Chapter 200 199: The semi-finals begin!
Gu Xing returned to the hotel room and compared the charts carefully.
Unexpectedly, he actually found a loophole.
Little Peanut doesn’t like having eyes done very much.
As the player who uses Lee Sin the most in the jungle position, it stands to reason that the average number of wards should be among the top in the same position.
As a result, among all 16 teams, Peanut ranked in the middle of the pack.
In the segmented real-eye data, Little Peanut ranks second to last, only a little higher than the ANX jungler who pays the least attention to vision.
With 0.12 real eyes deployed per minute, Peanut’s data is more than 50% lower than that of the first-tier jungler!
On average, Peanut will insert a real eye on the map every 8 minutes.
For a jungler, this statistic is quite outrageous.
In terms of points average, he also ranked third from the bottom.
In this version where vision is king, Peanut’s move is equivalent to handing over the pressure of map control to his teammates!
Gu Xing thought for a moment and realized that Xiaohuahua's approach was similar to Bang's reason for not buying real eyes.
It's all about maximizing the economy and converting it into equipment, so if you don't buy real eyes, the efficiency of eye arrangement will also be much lower.
Peanut is the real core of the Tigers, and the entire team revolves around him in transition from offense to defense.
How to make Little Peanut play more comfortable is the primary problem ROX solves.
If the jungler doesn't buy real eyes, the price he pays is destined to be even heavier than the ADC.
Because the bottom lane is integrated, if the shooter lacks eye position, the support can immediately make up for it.
Jungling is different.
In the early and mid-term, if you don’t carry a real eye, you will likely lose vision in the jungle!
Gu Xing plans to make good use of it.
Coupled with the flaws in ROX's top and jungle team management that Hongmi had previously summarized, they instantly felt confident to face the Tigers.
What's more, he also has a trump card in his hand.
……
"Virtue, stand forward, tilt your body at a 45° angle to the camera, and look toward the photographer!" the bearded director waved.
Gu Xing complied with the request, folding his arms and facing the camera sideways, with a firm look in his eyes and a serious expression.
The little peanut beside him was also pretending to be cold, but he was two sizes smaller than Gu Xing and looked weaker.
Then the director insisted on making the two of them look at each other face to face, while he pushed the camera from the side.
Peanut turned around. He was only about 1.7 meters tall now. If he wanted to look directly at Gu Xing, he had to look up.
Raising his head to meet Gu Xing's gaze, the two of them remained motionless.
The two of them could only stand there and stare at each other until the director called to stop.
Within two seconds, the corners of Little Peanut's mouth kept twitching, and the coldness he had pretended to be was instantly broken.
The director reluctantly said that he would have to start over and shoot it again.
Seeing this scene, Smeb laughed mercilessly in the corner outside the camera.
"Wang Hao, can you look more fierce?" He tried to guide his jungler, "Look what Virtue did!"
Little Peanut scratched his hair in embarrassment, "Sorry, Brother Xing, it took up a lot of your time."
"It's okay," Gu Xing didn't care. He picked up tons of Coke and poured it into his mouth. "I've been very busy these days, so I just came out to adjust and relax."
In the past two days, due to the pressure of the upcoming semi-finals, the entire VG team was tense and huddled in the hotel to train hard.
Now I have to shoot various promotional videos for Riot Games, and there are rehearsals and interviews before the game. I go outside every afternoon, breathe fresh air and receive sunshine, which actually calms my mind.
The director asked everyone in the venue to rest for a quarter of an hour, and then he ran to do some ideological work for Little Peanut.
Gu Xing sat down next to Mr. Hou and took out his mobile phone to surf.
After several days of fermentation, the pre-game discussion on the semi-finals on Tieba, Weibo and other online media has reached unprecedented heights.
After several years of vigorous development, League of Legends' player base reached a new high in 2016.
Moreover, the soil of the event is becoming more and more fertile, and more and more people are transferring from pure game players to event spectators!
Riot also hung a banner on the home page of the client, hoping to be the leader of traffic, build momentum for the semifinals, and attract more players to watch the game.
Furthermore, the five major leagues are all over, and the global audience has no other way to entertain themselves.
Various factors have combined to influence the situation, and now the forum is full of posts related to the semi-finals.
