September 18.
The opening day of the group stage.
Today is a very special day. The WE players are wearing another set of white team uniforms today, which is a replica of the WE team's autumn 2012 uniforms.
"Sao."
Li Nian looked at herself in the mirror.
After breakfast at around nine o'clock, the WE team packed up and set off for the competition venue.
Today's opening battle is between EDG and SSB, and it is impeccable in terms of both gimmicks and highlights.
Many domestic players have high expectations for this game. After all, EDG has won the LPL Spring and Summer championships this year. If it weren’t for the integrated WE that emerged like a monster, they would have been the number one seed for sure.
It is only natural that such a dominant team in the country is favored.
There was even an , claiming that EDG would meet SSB again in the finals, and then defeat SSB 3-0... [An article I happened to come across today].
The match between WE and TPA was in the third game.
The WE players can use the first two games to digest the food, and then find the rhythm of the version that belongs to the S game through some things that can be explored in the first two games.
Ever since the training match with SSW, everyone in the team has become a little silent and has quietly increased their training workload.
Especially Xiang Guo, after the training game, he played two or three more rank games every day than the rest of WE.
Li Nian could see Xiang Guo’s efforts and felt a little .
Some people are born to devote themselves to e-sports.
Who is dandy?
That was one of the only junglers that Xiang Guo felt particularly wary of and had studied in great depth when he looked back on his career after retiring.
This was the peak period of Dandy, and Xiangguo... was just a newcomer.
Of course, Li Nian doesn’t think that Xiang Guo will still have no chance against Dandy the next time they meet.
For geniuses, as long as they find the right method, their growth rate will be very fast.
…
The opening ceremony of the S-League group stage was not very fancy.
The real highlight is in the finals.
The prerequisite is that there is really a chance to enter the finals.
What is more humane is that this year's commentators do not have to stand. There are three commentators, two men and one woman. The two men sit on one sofa, and the one woman sits on another sofa.
The ones responsible for the commentary today are Wawa and Miller, in addition there is also Xiaomi.
After the three commentators talked nonsense for a while, the first game of the S4 group stage finally began.
The lineup chosen by EDG was very conservative, including Maokai, Jarvan IV, Clockwork, Lucian, and Thresh.
In contrast, SSB's lineup is relatively aggressive, including Rumble, Kha'Zix, Syndra, Tristana, and Nami.
"This lineup...EDG is not easy to beat in the early stage."
In the backstage lounge, Xiang Guo commented: "Mantis is the absolute No. 1 jungler in this version. EDG has no lane control in the upper jungle area and can only rely on the bottom lane to gain an early advantage."
"What if we get through the early stages smoothly?"
Li Nian said with a smile.
"I still have faith in EDG's operational capabilities."
Xiang Guo said firmly.
"Well, with your milk like this, I think EDG is finished."
Xuexue said jokingly.
"Wow, what's wrong with you, little brother? Tell me clearly which side you are on? Are you going to draw a line between you and me?"
Xiang Guo glared at her, looking like he was ready to start a fight if they disagreed.
Game start.
It is unrealistic to expect the S4 finals version of the game to end quickly.
Of course, except for a few special teams.
According to the vague statistics that Li Nian has a slight impression of, the average game time for most teams in the previous S4 finals was 35 minutes.
The average number of kills these teams can get per game is only around ten.
This shows that the S4 finals was not a bloody version on the surface.
But there is one team that is an exception.
SSW.
Why is there the phrase "Stars never disperse, always win"?
That's because SSW played many games where they were ahead by more than 10,000 gold at 20 minutes.
Including when playing against SSB in the World Championship.
Changing the competition feels like changing the team.
Their average game time is only 29 minutes!
The lead over the team with the second shortest average time was more than four minutes.
Four minutes... doesn't seem very long.
But what if the team ranked second in average game time is the team with the worst performance in the entire S League?
EDG and SSB are both well-known operational teams, so Li Nian would not be surprised even if the game lasted for 60 minutes.
The situation was just as Xiang Guo had expected, with EDG having disadvantages in top, mid and jungle in the early stages.
Especially the jungler position where Mingkai is, the barrage has already started to spray.
It was SSB's jungler Sprit who was doing the work all the time, while MingKai failed to catch any enemy units.
However, the situation changed instantly when Mingkai ambushed the mid and jungle duo that were invading from SSB in the wild area.
This time, Curly was following behind Mingkai, so when Mingkai used his skills, Curly's Thresh followed up with control and Syndra was killed instantly.
Later, Curly used the lantern to flash close to Mantis while pulling his teammates over. When the skill CD was over, he used the Pendulum of Doom to brush Mantis back, ending Sprit's life.
"See, I was right, EDG is pretty strong."
Xiang Guo patted his thigh and looked very happy.
After all, they are all LPL teams. No matter how they fight and kill each other in China, they will be of one mind when it comes to the World Championship!
Time passes quickly.
EDG's operational ability is indeed very good. SSB looked for opportunities to catch Mingkai several times, but Mingkai slipped away successfully.
It was not until the 40th minute of the game that EDG found an opportunity. Through MingKai's decision, they forced the Baron to rush and kill it, and approached the highland tower.
"I'm getting the feeling, SSB... that's it?"
Even Xiang Guo felt unreal at this moment.
"Maybe it was the first game, so it's understandable that I couldn't perform to my full potential."
Strawberry hesitated for two seconds and said.
"Well, it is possible."
Xiang Guo thought about it and it seemed to be the case.
After a moment.
"Why didn't EDG push? They could have forced their way in under the high ground tower. Maokai could have flashed to tie them up, and Jarvan would have followed up to start a teamfight, wouldn't that mean they would have won? Why did they have to go back to control the ADC pushing the bottom lane?!"
The people at Xiangguo were dumbfounded.
The situation, in turn, was dragged down by the SSB.
The game finally ended at 52 minutes.
After SSB stabilized the situation through single-lane, they seized the opportunity of EDG's mistake and successfully took EDG away.
After watching this game, everyone in WE had different and mixed feelings.
Li Nian was not surprised by this.
If I were to describe EDG's performance from its founding to the S11 season in one word, it would be stable.
But in some games, it is better to be safe because you are afraid of making mistakes.
To put it bluntly, it is the lack of ability to end the game.
Especially when facing a strong Korean team that is better at management.
EDG's pace in the world game always gives people a feeling of being slow and too stable.
This game is another typical example.
In the wave under the highland tower, Li Nian felt that if Xiang Guo was playing the Prince, there might not be a need for Korol to flash a big tree away, and he could go in first.
5 vs 4, it’s already the late game, what’s the use of a highland tower?
But if you lose, you lose.
LPL got off to a bad start.
Just when everyone in WE was discussing EDG's problems in this game, Smile, who had been silent, suddenly spoke.
"I say... who do you think is stronger, the SSW that played a training match with us or this SSB?"
After these words were spoken, the scene fell silent.
Li Nian moved his butt with interest.
Blind student, you finally found the highlight...