League: I really didn't tank!

Chapter 354 9-0!

Watching QG easily secure another victory, the teams backstage all seemed lost in thought.

Seeing that GAM also lost so badly shows that QG's offensive ability is still as fierce as ever. TSM from the day before yesterday may not have been so bad after all.

TSM breathed a sigh of relief.

But does this indirectly prove that SSG is actually stronger than we thought?

Following QG's match, EDG quickly took over and faced IMT.

Although everyone says EDG likes to pull off some crazy plays at crucial moments, like losing to wildcard teams or European/American teams, this time EDG is really serious.

If they just avoid making mistakes and play steadily at their own pace, then beating North America's number two should be no problem.

In this game, EDG played extremely steadily. Even iboy and meiko didn't make any mistakes, and they maintained a zero-death record until more than 20 minutes in!

The game went on until the 35th minute, and EDG maintained a huge economic advantage of 10,000 gold, eventually winning easily in a team fight!

Following EDG, Samsung also took to the stage, their opponent being TSM!

This time, it will also be a long game.

Samsung has almost perfectly embodied the word "slow," consistently taking a steady and methodical approach and avoiding direct confrontation as much as possible.

The economic gap between the two sides has been widening slowly and steadily.

Watching this scene, Banbazi couldn't help but exclaim, "Samsung's tactics are executed flawlessly!"

Everyone was extremely disciplined, and the tactics were executed flawlessly with almost no unnecessary movements.

They emphasize avoiding team fights whenever possible. Even when they force a team fight head-on with Baron, they usually focus on creating space and giving Cuvee room to split push. They would never fight to the end with you!

Ultimately, after several back-and-forth maneuvers, TSM's formation showed a slight weakness. Cuvee's Kennen seized the opportunity, teleported behind them, and unleashed his ultimate, destroying TSM and then securing Baron Nashor!

This scene left the QG team feeling utterly exasperated.

This was a Baron Nashor that took a full five minutes to secure after a lead of 8,000 gold!

If it were QG, they would have destroyed TSM's base twice over!

Chen Dongqing's attention wasn't on that; he was staring at Samsung's equipment inventory.

He watched as the Ruler, after returning to the city, crafted his equipment and used his last equipment slot to buy a longsword. However, he then withdrew the longsword and replaced it with two True Sights.

The five Samsung members who went out together each had two True Sights and were fully equipped!

Even with a lead of over 10,000 and the Baron Nashor, Samsung remains unhurried and continues to play cautiously.

With ten control wards, plus the jungler's green jungle item and the support's warding stone, countless vision rushed over, leaving TSM players with almost nowhere to hide and their survival space infinitely compressed!

Five more minutes passed, and finally, at 45 minutes, Samsung managed to push forward with super minions on all three lanes, ending their torment.

Chen Dongqing couldn't help but sigh, "Samsung is a really strong team. Playing against them, whether you win or lose, is always agonizing."

They truly deserve to be this year's champions, and they won by a crushing 3-0 victory.

Samsung's tactical prowess displayed today represents a significant improvement compared to the day before yesterday.

If they were allowed to grow for another two rounds, their strength would be unimaginable.

But QG doesn't seem to have any real way to deal with them.

Since they're in the same group, the only way to meet them again after the group stage is in the final.

Hopefully, this team will fall before the finals; otherwise, the outcome will be a problem.

Chen Dongqing pondered for a while, and when he came back to his senses, the team for the fourth match of the day had already taken the stage.

This time, it's an LPL team match: FPX vs. Flash Wolves.

This was the last match of the LPL in the first round of the group stage.

If they win this match, LPL will have a dream start with a perfect record in the first round of the group stage!

In this game, FPX once again used the classic Galio-Galo mid-support combination, focusing on the synergy between the mid, jungle, and support.

On the other side, Flash Wolves are relatively similar. With Snake in charge of command and Karsa, who has excellent awareness, their coordination is quite close. However, their playstyle is more passive, and they rarely take the initiative to attack.

When these two teams clash, it becomes a battle between offense and defense.

In this game, the two sides fought back and forth in the lower half of the map, with no clear outcome and the number of kills slowly increasing.

But just then, something funny happened.

In the top lane, Zoom played Gnar in this game and dominated the enemy Cho'Gath by 30 CS in ten minutes.

After recalling to base and getting Black Cleaver, he seized the opportunity when he had full rage, used his second E to jump in and used his ultimate to push the wall. Thanks to the armor penetration from Black Cleaver, Cho'Gath, who hadn't stacked much health, was as fragile as paper and was chased down and beaten to low health!

Mimi Egg flashed away, Zoom picked up the rock, landed a precise Q, and then flashed and slapped, securing a solo kill on the top lane!

