In twenty-two minutes, they defeated G2 14:3, which made people's hearts tilt towards IG, which was not so optimistic about the team.
The calls on the Internet are becoming increasingly louder.
Many LPL viewers suddenly felt that the once powerful SKT might not be so invincible.
So, will the balance of victory also tilt along with people's hearts?
3:30 p.m.
The first round of clashes between the LCK and LPL regions in this Mid-Season Championship has officially begun.
When the game just started, the atmosphere was very lively, even many viewers who had scolded IG before the game started to cheer them on.
For most LPL viewers, LCK's SKT is like a mountain hanging over the LPL. As long as someone can move this mountain away, even if it is not the less popular IG, they will support it first.
Soon, both sides had chosen their lineups.
IG on the blue side: Gnar on top, Sejuani in the jungle, Azar in the mid lane, Skate and Braum in the bottom lane.
SKT on the red side: Poppy on top, Lee Sin on the jungle, Ryze on the mid lane, EZ and Thresh on the bottom lane.
"Don't be stressed. If you can win, win. If you lose, it's okay."
When the BP ended, coach Chris patted everyone on the shoulders before leaving.
He clearly saw that when playing against a world-class team like SKT, not to mention the bottom lane, even Rookie would occasionally wipe his hands with sweat-absorbing paper during BP, and then pick up the mug to take a sip of water.
Although professional players always put a glass of water on their desks, they usually don't drink a lot of water to prevent bladder problems.
Rookie rarely drinks water in one gulp.
The reason for this can only be said that he was nervous even when facing the legendary team SKT and the Big Devil.
Thinking of this, Coach Chris couldn't help but sigh inwardly.
After all, there is still too little experience in major competitions.
Last year, IG fought their way through the siege and won the last S-League spot in LPL. It should have been their best chance to see the world and gain experience, but they didn’t expect that they couldn’t even make it through the group stage and had to buy tickets to fly back.
This year, we are facing a legendary world-class team like SKT at the beginning. If we say we are not nervous, we are just deceiving ourselves.
But what can we do?
As a coach, he can only do his best in BP and trust the players for the rest.
It's about growth after all.
Eventually, we have to cross this threshold.
The game loading is completed and the competition officially begins.
During the first five minutes , IG and SKT, who were facing each other for the first time in this World Championship, did not reveal too much. The three lanes were very stable. Even after the opposing jungler Bengi got the rhythm hero Lee Sin, he did not attack aggressively in the early stage. Instead, he kept developing in the jungle.
The tense mindsets of the LPL audience at the scene also relaxed, and some even became a little frivolous, chatting and laughing.
When I look at SKT, I find that there is nothing surprising about them.
Until 6 and a half minutes into the game.
The stupid Lee Sin who reached level 6 pretended to gank the bottom lane, but secretly cooperated with Wolf and the jungler and support to roam to the middle lane, and cooperated with Faker's Ryze to directly cross the tower to attack Rookie's Tsar.
"Oh! This wave of SKT jungler and support is coming with great force!"
"Rookie, can you run with this drift and reverse push?"
"Bengi used W to flash and kicked him back! What a simple combo!"
"Can it be changed? Alas, it seems that it cannot be changed."
First blood burst!
At this point in the game, things started to go wrong.
In fact, the bottom lane is okay. IG's bottom lane is indeed not as good as SKT's S-League champion bottom lane combination, but the good thing is that Xiao Shiguang and Shekeke have long been prepared to withstand the pressure. As long as they don't lose too many last hits under the tower, they will win.
What's really wrong is Rookie.
After being killed once, he became more determined to win and started trying to exchange blood with Faker.
You know, although Rookie does not have the same championship glory as Faker, he became famous in the OGN (formerly LCK) Spring Tournament in 2014 by single-killing Faker, who was known as the No. 1 mid laner in OGN at the time.
At that time, he would also be at the top of the world.
However, two years later, that man has become a double champion with many honors.
Rookie came to LPL but is still standing still.
Are you willing?
Of course I won’t accept that.
However, it was precisely this unwillingness that caused Rookie's mentality to fluctuate.
A little over ten minutes into the game, when Rookie was walking back after clearing the vision of the bottom lane river grass, he discovered that Faker was relatively close to him, so he decisively used a WEQ drift to push Ryze under the tower.
However, Faker dodged Tsar's ultimate with a horizontal flash, turned around and seized the vacuum period when Rookie was forced to flash after being hit by the tower dive in the previous wave. With the passive of the second level, he flashed to the ground and used a set of silky little combos of Ryze.
Start with WER on the second floor, followed by QEQW!
Rookie, who had just teleported to the line and whose health was almost full, was severely reduced by Faker's seamless combo after he took the initiative to move away. He was taken away directly by the last basic attack.
At this moment, the scene of single-handedly killing Fat General Card in the S5 finals seemed to be replayed yesterday.
