LOL: What does it mean to torture players?

Chapter 288 Group stage draw ceremony!
Su Mo exited the post of the top 20 contestants and continued reading.

#I heard that KT was killing it in the training match, is it true?

#It seems that Europe and the United States are quite strong this year. Some LPL teams were beaten by Europe and the United States in training matches.

#Who said that? RNG's training match was going very well, Letme said that during his live broadcast.

#Have you heard that EDG has not yet gone to LCK and is still in China, while IG and RNG have already gone there.

#EDG, are you getting too arrogant? If you don't go now, others will have already started training.

Su Mo continued to read other posts and saw another interesting one, the team strength ranking.

And it was issued by a professional e-sports organization. Of course, Su Mo didn't know these so-called professional organizations. He only knew that every time there was an international competition, they would issue some similar reports.

Su Mo clicked in and took a look.

There is a table here with the team name on the left and a number on the right, which can be regarded as combat effectiveness.

Ranked first is EDG, with a combat effectiveness of 1653.

I don't know how he calculated this number.

Second place KT, combat power of 1468.

So much difference?

The gap has exceeded 10%. It feels like the official has put a lot of effort into poisoning EDG this time!

Third place, RNG, 1389
Fourth place, AFS, 1342.

1326th place, FNC,
1298th place, IG,
Su Mo felt a little puzzled. IG was actually lower than AFS and was underestimated.

Su Mo glanced at the comments below:

"EDG just needs to be first, the others can take any place they want."

“I feel like RNG’s ranking is too high?”

"Am I the only one who thinks KT is number one?"

“I suggest that LPL should not be so arrogant. It is actually ranked ahead of LCK.”

Su Mo noticed that some people seemed to have not stood up yet, and felt that EDG should not be ahead of KT.

This is also a weird thing.

After a while, EDG's review was over, and Abu found Subai to discuss tactics and routines.

In the next few days, the EDG team resumed training according to the tactics formulated by Su Mo and Abu.

As the qualifying round was about to begin, the EDG team boarded a plane together and arrived at their destination after an hour's flight.

Leave the airport and get in the car to go to the hotel first.

In the car, Abu greeted, "By the way, I joined a group. People from RNG and IG are in it. We can all get in touch and communicate together. Xiao Mo, scan the QR code and join in."

Su Mo used his mobile phone to scan the QR code to join the group. The name of the group was 2018 Global Finals LPL.

As soon as I entered, the group became lively.

IG, Ning: "Isn't this Brother Mozi? Brother Mozi is awesome!"

RNG, UZI: "Brother Mozi, you're here now? Where have you been? I heard you haven't been training?"

RNG, Letme: "Brother Mozi, how do we play top lane in this version? Can you give me some advice?"

IG, Jackeylove: "Brother Mozi, KT is up to you, AFS is up to us IG, we'll see you in the finals."

Su Mo responded in the group.

EDG, Mo: "I'll leave KT to you guys, IG to you guys, and RNG to you guys. As for GEN, I don't think they'll make it to the quarterfinals, so don't worry about it. Once you guys eliminate all the LCK guys, we EDG will be able to pick up the slack."

When Su Mo said this in the group, the group exploded!
RNG, XiaoHu: "Ah? GEN can't make it to the quarterfinals? Impossible, if that's the case, they're screwed, right?"

RNG, Ming: "I think their fans will scold them to death."

Abu: "Xiao Mo was just joking, please don't mind it."

Su Mo looked up and found Abu looking at him.

"Xiao Mo, don't talk nonsense. If this kind of thing gets out, it will definitely be on the news." Abu warned.

Su Mo smiled and said, "GEN is just a wimp right now, this is not something I say casually."

The factory manager laughed and said, "If you say so, I will help you spread it on the Internet."

Su Mo nodded repeatedly: "It's okay, I'm responsible for what I say, just go ahead and say it."

Seeing how strong Su Mo is, everyone is a little doubtful. Is the third seed of LCK really that weak?