At this moment, cheers erupted from the audience, and countless spectators were incredibly excited!

FPX reacted quickly. Seeing that a hole had been created in the top lane, they seamlessly transitioned and went directly to the top lane to control the Rift Herald. Then, the four of them grouped up and pushed up, taking down the first and second towers in one wave!

Gnar gained rapid development and quickly built Blade of the Ruined King!

With Blade of the Ruined King and Black Cleaver, Gnar on the side lane becomes truly invincible.

Zoom's performance became a key factor influencing the game. This Gnar, who was invincible on the side lane, managed to drag the entire FW team to the brink of death!

At 31 minutes, Gnar finally had a minor problem on the lane and was surrounded and killed by FW, but FPX reacted quickly, turned around and went all-in on Baron, and successfully took it!

This is still a profitable trade!

From then on, the outcome of the match was no longer in doubt.

With 35 minutes remaining, a team fight resulted in FPX's victory, bringing the score to 3-0!

"Alright, let's congratulate FPX! And congratulations to LPL for achieving a perfect 9-0 record in the first round of the group stage!"

The audience below the stage were incredibly excited upon hearing the commentator's words, waving flags and cheering enthusiastically!

For an LPL team to achieve such incredible results on home soil in China is something to be truly proud of!

What does "host's hospitality" mean?

Meanwhile, the English commentators joined in, shouting, "OMG! 9-0! Legendary! LPL can't wait any longer! They can't wait to keep this year's S-series championship in China again!"

When FPX returned victorious, Jin Yibo specially gathered the three teams together, saying he wanted to treat them to a meal to celebrate this great milestone victory!

In the venue parking lot, Chen Dongqing was still giving a thumbs up to the FPX team: "Awesome, brothers, you didn't let us down."

"Of course!" Doinb said with a grin, "It's hard for our group to lose!"

"Go, go!" Jin Yibo, the team leader, was also beaming with joy, encouraging them, "I'll treat you to dinner today. Let's regroup and aim for all three teams to advance as the number one seed in the second round of the group stage!"

"OK!"

All three teams responded excitedly and with great confidence!

Of course, whether it works or not, we'll have to wait and see.

After the first round, there was a three-day break. During these three days, the teams did not slack off and continued to study the version diligently.

The group stage at the beginning of each year's World Championship and the final are basically different versions of the game. All teams must keep improving in order to avoid falling behind!

After a three-day break, the group stage officially entered its second round.

After the second round, the format of the group stage will change. Instead of a four-group free-for-all, the four groups will compete separately, with the fate of one group determined each day.

From this point on, the group stage entered its final, tense phase.

10 month 12 number.

Group D, which is FPX's group, started the second round of matches first.

When Chen Dongqing went to the hotel restaurant for breakfast in the morning, he ran into Doinb and Lin Weixiang, who were slurping hot dry noodles.

Chen Dongqing immediately went up to them with a smile and asked, "Brothers, what's the plan for today?"

FPX's two carries understood each other perfectly and said in unison, "Watch my performance."

This is a dialogue that frequently occurred in QG's team voice chat last year.

Back then, whenever Chen Dongqing got a kill, his teammates would ask him what he thought of the game.

Chen Dongqing's response was always the same: "Watch my performance."

FPX's chances of advancing aren't actually that high, given their 3-0 start. The qualifying spot is something that the Rabbit Team and Flash Wolves need to fight for.

At this point, the Rabbit team, with a score of 2-1, and the Flash Wolves, with a score of 1-2, are closely following FPX. The internal battle between the two teams may be the key game for the second qualifying spot.

For FPX, their key match is against the Rabbit team. If they can win this match, they will likely be able to advance with a perfect record!

In the first match, FPX took to the field first, and their opponent was FB, who was ranked last.

This Turkish guy was just there to give away points, so it was no challenge at all. FPX easily won and brought the score to 4-0!

In the second round, the Rabbit Team and the Flash Wolves quickly took to the stage for their second match.

In this match, Team Rabbit maintained their fast pace and continued to suppress Flash Wolves through coordinated attacks, ultimately securing the victory!

After being defeated twice by the Rabbit team, the Flash Wolves now only have a theoretical chance of qualifying.

In the third match, the Rabbits faced off against FB and, unsurprisingly, took another point.

FB was just there to make up the numbers in Group D; they were completely outmatched by the three teams and are heading for a 0-6 record.

In the fourth match, FPX took to the stage again to face Flash Wolves.

Doinb remained ruthless, playing Syndra and solo-killing Maple in the laning phase. Then, in a 2v2 mid-jungle skirmish, he landed a perfect push on both of them, securing a double kill with Clid's Lee Sin!

In the fourth game, FPX won again!

