Chapter 192 Mid-Season Tournament Begins, First Match Against CLG

Chapter 192 - Mid-Season Opening, First Match Against CLG

Under the players' anticipation and excitement, the preparation period for MSI passed in a blink of an eye, and soon, it was the opening day.

May, 4th.

Youth Day.

Shanghai Oriental Sports Center.

Crown of the Sea.

Although it is jokingly called the Sea Network Manager by many LPL players, it does not affect its most obvious feature of China at all.

That is, it is big!

This is a comprehensive stadium with a large scale and can accommodate as many as 15,000 people.

For Riot Games to hold a world event in China after three years, domestic players and fans have shown amazing spending power. All tickets were snapped up on the day of sale, and even the tickets for watching the game outside the stadium were bought one after another afterwards and sold out...

Many spectators who came a step late and really wanted to watch the game on site could only buy tickets from others at a higher price, or bite the bullet and trade with scalpers.

On the day of the game, two hours before the game started, a huge crowd of people gathered outside the stadium to line up to enter the stadium. The dense crowds of people were simply countless.

There were 15,000 spectators inside the stadium, and no limit on the number of people outside the stadium, plus the stadium staff and security personnel...

"Wow, there are too many people!" Rookie's eyes widened.

"Look, humans are like garbage."

Ming sneered, wondering which anime character he was cosplaying again.

The IG members who went to bed early yesterday and had enough rest were now taking the club's bus to enter the stadium.

The best thing about competing in China is that you don't need to adjust to the jet lag or worry about your body not being able to adapt to the local climate.

Of course, the biggest advantage is——

"Ahhhhhh! Here we come!"

"Go IG! Team, go, go!"

"Defend your honor in your own territory!"

"MSI champion! Fight for two consecutive championships in the region!"

When the audience found the bus with the IG team logo entering the venue, they immediately ignored the formation of the queue, all leaned to the side of the road, raised their cheering signs and light signs, and shouted loudly.

There were many young ladies and many otakus.

But without exception, everyone looked very young, just like the age of e-sports. Most of the domestic e-sports fans started in the 90s.

The cheering momentum was extremely huge. The taxis, private cars and other spectators passing by on the asphalt road looked at this side with curiosity, thinking that another big star was holding a concert tour.

"The fans are so enthusiastic, we have so many fans..." Ming opened his eyes wide.

No matter how loud the cheering on the Internet is, it is not as intuitive as the real world.

TheShy, on the other hand, was more like a child who had never seen the world. He suddenly came to a magnificent place, feeling a little overwhelmed, a little flattered, and a little...excited.

"Of course..."

Yuan Shen smiled and said seriously: "This is our home court!"

Home court is both an honor and a responsibility.

For a competitive team, nothing can make fans sadder than a disastrous defeat at home.

In the original time track, S5 and S6 were certainly the darkest two years for LPL. The best result of the world championship was the quarterfinals, which made many old players give up supporting LPL games.

But if we talk about the year with the most "quitting the game and the circle", it must be S7.

The two teams that everyone expected both failed in the semifinals. The huge capital Bird's Nest... LCK teams met in a civil war.

Shame.

Coupled with the impact of PUBG, the whole of 2018 was very depressed.

RNG, who was favored for a whole year, fell in the quarterfinals. If IG hadn't come out of nowhere to save the team, I really couldn't imagine it...

This year's MSI, although it didn't gather such high expectations, is also the bridgehead of Riot's official events. They bear the trust and hope of thousands of fans.

"We must win this battle!"

...

In the center of the huge stadium with 15,000 independent seats, there are four large screens that form a "square" and face four directions.

Right below the large screen is the stage for the battle and the seats for the players.

This time, the opening ceremony invited the famous Korean girl group Tara to help.

It has to be said that the performance level of the professional girl group is not comparable to the previous LPL regular season cheerleading team. Dancing and singing are one thing, but the long legs of the Tara girls and the gorgeous clothes that deliberately highlight their figures make many viewers feel that the trip is worthwhile.

The official understands people's hearts.

Do more of this kind of work!

After the girl group sang and cheered, the MSI promotional video "Who Will Conquer the Canyon" was played on the big screen.

It was a CG that showed the totem culture of China, using totem symbols to describe the teams from each major region participating in this competition, and each region had its own symbolic slogan poster.

After the totem appeared, the winning video of each team in their respective leagues was also played.

North American CLG team -

Totem logo: a resolute and unyielding warrior.