Arriving at the hotel, the EDG team got out of the car and headed straight for the hotel lobby.

Enter the hotel lobby and go to the front desk to complete the formalities.

The hall was quite lively. Su Mo saw two teams of people, all young people, obviously professional players. They were carrying bags and luggage, but Su Mo didn't recognize any of them. He guessed they were players from the wildcard zone.

The arrival of EDG attracted the attention of others around. Su Mo heard someone whispering:

"That one seems to be EDG, the champion last year and the champion of MSI this year."

"Yeah, did you see that tall handsome guy? He's last year's FMVP, Mo."

"I feel like EDG has great hopes this year. They are also the champions of MSI and Intercontinental Championship."

"I really want to take a photo with him. I hope he won't mind."

The factory manager suddenly came over and said, "Xiao Mo, what are you laughing at? What did you hear?"

Su Mo replied: "I heard someone say you are handsome, so I am very happy."

"Really?" The factory manager combed his hair subconsciously.

Meiko couldn't hold it in any longer: "Do you believe what Brother Mozi said, or do you believe that I am Qin Shi Huang?"

Abu went forward to handle the formalities. Su Mo looked left and right. Suddenly, a group of people came out from the elevator next to him and walked towards this side.

The one walking in front is none other than a thin man, Deft! KT is currently the starting ADC.

"Tian Ye, your old lover is here." Su Mo greeted.

"Ah?" Meiko was stunned, and when he looked over, he saw Deft.

Deft was followed by other KT players, and they also noticed this side.

After getting closer, Meiko took the initiative to go up and say hello to Deft. Su Mo listened nearby. According to Deft, they came here to say hello to some acquaintances, and the KT people did not live in this hotel.

Not only KT, but the other two participating teams of LCK also live in the training base. After all, it is more convenient since they are in the same city and not far away from each other.

Su Mo glanced at Iboy, and sure enough, Iboy became embarrassed again and played with his phone frantically.

Soon, Abu completed the formalities, and the EDG team said goodbye to KT, then went straight upstairs to find their respective rooms.

Coming upstairs, Su Mo found his room, opened the door with the room card, and then began to pack his luggage.

Abu notified the group to gather in half an hour to explain things.

Su Mo sat on a chair to rest. Suddenly, his cell phone rang. He opened it and found a message in the group.

Luo Xin: "Brother Mozi, have you arrived? I heard online that you've already arrived here?"

Su Mo responded: "We are here, at the hotel."

Luo Xin: "What's the room number? I'll come find you!"

Su Mo was stunned. What was going on?
Su Mo: "What do you want from me? What do you want?"

Luo Xin: "Nothing, I just want to play with you. Do you have anything to do now? If you have something to do, forget it."

Rita: "Luo Xin, Brother Mozi just got here, they must have some other plans, don't make things worse."

Half an hour later, Su Mo walked out of the room and went to the training room. The door was open. He walked in and saw several computers inside. Abu and the factory manager were chatting.

Seeing Su Mo coming over, Abu called out, "Xiao Mo, come here and sit down."

Su Mo came over and sat down.

Abu continued, "I am discussing the training plan with the factory, come and give us some ideas."

Su Mo responded: "Just follow the previous method. Of course, you can play more training matches with European and American teams to learn some new tactics."

The factory manager asked: "How is the jungle in this version? Which heroes are more powerful?"

Su Mo thought for a moment and replied, "It feels not much different from the summer season. The jungle hasn't changed much, at least in terms of heroes. Oh, you can practice more with the hero Shen."

Abu laughed: "Can Mingkai play Shen? Probably not."

The factory manager rolled his eyes and said, "That's not right, Abu. How can you undermine the confidence of your own players?"

Abu waved his hand: "Mine, mine, don't mind it, Mingkai."

Soon, the other members of EDG came over. After everyone arrived, they checked the numbers together and decided how to train next.

After making the decision, Abu said, "It's getting late. You must be hungry. Let's eat something. Should we go out to eat or buy some food?"