[SKT vs. H2K, ROX vs. VG, any random player is just a gimmick]
[Really, Faker versus Yue Lun in the first half, the first match after the double calamity battle, can Jankos break through the defense line of Xiaohei and Benji;
Kuro vs. Easyhoon in the second half, the S5LCK spring showdown replays, I wonder if Hou Ye still teaches forehand and backhand, Xiao Gu vs. Xiao Peanut, the peak showdown of carnivorous invasion of the jungle, Imp vs. Pray in the bottom lane, who is the rat? king? 】
[I think VG will only open at 37, and the promotion situation is not optimistic...]
[It counts as a success if you can reach the semi-finals. VG is the only one left in the LPL, so you can’t count on them]
[I think so, the finals may be another LCK civil war]
Gu Xing browsed through several posts and found that public opinion generally believed that VG was very strong, but was not optimistic about them.
It makes sense.
As the No. 1 seed in the Korean League, ROX is the clear favorite to win the championship.
Although VG has proven its strength by sweeping Samsung, in the eyes of the audience, it is not yet good enough to win the trophy.
However, this is completely different from the views of the members of the VG team.
Head coach Hongmi believes that if the team reaches the semi-finals, the probability of winning is not low!
He believes that VG has found the answer to the version.
What's particularly important is that VG's style of play is exactly in line with the version trend!
First of all...the World Championship is now underway, and everyone with a discerning eye knows that there must be strong players in the jungle.
Most of the three powerful characters are versions of the Earthbound Spirit. The junglers are basically fighting alone, and they are all carnivorous heroes like Blind Sin and Olaf, placing great emphasis on confrontation in the jungle.
If the jungle matchup is unbalanced, it is easy for the director to have an extreme matchup against the little peanut in the quarterfinals.
On this stage where the jungler is destined to shine, Gu Xing's presence is particularly important.
He is the sharpest spear in VG's offense. He is also the brains of the team and shoulders some responsibilities.
Secondly, the mid laners, except Dragon King, are all brush-type traditional mages, who mainly focus on the mid-to-late game.
It’s simply Lee Ji-hoon’s paradise!
He wishes he could stay online forever. Is the title of the defensive tower in the middle a waste of time?
The third point of the World Championship version is that the bottom lane must have laning strength.
The main focus of the duo is consumption. The purpose is to be the first to destroy the enemy's first-blood tower in the bottom lane, get additional economic snowballs, and start the rhythm of demolishing towers.
Xiao Duan is good at laning but not proficient at roaming.
Koo Sungbin's laning level after rehabilitation is definitely world-class.
When the two team up, just in terms of laning, they are worthy of any bot lane combination!
On the top lane, Zhu Xiaolong is usually mainly responsible for resisting pressure.
His level is not as good as Smeb's, but he is better because he is stable. Most of the time, he will not hold the team back, and he can give the team a lot of help in team battles.
Generally speaking, the World Championship emphasizes the offensive in the second half.
The mechanical change of the first undefended tower in the bottom lane in the early stage makes it easy to push down the first-health tower. In addition, the benefits from the dragon allow the team that mainly attacks the bottom half to gain massive benefits.
The teleportation guidance time has been increased to 4.5 seconds, which also reduces the radiation ability of the top laner on the map.
Such a change fits VG’s style of play just right!
The club originally brought Imp in order to focus on the lower half and support the core of the team.
Gu Xing adapted to most of the summer split.
Not to mention that he also learned Clearlove’s secret technique from the virtual game, which is even more powerful!
The rest of the teams Gu Xing didn't dare to say, among the four teams in the semi-finals, no jungler knew how to support the bottom lane better than him!
So to speak.
At present, the version of the World Championship is perfectly integrated with VG’s style of play!
The players don't even need to make many changes, they just let nature take its course.
Gu Xing scrolled aimlessly through the pages of his phone.
After finishing the conversation, Little Peanut came over and asked furtively, "Brother Xing, what do you want to say about the pre-game appearance ceremony tomorrow?"
"What do you mean?" Gu Xing glanced at him, "You want to cause trouble?"
Peanut muttered something under his breath.
Gu Xing thought for a moment and said, "I can't make the decision on this matter alone. I have to discuss it with my teammates."
Little Peanut kept urging, so Gu Xing had no choice but to put away his phone now and go find the other four team members.
After hearing Peanut’s plan, VG players readily agreed.