A more appropriate description for the North American region should be: World Warrior, because this region absorbs players from all over the world. When regions around the world look to South Korea to borrow Korean players to strengthen their own strength, the North American region looks to all of Asia, Europe and even South America to introduce players from all over the world.

It is too common for North American teams to have five players who are not local.

Of course, its local players are not bad either. This is a typical American strategy: absorb the strongest players and then build a strong force. So far, this strategy has achieved limited success on the international stage. But every time a North American team fails, it will continue to learn and adapt, and then return to the battlefield.

European G2 team -

Totem logo: King of wolves.

The most legendary team in Europe is Fnatic, who performed perfectly in the 2015 summer season and entered the semifinals of the world finals.

When three of the five players in this team left the team for North America, some people believed that Europe had returned to the situation of a pack of wolves competing for supremacy.

However, the European region itself is the wolf. The battles in Europe are very exciting. This region always has some iconic players who are skilled in the professional competition stage, especially those lone wolf mid-lane players, that is, the mid-lane Mage King they are "proud of".

Today, this wolf pack still competes alone, constantly producing new fierce competitors to fill those players who go hunting elsewhere. G2, who stood out from the European wolf pack, is undoubtedly the king of the wolf pack. In this year's MSI Mid-Season Championship, perhaps this wolf pack can unite and defeat the most powerful prey.

LMS Flash Wolves--

Totem logo: Fierce Jaguar.

Only four teams in the division have won the world finals championship: EU.LCS, LCK, LPL, and now LMS. Of these four divisions, LMS may be the most surprising, but in the S2 season, the then Taipei Assassins fought against Europe's M5 and South Korea's Azubu Frost to win the Summoner's Cup in one fell swoop. Since then, the performance of LMS teams can only be regarded as good, not outstanding.

LMS teams are unlikely to become strong competitors, and there is not much hope of winning the championship. But the glorious memory of S2 still exists. LMS is like a jaguar, a threatening force that hides in the shadows and out of sight, but you can't ignore its existence. When will its next attack come?

Since winning the S2 championship, LMS has been mediocre and lacks the competitiveness to win the championship. They are like jaguars, threatening and can't be ignored. Once underestimated, they will be bitten off, but they have always lacked the kingly spirit of lions and tigers.

Turkey SUP team in the IWC wildcard division——

Totem logo: giant shooter.

Although everyone has always been full of expectations for the giants of the divisions such as LPL and LCK, and few expectations for the teams in the international wildcard league.

But now it may be necessary to rethink this situation. The teams in the IWC division are like shooters. They have cultivated the characteristics of giant killers. They can find a way to shoot an incredible shot and knock down opponents who underestimate them. This happened in the 2014 World Championship, when KaBuM defeated the European No. 1 seed Alliance, and in the 2015 World Championship, we also witnessed paiN Gaming win two games. As things stand now, this seems unlikely. But because of this, once an upset happens, the cheers in these regions will be even more amazing.

LCK Division - SKT Team -

Totem Logo: The King Soaring in the Sky.

The Korean Division gave birth to the SKTelecom T1 team that dominated the World Championship. In the past few years, Korea's position in the World Championship has been unshakable, so it is not surprising that they are embodied as the image of the king here.

And the king usually faces two endings: either dominate or perish with hatred. In last year's MSI Mid-Season Championship, they faced the latter. In last year's S game, SKT also lost.

At that time, SKT played against EDG. After five painful games, Faker's undefeated Leblanc was finally defeated by PawN's Morgana. Will this year's MSI Mid-Season Championship become the Achilles' heel of the Korean team again?

After introducing the MVs of the five teams and the championship videos of their respective regions, the promotional video quickly moved to the last part.

The audience had already shouted in anticipation.

"IG, go!"

"Rookie, go!"

LPL League, IG Team——

Totem Logo: Red Dragon

Many people know that dragons have a high status in Chinese mythology. But here, dragons have other meanings: like the legendary dragon, the LPL region itself is huge, both in terms of the base of players and the number of e-sports fans.

Even the LPL is huge, with more teams and more games than any other region. But the huge size is a double-edged sword, and the expectations and pressure on the players are very high. Although IG won the world championship last year, people can't help but wonder if this dragon can use its powerful power as it wishes.

At the end of the promotional video, six totems appeared on the big screen together, surrounding the huge championship trophy, and the fighting spirit was boiling.

Dragons and tigers fight.

Wolves and leopards are around.

Shooters and warriors are ready to go.

——

Who is the king of this year's season?