Chapter 868

C9 secured their first win in S7, also ending the NA region's five-game losing streak.

Indeed, this is the NA region's first victory in the S7 World Championship, and it was actually their third seed who achieved it.

NA fans were overjoyed to tears, with countless people saying that even if C9 performs poorly afterward, they will never criticize C9 again in their lifetime, as C9 is truly the light of NA!

Even European fans, who usually enjoy opposing the NA region, sent sincere blessings, thanking C9 for bringing exciting matches to everyone.

After the match, C9 participated in a group interview, with several players clearly stating they had not given up on competing for qualification spots, and their goal remained reaching the quarterfinals.

Compared to TSM, who made various excuses after losing these past two days, C9's attitude undoubtedly earned more support from NA fans, and their official Twitter gained tens of thousands of followers overnight.

The Chinese internet was also lively.

The third day's schedule has completely concluded, with the first round of Group A's group stage matches finished, and the remaining three groups will also complete their first round tomorrow.

On major Chinese social platforms, netizens' discussion enthusiasm remains high.

Of today's six matches, aside from the SKT vs. RNG game, the remaining matches involving top-tier teams did not bring many discussion-worthy topics for netizens; unexpectedly, it was the final AHQ vs. C9 match that let everyone enjoy themselves to the fullest.

Summary of today's schedule:

The LCK region finally suffered their first loss, but with a record of six wins and one loss, they remain the best-performing region, simultaneously proving that the LCK region's overall strength is indeed world-class.

The LPL and EU regions both recorded two wins and one loss today, with overall records of four wins and three losses, still tied for second place;

The LMS region suffered two consecutive losses, with an overall record of one win and four losses, which is shocking;

The NA region has one win and two losses, with an overall record of one win and five losses, making them akin to the LMS region as unfortunate counterparts;

The two wildcard region teams in Group B had no matches today, maintaining a record of two wins and two losses.

……

Night had deepened.

In the LPL training room, three teams were training separately. Possibly due to the oppressive atmosphere on EDG's side, everyone was unusually quiet today, aside from occasional curses over in-game matters, leaving only the sounds of mouse clicks and keyboard taps.

The sudden knocking sound therefore stood out particularly clearly.

"Hey, someone's knocking on the door, Tabe go open it!" Malaxiangguo shouted like a loudspeaker through the door curtain, with ears also sharp.

Tabe is just tabe.

The three teams: EDG's training position is at the innermost part of the room, RNG in the middle, and VG closest to the outside, so usually when someone knocks on the door, it's VG's person who opens it.

Tabe paid no attention to Malaxiangguo's shouting and naturally got up to open the door.

CNB coach, smiling broadly, stood outside the door.

Tabe was slightly stunned for a moment, then asked in English: "Is there something?"

The CNB coach rubbed his hands, feeling a bit embarrassed: "It's like this, I have something I'd like to hear your opinions on, please give me some advice……Is now convenient?"

"Uh……"

Tabe thought for a moment, understood, and turned to look at Zhu Xiaolong.

Zhu Xiaolong stood up and smiled: "Sure, let's go outside to talk."

The three of them went out together.

"What to talk about? So mysterious." Duan Deliang said curiously.

"Probably about tomorrow's match." Fu Lan Duo said, wearing half an earphone, apparently having overheard the earlier conversation.

"Match? Do they want to seek scriptures from us?" Duan Deliang said cheerfully, "But that's useless anyway, they're playing Dragon Pearl tomorrow, no matter how you look at it, there's no chance of winning, unless Dragon Pearl lets water through."

"They're not stupid, can't you tell?"

"Then what's there to talk about?"

……

After more than ten minutes, the two coaches returned.

Duan Deliang couldn't contain his curiosity, stood up pretending to get water to drink: "Long Ge, what did you guys do out there?"

"We chatted with the CNB coach about some things." Zhu Xiaolong said calmly.

"What things?"

Zhu Xiaolong sat down, turned around, and looked at Xiao Duan with a leisurely expression: "Want to know?"

"Yeah!"

"Pour me a cup of water first, bro."

Duan Deliang immediately picked up his just-filled disposable cup and ran over, pattering along.

Zhu Xiaolong took it, took a sip, then spoke unhurriedly, glancing toward Liang Yan's side: "They asked us what we think their chances of winning are tomorrow against Dragon Pearl."

"Is that even necessary to ask? They're sure to lose."

"This is a Bo1, anything can happen, there's still a chance to pull off a steal."

"So what did you say?"

"I advised them to lie flat, try their best to secure second place."

……

One night passed, and the group stage entered the final day of the first round schedule.

This day will verify whether netizens' predictions about each group's team strength levels are accurate. Although there are still second-round matches, past World Championships have shown that if a team loses all matches in the first round, it's very difficult to stage a miraculous comeback in the second round.

Right from the start, it was Dragon Pearl vs. CNB.

Netizens had considerable expectations for this match, as CNB's performance in the first two matches proved they are indeed not an ordinary wildcard team.

People enjoy watching lively scenes, and LPL fans hope CNB can pull off an upset and crush LCK's first seed Dragon Pearl.

Almost everyone thinks that although CNB is likely to lose, this match will at least be fiercely contested, and Dragon Pearl won't win so easily.

The result was shocking.

Dragon Pearl utterly destroyed CNB, ending the battle in under twenty-five minutes.

Global netizens were greatly disappointed.

Wildcards are ultimately just wildcards; they can only put up a fight against fake strong teams, but once they face a real strong team, they immediately reveal their true form, like clay chickens and tile dogs, with no room to fight back.

However, the G2 team felt something was strange, because in this match, CNB didn't play at all like the team they knew; on the contrary, it perfectly matched people's stereotypical impression of wildcard teams: terrible lineup, poor operations, tactics full of loopholes, and players' operations were a mess.

It wasn't until after the match, when Dragon Pearl went over to shake hands and the director pushed the camera toward the CNB player bench, that G2 Zhong Ren saw CNB's group of people grinning foolishly, and only then did they realize something was fishy.

"Jeez! CNB is deliberately throwing the match here!"

Although it's hard to believe, given G2 Zhong Ren's understanding of CNB, the only reasonable explanation for CNB playing so terribly in this match is that they were throwing the game.

"Awesome!"

Jankos, who had caught Perkz's verbal tic, couldn't help but give CNB a thumbs-up.

It's unbelievable, but CNB just did that.

A wildcard team, when facing the LCK's first seed, threw the match!

Saying it out loud, no one would believe it.

……

Next up is the second match of Group B.

GAM versus TSM.

Before the match, TSM's owner and founder, Gorilla Captain, posted on Twitter:

【We will never lose again, TSM must win!】

Half an hour later, besides North American netizens, global netizens were laughing hysterically.

Ka Lao Si joined the lively scene by posting a Weibo.

【@Perkz, alright, now it should be "from now on, IWCQ (Wildcard Region) teams aren't allowed to sit at the table if they don't come to TSM".】

What Perkz said a couple of days ago was, CNB isn't allowed to sit at the table if they don't come to TSM.

Ka Lao Si changed a word.

Because TSM lost to GAM.