Occupation? I won’t even hit a dog!

Whether the world runner-up title has any value has always been a controversial issue.

In the eyes of many people, the runner-up is just the lucky top eight. The main reason for being the runner-up is the last one to meet the world champion. If the group luck is worse, they will be eliminated early.

This also led to the term "strongest runner-up".

That is, although some teams were eliminated in the quarterfinals or semifinals, their hard power was second in the world that year.

but.

This controversy can be refuted in one sentence.

——If the world runner-up title is really worthless, what is everyone fighting for? Will anyone discuss the "strongest eight" that can qualify by changing to a weaker group?

Think about the time when LCK dominated the world championship, and you can see how LPL audiences view UZI who won two runner-up titles in the civil war.

Even though UZI shamelessly labeled himself as the world's No. 1 ADC, he still gained a terrifying number of fans. If UZI had not been the world's runner-up twice, his fierce and eye-catching playing style alone would not be enough to gain such recognition.

In the past two years, it seems that LPL broke the monopoly of LCK, but in fact, Ye Tian alone monopolized the world championship again.

In this case, IG, which eliminated two LCK teams and won the S8 runner-up, received higher praise than the old Royal Club.

After all, the old Royal Club has never defeated a Korean team in a BO5, and IG defeated KT and AFS in a head-on manner. Except for EDG led by Ye Tian to a - comeback against LCK, IG has the best record achieved by the LPL region in recent years.

In this World Championship, G2 spent 2 million euros to invite Ye Tian to join, and is considered to be the strongest team. One of FPX and IG will definitely stagger with G and will not meet until the finals. This is obviously the situation that LPL audiences would like to see most.

Avoiding G2 means that FPX and IG have a high probability of winning the world runner-up, and a small probability of winning the world championship.

If you sleep well enough at night, it is not impossible to see the LPL teams meet in the finals again.

"FPX and IG both performed very well in the second round of the group stage and won the first place in the group. What makes people even happier is the state shown by the two teams. Compared with the confusion in the first round, they figured out the version context and found the most suitable rhythm in the second round."

Ze Yuan warmed up during the preparation stage: "FPX cleanly swept the other three teams in Group B, and IG completed a double kill of DWG, which is undoubtedly a shot in the arm for the entire LPL region."

"That's right." Remember to continue: "The first round of the group stage was really nerve-wracking, but I didn't expect that in the second round of the group stage, the situation was reversed!"

【? ? ? ? ? 】

[Two-level reversal? Hinting at RNG, right?]

[Official whipping is the most deadly]

[Can you please stop being so sensitive? They only talked about IG and FPX before, why did RNG join in the fun?]

[Last year's RNG was worthy of being whipped, but is this year's RNG worthy of being whipped? ]

As soon as someone showed up to try to lead the discussion, he was cursed back by the onlookers who were fed up with the situation.

"The drawing ceremony has begun. Let me do the simultaneous translation."

Ze Yuan relayed the English message: "The 2019 League of Legends World Championship - Group Stage is over. Eight teams have already left the stage, and the remaining eight teams are one step closer to the Summoner's Cup. Next, let's draw lots to determine the quarterfinals. Please invite representatives from each team to the stage!"

The camera zooms out.

There were four contestants standing in front of each screen classified according to the first and second place in the group.

On the left are G2 representative Caps, FPX representative Xiaotian, SKT representative Faker, and IG representative Ning.

On the right are GRF representative Viper, SPY representative Beryl, FNC representative Rekkles, and DWG representative ShowMaker.

[Guapi is quite handsome, he is back with SKT]

[DWG mid laner is so small]

【Brother Tian didn’t go on stage, but Xiao Tian did】

【Polite Little Tian: You?】

[IG must avoid G2's half zone, the jungler finally changed his shoes and regained his strength, brothers, let's charge again]

[If you don’t understand, ask why Leyan is called Shoes]

[New fan? I wonder if the shoes refer to the shoe king Gao Zhenning? ]

[Ning Wei accepted the order and put on climbing shoes to prepare to climb the mountain]

[S9 World Championship version update: fixed Baolan's rhythm problem, enhanced Ning Wang, fixed the abnormal performance of the jungler and the support, fixed the bug that A Shui doesn't take hits and doesn't resist the tower, enhanced the effect of enhancing morale after A Shui's death, enhanced The shy again, and overall callback to the S8 version]

[I thought LeYan was a substitute jungler who was appointed in a critical moment due to the failure of the shoe king, but I didn't expect it to be a shoe brush]

[LeYan is still young, and if he works hard in the future, he will have a promising future, but now he just needs to go drink some water]

The barrage was ridiculing.