The factory manager responded, "It's too troublesome to go out to eat. We are unfamiliar with the place."

Abu said, "Then I'll go out and see if there's anything delicious and bring it back for you. You guys start training first."

The EDG members stood up and prepared to sit in front of the computers to start training.

Suddenly, there was movement at the door.

"Uzi, what are you doing here?"

"Manager Abu, do you need to go out for something? I'm here to arrange a training match with you. Brother Mozi is here, right? He should be able to play."

Su Mo looked towards the door and found UZI standing at the door talking to Abu.

During this period, EDG mainly played training games with European, American and LCK teams. It has never played against IG and RNG. After all, they are opponents in the same region and know each other very well, so they feel there is no need to play.

UZI also noticed Su Mo coming, walked in and greeted him, "Brother Mozi, you are here too."

"Uzi." Su Mo greeted.

Suddenly, the factory manager who was sitting next to Su Mo turned his chair and stared at UZI with full vigilance.

UZI just glanced at the factory manager and didn't even bother to say hello.

UZI continued, "Brother Mozi, are you free tonight? Let's fight the trainer."

Su Mo replied: "I can do anything. You can fight if you want. It depends on how Abu arranges it."

UZI smiled and said, "If you think it's okay, Abu will definitely have no objection."

As soon as he finished speaking, the factory manager became unhappy: "What's the point of playing a scrim with you RNG? I've already abused you for a year, two years including last year."

UZI rolled his eyes at the factory manager and said, "I'm going to have a practice match with Mozi, not with you. Why are you so excited?"

The factory manager replied: “We have already rejected it.”

Meiko came over to act as a peacemaker: "Calm down, everyone, we are comrades now."

“It’s impossible for us to meet before the quarterfinals, so let’s improve together and qualify together.”

In the end, UZI chose to go to Abu and talked about the training match with Abu.

In the next few days, the EDG players were immersed in high-intensity training games.

Immediately afterwards, the qualifying round began. This time, LPL did not need to play in the qualifying round, but LCK's third seed GEN needed to play in the qualifying round.

This GEN was killing it all in the qualifying round and basically didn't encounter any opponents.

This made everyone doubt Su Mo's judgment, after all, Su Mo said that GEN would not be able to qualify in the group stage. At the same time, the draw ceremony for the group stage of the main competition began.

In the evening, all EDG players gathered in the training room to watch the draw ceremony together.

At this time, the host is introducing the basic rules of the drawing ceremony.

Players from the same region cannot appear in the same group.

At the same time, each group has one and only one No. 1 seed from one of the four major regions.

Of course, the so-called four major regions are not based on the size of the regions, but on the performance of each region in the past year. Therefore, LMS replaced LCS to become one of the four major regions.

The top seeds in the four major regions are:

LPL: EDG
LCK: KT
LEC: FNC
LMS: FW.
The four teams are in a draw.

After the host introduced the rules, the guests came on stage.

The factory manager looked at Su Mo: "Hey, didn't they invite you to draw lots?"

Su Mo shook his head: "No, it seems that the rules have changed today. We will no longer invite contestants, but arrange locals instead."

The guest walked up to the No. 1 seed pool and started drawing lots. He took out a small ball and spread it out.

"FW!"

FW was the first to be drawn, which means it is in Group A.

The guests drew lots again and spread them out.

"EDG!"

Abu interpreted: "We are in Group B."

"KT!"

"FNC!"

The remaining two number one seeds have also been determined.

Next, the guest walked behind the draw machine with the second and third seeds next to it.

Take out a small ball and spread it out.

"AFS!"

Meiko laughed: "FW was assigned to AFS. I feel like they will be eliminated in the group stage. AFS is not easy to deal with."

The factory manager muttered, "I feel like if another strong team comes to this group, FW will really not be able to cope with it, and might really be eliminated in the round of 16."

The draw continues, and the next one is the members of Group B.

"TL!"

The host's voice came, and the piece of paper in the hand of the guest drawing lots had the TL team logo on it.

