Chapter 137: Battle for First Place, Rematch with T1! The Unexpected Fifth Level 7

"Alright, welcome back to the live broadcast of the eighth day of the 2022 World Championship. We are about to begin the final group stage matchups!"

"Our LPL region's first seed, EDG, will also face their final test of the group stage today!"

"I have to say, EDG played beautifully in the first round, defeating the formidable T1 to maintain a perfect 3-0 record. They only need one more win to basically secure their spot in the knockout stage."

Madison Square Garden was packed and buzzing.

Everyone wanted to see how Group A, universally recognized as this year's "Group of Death," would determine its final rankings today.

The moment the countdown on the arena's giant screen hit zero, the lights instantly dimmed, and as the EDG members emerged from the player tunnel, they were met with an immediate roar from the crowd!

The first match was EDG vs. G2.

During the pre-match hype segment, the arena screen played highlights from the first round of matches between the two.

When Ye Bo's Sylas "solo flight" "Portal Trick" was replayed, the volume of the theater crowd surged to an even higher level.

By the end of the first round, World Championship viewers had already witnessed the strength of this rookie player.

His bold and highly imaginative plays, paired with a fierce laning style and approach, had successfully captured a large group of Western fans in just three games!

G2, meanwhile, had been holding back a massive amount of frustration.

For this crucial first match of the second round of group stages, they decided to pull out their trump cards right from the start!

Experience from the group stage over the past few days had proven that in this format of playing three games in a row, the first match for every team was extremely important and heavily influenced morale.

"Seraphine!? It looks like G2 has prepared a secret weapon for this game!"

"Wait a second... Darius!?"

"The first Darius at the S12 World Championship! As expected of G2, they really know how to spice things up!"

The commentary desks were all very surprised by G2's lineup.

Although Ye Bo was also somewhat surprised, his expression didn't change at all.

He had conducted in-depth research on teams from other groups.

Naturally, he had invested twelve times the energy and time into his own opponents.

While it was impossible to completely predict the opponent's draft, he still had plenty of preparations and contingencies.

Take G2's seemingly abstract lineup, for example.

Top lane Darius, jungle Graves, mid lane Galio, and bot lane Seraphine + Alistar.

Ye Bo had anticipated that the opponent would guard against the bot lane, and he had actually considered the Seraphine option!

It wasn't just because Seraphine was a staple champion for G2 in their domestic league.

It was even more because G2 had already exposed a clear gap in their bot lane during the first round; even if they realized the importance of lane priority in the current meta, the gap in laning skill made it very difficult to counter just by picking certain champions!

Of course, he truly hadn't expected the Darius pick.

After all, throughout the entire S12 summer, there wasn't a single recorded Darius game worldwide, so there was no way to verify it.

This was also the charm of the World Championship; every team had their own hidden cards.

Don't look at G2 as if they were the 0-3 "experience babies" from the first round who didn't pose a threat.

But there had already been more than one precedent; if you truly underestimated and ignored them because of that, you might just crash and burn!

There are no weak teams at the World Championship; even if you have secured a massive advantage, or even if you are leading 2-0 in a best-of-five, you still can't represent anything until the moment you win the final game.

This was what Ye Bo told himself.

That was why he treated even the Vietnamese team with equal importance when studying matchups.

And it wasn't just G2 that had surprise moves.

"Oh my! It's here!"

"EDG is also spicing things up, Pyke mid!"

"Ye's Pyke mid, it's been a long time since we've seen it. Wait, no, I remember the last time it was picked, it was also against a Galio... it was Knight's Galio!"

The commentary desk clearly hesitated when mentioning that last name.

The stream chat, as if by conditioned reflex, immediately began to mock those brothers who were already "at sea."

But in fact.

Ye Bo picking Pyke certainly wasn't for the sake of "spicing things up," but for three purposes.

First, G2's lineup was indeed suitable for Pyke, countering their strong roaming.

Second, because in the tactical system he had prepared for today, Pyke was already on the list, just not the one at the very top.

Third, Ye Bo also wanted to test an idea.

Sure enough.

The moment he entered the game, the prompt box that popped up before his eyes confirmed his conjecture.