During this year's LPL Summer Finals, they had already gone through an embarrassing situation, and now their level of acceptance is quite high.
When Little Peanut saw that the proposal was passed, he immediately smiled and said harsh words before leaving.
"Brother, please be careful on the field. I won't hold back. Nicole doesn't want to become Clearlove, does she?"
Gu Xing responded immediately without hesitation, "Just don't cry when you lose the game tomorrow. I've always heard Imp say that it feels good to beat your opponent to tears. I haven't experienced it yet. I want to try it in the semi-finals."
The two of them were arguing with each other as if they were quarreling with children. They didn't stop and came to the camera until they were notified to start filming again.
The side effect of talking to each other is that this time there is no need for the director to guide, they just look at each other like needles, and the effect is surprisingly good.
The two teams then headed to Madison Square Garden for the final opening rehearsal.
The venue was empty, but it could not hide its grand scale.
Previously, the San Francisco Municipal Auditorium and the Chicago Theater only had auditoriums on one side in front of the stage, and the number of spectators they could accommodate was probably around a few thousand people.
Madison Square Garden is a large sports venue with the stage in the center and stands in front, back, left and right.
Over the decades, celebrities from various arts and sports circles have set foot here, adding a legendary touch to the square garden.
"A total of 22,350 seats are open," Vincent described to the team members enthusiastically. "Everyone will arrive on the stage through the elevator, and cheers from all directions will flood into the ears. It is spectacular just thinking about it..."
Gu Xing felt longing in his heart.
After the rehearsal and dinner, he was still thinking about it. When he finally returned to the hotel lounge, Hongmi interrupted his reverie.
"This is the last group meeting before the semifinals," Jin Wenhyuk was responsible for translating the head coach's words. "All the preparations that need to be done have been completed. Let's have a chat and relax appropriately. There is no need to be too nervous."
< br>
Red rice is pleasant in color.
"Gu Shengbin and I have participated in many global finals. Do you know what we have in common?"
Jack, the lazy dog, didn't even bother to use his brain. He turned his head physically on his seat, "I can't get there!"
Redmi doesn’t give in, “The common point is...as long as we can get out of the group stage, we will definitely win the championship!”
In his and Imp's career, there are only two options: the top 16 of the World Championship and the championship, and there is no compromise option.
Ju Shengbin also became energetic, and his words meant something, "Do you know what this means?"
Before anyone else could speak, the World girl spoke with a confused look, "Wouldn't it be even more outrageous for Faker and Bengi to win the World Championship as long as they enter the World Championship?"
World6 made the air in the room freeze instantly with just one sentence.
"Axi..." Hongmi angrily hit him on the back with the notebook in her hand, "I'm trying to liven up the atmosphere. Can you be more serious? Is it because I'm usually too gentle to you?"
"You can't blame me if your own statement doesn't stand up to scrutiny, right?" World Girl felt that she had been wronged.
However, he also knew that he had ruined the coach's plan, and now he was trying to think of another strategy to save it.
World6 coughed twice and tried to make a sensational tone, "Well... we have seen a reverse sunrise on the beach in San Francisco before. Brother Meng, can you take me to see it again?"
There was a whisper of discussion in the lounge.
Gu Xing knew what Shimeimei wanted to express.
The team is currently in New York on the east coast of the United States, and it is impossible to go to the beach to watch the sunrise in reverse direction.
You have to go to the West Coast to make that happen.
The venue for this year’s World Championship finals is Los Angeles, another metropolis on the West Coast!
Jack shook his head and commented.
"Come to think of it, it's quite embarrassing for you."
Girl Shijie was dissatisfied and asked, "If you have the ability, will you come?"
Yu Wenbo said confidently, "I definitely don't have the ability, so I won't accept this porcelain job!"
However, a few people made jokes and made the atmosphere lively.
"Don't be nervous tomorrow," Ding Jun comforted everyone. "It's been a great success to reach the semi-finals. If you give full play to your strength, I don't think we will lose to ROX."
Gu Xing added in a timely manner, "The Tigers' pre-game preparations are definitely not as good as ours, and the opponent is definitely more panicked."
"It is said that the LCK's biggest advantage over the LPL lies in its mature and systematic training mechanism, but tomorrow's semi-finals are a complete reversal!"
Hearing this, the members of the VG training department in the lounge laughed out loud.