Meiko was stunned: "TL? They seem to be the number one seed in the North American region. It's very stressful for us."

The factory manager shook his head: "I think it's a good thing. I would rather compete with European and American teams than with LCK teams, as it's easy to expose my cards in advance."

The drawing of lots continued, and after the second round ended, the third round began.

This time, VIT was drawn into Group B.

"VIT? Where did it come from? I have no impression." The factory manager muttered.

Abu explained: "The second seed of the LEC region, their third seed is G2, who are still playing in the play-in round."

The factory manager nodded: "Oh, oh, I understand... No, G2 is the third seed of LEC? They still have to play in the play-in round?"

The factory manager suddenly felt something was wrong. In his impression, G2 should be one of the best teams among European and American teams.

Abu asked back: "This is not right, is G2 so bad this year?"

Abu responded: "How can I say it? If you say he played poorly, he played OK. If you say he didn't play poorly, he was even the third seed. In short, it's hard to judge."

Everyone in EDG was silent. It is indeed difficult to evaluate the G2 team.

It feels like he can lose to any team and has a chance to win against any team.

Immediately afterwards, RNG, the second seed of LPL, was drawn into Group D, in the same group as FNC.

IG was drawn into Group C, the same group as KT.

The fourth round is for the four teams that advanced from the qualifying round. Because the qualifying round has not yet ended and the four places have not been determined, they chose to use code names instead.

By the time the qualifying round is over, with teams like GEN among them, it will be certain which team he will be assigned to.

Abu greeted, "Now the grouping has been basically decided. Among the three opponents in our group, only the ones in the play-in round have not been determined. But I still have to say that this year's play-in round is full of hidden talents. There are G2, C9 and GEN. I think these three teams are strong."

"Of course, since we have TL in our group, it can't be C9. That leaves us with three options, two of which are relatively strong teams. The challenge is huge, and we need to spend some time getting to know our opponents. The opponents we have confirmed are VIT and TL, and we can study TL's games first."

At this time, Meiko suddenly said: "What if, I mean what if, we didn't draw GEN in the group, then there would be no LCK team, and we wouldn't have to play the opening game?"

Abu muttered, "That's true. The opening match is usually arranged for the local team to play against the most popular team. If there is no local team in our group, then it won't be our turn."

The factory manager responded: "It's just a qualifying match. It doesn't matter who plays. Why not see how other teams play first?"

"It would be best to let KT and IG play, right? IG might be able to bring out KT's hidden cards."

Abu shook his head. "I'm afraid that's impossible. The group stage, especially the first round, is basically a test and learning process. Everyone doesn't know much about the new version, so the play style is relatively conservative and we can't see much."

"Then start preparing now."

The EDG team continued to search, but because the opponent had been determined, the training goal was clearer, and the main focus was on TL.

A few days passed and the qualifying round ended.

Then an embarrassing thing happened. After watching the finals together, the EDG team found out that GEN was assigned to Group B, the same group as EDG!
The factory manager exclaimed:
"GEN? Why are they in the same group with us?"

Meiko muttered, "Brother Mozi seemed to have said before that this GEN might be eliminated in the round of 16. Is that true? Then we are lucky to have gotten a bargain."

Su Mo replied: "There is no chance of getting any advantage. It's all about strength. However, we still have TL in our group. GEN may not be able to beat TL, so it is very likely that they will be eliminated in the round of 16."

Iboy commented: "If GEN really stops in the round of 16, I don't dare to imagine what their domestic public opinion will be like. It will probably explode! Completely explode!"

Abu greeted, "Well now we have a new research target, GEN."

"If I'm not mistaken, the official schedule will definitely arrange us and GEN to play the opening game, so we must be ready."

Sure enough, the next day, the schedule came out. The opening match was between EDG and GEN!

In the next few days, EDG's main focus will be on GEN to ensure that everything goes well.

It’s October now and the opening match of the group stage has begun!

At the game site, in the EDG lounge, the EDG players are waiting for the game to begin.

