LOL: The world’s best red-temperature mid laner!

After greeting the T1 players, the TES players took their room keys and boarded the elevator to find their respective rooms.

In the elevator, Xiaotian muttered, "T1 seems to be getting crushed by GEN in the LCK right now. What's going on? Is GEN really that strong?"

Meiko replied, "It seems like Chovy always does pretty well in the LCK, but then he messes up at Worlds..."

Ah Shui said, "I wouldn't say I was bad, it's just that I didn't win the championship, but my results were still okay."

Meiko shook her head: "That depends on the standard. If we use the standard they touted before the match, then it's definitely going to be a disaster."

Just then, the elevator arrived, and everyone was about to step out.

Suddenly I noticed someone standing at the door!
It was none other than Chovy, with the rest of GEN behind him.

The atmosphere suddenly became a bit awkward, after all, the TES players had just been discussing Chovy and GEN.

"Chovy," Lü Yi greeted him.
Chovy also responded: "GodYi, long time no see."

As Lü Yi walked, he said, "I heard you guys beat T1 again and won the Spring Split championship."

Chovy didn't seem happy at all: "Yeah, but the league title is useless."

Chovy used to be motivated because he didn't have a league title, but now that he has more league titles, all that's left is to prove himself on the international stage.

Lü Yi continued:

"I hope you can defeat T1 this time and fulfill your dream."

Chovy laughed: "You're trying to use us to avoid trouble, aren't you?"

Lü Yi smiled but remained silent.

After saying goodbye to the GEN members, Lü Yi found his room, opened the door with his room key, and settled his luggage first.

Then, upon arriving at the training room, Warhorse began to give instructions after everyone else had arrived: "Let's train for the next couple of days. The version of MSI is different from the Spring Split, so we need to adapt."

"The play-in stage starts tomorrow afternoon. T1 and BLG will both participate. Let's see how it goes."

This year's MSI Play-In Stage will see the second seeds from both the LPL and LCK participate.

In addition, there are the second seeds from LEC and LCS, as well as the first seeds from other regions.

The qualifying rounds consist of eight teams competing for four spots, so the pressure on teams like BLG and T1 shouldn't be too great.

Soon, there was a response in the group.

TES, Jackeylove: "Can we get through the play-in stage? Is it difficult?"

BLG, Bin: "We don't know, are you going to help us play?"

TES, Meiko: "I don't think you'll be playing against T1 in the play-in stage. You're both from the number one seed pool, so there's definitely no pressure."

BLG, Knight: "Actually, I want to play against T1 as soon as possible to test their strength."

TES, GodYi: "Given BLG's current strength, I feel they have a chance. They should seize it."

The next day, the qualifying rounds began, but since BLG and T1 didn't play each other, no one watched them.

After five days of competition, the results of the qualifying rounds are in.

T1, PSG, FNC, and BLG are the four teams that have emerged victorious.

That evening, the draw for the group stage began!

The TES team gathered together to watch the draw ceremony.

On screen, the host is explaining the rules.

First, a draw is held among the four number one seeds to determine the order, and then a draw is held among the remaining four teams to determine their opponents.

The four teams that advanced from the qualifying rounds are naturally the second seeds.

GEN, TL, G2, and TES, who do not need to play in the play-in stage, are the number one seeds.

After the host explained the rules, he invited the guests to draw lots, but an unexpected situation occurred.

The one who came up to draw lots was none other than Xi Ye!
Xiye, former mid laner for WE!
Xiao Tian muttered to himself, "It's actually Xi Ye. Is Xi La laughing at me?"

Lü Yi laughed and said, "If he hears this, he might draw the hardest one for us."

Xi Ye walked to the first lottery machine and drew out the four number one seeds.
He reached in and took out a small ball.

The host announced, "GEN!"

Then there's the second one:

"TL!"

"G2!"

"TES!"

TES is the fourth one, but the order doesn't matter; what comes next is the key.

Xi Ye walked to the second lottery machine and drew one.

"FNC!"

Thus, the first matchup has been determined: GEN vs. FNC.

“BLG1”

BLG has been drawn to face TL.

Ah Shui was greatly disappointed: "So this is TL? I wanted to see them play against G2."

Meiko joked, "You want to see how strong G2's bot lane, Hans Sama, is right now, don't you?"

Xiao Tian looked over: "Ah Shui, are you under a lot of pressure? Do you even need to have ELK check the intensity?"

Ah Shui sneered: "If he can't even beat ELK, what makes him think he can challenge me?"

The draw is still ongoing.

Suddenly, 369 suggested a possibility: "How about we play T1? We haven't drawn T1 yet!"