The huge venue was suddenly in an uproar!
"What the hell! What the hell!"
“The Ryze from S5 is back!”
"What's going on with Rookie? Why didn't the bottom lane give up but the mid lane did?"
“…”
The mentality of the LPL audience at the scene changed completely.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry. It's so bad." Rookie was also apologizing in the IG competition seat.
"It's okay, just stay calm for now, I'll find a chance to help you." Li Fu said.
"Yeah, okay." Rookie nodded.
Li Fu glanced at Rookie and found that although he said that, his spirit had changed.
However, when it rains,
Around 14 minutes into the game, Li Fu seized the vacuum period when Faker flashed, and Sejuani directly used Q flash to hit the opponent without giving him a chance to move. He then used his ultimate to control the opponent, and cooperated with Rookie's Tsar to push Ryze back.
Li Fu's Pig Girl got the kill.
In the director's camera , Faker's face seemed a little excited, and he seemed to be saying something very quickly.
The next second, just as the mid lane got a kill, news came from the bottom lane that a double kill had occurred.
There was no way. The SKT jungler cooperated with the top laner Duke's teleport to go around the back, and caught two of the four enemies in one wave, directly blocking the bottom lane.
Why doesn't Zzitai support with TP?
Because Zzitai was hit in front and had to TP back to the line.
What can you do about this?
“It feels like IG’s defeat has caused a chain reaction.”
"Yes, the head count is now 1:4. Except for Fu Ge and Zhu Mei who are developing well, IG feels disadvantaged in all three lanes."
"Yeah, but even if Sejuani develops well, she is still a frontline hero. It seems difficult for her to play a decisive role."
"The good news is that Faker was just caught and killed in the middle lane. We can only see if Rookie, the Tsar, can rise up."
Zhihuan and Jide on the LPL commentary desk placed their hopes on IG's mid lane.
Unfortunately, when the game time reached 20 minutes, the bottom lane duo switched to the middle lane, and the mid laners of both teams switched to the top lane. However, when Rookie wanted to ward the river, Faker seized the opportunity.
Both of them had flash in this wave, but facing Faker who started with ER and WQEQ with three layers of passive, the Tsar who was hit 0/2 in the front and was always suppressed by one level almost melted the "crispy chicken" instantly.
There was an uproar at the scene again!
No one expected that when facing SKT and the legendary devil in SKT's mid lane, IG's mid lane, which once made its debut by single-killing Faker, would actually become a breakthrough point.
"It's bad! IG lost some players this time, SKT is going to attack the Baron."
"Yes, the duo in the middle lane are also approaching, and Duke's Poppy in the bottom lane TPed directly."
"SKT decisively kills the dragon! The dragon's health is dropping very fast! We need to get into the kill line."
"Oh! Bengi's Lee Sin's kick! Xiao Shiguang's skateboard shoes were kicked back."
"Faker's Ryze's W freezes the target, and Xiao Guang is melted!"
At this juncture, the situation was always unfavorable and the attitude became anxious.
His Nal just got angrier, so he just jumped in and tried to use the Tathagata Palm to hit the opponent's C position.
But Bang's little yellow-haired EZ didn't even use flash, and reacted quickly with the E skill to jump out of the dragon pit, and then faced the IG players who were dragged into the team fight outside and dealt a fierce blow!
In the end, although Li Fu took advantage of Bengi's team fight to grab the Baron, IG was wiped out by SKT.
The head-to-head ratio between the two sides on the field was pulled to 2:10, and the countless LPL audience seats in the audience at the game venue fell into an unspeakable silence, which was completely different from the jubilant appearance before the game.
Backstage, a hint of disappointment flashed across coach Chris' eyes.
I’m going to lose… he thought.
The result was not unexpected. Although the Baron was stolen, SKT's offensive did not slow down at all.
Pushing towers, invading, catching single players... SKT, which had gained the advantage, instantly soared in rhythm.
IG, on the other hand, was struggling under SKT's wave after wave of attacks, and the balance of victory gradually tilted towards SKT.
In the last wave of going to the high ground, Duke's Poppy suddenly rushed out from the blind spot of the high ground wall with W on, flashed against the wall and knocked down the Tsar. Rookie, who was clearing the line, was focused and melted before he even had time to use his ultimate.
With someone defending the tower, Faker's Ryze flashed into the field, and with one W he pinned Xiao Shi Guang's skateboard shoes to the spot, and then he delivered a set of seamless small combos without any sense of drag.
It sounds complicated, but it happened in a flash.
IG's only two mid and bottom Cs who could deal damage were both killed before the team fight even started.
In an instant, the barrage in the MSI official live broadcast room exploded!
"What the hell? Melted again?"
"What the hell is this! When did Rookie become so lame?"
"Rookie was not in good form this time, but Fu Huang also seemed a bit invisible this time."