【Match Easter Egg Quest: In this match, use the R ability to kill each of the five opponents once.】

【Quest Reward: "Bloodharbor Ripper" champion proficiency (depending on quest completion 0/5)】

【Tip: There is no penalty for failing the Easter Egg Quest.】

Ye Bo, whose historical performance on the quest triggered during the last game against DFM wasn't particularly ideal, later went to Baidu to look up the keyword "1945" in the quest, only then understanding the reason.

And combining his experience from the previous few times he triggered quests.

Ye Bo began to have guesses about the conditions for triggering these quests or Easter eggs.

Although he still couldn't figure out what connection there was between quests like JackeyLove and Pyke, or Knight and Galio... he vaguely guessed that it might be related to the more "history" a matchup had with a team, the more likely it was to trigger these quests.

The quest triggered by Pyke completely confirmed his thought; it was correct!

The reason was simple — because the G2 team had once used the champion Pyke in the same year's World Championship to play in all five positions: Top, Jungle, Mid, Support, and ADC!

At the time, "one Pyke rocking five lanes" was considered a legendary story in the competitive scene.

And the successful verification of this conclusion also meant that Ye Bo might be able to try triggering them more proactively in the future...

"Pyke moves forward... Oh, what am I seeing?!" The North American commentator on-site spoke extremely fast and with passion: "Pyke changes direction three times in mid-air to lock down five people! G2 is facing a huge crisis in the shadows!"

"While executing a lethal roaming rhythm in the early game, Ye has once again pulled off an incredible engage!!"

"Anber-li-de-bo!"

North American viewers who hadn't seen Ye Bo's Pyke felt it was divine, watching those eerie and silky combos being executed with ease as if they were basic maneuvers.

G2 was definitely a bit unlucky this World Championship.

Not only were they placed in this group of death, but both times they had to play EDG in the first match.

Both times they became the test subjects for EDG's "new tactics."

That's right.

EDG was also experimenting with new tactics in this game.

After all teams realized the importance of lane priority in the current meta and the criticality of resource fight strength, relying solely on picking lane-dominant combinations in the bot lane was clearly no longer enough to secure lane priority.

Ye Bo wasn't a support player after all; this information was mainly discussed with Meiko.

Once Caitlyn was banned, the pushing ability of most other ADCs couldn't create a large gap, and the choices for enchanter supports were limited...

Therefore.

Ye Bo once again thought of the "extreme roaming" choice he used most often when he first joined the team.

It was just a pity that Taliyah wasn't very strong in this meta; her early-game melee combat strength was truly too weak, even weaker than Azir, so her pick priority wasn't high.

This Pyke pick could also be considered a type of attempt.

Of course, because he already knew the opponent's strength, EDG didn't show too much draft design in the first game, making people feel it was just a counter-pick choice they had used before.

And it was very clear that G2's lineup in this game was once again subjected to a certain "counter" effect.

25 minutes into the game, the situation on the Rift was already decided.

The five EDG members headed out again, preparing to push down the crystal.

However, because Caps seemed determined to "play it safe" in this game, he went straight for a pure tank Galio, which, even in a heavily disadvantaged game, felt like a real city wall!

Ye Bo was only missing Caps' head to complete his collection; he had narrowly escaped a few times.

He really managed to create a stance of "never being wiped out"!

Ye Bo had a bit of OCD.

He opened the "All" chat.

【Caps! 1v1?】

After a brief pause, the opponent quickly typed a reply.

【OK, top!】

A 15,000 gold difference meant a comeback was impossible.

These G2 guys seemed to have triggered a passive skill, with an optimistic mindset, so naturally, they wouldn't refuse such an invitation.

"What does this mean! Caps and Ye seem to be having a 1v1 solo!"

"The entire EDG team has stopped pushing the base; they are being very cooperative, haha."

"I don't know who suggested it, but it seems that although Perkz is no longer here, Perkz's spirit still remains in the team!"

【This is why everyone likes to watch G2's games even when they are slumping; this is what you call playing the game!】

【To be honest, the mentality of these Westerners is indeed okay. Having teammates with this kind of atmosphere in the team must be really fun to play together, unlike (】

【Is Ye going to get the MVP again this game? Speaking of which, the Top 20 ranking given to him before the match was only 12th. I want to laugh; the person who made that list should have a very red nose right now!】

【Master Ye's operations are truly pleasing to the eye. When it comes to spicing things up, he really hasn't yielded to anyone!】

【Facts have proven that while secret weapons can indeed defy the heavens and change fate, there are also gaps between secret weapons! The same goes for niche secret weapons: Karthus, Darius, Pyke—the difference in quality is clear!】

The outside world naturally enjoyed such fun events that didn't affect the outcome of the tournament.