"T1!"

Just then, T1 was drawn, and their opponent was G2!

"Holy crap, that scared me." 369 breathed a sigh of relief.

Lü Yi looked over: "What's going on? Are you afraid of Zeus?"

369 feigned composure: "Afraid of Zeus? How could that be? I just... want to take it slow and get a feel for the game. If I start by fighting the strongest opponent, I'll easily lose if I'm not in the right frame of mind."

PSG ultimately became TES's opponent, thus finalizing the matchups for the first round.

GEN VS FNC
TL VS BLG
G2 VS T1,

TES VS PSG
Warhorse called out, "Now our first-round opponent is confirmed: PSG. Although we should be able to defeat them easily based on their strength, we can't let our guard down."

"This MSI has a rather unique format, and the outcome of each round is crucial. Although losing won't result in direct elimination, it will affect the opponents we face later and the rounds we need to play. We will try our best to finish the competition quickly."

This competition uses a double-elimination format. Simply put, the winner of each round becomes a member of the next round's winners' bracket, and they continue to draw lots among themselves.

The losers will have to fight their way up from the losers' bracket round by round.

Therefore, if you can keep winning, you can have far fewer rounds than others, which can help you avoid revealing more of your hand.

After the draw, everyone started chatting in the group.

TES, Jackeylove: "Let's assign tasks now. BLG, you go to the loser's bracket, we'll stay in the winner's bracket. Then you fight your way out of the loser's bracket, and we'll fight our way out of the winner's bracket to meet in the finals."

BLG, ELK: "Why aren't we staying in the winners' bracket and you going to the losers' bracket? That's not fair."

TES, 369: "This is a recognition of your strength. It's not easy to fight your way up from the loser's bracket. You can get eliminated if you're not careful. If you lose in the winner's bracket, you have another chance. You are stronger, so you are more suitable to go to the loser's bracket."

BLG, On: "I feel like you're kidding me. Do you think we're easy to fool?" TES, GodYi: "After the first round, I estimate that both LPL and LCK teams will be in the upper bracket. That's when the real test will begin."

Everyone realized it now, it really was true!
In this draw, LCK and LPL were not matched up.

Therefore, what Lü Yi said is very likely, and the gap between other regions and LCK and LPL is still quite obvious.

After a day of rest, the main competition has begun!

In the first round, the first BO5, GEN vs. FNC!

The TES players gathered together to watch the match, wanting to see just how good GEN really was.

Meiko joked, "I hope Da Chao won't mess up when he plays against FNC, that would be too awful."

369 said, "To be honest, I think with GEN's current strength, even if Da Chao plays poorly, his teammates can still carry him to victory."

Warhorse instructed, "We're mainly looking at GEN's understanding of the current version, focusing on draft picks and tempo. Everyone, watch carefully."

On screen, the players from both sides take the stage, and then the draft phase begins.

In this game, GEN picked Corki in the mid lane, while FNC chose Taliyah.

As a support, GEN's bot lane picked Rumble.

This caught Warhorse's attention: "Rumble support? What do you mean? Tianye, what do you think of Rumble support?"

Meiko pondered, "The main problem is that FNC's bot lane has Varus and Ashe, both of whom are champions without mobility skills. Rumble support seems like a pretty good option."

"Rumble has burst damage, and his output is very high after reaching red temperature. His ultimate is very good against heroes without mobility."

Once the game started, after about four minutes of laning, both junglers ganked the bottom lane together.

Moreover, they all went around to the back!
However, Canyon's Sejuani was faster; he had already started making his move, while FNC's jungler was still in the triangular area, quite far away.

As a result, FNC's bot lane was compromised, and Varus gave up his life.

Xiao Tian muttered, "You know what, Canyon's got some skills. He clears the jungle really fast. He used those few seconds of advantage to help his teammates gain an edge. If he had cleared the jungle a little slower, it would have been harder to make a move."

The sister-obsessed person agreed, saying, "Canyon's jungle clearing is indeed different from that of ordinary junglers. He plays with technique and is faster than others."

Immediately after, at seven minutes into the game, Canyon's Sejuani reached level six, circled around the vision, and used her ultimate to hit Taliyah in the mid lane from the side, helping Chovy's Corki secure the kill.

Ah Shui then said, "They've gone too far. FNC is no match for them at all. The difference in junglers is obvious."

Everyone felt that FNC had already lost this match.

They were already weaker than GEN in terms of raw strength, and then they were put at such a huge disadvantage in the early game.

However, things did not go as EDG had imagined. Although Chovy quickly got another kill, the economy between the two sides remained even.

