Chapter 150: Expelled from the West

Europe's First Seed G2 and Second Seed H2K are in the Second Pool, while Third Seed SPY is together with North America's Third Seed C9 and the two wild-card teams INTZ and ANX in the Third Pool.

The remaining teams are all in the Second Pool.

When the official draw livestream showed the specifics of the seed pools, North American netizens went all out, speaking with sarcasm and veiled mockery, saying that EU no longer belongs to the four major regions.

European netizens couldn't hold back, feeling truly stifled, and thus swarmed into the team livestream of G2, the very cause of their frustration:

【Europe's shame! It's all your fault!】

【Gou Chao's MSI shadow is still haunting me, G2 go die!】

【Sigh, spending a lifetime unable to hold our heads up before NA, look at what you've done】

At this moment, even Ka Lao Si could only stay silent, because there really wasn't anything to say; the cause he himself planted has now borne this fruit, which he naturally has to eat himself.

The others didn't dare say anything.

For a moment, the atmosphere froze.

The two hosts at the draw venue were also chattering away, and after more than ten minutes, the camera finally switched to the prize draw guests, indicating that the draw was about to start.

The netizens in G2's livestream also felt they had finally vented their anger, thus shifting from cursing to joking about G2's group predictions:

【Stop watching G2, no matter how you draw, you'll always get the group of death】

【You're given a chance but you're useless; if MSI had made it to the knockout stage, you'd be waiting in the First Seed Pool now and wouldn't have to face another First Seed】

【I think the worst possible group for G2 would be: EDG, SKT, G2, C9—that would be the true death sentence; if they really drew that group, G2 could just wash up and sleep; but there are also better scenarios, such as: TSM, AHQ, G2, ANX】

【That's not much better either, since G2 can't even beat ANX, hahaha】

【The chance of having one LCK team and one LPL team in the group is extremely high, I'm numb】

【It's your pick, G2!】

【Right from the start it's hell-level difficulty, sigh】

【Or we could just keep giving the guys a vacation, since we won't make it to the quarterfinals anyway】

【I also think making it to the quarterfinals would already be a miracle, but will miracles happen?】

【Or let's just look forward to H2K and SPY】

The netizens all speak in a tone of frustrated hope, their criticism not necessarily coming from haters; indeed, there are also some fans who have turned from love to hate for G2 but still can't forget her.

Tang Anna sitting in the back suddenly spoke:

"Actually I think... as long as we don't run into ROX, everything else will be fine."

Everyone immediately chimed in:

"I think the same way!"

"Hey, give us something like TSM Flash Wolves, just to watch the jungler go on a rampage."

"A one-in-four chance, not that easy to encounter."

Liang Yan, however, remained silent.

Lao Zhang found it strange and asked him:

"What's wrong? You feel off?"

"No."

"Then why aren't you speaking?"

"I just... have a bad feeling."

"Huh?"

"Hmm."

The draw began.

The first prize draw guest stepped forward, a veteran from the LMS region, former world champion Assassin Star team's AD player and captain, Mistake, walking up to the first prize pool.

Under the direction of the two hosts on site, Mistake reached his hand into the transparent glass cylinder containing four silver balls.

Mistake flicked the balls a few times, then scooped out one and slowly opened it.

In G2's livestream, everyone fell silent.

The final group assignments for the four teams in the First Seed Pool are as follows:

Group A: ROX

Group B: FW

Group C: EDG

Group D: TSM

After Mistake drew TSM, the narrator, as usual, introduced this team's summer championship history in the NA region, ending with:

"TSM, the strongest Western team in history, this year they will represent the NA region in competition, defending the honor of the Western esports world!"

G2 Zhong Ren immediately became unhappy.

"What the hell did I just hear?!"

"The strongest Western team in history, hahaha, I'm dying laughing!"

"Are we being expelled from the West?"

"No, brothers, I think TSM hearing that would also feel pretty awkward."

The danmaku also had something to say:

【Isn't that so?】

【TSM is the only team from the Ou Mei region to have entered the First Seed Pool, so there's nothing wrong with that】

【Don't laugh, if we really drew TSM and then got crushed, that would be hilarious】

【TSM is really strong; this summer lineup is practically a super battleship!】

【Indeed, the NA regular season is best-of-three; TSM's overall record is 17 wins and 1 loss, and in the playoffs they only lost a single game, which is pretty intimidating】

"Ah yeah yeah yeah, TSM is awesome, TSM is invincible!"

"Ka Lao Si made the chat angry, but because of the rules he couldn't say outright that in the previous practice match they had crushed TSM, so he began to act shamelessly, appearing to agree while actually mocking and sneering."

"The chat became even more fired up."

"But G2 Zhong Ren stopped paying attention to the chat, focusing solely on the official draw."

"The second guest arrived, walked up to the second pool holding eight silver balls, gave it a casual flick twice and picked up one."

"Only then did CptJack open the ball, and G2 Zhong Ren all turned their heads at once to look at Tang Anna."

"Without even unfolding the slip, everyone already saw the gray team emblem on it."

"Group draw."

"Wow, G2!"

"The rabbit has entered the tiger's mouth!"

"The two hosts from the Bei Mei Sai Qu region couldn't keep the joy off their faces, shouting out in surprise and delight."

"In the G2 livestream, the chat filled the screen with hahaha."

"Everyone fell silent."

"My……"

"Under the murderous gazes of everyone, Tang Anna lowered her head in shame."

"Liang Yan wanted to laugh a little, but laughing out loud now would be totally inappropriate, so he forcibly held it in."

"Liang Yan knew the group results."

"This year's World Championship is truly meme‑laden, so much so that anyone who watched S6 retains a deep impression; even if they don't recall every detail of the group draw, they at least know which group the relatively crucial teams ended up in."

"For example, Group A had ROX as the top seed advancing, Europe's First Seed G2 ended up at the bottom of the sixteen, while ANX became the first ever Wildcard Region team to reach the S‑tournament quarterfinals."

"Before the draw began, Liang Yan was still unsure whether history would repeat itself, after all his meddling had caused some changes in the world line, even changing which teams were participating."

"But when Mistake was the first to draw out ROX, Liang Yan basically became certain that the group results would likely match his memory."

"The group results from the first pool later also confirmed Liang Yan's speculation."

"When G2 was drawn as the first team from the second pool by CptJack, Liang Yan naturally felt his heart become as still as still water."

"And the subsequent draw proceeded exactly according to Liang Yan's memory, except that Snake took the spot originally held by IM in the original world line."