"We will put the group winners in Pool 1 and the group runner-ups in Pool 2. After all the players in Pool 1 have been drawn, we will draw the opponents they will face from Pool 2."

"There is only one rule..."

Ze Yuan introduced his fellow group members and got to the point: "Let's invite the lottery guest Mithy."

"The European host also introduced Mithy's historical achievements, but they were all finals, or quarterfinals or semifinals of the world championship." I remember saying two simple sentences: "Mithy came to the back of Pool 1 to see which team was drawn first."

Mithy, who has a beard and wears a sky blue shirt, takes out a small silver ball from the lottery pool in front of him.

After unscrewing it, what appears in front of the camera is the IG team logo composed of black and white.

"IG was the first to land."

Ze Yuan looked at the screen and said: "The draw for the quarterfinals depends not only on which team is drawn, but also on which half of the zone it is assigned to. In the World Finals, there is often a situation where a super strong half of the zone appears, so for IG, the order of the draw for the remaining three teams is very important."

"The second team is... SKT!" Ji Dewei sighed, "SKT and IG are in different half zones, which is a pity. If SKT and IG were in the same half zone, G2 would definitely not be in the same half zone as IG."

The IG players who were watching the live broadcast couldn't help but feel nervous.

If SKT and IG do not meet in the same half of the group, IG will definitely face one of G2 and FPX. It would be better if they draw FPX, but if they draw G2 with Ye Tian in charge, the chances of winning will be extremely slim.

The third team to be picked out was FPX.

The fourth one is G2.

"Axi..."

SKT's meritorious coach KkOma couldn't help but raise his hands and wipe his face heavily.

In the S7 season, the SKT team was heading for its third consecutive championship and its fourth championship, but was knocked into the abyss by Ye Tian single-handedly. The following year, they did not even make it to the World Championship.

After replacing the top laner, jungler, AD, and support, SKT regrouped and advanced as the No. 1 seed of LCK.

Unexpectedly, I was placed in the same half as my strongest opponent.

KkOma knows that winning the championship is not a matter of luck, and if he wants to win the championship, he must have the strength to defeat all opponents.

But for SKT, the earlier they meet G2, the lower their chances of winning. If they meet G2 in the semifinals, their chances of winning are at least % lower than if they meet in the finals. "Look at the teams in Pool ."

Ze Yuan followed the lucky draw guest Mithy: "The first one drawn is GRF, they are IG's opponent in the quarterfinals, and the second one is SPY, they are about to play against SKT."

The third one is DWG.

Since DWG and IG are both in Group D, they will automatically jump to the same group avoidance rules and become G2's opponents.

The fourth one is FNC, automatically matched with FPX.

"Let's take a look at the full matchup table."

Ze Yuan read out the information displayed in the center of the big screen: "The left half is IG vs. GRF, FPX vs. FNC, and the right half is SKT vs. SPY, G2 vs. DWG."

"Our luck in the draw is actually not bad." Remember to make an analysis based on facts: "G2 and SKT are both very strong. If FPX and IG are assigned to different half zones, they may not all advance, and there is even a possibility that they will all lose. If they are assigned to the same half zone, there is a high probability that one team can enter the finals."

"It's not that we are afraid of playing against the strongest opponent, but the grouping is already a foregone conclusion, so we should try to think on the bright side."

[The top four will advance to the finals, no problem]

【Little Phoenix and IG, go! 】

[G2 played against SKT in the semi-finals. Even if they can win, they still have to show their trump cards. The LPL region has a chance to win another championship]

[The shy can hold up against Tian Ge in the laning phase, and Jin Gong should be able to hold up as well. As long as they are not killed too quickly by Tian Ge, and other positions exert their strength, there is definitely hope to kill G2]

[Do you think IG can definitely beat GRF? GRF's group stage was a joke because they met Tian Ge. If other teams dare to underestimate GRF, they will be in trouble.]

[If European Snake beats SKT, and FNC beats FPX and IG, it will be interesting to see the European teams meet in the finals]

[Drink some wine with two peanuts. What can the European third seed do against SKT?]

【Those who questioned the European third seed, have you forgotten the rabbit?】

[Come out, the strongest dark horse SPY! ]

As we were chatting, the topic got a little off track.

The main reason is that IG and FPX, the two teams that ranked first in their groups, are in the same half zone, and their opponents are obviously weaker than GRF and FNC, who are the first in the same group. As long as there are no major accidents, IG and FPX will be able to meet in the semifinals, ensuring that an LPL team will enter the finals.

