As teams from all major regions headed to the World Championship, the changes to the rules of this World Championship also attracted a lot of attention.
Unlike previous world championships where teams would play a round-robin format within their groups after being divided, this year's world championship uses a Swiss round setup.
It’s actually very simple to understand.
If you want to pass the Swiss round and enter the knockout stage, you need to win three games in this stage. Otherwise, you will be eliminated if you suffer three losses.
The Swiss round stage of the competition includes five rounds of matches, and the matchups in each round are determined by a draw.
This means that as long as you win three games in this stage, you will advance directly to the next round with three bars and zero.
After each game, there will be a new draw. Those with one bar and zero will play against those with one bar and zero, and those with zero bar and one will play against those with zero bar and one.
The most extreme schedule is five games.
That is, start with zero bars and two, then play against the team with the same zero bars and two first, after winning, play against the team with one bar and two, and after winning again, compete with the team with two bars and two for the chance to advance.
Overall, it still tests one's strength and reduces the element of luck.
For example, there is a team that cannot beat EDG and T1, but can beat other teams.
If in the past, if this team was placed in the group with EDG and T1, it would basically be doomed.
Because if you can't beat EDG or T1, it's meaningless even if you can beat others.
After all, only two teams can qualify from each group in the group stage, and EDG and T1 have already occupied these spots.
But it’s different now. Even if this team is unlucky enough to meet T1 in the first round, and then meet EDG in the second round because of bad luck and poor condition and lost the first game, then they will lose two games in a row.
At this time, he has to play against those weak teams that also have zero points and two losses.
As long as you adjust your mindset, you can still qualify.
So the problem with this competition system itself is actually not that big.
Every re-draw after the game also increases the uncertainty of the game.
but……
"I kind of suspect BYD used his fists to do something."
Ah Le looked at the drawing on the stage and touched his chin.
Because EDG and T1 did not meet in the first round, both sides played against the weak teams in Europe and the United States.
"Don't doubt it, it's only the first round, this is normal."
Xu Yuan thought it was quite normal. There were so many teams in the first round, so it was normal not to be matched with T1.
He looked at the name of the first team to play with interest.
BDS.
Bro, who are you?
Although Xu Yuan still remembers some things about this World Championship, such as one against four and the hybrid division kneeling down.
But this definitely does not include teams that I don’t even recognize.
After watching the first draw, EDG started training as usual.
Because the world version changes a lot, and no matter how the version changes, it is basically impossible to go back to the censer version.
So EDG must adapt to the current version.
Four protecting one is their last underwear now, but you have to know that except Superman, no one is willing to wear their underwear outside.
"Neeko is still playable as always, and Tsar seems to be effective as well, but fofo, you must find a way to train Syndra, you still need to work hard."
"Senior Clan and King of the Ruined King had a high appearance rate in the play-in stage, and the results were pretty good. Even though the play-in stage can't be used as a complete reference, it at least shows that these heroes can be used. Jiejie, I'm not worried about your King of the Ruined King, but Senior Clan needs to be played with more ideas. And there's also Rell, your proficiency in Rell is too low."
"Quesanti, Weapon, and Crocodile are your strong points. You should keep up the good performance. But you still need to practice your Aatrox. Your proficiency is too low now. I won't talk about Ornn. In addition, you have to find a way to deal with Rumble."
"As for the bottom lane... there's nothing to worry about. Yuanzi, is your hero pool okay?"
Abu and Maokai stood behind the contestants, with small notebooks in their hands filled with words.
They looked a little listless and had big dark circles under their eyes.
EDG’s understanding of the current version may not be the fastest, but their method of crossing the river by feeling the stones also ensures that BP will not become particularly disadvantageous.
There are still many heroes to practice for the current mid and top players.
It should be noted that the heroes to be practiced here do not refer to whether you can play them or not.
There is basically no professional player who can't play it, but whether or not they can perform in a competition is another matter.
It is very difficult for Fofo to pick out a hero like Akali now. Ale can use the Aatrox, but his performance is also very average.
EDG's opponents have always been the top teams, and not knowing how to play one or two versions of heroes is enough to put them at a disadvantage in the competition between such teams.
Therefore, the hero pool issue must be resolved as soon as possible.
Fortunately, the competition has just started.
Although the mid, top and jungle have various problems, most of these problems are not serious problems. As for the hero pool, there is still a chance to improve them.
Because the more competitions e-sports players participate in, the faster they will improve.