"Indeed, Rookie's failure has ruined everything. Why doesn't Fu Xiaozi praise IG for having the jungler as the carry?"
"What the hell is this invisible? Were you blind when you killed Faker and stole the dragon?"
"Let me be honest. How dare you not ban Ryze when playing against SKT? There is something wrong with this coach's BP."
“…”
When you win, you are full of advantages.
When you lose, there are problems everywhere.
IG's decline was obvious in this game, and it seemed that they were about to be defeated by SKT. The barrage in the live broadcast room changed rapidly, and people started to criticize the players, BP, and coaches, just wanting to vent their dissatisfaction for their unfulfilled expectations.
And miracles will never happen.
Twenty-six minutes into the game, IG's crystal exploded, and the LPL commentator's voice of regret was heard at the scene.
"Congratulations SKT!"
In the competition booth, Rookie leaned back in his chair, feeling somewhat weightless. His heart was filled with guilt and self-blame, as if something had been overturned in his heart. He didn't even dare to look up at his teammates' eyes.
It’s not like IG has never lost before, but when they lost before, the mid lane at least “tried their best”.
But this time, if we were to assign blame after the game, we could actually find a lot of excuses from BP to the jungler.
But these are actually for outsiders to see.
Deep down, Rookie could clearly feel that in this game, he was defeated in the middle lane by the man on the opposite side named Lee Sang-hyuk.
Chunchun was defeated in the laning phase!
There isn't any unnecessary excuse.
After ten minutes of laning in the middle lane, he clearly felt a sense of powerlessness, which he had never felt even when facing RNG Xiaohu in the LPL Spring Finals.
Thinking of this, Rookie's heart sank a little more.
It turns out that in the past two years, the other party has reached the top of the mountain, but I haven't yet gotten over the summer of 2014?
"Sit up, he's coming."
At this moment, Li Fu's surprisingly calm and steady voice suddenly came to my ears.
"Ah? Oh oh!" Rookie was stunned, then quickly reacted.
At this time, Faker had already walked behind Rookie.
Facing this fat guy who once killed him alone in the Korean OGN League, Faker seemed to have no more impression of him. He just nodded politely when shaking hands and turned away.
Looking at Faker's back, Rookie suddenly became distracted again.
Li Fu noticed this, but he didn't say much. Some things need to be dealt with by oneself.
What's more, he didn't play well in this game.
The father energy mark was given to the bottom lane, but Bengi's rhythm was in the middle lane.
Li Fu didn't help the middle lane, so the middle lane was blown up.
He helped the mid lane, but Bengi ran to the bottom lane and TPed over the tower with the top laner, and the bottom lane exploded.
I thought it was accidental at the time.
But now that I have lost the game and think about it carefully, it is hard to say that this was not a tactic formulated from the beginning by the so-called "man behind the big devil", but I inadvertently walked into the opponent's routine.
You know, Faker is the double champion.
But Bengi, who was born in 1993 and has been active in the Korean professional league since the end of S2, is also an absolute veteran. His grasp of jungle routines and tactics is probably even better than that of Li Ke'er Lawu.
Did you underestimate the enemy?
A little bit.
Li Fu rubbed his brows and decided not to lock himself up in the losing game anymore.
This was just a small match on the second day of the group stage, and they still have seven games to play before the end of the group stage.
What he needs to consider now is not how to lose, that is what the coach should think about.
What Li Fu needs to consider is how to win?
And how will he deal with the next encounter with SKT in the double round-robin group stage?
…
Eight o'clock in the evening, by the Huangpu River.
In the tactical discussion room, coach Chris was reviewing the game, but the people below were a little depressed.
Yes, even though today's two group matches ended with one win and one loss, and the win against G2 set the record for the fastest-ending game since the start of this MSI, still no one was laughing today.
On the Internet, from Weibo to the Anti-Pressure Bar to Bhu, the "Green Garlic Action" against IG's defeat to SKT today has begun.
Various analysis posts emerged one after another. All the small mistakes and operations of the five players in IG's match against SKT today were put under the microscope and magnified infinitely, facing the criticism of netizens.
Actually, to put it bluntly,
Losing a group match is nothing.
But there is no way, LPL has been suppressed by LCK for too long. Today, the first collision between the LPL and LCK teams at MSI has attracted too much attention and hope due to the intentional or unintentional publicity before the official game.
in this case,
However, IG stumbled and lost the game.
Then it is natural for the process to go from being the popular target to being the target of public criticism.
Not to mention that there were many fans of the Big Three who were originally unhappy with IG's victory, and they all commented under the post that if the XX team they supported in their hearts had come instead, they might have been able to win the victory for LPL in this China-South Korea confrontation.
Anyway, the top three teams can't come to MSI. It's something that can't happen. No one can find fault with it if you vent about it.
