in Group A, the same group as EDG.

This will at least significantly improve the entertainment value of Group A, preventing too many matches with a large disparity in skill levels.

Group B, on the other hand, can be described as a true group of death.

C9, SKT, RNG, and Flash Wolves are all four teams with strong competitiveness.

Despite SKT's prestigious name, their strength has clearly declined this year. They only managed to secure the second seed in the LCK thanks to Lee Sang-hyeok's explosive performance in the summer playoffs.

Lee Sang-hyeok alone can't carry the team; unless the others regain their former peak form, SKT's strength is just so-so. It's precisely because the overall strength is quite even, with everyone having a chance to advance, that Group B has become the group of death.

As for groups C and D, their overall situation is similar to that of group A.

In Group C, KT, the number one seed from South Korea, is guaranteed a spot. The remaining spot will simply be contested between G2 and TL.

As for Group D, the qualifying spots are basically Fnatic and IG, with the other two teams posing no real threat.

This grouping arrangement naturally sparked heated discussions among domestic viewers.

"EDG and IG are definitely guaranteed to advance to the quarterfinals. I'm not worried about EDG, but I hope IG doesn't mess things up. I hope they both secure first place in their group to avoid an early internal battle."

"A world where only RNG is injured has been achieved? This is the group of death..."

"Damn it, it's one thing for RNG to lose to SKT, but they can't even beat C9 and Flash Wolves, can they? If they really can't beat them, they might as well just go home after the group stage and stop embarrassing themselves."

"Who is Griffin? Can any of you guys explain? I've heard he's pretty awesome."

"What's the use of being so awesome? He just has a genius mid laner, Chaowei. Being a genius is just a ticket to face off against my brother Yao. How many genius mid laners has my brother Yao crushed?"

"Exactly, forget about so-called geniuses who have no honors whatsoever. Isn't Golden Left Hand a genius too? He got completely thrashed by my brother Yao."

"..."

The entire EDG team is able to accept this result.

However, if EDG wants to win the championship, then all 16 participating teams are considered opponents that EDG must defeat, and there is no room for wishful thinking.

Soon, it was October, and on October 1st, domestic audiences were enjoying the rare seven-day National Day holiday.

Meanwhile, in South Korea, the group stage of the 2018 League of Legends World Championship has officially begun!
The opening ceremony was held at the League of Legends theme park in Seoul. The scale of the event was naturally incomparable to that in China, but it was clear that the Koreans had put a lot of thought into it.

Wang Yao and the others arrived at the venue early.

The well-known LCK commentator, Roaring Emperor, is giving his final warm-up on stage!

"Next! Let's welcome the 2017 League of Legends World Championship winners, EDG, to return the championship trophy!"

This is a staple of the group stage opening ceremony every year, where the previous champion returns the championship trophy.

The EDG team members appeared on stage dressed in black team uniforms, with Clearlove holding the championship trophy and placing it on the display stand in front of the stage.

After the EDG team returned the trophy.

The Roaring Emperor began to introduce the 16 participating teams one by one, which was essentially a collective appearance of the 16 teams participating in the group stage, with all members gathered on the stage.

SKT received the most cheers when they entered the game.

Lee Sang-hyeok is the top player in the LCK league.

"Next, let's enjoy the exciting matches brought to us by the 16 teams!" Roaring Emperor gave a brief ending.

The opening match featured LCK's number one seed KT against MAD, a team from the LMS league, in Group C.

This is what is known as the home advantage for the host country. It's similar to how in the World Cup, the host country's first opponent is always the weakest team in the group, allowing the host country to get off to a winning start.

KT's first match was against MAD, the weakest team in the group.

The whole process was without any suspense. KT's mid laner Scout demonstrated his strong strength and competitive form, making everyone understand why he was last year's champion mid laner.

KT achieved a perfect start.

(End of this chapter)