South Korea's e-sports industry started very early and has developed rapidly since the StarCraft era, and the country has also attached great importance to it.
In this way, I have accumulated a lot of e-sports experience and practitioners.
Therefore, after the professionalization of League of Legends began, many StarCraft players transformed and brought in the operational tactical system, which allowed the Korean division to rise rapidly. In the S2 season, it debuted on the world stage and won the runner-up, and then dominated the championship for three consecutive years!
The gap between them and other divisions is not only reflected in the hard power of the players.
The most critical thing is the training system.
LPL clubs were just grass-roots teams in the past few years, and they didn’t even know what to do when reviewing games, let alone switching operations and tactics.
The inaction of the training team has allowed many talented players to grow wildly without receiving systematic professional training, and the gap between them and the Korean competition area has widened.
In the past two years, LPL clubs have also been striving to catch up and pay more and more attention to coaches.
But there is still a big gap with South Korea.
However, specific issues should be analyzed in detail.
In the semi-final between VG and ROX, the situation was exactly the opposite!
Except for Little Peanut, all ROX players are veteran players.
But they are too poor, no better than an Internet cafe team. Their bases are rented in remote suburbs with frequent power outages. Where do they get the money to hire analysts?
Nofe is the only one in the entire coaching staff.
In order to reduce costs, the club gave Nofe's girlfriend Sejin a salary increase and let her be the team leader and manager alone.
Working two jobs for one salary is a win for the Tigers.
In comparison, VG is simply a behemoth!
After reaching cooperation with the data analysis team, the team's training department has a complete lineup and everything it needs.
From the quarterfinals to the semifinals, it only takes four or five days.
The various shooting arrangements arranged by Riot still take up a lot of energy, and it is bound to be impossible for ROX to thoroughly study VG!
And VG has a big move in hand and is naturally confident.
October 21 at 4 p.m.
Madison Square Garden is packed with seats, and local North American spectators came here today just to enjoy the showdown between strong teams.
The only team TSM was sent back to their hometown by SKT a few days ago.
Although it is a slightly shameful three to zero.
But in the eyes of many North American netizens, this is already an early Christmas surprise.
Their expectation for TSM before the game was to qualify in the group stage. Winning the first place in Group D is definitely a success!
Now that two teams with stronger overall strength are fighting it out in New York, North American audiences naturally want to join in the fun and come to see how high the level of the top teams is.
The lights in the Garden Arena's dome instantly went out.
In the darkness, the free glow sticks distributed by Riot Games showed red and blue colors according to the zones, with each clearly occupying half of the area.
Looking down from the ‘mountaintop’ area at the top of the stands, a sea of red and blue composed of more than 20,000 people collided with each other, making the scene magnificent.
Directly above the stage, a giant screen spliced into four screens simultaneously displayed countdown numbers.
When the audience knew that the game was about to begin, they immediately shook their light sticks in their seats.
The ocean boils instantly!
Accompanied by a chorus of shouts, the wave reached its peak when the countdown reached ‘1’!
On the big screen, the hand clenched into a fist, shattered the virtual glass barrier, evolved into a fist symbol, and then fell into darkness again.
In the majestic melody of "World Championship 2016", a Summoner's Trophy appeared on the giant screen.
The first thing to be played was the semi-final promotional video.
The video footage gradually zooms out.
The 443-meter-tall Empire State Building appears in the picture.
Next to the trophy, Imp raised his right index finger in front of his lips, making a silent gesture.
Opposite Pray is tall and strong, and he can compete with the death announcement. He looks like a giant standing next to Gu Shengbin, and he feels full of pressure.
The video plays with narration narrated by the contestants themselves during the interview.
"It is indeed fate that our opponents from OGN back then met each other in the World Championship." Pray is tall and powerful, and his voice is deep and steady.
"There are not many ADC players left in ancient times. The fact that we can still meet on the semi-finals stage is enough to prove the strength of both sides..." Imp said, stumbling in broken Chinese.
Since this is a promotional video and not trash talk, Gu Shengbin restrained himself a lot.
But in the end, I still felt unsatisfied and started to play steadily again. "I haven't beaten Pray players in BO5 games during the OGN era. I hope I can make up for it this time."
Equipped with subtitles so that the audience can understand what the contestants said.
The North American audience is very tolerant of players like Imp who likes to make harsh remarks before games, and they all responded with good-natured teasing laughter.
