Chapter 851

When the VG members returned to the hotel, the second match had already started.

The Ou Mei showdown was fun for LPL viewers, but Ou Mei netizens were on edge. Ignoring the grudge between the two regions, the MSF vs C9 match also greatly affected the future qualification prospects of Group D.

In the opening match, VG crushed AHQ, showing the demeanor of a strong team without reservation; even though some people had doubts before the match, after watching this game there was nothing left to say, and VG securing a spot to advance from Group D was beyond doubt.

A group only has two tickets to the knockout stage; VG took one, leaving three teams fighting for the remaining one, anyone could win it. Without considering playoffs, each team plays at most six best‑of‑one matches in the group stage; AHQ has already lost one, so whoever first gets D Group's second win will have a huge advantage.

Thus, the win‑loss relationship among the three teams becomes especially important.

Therefore, both sides played very cautiously in this match, to the point that it hardly looked like a game between the EU and NA regions.

Previously, people's stereotype of the EU‑NA region was constant big fights, mistakes as numerous as cow hairs, and victory depended only on who was more outrageous. But today both sides actually played steady macro, and the first kill didn't occur until 8 minutes in.

The game lasted over forty minutes, with both sides still hard to separate; both mid and bot laners had full six‑item builds, yet the team gold difference was under four thousand, and at this stage such a small gold gap has negligible impact.

C9 is NA's third seed; perhaps they placed themselves in a challenger mindset, and ended up being impatient. After setting a trap and killing MSF's jungler, they rashly went for Baron while MSF's remaining players were still in good condition.

Hansama's fully built Sneaky (mouse) entered invisibly with Lulu's censer buff, unleashed his ultimate on the C9 players whose magic resist and armor had been reduced by Baron's debuff, unleashing a barrage that downed two C9 members instantly, after which the team fight lost any suspense.

MSF, fighting 4v5, traded one for four, then took Baron; around 46 minutes, another team fight erupted below C9's high ground, where Hansama again shone, scoring the first pentakill of the S7 World Championship.

Guan Zeyuan exclaimed: "My goodness? A pentakill on day one! Hansama is too strong! Where did this player come from?"

This MSF team is one whose absolute core is the bot lane.

Hansama is precisely MSF's absolute tactical core.

The support IgNar, who partners with Hansama, is the team's rhythm engine and shot‑caller, while the rest are basically filler roles.

Including mid laner PowerOfEvil, once hailed by European netizens as the heir to the old demon king, in this team he can only willingly serve as a bot‑lane bodyguard, because Hansama's skill and talent surpass his.

In this match against C9, Hansama also proved himself, indeed possessing the qualifications to be the team's absolute core.

At 48 minutes, MSF destroyed C9's base, securing D Group's second win and earning a crucial point for themselves.

The nearly fifty‑minute bladder‑testing game finally ended, and MSF's victory was not easy.

Judging solely by this match, MSF and C9 are fairly close in strength. NA fans aren't overly disappointed, after all a third seed faced a second seed, and MSF is Europe's biggest dark horse this year, so C9's loss was expected. EU viewers, however, are also not fully satisfied, feeling MSF's performance fell short of expectations.

The LPL side also saw no waves, and nobody thought MSF could make a big splash in this World Championship.

Of the six matches on day one, aside from the opener, the match LPL netizens cared most about was the upcoming one.

SKT versus FW.

Flash Wolves, as the senior team of the LMS region, haven't achieved overly impressive results in international events in recent years, but they often pull off surprising games, especially when facing LCK teams, earning them the nickname "anti‑Korea hero."

Consequently, not only netizens but other S7 participating teams were also watching this match.

In the eyes of the major teams, FW has essentially become a measuring stick to gauge how much genuine weight this year's SKT truly possesses.

But nobody expected SKT to main a rebellious playstyle.

Earlier VG picked a cleaver team to run a T0 iron triangle composition, and later SKT followed suit by selecting a 4‑AP composition to play mid‑lane Orianna…

All the major teams were left dumbfounded.

Frankly, SKT's composition was excessively absurd: top laner Maokai, jungler Elise, mid laner Anivia, bot lane Caitlyn plus Lulu.

The SKT fan‑criticized "Hun Bu Rou" Huni actually started playing Maokai! I won't even mention that, but what exactly is this 4‑AP composition about?

LCK viewers in the livestream chat were cursing left and right, claiming that Coach Kkoma, upon coming to China, had been assimilated by the LPL's native "trash" coaches, or outright possessed.

Looking at the opposing FW lineup: top laner Jayce, jungler Rek'Sai, mid laner Orianna, bot lane Varus plus Lulu.

They had engage, they had balanced damage, they had early, mid, and late game covered… What a joke!

Among the watching teams, many felt some disappointment.

Experts could tell at a glance that SKT was copying VG, preparing for the later knockout stage right from the first group match, basically bleeding themselves to hide their trump cards.

Because one fact is crystal clear—whether it's VG's cleaver team or SKT's four‑AP Orianna, such a pick‑ban would never appear in a life‑or‑death knockout match; these two teams are just messing around.

However, VG's messing around at least had some meaning, as it helped verify the strength of mid laner Lu Xi An—although not everyone can learn this tactic.

As for SKT's composition, it truly contains no substantive value whatsoever; it relies purely on player skill to brute‑force, akin to stuffing an academic paper into a popular web novel—readers would surely curse, it's all filler!

Liang Yan fully agreed, so after looking at the ban‑pick he directly shut off the official stream and opened the domestic client. Substitute Gao Tianliang walked by from behind, happened to see Liang Yan closing the broadcast page, and immediately began to imagine things—

No wonder he's my master; even a match of this level doesn't enter his field of vision!

"How about we play two practice matches?"

Zhu Xiaolong came over and asked Liang Yan.

Liang Yan opened the desktop document, glanced at the practice match schedule, and said: "No opponents, everyone's gone to play actual matches."

"There are some."

Zhu Xiaolong spoke softly, pointing at the curtain, meaning the EDG people were over there.

Liang Yan said, "Then go over and ask them if they want to play."

Zhu Xiaolong then ran over, said a few things, lifted the curtain back in under half a minute, and returned with an embarrassed face: "They said they're researching new tactics, so it's not convenient to play."

Liang Yan froze for a moment.

What does that mean?