Chapter 877

D Group Final Second Match, C9 vs AHQ.

In the first round, the two teams played an incredibly exciting epic battle, that match could be described as dramatic and moving, leaving a deep impression on global audiences, and even after many days, many people still talked about it with relish.

Today the two teams faced off again, and netizens also had many expectations.

The result was C9 crushed AHQ.

Somewhat unexpected, but still quite exciting.

North American viewers, after watching this match, regained their morale, feeling hopeful again; C9 got off to a winning start in the second round, 2-2, with hopes of competing with MSF for second place in D Group!

But then they were slapped by VG and left dazed and confused.

Third match, VG vs C9. VG once again deployed the Lu Xi An lineup, C9 came prepared, but ended up being outplayed by VG, only learning at the very last pick of the ban phase that this Lu Xi An was actually played by a substitute! One mistake led to another, C9's bottom lane was at a huge disadvantage, and ultimately suffered a crushing defeat.

Thus, VG secured first place in D Group with a 5-0 record.

C9's record became 2-3, North American viewers consoled themselves, saying there was still a glimmer of hope.

Fourth match, MSF vs AHQ. Both sides battled for over forty minutes, but in the end AHQ lost, MSF took their third win, 3-2, temporarily ranking second in the group.

Fifth match, VG vs AHQ. AHQ abandoned version understanding, picked their signature four-protect-one lineup and fought desperately, early defense was extremely meticulous, but still couldn't withstand the frantic assault of "the top jungler", losing in over twenty minutes.

Final match, MSF vs C9, a life-or-death battle that gripped viewers from both major regions; if MSF wins, they advance; if they lose, they face a tiebreaker.

The result disappointed North American viewers greatly; the Third Seed ultimately fell short of the Second Seed by one tier, C9 gave their all but still couldn't win, losing in over forty minutes.

The D Group Final has now completely concluded.

VG and MSF advance together to the Top Eight.

C9 and AHQ are eliminated.

AHQ, like TSM in Group B, lost all six matches.

Thus, Taiwan netizens changed one character in AHQ's team name, calling it "Red Ink Celestial Horse".

Because before the group stage began, AHQ's owner accepted an interview with Taiwan media and said: "Making it to the Top Eight is definitely fine; we now need to figure out how to compete with VG for first..."

Loaned Top Eight, ultimately must be repaid.

Now unable to repay, naturally it becomes a deficit.

Furthermore, in the official match data, the losing team's score numbers are also red.

Taiwan netizens are truly talented.

……

VG members left the venue and returned to the hotel, attending a group interview hosted by LPL officials themed "Group Stage Summary".

These past two years, League of Legends' popularity has been surging; based on this, domestic esports-related websites, big and small, have sprung up like bamboo shoots after rain; this season's S Tournament is being held domestically, so any website of notable scale has basically sent reporters over, and some major sites didn't just send a lone reporter, but an entire team.

Major news sites like Toutiao, TX, NetEase, Sina, Sohu—no need to mention—they each have at least a three-person team; even lower-tier sites like 173 Youxia and even lower-tier logging tired rabbit gaming sites that focus solely on esports also have teams of two or more.

Adding reporters from other even smaller websites, the total exceeds three hundred, packing the hotel's first-floor large meeting room to the point of being impenetrable.

Voices buzzed, the air hummed with a buzzing sound.

VG's party entered through the door in single file and took their seats behind the podium.

A venue staff member responsible for maintaining order held a microphone and shouted several times before the crowd gradually quieted down.

Liang Yan sat on the stage, looking down at the sea of black heads, estimating that even if each outlet asked only one question, it would take one or two hours to finish...

This was truly boring; Liang Yan yawned, his hand hidden under the table quietly pulled out his phone, preparing to slack off.

But the first reporter to stand up threw the question at him: "Fire player, hello, I noticed that after the first round of the group stage ended, some voices appeared online; many netizens seem dissatisfied with your performance in the first round, even saying your performance was mediocre, you were invisible in major tournaments; I'd like to ask, what do you personally think of such talk?"

Liang Yan looked up at that reporter, pretended to think seriously for a moment: "Nothing much, hands grow on other people's bodies, I can't reach through the network line to smash their keyboards, so I can only let them say what they want. However, I feel that if someone truly supports VG, they should still be quite satisfied with our group stage results."

The next reporter immediately stood up to continue asking: "Then may I ask, Fire player, how do you view the situation for the Top Eight?"

Liang Yan: "This question is asked too early; the group stage hasn't even finished yet."

After just one or two sentences, that reporter sat down disappointedly, began racking their brains to think how to write their interview piece to meet the leadership's minimum requirement of one thousand words.

Liang Yan's responses to the two questions indicated he had no desire to chat today, and those present understood.

Another reporter stood up, shifted focus and asked: "I'd like to ask Coach Zhu Xiaolong, could you please predict the results of the A Group and C Group matches for the day after tomorrow?"

Both A and C Groups have LPL teams, so predicting A and C Groups actually means predicting whether the other two LPL teams can advance; this question seems ordinary but is actually hard to answer, because it's easy to offend people. Zhu Xiaolong thought carefully for a moment, then cautiously replied:

"Um, first I must admit one point: objectively speaking, the combined strength of these two groups is actually somewhat stronger than our group and even stronger than B Group, which has already finished yesterday. Moreover, the four teams in their groups have strengths that are even closer together; whoever wins or loses is not surprising, so it's truly difficult to make an accurate prediction, because anything could happen.

"I think the results of their first round matchups can be referenced, but it's not a completely accurate measure, because they've actually experienced a five- or six-day break, nearly a week, during which some things can indeed be studied; after adjustments, the outcomes become even harder to predict..."

Zhu Xiaolong said a great deal, but in summary it's actually just four words:

I don't know!

Such a person is exactly what reporters love to interview.

Not only because he speaks a lot, but also because his words are steady, he won't casually stir up big trends. Big trends may bring more traffic to websites, but what does that have to do with reporters? Credit goes to leadership; reporters just want an easy time writing, so whatever the interviewee says, reporters write it down—such interviewees are the most favored by reporters.

Similar to Liang Yan's prediction, this group interview lasted over an hour before nearing its end. Liang Yan also answered two or three questions seriously, rather than brushing them all off.

Then another reporter asked him: "Fire player, VG's group stage schedule has ended; you're about to depart for the Top Eight venue in Guangzhou; so before leaving, could you please say a few words to the many Wuhan supporters who came to the scene to cheer for you?"

This question was somewhat interesting; Liang Yan became interested, thought seriously for a moment, leaned slightly forward toward the microphone, and spoke sincerely:

"Thank you, Wuhan.

"These past few days, every cheer I heard in the arena.

"Next stop, Guangzhou; I will take it with me.

"But Guangzhou is not the end.

"I will also take it to Shanghai, to Beijing...

"I will take everyone's support and win one victory after another. I guarantee it.

"Just as the meaning of ViciGaming implies—

"I came, I saw, I conquered."