Of course, the result really didn't have much suspense.

Galio's own clumsiness made him very easy to be outplayed by Pyke.

Both sides were testing each other crazily, but Pyke's hook was clearly much more accurate than the Gale, and after being hooked continuously without anyone interfering, Caps couldn't hold back and made the first move.

But once Galio made the first move, Pyke's flexibility was fully unleashed.

A counter-step back, turning around to collide with the shadow, leaving the opponent dizzy.

After several rounds of pulling and tugging, Galio could only helplessly be tortured to death!

Caps smiled and shook his head, typing 【GG】 in the chat.

Ye Bo also quickly replied with a friendly GG (good game).

The teammates waiting in front of the base struck, blowing up the G2 base.

"Congratulations to EDG! They have secured their fourth victory in the group stage, continuing to lead the Group A standings!" Guan Zeyuan on the commentary desk grinned happily.

Barrier was equally excited: "After defeating G2, EDG's 4-0 record makes them the first team in Group A to secure a spot in the knockout stage. They have successfully carved a bloody path out of the Group of Death!"

"Next, they can shed all pressure and play to their heart's content in the remaining two games, competing with all their might for the top spot in the group!"

4-0 was already a score that locked in a spot.

Ye Bo took off his headset, feeling the swelling enthusiasm of the scene, and waved to the fans off-stage with a bright smile.

He also knew that after winning this game, his side no longer had the pressure of qualifying, and the first small step he had taken since arriving at the World Championship could be considered successfully crossed.

But this wasn't enough to satisfy Ye Bo.

While everyone on EDG breathed a sigh of relief, they all knew that the next match would be the real hard battle!

The deep voice of the English-language commentator came through: "It's a pity, as the second seed from the European region, there is still quite a gap between G2 and the LPL champions!"

"Next, they will face the second seed from the LCK region, T1, one after another! Let's wait and see together! Let's see if they can show their own style!"

Ye Bo packed up his peripherals and walked back to the backstage with his teammates.

Before waiting for the second match to start, he first collected the quest rewards from just now.

But he didn't expect...

Just by summoning the prompt box, his eyes were covered in golden light!

【Congratulations! "Bloodharbor Ripper" has reached the peak Level 7!】

Because of the perfectly achieved quest goal, he directly obtained a Level 6 proficiency Pyke as a reward.

But perhaps because Ye Bo's previous Pyke was already a reward from a fateful duel, and now he had obtained the same reward again...

It was like two two-stars merging into one three-star!

The "Hero Compendium" instantly lit up with a fifth golden avatar.

Pyke had also become Ye Bo's fifth Level 7 champion!

This was an unexpected joy without a doubt.

In fact, Ye Bo had been most comfortable using Sylas recently, and he had always thought that would be his next Level 7 champion.

It was indeed quite close.

If it weren't for the special settlement mechanism of this champion, where most of the extreme operation rewards were stacked onto other strange champions, he should have already completed the breakthrough!

Ye Bo was naturally happy to accept this.

After all, if it weren't for Sylas, there wouldn't be Wukong, Vex, Braum, Renata, Ryze... and many other Level 5 champions obtained for free in the Hero Compendium!

Satisfied, he turned his head and looked with his teammates at the second match that had already begun.

He was quite looking forward to seeing if G2 could bring out something new in this game.

To be honest, G2's lineup in the first game had a lot of merit and also gave him new inspiration.

The Darius pick looked very strange.

But in fact, there was only one purpose — absolute fighting ability in the upper half of the map during the early to mid-game!

Darius's only problem was being too clumsy, but his actual stats were quite exaggerated, especially once he triggered his passive; unless you could kill Darius instantly, there was absolutely no chance of winning a 2v2!

G2's concept is very interesting; they wanted to use the early-game dominance of Sett and Graves, combined with Galio in the mid lane, to launch an extreme offensive in the upper half of the map.

Since they couldn't win in the bottom lane, they simply avoided laning!

Using the dual crowd control of Seraphine and Alistar to provide a team-fight advantage and certain amplification effects, they created an alternative power-spike composition centered around two major carries in the top and jungle!

This once again proves that in League of Legends, no hero is useless or incapable.