Competing in such a top-level competition may be more effective than training for dozens of times on your own.
After the first round of draws, most of the LPL and LCK viewers felt pretty good.
There was no civil war after all.
The only fans of one team were unhappy:
KT.
Speaking of which, KT is really unlucky.
Because of the changes in the world line, EDG now has the No. 1 seed, so JDG has taken over the No. 2 seed position.
The draw didn't change, which meant that the team KT was supposed to play against was...
From BLG to JDG.
It seemed that even the goddess of fate was playing a joke on them:
oh?
I heard that you successfully advanced to the next round against BLG in the Swiss round?
Then I’ll reward you with a JDG this time.
At this time, KT fans on the Korean Internet were already numb.
They now have only one mentality:
WTF?
But maybe because it was the first game, KT fans still held on after being nervous for a while.
fine!
Now that we’ve beaten JDG, we won’t be able to meet them in the future.
In the first round, EDG played against the weak team, so KT couldn't even touch EDG.
The same goes for T1.
It's okay! It's okay!
However……
Are you really okay?
At 4 pm on October 19th, EDG will face BDS in their first world match.
Overall, there were no major changes, it was a complete slog from the beginning to the end.
This game still relied on the mid, top and jungle as Xu Yuan didn't exert much effort.
To play against this kind of team, you should train your soldiers hard!
After the first round of two days ended, the draw soon came.
The lottery boy known as Captain Dragonfly walked onto the stage.
Then I drew a DK for KT
Because DK suffered a setback in the first round against G2.
This time, KT fans couldn't hold it anymore.
In the first round we played against JDG, and in the second round we had a fucking civil war against DK?
I'm playing with your mother!
"No, are the people who drew the lots really us Koreans?"
"What did KT do to deserve being treated like this?!"
"The Swiss round format is so disgusting!"
Even the LPL audience couldn't help laughing when they saw this scene.
Because no matter whether DK wins or KT wins, there will be a Korean team with zero wins and two losses in the next third game.
"It's a good sign. Why did I say it was a good sign? I forgot later."
"Byd, you can forget this, right?"
"KT is really unlucky. Fortunately, T1 and EDG seem to be dominant now. They probably won't face these two teams in the Swiss round. At least they can play against the others."
"I didn't expect DK to lose to G2 in the first game. Are Sanshu and Xiushen's mid and jungle so rubbish now?"
"To be honest, Brother Xu's performance was OK, and Uncle San's performance was also OK. DK's top and bottom lanes were too pure."
But soon, the LPL audience could no longer laugh.
Because in the second round, EDG drew BLG, which also had a zero.
LPL also has a civil war!
"It's a bit disgusting, but when I think about it, it's quite normal. The probability is not low."
"There's nothing wrong with this draw. After all, LCK is already in a civil war, so it's normal for us to have a civil war as well."
"After what happened with KT vs. DK, I actually think it's fair."
BLG fans naturally became nervous.
EDG's current strength is something they are most aware of.
I played five full games against JDG in the second final and won.
This is something BLG can't do.
BLG was able to play a full game against JDG for the first time, but they were defeated 3-0 at the speed of light in almost every subsequent game.
And even JDG can't beat EDG...
This one, I’m afraid, is a bit difficult.
The second round of competition begins.
In the match against BLG, EDG did not play smoothly.
In fact, in the eyes of Abu and Mingkai, it doesn’t matter even if they lose this game.
Under the Swiss round mechanism, EDG's strategy is to play as full as possible.
The reason is simple, because their group needs more games to provide experience to the mid and top.
But having said that, it doesn’t mean that EDG will play a fake game or something like that.
They just decisively chose to practice the new system and heroes to be used in the new World Championship.
So this one was a tough one.
This is what is called the labor pain period.
But even so, BLG still failed to defeat EDG in the end .
Because they got Xia for Xu Yuan.
"It feels like they're in a bit of a bad state, which is weird."
After the game, Xu Yuan frowned.
BLG actually had a chance to win this game, but inexplicably they became much more hesitant in the mid-game than before, giving EDG the opportunity to drag it on.
This was beyond Xu Yuan's expectations.
He originally thought that even if BLG changed, it would only be when playing the original Weibo.
But it's only the group stage now, but he can clearly feel that BLG's condition is not right.
Why?
Xu Yuan couldn't figure it out.
Both sides made a lot of mistakes in this game, and the only one who didn't make any mistakes was Xu Yuan.
So after this game, the LCK audience was the first to open the champagne.
