Chapter 159: Opening Match

Riot announced the top ten of the global top 20 players as follows:

10th place: Duke

9th place: Pray

8th place: Bjergsen

7th place: Gorilla

6th place: Bang

5th place: Peanut

4th place: Clearlove

3rd place: Deft

2nd place: Faker

1st place: Smeb

Ten spots, eight Korean players.

Broken down by region, that's seven LCK, two LPL, and one NA.

Broken down by team, it is:

ROX has four: top, jungle, ADC, support.

SKT has three: top, mid, support.

EDG has two: jungle and ADC.

TSM has one: mid.

After the list was released, European netizens stared at Riot's announcement, rubbing their eyes repeatedly, examining it over and over, and finally concluded: Firrrrrre is not on it.

【No Firrrrrre?】

【What a joke!】

【Is Riot blind?】

【How is it possible? Firrrrrre actually didn't qualify for the top 20?】

【I think it's hilarious; the people at Riot who came up with this ranking must be a bunch of blind fools, haha, otherwise how could they fail to see how strong Firrrrrre was in the summer split?】

【Although I'm an FNC fan, I want to say, Riot really is blind.】

【Actually, have you noticed that the entire list has only one EU player?】

【Got it, EU is being targeted by Riot.】

【I think it's still because of MSI…】

Netizens from other regions, however, went crazy with joy.

Especially NA netizens.

Never mind how many NA players made the list; anyway, there are more than you EU!

NA > EU, with the official ranking as proof; the weakling region is utterly crushed!

LPL's fanboys and LCK netizens also went crazy laughing.

What's this 'Eternal Enemy of the Defense Tower'? They made it sound like a big deal, but it turns out they didn't even make the global top 20.

That's it?

Just this? Just this?!

RNG manager Sanshao also reposted Riot's Weibo announcement of the top 20 and commented:

"I said earlier, he's just a shockwave; luckily we weren't drawn into the same group, otherwise Xiangguo would teach him a lesson! But to be frank, although G2 got lucky and landed in Group A, I think they might not make it out of the group."

Malaxiangguo (MLXG) saw his manager's Weibo and was displeased, venting in the training room:

"Hey Sanshao, can you stop dragging me into your hype? I think this guy is actually pretty strong, damn it, watch out for getting slapped in the face, I'm telling you."

Sanshao paid no mind to Malaxiangguo's fragrant chatter, merely smiling and saying:

"Getting slapped in the face? What face? We're not in the same group; if we meet in the quarterfinals, I'd be begging for it — straight ticket to the semifinals, plus I can hide my tricks. Isn't that awesome?"

Malaxiangguo gave a heh heh cold chuckle twice:

"Don't talk so big, your mom — these past couple days someone said G2's scrims are practically invincible; they really aren't that weak, right?"

"You believe the mutual hype? After today's match, see if they're still bragging!"

"Fine, let's watch then."

……

Beijing time, 5:00 a. m., September 30.

North American time, 4:00 p. m., September 29.

G2 Zhong Ren left the hotel, walked to the San Francisco Bill Graham Civic Auditorium, which is two blocks away, and arrived minutes later.

This massive gray-white fortress with a round dome was once the home court of the NBA's Golden State Warriors and has hosted concerts by many world stars.

Now it is the venue for the group stage of the 2016 League of Legends World Championship.

The backstage area is actually quite spacious, but when all the players from the sixteen teams entered, it became very crowded.

At the opening ceremony of the group stage, all sixteen teams will go on stage simultaneously.

G2 Zhong Ren entered the backstage, passed through the crowded corridor, and under the guidance of event staff walked to the wings, standing at their designated spot facing the backstage exit.

They were only one curtain away from the live action.

In the darkness, the noise of thousands of spectators merged into a roaring wave; even without seeing the stage, one could feel the fervent atmosphere, and everyone's emotions were unconsciously infected — Liang Yan couldn't help but feel a surge of heat in his chest.

"Really noisy."

Perkz pulled at his collar to fan himself, saying it was noisy, yet his face was flushed and his eyes full of excitement.

Turning his head to look beside him, Liang Yan had his eyes closed, his head slightly raised, as if listening.

===GOLSSARY===

San Francisco Bill Graham Civic Auditorium

Perkz asked:

"Are you doing English listening practice?"

Besides the noise of the audience, there was also the voice of the on-site commentator, transmitted through speakers all around, echoing in the huge hall.

Liang Yan didn't speak, as if he hadn't heard.

Perkz pointed to the ceiling over ten meters high and muttered to himself:

"The guy speaking right now is called Dash; he's actually a host, and he went up to the commentator's desk today—he's pretty handsome. Oh right, the EU commentator also came to the venue; I saw Quickshot on the way, and I saw him walking with the LPL commentator. By the way, do you know the LPL commentator?"

Perkz's mouth never stopped chattering, basically spouting nonsense, using this to relieve his over-excited emotions.

"He left."

Liang Yan interrupted Perkz's muttering.

The 15 teams split into two streams and walked onto the stage from the exits on either side.

The SKT members were left alone backstage.

The stage lights hadn't turned on yet, until all the teams stood in their designated spots just like in rehearsal.

Then, the on-site commentator's voice suddenly became piercing:

"Now we'll hand the camera over to the stage, and let Riv introduce these 16 top teams from around the world!"

"Hellooooooooo! Radisson, you sharp‑heads!"

Riv's signature voice rang out, and he appeared on screen; this North‑America‑based star commentator was tonight guest‑hosting the stage.

North America commentator Riv

"Welcome to California! This is the live broadcast of the 2016 League of Legends World Championship group stage, I'm Riv!"

"The long‑awaited S6 is about to begin, but before the official matches start, let's first call out the S5 World Championship champion team for the trophy‑return ceremony!"

"Please welcome—"

"SKTeleT1!"

Six SKT players in red‑white jerseys and Kkoma in a black suit walked out from backstage to the front. Amid the crowd's cheers, they pulled back a black curtain and lifted a silver‑glittering trophy onto the trophy stand.

After the trophy‑return ceremony ended, Riv began introducing the 16 teams one by one, from LCK to LPL to NA; each team beforehand basically got a round of cheers, but when it came to the EU—

"Next up is the EU's first seed, G2Esports!"

"Whoo~~~"

"The EU's second seed, H2K!"

"Whoo~~~"

"The EU's third seed, Splyce!"

"Whoo~~~"

The smile on Riv's face could barely hold up; he thought there should be some European fans in the crowd, but all he heard was booing……

Fortunately, the introduction segment ended quickly; the feed switched back to the on‑site commentator desk, and the camera panned around the commentator desks of the other regions, briefly introducing each one with the English commentary.

The opening match's two teams were left on the stage.

They were G2 and CLG.