At this moment, the door of the lounge was pushed open, and Baolan walked in happily and greeted Abu first:

"Manager Abu."

"Baolan." Abu replied.

Then Baolan went to find Meiko, and the two of them talked and laughed.

The factory manager asked, "Baolan, you guys played against KT, right? How was the training match?"

Baolan responded, "We didn't play against KT. They didn't make an appointment."

The factory manager was stunned: "No appointment? Why?"

Baolan explained: "I guess it's because we are in the same group, so we don't want to make an appointment, otherwise our tactics will be exposed."

The factory manager nodded: "Oh, so that's how it is, that's right."

Baolan looked at Su Mo and said, "Brother Mozi, today is the opening game for you guys, what surprises are you going to bring us?"

Su Mo kept it a secret: "You will know in a moment."

The factory manager became suspicious: "You are here to help Theshy gather information, Baolan."

Baolan denied: "Forget it, Theshy is such an arrogant guy, how could he let me do such a thing."

Suddenly, there were footsteps at the door, and Rita and Luo Xin appeared at the door.

Both of them were dressed up beautifully today. Luo Xin had her hair tied into a bun and wore a blue cheongsam, going for a cute look.

Rita wore a strapless dress, going for a mature look.

"Excuse me, everyone. Can you come in?" Rita greeted.

Abu was all smiles: "Come in, you two are so beautiful."

Rita responded: "I have to commentate on the game today, so I prepared for it."

Luo Xin put her hands on her hips and asked, "Who do you think I look like dressed like this?"

The factory manager was the first to speak: "The one called Chibi Maruko-chan, right?"

"Pfft...hahahaha..." Meiko laughed like crazy.

Su Mo said, "This is Chun Li. Do you know Chun Li? She's a character from The King of Fighters."

"Ah? So her name is Chun-Li?" The factory manager finally reacted.

Rita walked up to Su Mo, stretched out her hand, pretending that she had a microphone, and asked:
"Brother Mozi, EDG will face GEN today. Are you ready?"

Su Mo replied: "Not yet, I'm going to let Ziti go."

"Ah?" Everyone was stunned.

Abu quickly said: "Don't listen to his nonsense, he will definitely play in the opening game."

Rita continued to ask: "So can we expect Mozi to come up with something new in the opening game so that other teams and players can learn how to play in this version?"

Su Mo smiled and said, "That's not the case. I'm just testing my skills."

Seeing Su Mo showing off, the factory manager couldn't help but want to show off as well:

"Today we will present our new understanding..."

However, Rita seemed not to hear and continued to ask Su Mo.

The factory manager was so embarrassed! Meiko on the side laughed like crazy: "Factory, you are not in other people's eyes, so don't talk nonsense."

[Gain +40 torture points from the factory manager. ]

After playing with Su Mo for a while, Rita said, "Everyone, we are leaving first. I wish you a triumphant return."

Luo Xin said: "Brother Mozi, come on! We will win!"

The two of them left.

Baolan also stood up and said, "I'm going to go back first. Tianye, you must win. If you win, we will have confidence."

Meiko smiled and said, "Don't worry, we will win."

Soon, the time was almost up, and Abu stood up and said, "Get ready to go on the court, everyone, come with spirit, let the world see the strength of our LPL No. 1 seed!"

"Ah!" Zizi roared, and people who didn't know would think he was about to transform.

Seeing others looking over, Zizhi said, "I'll help you create the atmosphere."

The competition venue and the auditorium were packed with spectators, eagerly waiting.

The audience held all kinds of cheering cards in their hands, representing all kinds of teams. But the most popular ones were not those cheering for EDG or KT, but those related to Su Mo!
Three commentators were already in place at the commentary booth. Colonel Guan said, "Welcome to the 2018 League of Legends World Championship!"

"Before the opening match begins, all 16 teams participating in the group stage will appear, including the three LPL teams. Let us welcome them with the warmest applause!"

(End of this chapter)