Amidst such a wave of public opinion, the next day, May 6th.
The MSI group stage has also come to the third day of competition, and IG will still have two small games today.
The opponents are CLG, the spring season champion of the North American LCS region, and the Wanwan Flash Wolves, who they played once on the first day of the game.
There was no longer a chorus of applause on the Internet before the game.
Many people are pessimistic about IG.
Some people think that IG will never recover after losing to SKT.
Some people also think that Rookie was discouraged by Fake R's game yesterday.
But Li Fu knew that these did not exist.
After losing to the man of SKT in the mid lane, what Li Fu saw was not the devastated Rookie. He only saw a Rookie who had a training match in the early morning and got up earlier than him, which was extremely rare.
He knew that Rookie was holding back a lot of energy.
So, it was three o'clock in the afternoon on the third competition day.
IG vs. CLG!
The victory was easily won in 27 minutes.
At 5:30 p.m.
IG vs. FW!
It was another one-to-zero victory as expected!
On the fourth day of the competition, IG fought against the wildcard team and G2 again, and defeated them both.
Then it was the fifth match day.
IG suffered another setback.
After defeating North America's CLG in the three o'clock game, the final battle of the group stage on the last match day began at 4:30.
Coach Chris has been preparing for this these days and has studied a set of playing methods, but something unexpected happened on SKT's side.
The team made a temporary change in lineup, replacing the veteran Benji with the tough-style Blank in the jungle position.
With Graves being banned, Li Fu played Spider and Blank played Nidalee, and both sides got the jungle core.
The rhythm in the early and mid-game was reversed, and both sides made gains. IG's top and mid even had a small advantage with the help of Li Fu.
The director's camera was directed to the big devil Faker several times. He always appeared on the screen with a tense face. From time to time, he suddenly sped up his speech while giving instructions. It was obvious that he also felt the pressure from IG's mid and jungle.
This game lasted for a full 45 minutes, which stunned the on-site staff who had thought that the previous game was over and they could leave work early.
At this point, there is very little that Li Fu's Spider can do, and the late stage of the game is always the ADC's stage.
But the one who finally stepped up to end the game was SKT's bottom lane, champion AD, Bang.
In fact, by the 40-minute mark of the game, both ADCs had already acquired six pieces of gear.
But Bang, the S5 world champion, clearly has one more "magic item" than Xiao Shiguang, the rookie in the IG bottom lane.
That is [confidence]!
During the fight for the big dragon, Bang in the bushes used his ultimate to kill Xiao Shiguang's skateboard shoes, then used his E skill to jump into his face and followed up with a set of WQ and a basic attack.
Xiao Shiguang’s Skateboard Shoes were killed instantly, and Shekeke, the assistant, didn’t even have time to provide support.
For a moment, the cheer of "Bang Zreal" once again resounded from the mouth of the Roaring Emperor of the LCK commentary booth!
The core output ADC, which was crucial in the late game, died suddenly, and IG was naturally defeated and lost the group match again.
So far, in the ten matches that lasted for five days starting from May 4th, IG finally completed the group stage journey with a record of 8 wins and 2 losses, ranking second in the group stage and successfully advancing to the semi-finals.
The other three qualifying teams are SKT, CLG and FW.
Objectively speaking, IG's performance cannot be said to be bad.
You know, SKT, which ranked first in the MSI group stage, only had 9 wins and 1 loss, just one more win than IG.
Yes, SKT was not able to maintain its unbeaten streak of ten wins in this MSI group stage - and the one who broke their unbeaten streak was not someone else, but G2, who finished second to last in the group stage with 3 wins and 7 losses and was directly eliminated.
Among G2's three victories, one happened to be a win against SKT.
The anti-Korean hero is truly worthy of his reputation!
But this has fueled the voices of the "green garlic" IG of the big three fans on the Internet.
Even the eliminated G2 was able to beat SKT in one game, but our LPL lost two games in a row. Isn't it shameful?
As for IG's record in this group stage, except for SKT's win in all games, it was selectively ignored by the fans of the Big Three.
The reason is very clear.
What's the point of reaching the semifinals if we can't beat SKT? In the end, we'll still lose face in front of our own door, and lose a lot of face at that.
In the end, the real purpose was revealed and a hindsight was issued - it would be better to play with our big RNG or big EDG!
And now, something even worse happened.
On the second day after the group stage, at the semi-final draw ceremony, IG's draw hit the bull's eye!
The semi-finals will be held on May 13.
CLG vs. FW!
IG’s semi-final opponent is the S5 world champion team SKT!
This is like a bolt from the blue!
It made countless people feel dizzy, even many fans and passers-by who have always supported IG felt heartbroken at this moment!
To be honest, you can draw either CLG or FW, at least IG has beaten them both.
But they happened to be drawn against SKT in the semi-finals!
What kind of evil has this horse committed? !