Upon seeing this, the audience erupted in uproar.

They never expected that Flash Wolves, the number one seed from LMS and the king of BO1, would be defeated twice in a row by Rabbit Team and FPX!

Does their BO1 king status only work against Korean teams? They're truly the vanguard against Korea!

After these two games, Flash Wolves' last glimmer of hope for advancing may have vanished without a trace!

The focus now shifts to FPX and the Rabbit team.

FPX wins, tops the group, advances with a perfect record.

The Rabbit Team wins, the two teams are tied, and a tiebreaker is needed.

In the fifth match, amidst great anticipation, both sides took to the field!

Looking at this scene, Chen Dongqing felt a little expectant.

He wanted to see if the Rabbit Team would pull out their secret weapon in this crucial situation.

In their previous life, the Rabbit team crushed SKT with their signature Fervor of War Leona!

Unfortunately, I still didn't take it out.

When Chen Dongqing saw that the Rabbit Team had chosen Janna as support, he immediately lost interest.

Having already secured qualification, the Rabbit team didn't want to reveal their hand.

But the most frustrating thing is that even under such circumstances, FPX still couldn't win.

Clid was out of sync with the game, Doinb was stuck in the mid lane, and he made a mistake in the bot lane fight, getting killed in lane.

FPX's rhythm didn't go smoothly in this game, and they ultimately lost, resulting in a tie.

"Ugh, is this even any good?" Xiangguo couldn't help but complain from the sidelines, "This game's rhythm is absolutely awful!"

"It's okay, don't worry," Chen Dongqing said calmly. "It'll be better next time."

As a member of QG's championship team, Chen Dongqing understands that their former teammates are definitely not the kind of people who do nothing after losing.

If it can turn the tide even after being captured five times, what chance does it have against a mere rabbit?

As expected, in the final overtime, FPX finally played a smooth offensive game and had a slight advantage in the coordination between the mid, jungle and support!

At 36 minutes, FPX set up an ambush in the top lane, and with Zoom's split push, they lured the entire opposing team into a trap!

In a counter-encirclement, the Rabbit team was completely wiped out, and FPX won the game!

"Awesome!" Inside the QG training room, Chen Dongqing stood up and exclaimed with a smile, "We won!"

FPX has accomplished something significant, being the third seed to finish first in their group – something that would have been unthinkable in the LPL before!

When FPX returned and played a scrim with QG, Lin Weixiang was still showing off in the team room.

Chen Dongqing smiled and typed, "You can't even win all the group stage matches, so don't try to fool me."

This time, the other side remained silent.

10 month 13 number.

This time it's Group C's turn to compete.

The members of Group C are G2, KT, AHQ, and C9.

It has nothing to do with LPL.

Ultimately, G2 secured a crucial point in their match against KT, successfully advancing as the top seed in their group, with KT close behind!

The fact that a European team managed to snatch first place in their group against South Korea is truly a testament to their past glory.

10 month 14 number.

This time it's EDG's turn in Group B.

Actually, EDG's group is quite similar to FPX's group. EDG is leading with a 3-0 record, while SKT is close behind with a 2-1 record.

Assuming SKT won't lose, EDG must remain undefeated to secure first place.

If they lose even one game, there's a chance they'll have to play overtime.

And it's the same today.

Both EDG and SKT have performed remarkably consistently, maintaining an undefeated record against the bottom two teams.

The crucial moment came in the final civil war.

Everyone hopes that EDG can unleash their offensive prowess from the first round and quickly defeat SKT.

Unfortunately, it couldn't be done.

EDG continued to emphasize mid-jungle synergy in this game, but SKT learned their lesson this time. Score's counter-gank at the seven-minute mark helped Faker turn the tide, and Faker then stepped up his game, leading SKT to victory!

In overtime, it was Huni's turn to make his move. Score first caught A Guang's Flash, then Huni used Jayce to harass and control him, and then directly tower dived to kill A Guang, before flashing out of the tower. The whole process was incredibly smooth!

SKT's main strategy in this game was to protect the top lane and allow Huni to develop well. This solo kill was obviously a good start!

In the end, Huni played steadily, and with Jayce's economic advantage and the constant barrage of cannons, he helped SKT take down numerous dragons and turrets. Finally, when the economic advantage reached 10,000, SKT won the game with a Baron team fight!

Although EDG won all their matches in the first round, they were unfortunately defeated by SKT in the second round, and could only advance as the second-place team in their group!

"It's a bit of a pity, but thankfully EDG has successfully advanced to the quarterfinals!" Wang Duoduo exclaimed from the commentary booth. "Next, the group stage moves on to Group A! Let's wait and see how QG performs tomorrow!"

(End of this chapter)