"EDG, that's it?"
"ESPN really overestimated EDG. They fought back and forth with BLG. What's this?"
"But it is true that Savior's performance is still very exaggerated. This guy is the one EDG needs to target the most!"
"Yes, but EDG only needs to target the bottom lane. Their mid and jungle can't beat our Chovy!"
"kk, 8884?"
"Yeah, 1557?"
"The Western Conference is just a group match of MSI. Why are you guys taking so long to remember it?"
"kk, you can't beat GenG in the summer season again, what right do you T1 fans have to speak?"
"Without us T1, you LCK will achieve nothing!"
"You guys from LCK? kkkkk, I've known for a long time that you T-junk are just a bunch of disgusting creatures like the R-junk next door. Just wait and see, without you T1, we from LCK are still invincible!"
Faced with these controversies, most other LCK viewers are not surprised.
Many so-called Samsung fans who praise Chovy are actually fans who hate Lee Sang-hyuk and other T1 teams.
Abbreviation: string.
Just like the 2020 American election, many Americans who voted for Deng actually have no feelings about Deng at all, they just hate Trump more.
After the second round, KT, who had defeated DK, had no time to catch their breath before they fainted again in the third round of draws.
Because of the victory over DK, KT's current record is one bar and one.
Isn’t this a coincidence, you say?
BLG is also one bar to one!
Amid the incredulous gazes of audiences around the world, Captain Dragonfly showed his power once again.
In the third round, BLG plays against KT!
Now, KT was stunned, and KT fans were also completely stunned.
They broke through the defense directly.
"What the hell do you want to do, Fist!?"
"If you want KT to die, you can just say it directly. There's no need to do this."
"Isn't this world championship held in Korea? Damn it, what's going on with the referee team and the people who drew the lots? Use your strength!"
Looking at KT since the Swiss round, what opponents did they play against?
First round JDG.
Second round of DK.
The third round of BLG.
What the hell is this schedule?
The KT boss started complaining directly on Twitter:
"Nothing is getting better. Our next opponent is still the third seed of LPL. How can we qualify safely? To be honest, I don't know."
"Shouldn't it be more advantageous for the Swiss team to have a strong team? Why is it like a nightmare for us?"
This schedule is really outrageous.
It was like the heavens were telling KT: Stop fighting and get out of here.
The LPL audience was really laughing now.
"I used to think that LCK didn't have much esports spirit, but I didn't expect it still exists! KT got this kind of draw, wow, this is so exaggerated!"
"If KT makes it all the way to the knockout stage and wins the championship, will it be the most valuable championship in history?"
"Don't tell me, it's true!"
"What a pity! It would be better if EDG and T1 lost one or two more games and then sniped KT."
"Are you a devil!?"
The popularity of the unfortunate KT even exceeded that of the first round of qualifying matches that was about to begin.
Because now the four teams that will qualify from the first round with two bars and zero points have been determined.
GenG, G2, JDG, EDG.
Before this draw, LPL viewers were still a little worried.
The teams that qualify in this round will not play Bo1, but BO3.
For LPL, the best case scenario is naturally to avoid civil war.
Although JDG and EDG are both teams that are confident of making it to the knockout stage, a civil war situation is really not what the audience wants to see.
"Are we going to play JDG again?"
Xu Yuan leaned back in the chair in the lounge and relaxed his wrists.
According to the original draw, he remembered that there would be an LPL civil war in this round.
But that’s not necessarily the case, because the order has changed now.
"Civil war is really disgusting."
Ale nodded and said so.
Training heroes is one thing, but the civil war in the world championship is disgusting.
Captain Qingting came on stage again, and the first team he drew was EDG.
Xu Yuan concentrated and calmed his mind, watching his next move seriously.
Captain Dragonfly picked up another small ball, unfolded it, took a look at it, and displayed the name of the team on the screen.
G2!
“It’s really changed.”
Xu Yuan murmured softly, and his whole body relaxed.
It seems that Riot did not do anything tricky.
Otherwise, it should be a civil war between EDG and JDG.
If you put it this way...
The original civil war between BLG and LNG might just be a coincidence.
This made Xu Yuan feel relieved.
Because the current EDG is far from invincible, its win rate against T1 is estimated to be less than 40%, while its win rate against JDG is about 55% to 45%.
And if we lose this game, we may have to play against other teams with two bars and one.
In this case, there is a great possibility that they will encounter KT or BLG who also have two bars and one.