In the other half of the zone, the match between G2 and DWG was indeed very interesting.

SKT vs. SPY... Even though many people say they want to think about the European Rabbids in S7, if you really guess the winner, no one would bet on SPY.

"DWG is a very strong opponent!"

G2 head coach Swani looked at the draw and turned to the players: "Tian, ​​what do you think of Nuguri's level? Do we need to make a shift to the top lane?"

"Nuguri is pretty good. He was able to hold his own against The shy in the third game. I'm looking forward to playing against him." Ye Tian commented, "There's no need to tilt. All along, G2's tactic is that the other four players cooperate with each other, and I make breakthroughs in the top lane. If we change our style in the knockout rounds, it's easy to lose more than we gain."

"That's right." Head coach Swani thought for a moment and asked again, "Do you think we need to take out the things we have prepared?"

When Ah P heard this question, his eyes lit up.

It is known throughout the world that European and American players like to do some tricks.

In the eyes of European and American players, A P is the one who can do the most fun.

Ever since Ye Tian came to the G2 club, A P has been practicing bottom lane combination heroes with A-Zouguai. Today, more than a month has passed, and A P, who has been playing games with regular heroes, has been itching to try again!

"This DWG team is not worthy of this right now."

Ye Tian shook his head: "A P, you should continue to be patient, and it would be best if you can hold on until the finals - I will definitely be targeted, and the small hat will also be guarded. At that time, you and Qiqi (the A-walking monster) might be the most carry points."

"Okay!" After listening to the translation, Ah P felt that he was greatly valued. He straightened his chest unconsciously and looked around the training room with a proud look.

"I understand what Tian means!" Wuder, the former top laner of G2, summed it up: "When the big brothers on both sides are dragged down and the second brothers are burned out, it depends on which side's low-level horse will transform into a human first."

? ? ? ? !

Ah P's expression froze on the spot.

"Hahahahaha-"

"Ha ha ha ha--"

"Wuder, what you said is too vicious!"

"Oh my God, I swear on my grandfather's name, if I were Ah P, I would kick Wuder's ass with my boot."

"Ah P, evolve! Evolve into a unicorn and put Wuder on its head."

There was a lot of noise among the G2 members.

After joking for a while, at the scheduled time, the G2 players and the team's logistics members boarded the bus and headed to the home of the quarterfinals and semi-finals - Vista Alegre Palace in Madrid, Spain.

The distance from Berlin, Germany to Madrid, Spain is more than 2,000 kilometers and takes three hours and ten minutes to fly.

After arriving in Madrid, G2 lost the perfect home environment for training in their own club and had to stay in an official hotel like other teams.

Fortunately, European officials are much more generous than Korean players. The hotels prepared for the top eight teams meet three-star standards. The rooms are covered with carpets and have very effective noise prevention and sound insulation measures, allowing professional players with different work and rest schedules from ordinary people to get the best rest.

Think about it in 18 in South Korea, where you would be woken up by car horns coming from the street while sleeping. The professional players who made it to the quarterfinals for two consecutive years couldn't help but complain on their respective social media accounts.

of course.

Compared to complaining, what is more important is preparation.

There are five days of rest between the group stage and the quarterfinals. During this period, the relatively weaker teams will concentrate on studying their opponents and strive to create an upset.

Stronger teams should not only study their opponents in the quarterfinals, but also their opponents in the semifinals and even the finals. More importantly, they should make good trade-offs here to avoid the embarrassing situation that happened last year when RNG was thinking about playing against EDG but ended up being killed 2-3 by a half-finished G1.

There is also a lot of analysis from the outside world about the quarterfinals.

Judging from their previous performance, IG, FPX, SKT, and G2 have a high chance of winning the first place in their groups.

But what cannot be ignored is that the three teams in the same group with FPX are all weak teams. In other words, the little Phoenix, which seems to have successfully reborn, has never played against a truly strong team.

As a new team, it is a big question whether FPX can exert its full strength against the veteran team FNC.

IG's so-called return to form after changing their shoes, Ning Wei's appointment, and their dream return to S8 seem like the return of a king, but it is hard to say how long this momentum can be maintained.

Similarly, whether European Snake can bite off a piece of meat from SKT like a rabbit; whether DWG has the opportunity to let the new generation genius top laner Nuguri contain Ye Tian and create time for his teammates to accumulate advantages, are still unknown.

Time goes by day by day.

On October 10, before the quarterfinals officially started, a tabloid in Paris, France, published a row of headlines in extra-large fonts on the front page.

——"The Unspeakable Tyrant Approaches the Palace of Allegra" (End of this Chapter)