FNC isn't just sitting idly by; they're also looking for opportunities to trade towers and gain economic advantage.

Most importantly, FNC consistently controlled the dragons.

Xiaotian complained: "Canyon doesn't seem to like controlling resources. He has a clear advantage in the mid and bot lanes, so he should control the dragon."

The economy remained basically even until the 24th minute of the match.

At this point, FNC was about to secure the Dragon Soul, so both sides engaged in a team fight.

It was at this point that the disparity in strength between the two sides became apparent.

In team fights, FNC was no match at all and was easily crushed.

This allowed GEN to secure Baron Nashor, suddenly reversing the situation.

Ultimately, with the help of Baron Nashor, GEN ended the game in one fell swoop.

369 was a bit conflicted: "What's going on with this GEN? You could say he's bad, but he easily crushed them in the end."

"You know, he's really good. He was very close to FNC in the beginning, and I felt like FNC would win again, mainly because they didn't get the Dragon Soul."

Warhorse replied, "Don't rush, let's see how the second match goes."

Both sides took a break, then returned, and the second match began.

Moving on to the business plan (BP) stage.

In this match, FNC picked Rabadon's Deathcap in the mid lane, while Chovy's mid lane champion was Aurelion Sol!

Xiao Tian muttered, "What level is Teacher Da Chao's Dragon King? Can he handle it?"

Lü Yi replied, "The Dragon King isn't a particularly difficult hero. It would be an exaggeration to say that someone can't play him well. At most, they just don't have top-level proficiency."

However, it soon became clear that everyone had underestimated Chovy.

Although he was playing Aurelion Sol and was being pressured by Orianna, he was ahead in last hits!

Although they were only slightly ahead, it was enough to demonstrate their strength, since their opponent was also a top mid-laner and couldn't possibly have missed many CS.

The first twenty minutes of this match were similar in pace to the previous one.

The biggest difference is that the Dragon Soul isn't acquired as quickly, and GEN has a greater economic lead.

Neither side is particularly interested in taking down the dragon unless they have absolutely nothing else to do.

Peyz's Draven took off after getting two kills!

Meiko exclaimed, "This individual Draven is something else! He's a huge threat. Right now, no one on FNC can withstand his damage output."

Lu Yi looked at Ah Shui: "Now you have more and more competitors. Can you handle it? The world's number one Draven."

Ah Shui shrugged: "When did I become the world's best Draven? It's all just an empty title, it doesn't matter."

Lü Yi laughed: "Really, it doesn't matter? Really?"

At first, Ah Shui was able to maintain an indifferent expression, as if he really didn't care. But soon, he couldn't hold back anymore and said, "Fine, we'll know who is the best in the world after we fight. Before we fight, it's all just empty comparison."

Just when everyone thought Draven was invincible and the game was about to end after more than twenty minutes,

FNC has taken the bait!
The two sides traded kills in team fights, but GEN was unable to deliver the decisive blow.

As a result, the match dragged on forty minutes and was still not over!

TES players were stunned. The match, which they thought was going to end in just over 20 minutes, had already reached 40 minutes!

Meiko muttered, "We seem to have underestimated FNC. This team is really resilient."

Lü Yi replied, "The gap between the various competition zones is actually not as big as it seems."

Ultimately, GEN used the dragon as a ploy to lure FNC into stealing it.

Although Xiaolong was snatched away by FNC, the positions of the FNC players are in an awkward position.

Aurelion Sol used his E skill and ultimate to block the way, trapping the FNC players inside the dragon pit. Then he started a kiting tactic, launching attacks from all angles.

That's how GEN won the match!

369 felt a deep sense of regret: "What a pity! I felt that if FNC had handled things better, they definitely would have had a chance. They were too hasty. Actually, the Wind Dragon Soul isn't that important. Even if the opponent had taken it, it wouldn't have been a problem."

Lü Yi said, "In this situation, it is difficult to maintain a perfect record. The biggest advantage of LCK teams is their stability. They are not easily flustered. European and American teams are more likely to make mistakes due to their anxiety under such constant conflicts."

Xiaotian agreed: "Indeed, LCK has something in terms of patience, after all, the longest match was played by LCK."

The score is now 2-0, and GEN is leading by a large margin.

Everyone thought that with the score at 2-0, FNC would likely have a mental breakdown and low morale in the third game, and be swept.

However, the third game was also very close!
Moreover, FNC's mid laner even picked LeBlanc in this match.

Twenty minutes into the game, the economies of both sides remain even!
The Demoness has eight kills!

Meiko exclaimed, "Is the LEC region really that strong now? FNC is the second seed, right? How could they put up such a fight against GEN?" (End of Chapter)