If it is BLG, then it will be a civil war again.
If they win...EDG will qualify.
BLG directly got two bars and two!
And both of these losses were to EDG, which is a bit embarrassing.
Because in the Swiss round, except for the first round, there are no rules to avoid the same competition area.
As for playing against G2...
Xu Yuan wasn't really worried.
The current G2 is no longer the G2 of S9.
What is the lineup of G2 in S9?
Top laner Wunder, jungler jankos, mid laner Caps, bottom lane Perkz and Mikyx.
Wunder was still a very talented player at that time. You can't say that a top laner who can't beat Theshy in S8S9 is a rubbish top laner.
Needless to say, jungler Jankos Lamb.
Although many LPL viewers' deepest impression of him is the G2 comedian, in fact, Jankos has dominated the European and American jungle for a long time.
Needless to say, S9's mid laner Caps.
In S8, he still had a small block, but in S9, he became the block king.
As for Perkz who moved to the bottom lane, he just needs to develop steadily and learn a few playable heroes.
The support Mikyx is not bad either, he can create a gap in the matchup when playing against Baolan.
Unfortunately, the above... are G2 of S9.
So, what's left of G2 in S13?
The top laner Brokenblade can barely be considered first-rate in Europe and America, but facing the top laners from LPL and LCK, he can't gain any advantage at all.
He couldn't even beat Dolan.
Jungler Yike, this name might be quite powerful in FPS games, but unfortunately this is a Moba game and the performance is mediocre.
The mid laner is still Caps, but the former Caps king is no longer as good as before, and has become G2's breakthrough point in many cases.
Now G2 has become a team with the bottom lane as its core.
AD player Hans sama and old G2 star Mikyx are now the ones carrying G2 forward.
Speaking of Hans sama, this contestant is actually very interesting.
He was the AD player of the MSF Rabbit team that played a full BO5 against SKT in S7.
This contestant is not of Chinese descent, but is of Cambodian origin and lives in Germany.
And his talent was also outstanding. He reached the King rank for the first time at the age of 14. In S6, he had five King rank accounts and successfully climbed to the top of the European server and also made it into the top 40 in the Korean server.
This level of rank is outstanding in the entire LEC.
The current Jackeylove has a similar experience to his.
He reached the top of the Korean server at the age of 14 and received invitations from various top teams. In the end, he was supported by IG for two years with a salary of three million.
As soon as he reaches the playing age, he will be promoted to the starting lineup.
Finally, at the age of 18, he won the S9 world championship.
This is the true portrayal of the so-called genius boy.
What is a super newcomer?
This is the super newcomer.
Many people say that A Shui is the last super rookie in LPL since Xu Yuan debuted in S7, and there is actually nothing wrong with this.
Because even someone like Bin was a rising star in his first season in LPL.
Now G2 basically relies on Hans sama to be the C.
So Xu Yuan is not worried about G2 at all.
The team playing bottom lane?
His favorite team is the bottom lane team!
“Hehehe, G2…”
"A little bit, funny."
In the conference room.
After Mingkai got the current information of G2, he couldn't help but laugh.
"What's wrong?"
Abu asked curiously.
"Have you forgotten? G2 once threatened to beat RNG's four-protect-one team, and threatened us before the S8 World Championship."
Mingkai explained.
He still remembers this incident very clearly because Perkz specifically made harsh remarks about it on Twitter.
"As a result...G2 is now playing a four-protect-one game, relying entirely on the bottom lane C."
"The funniest thing is that Perkz is still gone."
Mingkai laughed out loud when he said this.
Maybe this world is just a huge RNG.
G2: Question the Four Protect One, understand the Four Protect One, and become the Four Protect One!
I wonder what Ah P, who once made such harsh remarks, feels now?
During the intensive training, time passed quickly and the day of the competition arrived in the blink of an eye.
“There are so many people. Do we have so many fans coming to Korea?”
At this time, EDG had already boarded the bus to the stadium. Jiejie looked at the endless stream of people outside the stadium with some surprise.
There are really a lot of people watching this game. Did a lot of EDG fans come to Korea to cheer for them?
Jiejie was a little touched.
"You say, is it possible that they are actually LCK fans who just want to see us or G2 lose?"
Xu Yuan spoke slowly.
Jiejie fell into deep thought.
It seems... it's really possible.
And the possibility is not low.
For LCK fans, this match between G2 and EDG was a pure enjoyment.
The palms and backs of your hands are covered with thorns!