Then the screen kept flashing, and Summoner's Trophies appeared in sequence at every famous landmark in New York City.
The opposing players around the trophy changed again and again.
Finally, against the backdrop of the Statue of Liberty, Gu Xing and Little Peanut stood opposite each other.
It was clear that the two of them were officially appointed as the focus of the showdown.
Not only appears last in the matchup.
Even in the group photo of ten people at the end of the promotional video, both of them are standing closest to the Summoner's Trophy.
The camera zoomed in, and the two junglers looked at each other in front of the shining silver trophy.
The scene is frozen.
Suddenly, a beam of dazzling light was projected from the dome, shining straight into the center of the venue's stage.
The Summoner's Trophy appeared in person.
"Dear viewers at the venue and in front of the screen, this is Madison Garden!"
The host in formal attire came under the light.
"After nearly three weeks of fierce competition, only four teams can now set foot here, and today will be the first semi-final..."
"We invite both teams to appear!"
The light in the center suddenly spread to both sides, lighting up the entire stage.
Backstage.
Gu Xing boarded the elevator under the command of the staff.
He looked back and saw that at another machine more than ten meters away, ROX players were also arranged in an orderly formation.
Gu Xing happened to be looking at each other from the Tiger team.
It was rare for the ROX players not to laugh again.
Both sides know what this semi-final means to each other.
"See you in the arena!" Little Peanut shouted at the top of his lungs, his broken English pronunciation passing through the noisy and chaotic backstage.
The corners of Gu Xing's mouth raised. As the machine slowly rose, the figures of the Tiger Team gradually disappeared from sight.
"Brother, are you ready?" Imp was eager to give it a try, "Today, the whole audience is going to chant our names!"
Gu Xing listened to the cheers that became clearer and clearer, his heart beating violently in his chest.
With his energy high and his blood pumping, he had already adjusted to his best condition.
The host's resonant voice was transmitted through the microphone to every inch of Madison Garden.
"First of all, let us invite the 2016 LCK Summer Split Champions, the No. 1 seed ROXTigers!"
Under the dazzling spotlight, dry ice mist rose from the edge of the stage, and the five Tigers performed the same moves as when they debuted in this summer's finals.
The little peanut with granny-grey hair stretched his arms diagonally toward the sky with his teammates. The Rock Tiger logo on the team uniform was extremely dazzling.
The screams were non-stop and echoed throughout the venue!
"Top laner Smeb, jungler Peanut, mid laner Kuro, bottom laner Pray to assist Gorilla, substitute Cry and head coach Nofe!"
The audience burst into applause. The host waited for the noise to subside and then said, "Next, I would like to invite the 2016 LPL Summer Split champion and No. 1 seed ViciGaming!"
The dry ice mist gradually disappeared, but the cheers from the audience became even louder!
The elevator carried everyone from VG up to the stage. Zhu Xiaolong squatted at the front with his knees bent, his arms tilted down like an eagle flapping its wings.
Gu Xing, who was at the back, raised his arms and stretched them flat on both sides of his body.
The rest of the starting players moved in different ways, and the five of them formed a strange formation!
The appearance posture of the Ginyu Special Team from Dragon Ball is now used by VG in the semi-final stage.
Although it was a spur-of-the-moment idea before the game at the invitation of Little Peanut, I only practiced it a few times.
However, the five VG people also learned it very well.
There are many Dragon Ball audiences in North America, and they even shouted excitedly when they saw this scene.
Jack suppressed a laugh beside him.
Hongmi pursed her lips and turned away. She really didn't want to admit that she was the coach of this second-tier Chinese team.
Gu Xing enjoyed it very much.
As long as he doesn't feel embarrassed, someone else will be embarrassed.
"Top laner Loong, jungler Virtue, mid laner Easyhoon, bottom laner Imp and assistant Caveman, as well as substitute Jackeylove, head coach Homme!"
The host shouted loudly in a long tone.
"There is only one seat, and the winner will get the ticket to the Los Angeles finals. Let's wait and see who wins!"
The applause in Madison Garden lasted for a long time, and the boiling ocean set off huge waves!
I wrote some BP and saved it as a manuscript, but I didn’t finish it. It was broken in the middle and it was inappropriate.
Post less today and update together tomorrow.
6200 words, 9.39w.
(End of chapter)