Every hero possesses a scenario where they can shine—a highlight zone that belongs only to them.

The only things that are incapable are the people playing them.

G2 indeed had some issues with individual player performance; for example, the top lane was repeatedly caught by Pyke, which infinitely magnified the disadvantage of Sett being easily ganked.

However, the strategic thinking was absolutely flawless!

Unfortunately, it still left Ye Bo feeling a bit disappointed.

Because G2, having returned to the stage with no possibility of advancing to the quarterfinals, were all smiles, and judging by their expressions, they were far happier than TES.

By the time they reached the draft, they started to let loose, with the bottom lane actually picking an entertainment composition of Yasuo and Yone!

Caps even imitated the opponent on the spot, countering by picking a mid-lane Pyke.

Even if T1 had originally wanted to play seriously, once they saw such a draft from their opponent, they naturally began to sheath their blades and fight with a conventional approach.

The outcome was naturally without suspense.

"Let us congratulate T1!"

"But G2 is truly having so much fun; this 'brother' composition actually has some merit—they almost solo-killed Gumayusi several times!"

"With this, the qualifying spots for Group A are now determined; EDG and T1 have locked in their quarterfinal spots, and neither team has any worries about advancing!"

"Next, let's see who will be the true king of Group A; let us wait and see!"

It was a slight pity that no useful information was obtained.

With only DFM left before the final showdown, it was obvious that neither T1 nor EDG would reveal anything while playing against them.

Oh, wait.

Actually, Ye Bo had originally intended to use it.

He had a hypothesis—if he used the hero obtained from that mission to play against DFM again, would it be possible to trigger a new mission?

But considering that, if his draft expectations went smoothly.

This hero might be the masterstroke of today's system, and it would be more effective to pick it for the first time when the opponent was unprepared, so he ultimately dismissed the idea.

It's just "wool-gathering"—there will be opportunities in the future~

Four matches concluded.

DFM and G2 had a competition between "Western food" and "Japanese cuisine," and it was ultimately proven that Japanese cuisine is more appetizing.

Finally, the last match arrived, and the atmosphere at the venue became increasingly heated.

Although both sides were under no pressure to qualify, this was actually within everyone's expectations and was a normal situation.

Everyone was looking forward to seeing it.

Whether T1 could recreate the plot from last year's S11 group stage, where they lost one game to EDG and then turned it around by winning two in a row.

Or if EDG could continue to overcome their opponent and break T1's historical record of "eternally qualifying first in the group stage"!

Without a doubt, this would be the most anticipated showdown of the day!

"Let us welcome the players from both sides to the stage!"

Both teams stepped onto the stage for the third time.

The screen slowly dimmed until it faded, showing the interview clips before the second round.

This time, clips of the AD players from both sides were used.

"In the first round, we lost to EDG, but I think the issue with the draft selection was quite significant," Gumayusi said with a slightly chuunibyou-like indifference.

"I believe our team's strength is outstanding enough, and I am very happy to have the opportunity for revenge and to reclaim the top spot in the group stage!"

"In this World Championship, we will definitely restore T1's glory!"

Accompanied by the disappearance of that serious-looking square face.

Immediately appearing next was Viper, who was expressionless and clearly much more pleasing to the eye.

"After winning against T1 in the first round, I heard that the question about our top laner's interview didn't seem to get an answer that everyone was satisfied with."

"I will relay his true thoughts on behalf of our top laner."

"At the very least, in that match—our mid laner was stronger than the opponent's."

"I believe we will also become stronger in the second round."

The venue was instantly ignited by these words.

【Holy crap, that's too explosive! You really dare to say that!】

【Nothing wrong with that, I think. Can't say it? In that match, Faker was clearly not as good as Master Ye!】

【Wow, Viper's Chinese is amazing. He's only been here for less than two years and can speak like this. How come some people have been here for seven or eight years and still...】

【Bold! And what's seven or eight years? Some people have studied for 22 years and still don't understand!】

【Heh, I can only say EDG, don't get cocky. Wasn't it the same plot last year? The first round was just letting you win; just wait!】

【EDG, cheer for me and charge hard! I can't wait to see the faces of these jerks!】

The spotlights at Madison Square Garden turned on, and the stage lighting was instantly maxed out.

The ten players on the player benches on both sides had taken their seats, stepping into the recruitment battlefield.

The key match deciding the top spot in Group A, begin!

(End of chapter)