Whether G2 loses or EDG loses, they will be very happy.
There is no need to mention EDG, as they won all three championships in the LCK.
G2 is also nasty for the LCK.
Because G2 in S9 crushed SKT and DWG.
Winning was not the end, they also abused DWG's fountain.
And in front of SKT, he flashed the EDG logo crazily.
This is a heart-breaking blow to LCK fans.
So it's really normal for LCK fans to hate G2.
When this group of Bs had the advantage, they really showed no shame to the LCK team.
No matter who loses, there is only one feeling for LCK viewers:
Seems like! Open the champagne!
Therefore, there are quite a lot of LCK viewers who come to watch this game for pure enjoyment.
"I won't stress it any more. We just need to play well in this BO3. We won't have time to practice for the rest."
Abu has actually taken over EDG's training and competition again. At this time, he clapped his hands and spoke in a deep voice.
"I will try to choose a split-push lineup this time. Both the mid and top players will push the line. We need to speed up the game."
"We have too few points to start the early game, so we can only rely on the bottom lane."
"To play against T1, the first thing we need to do is to withstand their early-game rhythm!"
"And G2 is a good grinding stone because G2 also likes to play the early game rhythm."
"So we must go all out this time and not take it lightly."
"If we can't even beat G2, how can we beat T1?"
After studying T1 for a while, Abu noticed a point:
T1's early game rhythm was excellent.
It is so outstanding that many teams are completely unable to cope with it.
But it is not true to say that T1 has no weaknesses.
Their team fights really don't seem to make people feel like they are completely unbeatable.
T1's strengths now lie in its early-game rhythm and laning, and its mid-game operations and teamfight tug-of-war.
They are good at pulling and tackling, but pulling and tackling type team fights always have a weakness.
As long as the push is strong enough, as long as the economy is not stretched too far.
Then it is actually completely possible.
Abu's judgment is still very sharp.
If Xu Yuan knew what he was thinking, he would nod repeatedly.
Because that's what T1 is.
It can be seen from the BO5 between JDG and T1 that many times JDG has the advantage at the beginning of team battles, and T1 is completely unable to withstand it.
But in the subsequent tug of war, JDG could not withstand T1.
This is because T1 is very good at pulling and after destroying the opponent's C position's key skills, it can decisively choose to pursue.
So the question is, if we can kill T1 in one wave, wouldn’t that solve the problem?
However, having said that, it is not so easy to do.
JDG obviously saw this, but they still lost the opportunity in the fourth game due to the lack of coordination between the mid and jungle.
This resulted in T1 having almost no rivals.
Those who can withstand their team fights are often at a disadvantage in the laning phase and are unable to hold on in the subsequent team fights.
The team that had no problems in laning phase did not have the ability to fight with them in team battles.
The current T1 is a pentagonal warrior.
The only drawback is that it is difficult to target given the stacked capabilities in other areas.
So what Abu can do is to make up for what EDG lacks most through one game after another.
Because Abu has always been very confident and at ease about EDG's team battles.
With Xu Yuan around, he doesn't need to worry about team battles.
This is a race against time. It is very difficult, as difficult as climbing to the sky.
The gap between the middle and upper levels is there.
But if they want to win, no matter how difficult the race is, EDG can only choose to keep running forward.
"haven't seen you for a long time."
When EDG arrived at the dressing room, Caps, who was having his hair done by a makeup artist, saw Xu Yuan and greeted him happily.
"When you said you wanted to take a break from the game, Lucas was very sad."
Xu Yuan burst out laughing.
"Yeah?"
"Well, he's always wanted to invite you to G2."
Caps nodded seriously.
Ah P has really been coveting Xu Yuan for a long time.
"Please tell him for me, thank him for recognizing me."
Xu Yuan spoke with a smile.
"I will. Then can you be a little less serious in the next game?"
Caps joked with a wink.
"So will I."
Xu Yuan answered seriously.
The two looked at each other for a while and then burst into laughter.
They both knew the other was joking.
Both Caps and Xu Yuan are players who are extremely eager for victory.
No matter how bad Caps is, he can't really ask his opponents to let him win.
"Is this Brother Yuan's connection?"
Ah Le smacked his lips.
Even G2 has players with whom they have good relationships?
Guigui, Brother Yuan’s big hands!
"If you fight well, there will be flowers everywhere."
Fofo said this silently.
A Le was stunned for a moment and nodded.
Ten minutes later.
Players from both sides, come on stage!