Chapter 258: Just the Winner of the Winner's Bracket, Not the Champion!

The MSI schedule is quite compact, essentially a series of back-to-back matches with almost no time for rest.

The next stage of the tournament begins immediately after the conclusion of the winner's bracket semifinals.

And just as everyone expected, the confrontation between the upper and lower halves of the bracket revealed a clear gap the moment they clashed; the "Group of Death" lived up to its reputation.

The following day.

The highly anticipated winner's bracket final between V5 and G2 was announced to begin.

However, before the match, both the G2 team and the local European audience were extremely excited, even full of confidence!

After all, if nothing else, G2 reaching the winner's bracket final on this MSI stage held on home soil—just one step away from the grand final—was already their best result since their peak in S9.

Before the match, the official G2 Twitter account even stirred things up by posting a promotional image titled "Reforging European Glory, It Is Our Duty!"

On the commentary desk, besides Captain Flowers, they also invited former G2 legend Perkz to assist, and there were many local fans in the stands below cheering for their home team, fully displaying the home-field advantage.

"Today's match is quite critical; the winner will skip the subsequent schedule and enter the grand final, sitting back to wait for the challenger!"

Flowers didn't "troll" when it came to his home team, pulling the two people beside him for a prediction analysis: "Who are you two more optimistic about before the match? After all, everyone is 2-0, and both are first seeds!"

Captain Flowers was noncommittal, being as tactful as possible for the sake of the home crowd: "Based on gameplay performance, I am more optimistic about V5. As for the score, I'll give it a 3-1."

However, Perkz on the other side, not knowing if he wanted to troll or was intentionally trying to sabotage his old team, spoke in an extremely arrogant tone: "Oh! How could it be 3-1? I am very optimistic about G2! They are terrifyingly strong this year! I even think it might be 3-0!"

But this was truly trolling too excessively, to the point that even the veteran troll Flowers couldn't listen anymore.

"That's not necessary, that's not necessary. Although there were slight doubts when this V5 roster was formed at the beginning of the season, they have proven that they were all right so far. In comparison, the G2 roster is still slightly inferior."

Perkz, however, disagreed, and retorted quite seriously and solemnly: "No, actually the two teams are very similar! Have you all forgotten what G2 is called this year?"

Remember the first round of the group stage, when G2 played against the North American third seed GG, they flashed the V5 team logo together.

That was actually G2 playing a "meme of their own," because G2 was jokingly called 【European V5】 by foreign netizens this year.

And it really wasn't just forced association; there were indeed some similarities!

Their ability to continue dominating Europe this year is inseparable from their complete rebuild, which was rebuilding with Caps as the core and adding four new people.

And top laner BB also debuted many years ago but had never been to the World Championship, only gradually entering the European mainstream vision in recent years, coming to G2 across regions after winning the North American championship with TSM.

Jungler Yike is also a rookie, mid laner Caps is also the undisputed number one mid laner in Europe, and the support is also an old man who has no mechanics and can only use his brain...

As for the AD position, Hans Sama is interesting—his nickname is "Brother Europe."

The brother of Europe!

Besides having the same determined eyes, both becoming worse year by year after leaving their first group of successful teammates, both having aggressive and occasionally slightly brainless playstyles, both even reaching Challenger at 14 years old, and even both having Draven as a signature hero, and both even having dyed their hair red...

Perkz on the stage was still fanning the flames: "It's not me bragging, although Ye is already strong enough, when it comes to playing MSI, it has to be Caps. He is the true MSI mid lane king!"

"Just watch, he will crush the mid lane today! It'll be 3-0!"

【He's so sincere that I can't tell for a moment whether he's trolling or being genuine.】

【Actually, Ye is quite good, no need to force Caps. If Ye is willing to come to G2, we G2 fans can also accept it.】

【Perkz, please don't hate too much. Isn't it just because Caps came to steal your mid lane position and refused to leave, causing you to become unemployed directly... But this doesn't deserve death!】

【Don't be careless, this G2 team holds the Emperor-Slaying Blade passed down from their ancestors! The last person who opened champagne before the match like this has already become the eternally celebrated 1020!】

【This match must be 3-0, if it's not 3-0 I'll eat it directly.】

Obviously, no one took Perkz's words seriously, not even G2 themselves.

They had confidence in themselves, but they were also very clear about V5's strength, especially Caps, who had been severely taught a lesson by Ye Bo at last year's World Championship, and they all wanted to defeat the strong enemy on home soil with utmost seriousness.

However.

The reason G2 is called "European V5" is more because of their playstyle.

Top laner BB is one of the most prominent offensive top laners in Europe in recent years, jungler Yike's counter-jungling and carry-jungle style is his specialty, and it's not hard to see the style of Brother Europe given his nickname.

The combination of these five people is an early-game bombardment system similar to V5 throughout the spring.

Basically, they are the type that if they don't kill you in 25 minutes, your base will be smoking!

This offensive style helped them be invincible during the European civil war, relying on the top-tier strength of the three-lane players within the league, but when facing the real 【Genuine V5】, they were exposed in an instant!

First is Yike, the best rookie hyped up by EU netizens. In the past, within the region, relying on Nidalee and Kindred, he could often 1v1 and blow up the jungle himself.

But when encountering Xun, an opponent with perfectly matching compatibility—he was directly countered and pressed to be beaten the whole time!

Whether it was personal mechanics, tournament experience, or the "back-spirit" that flashed with inspiration from time to time... Yike was played until he was dizzy!

BB's proud offensive top lane couldn't break through Flandre's defensive line at all, and even frequently gave opportunities because of it.

Caps chose a pure tank mid lane Galio to save his life.

But helplessly, Brother Europe in the bottom lane showed his style; he confidentially first-picked Draven but was repeatedly caught by Ye Bo's K'Sante, and even handed over the classic Cleanse to remove the knock-up more than once.

The first game was extremely bloody.

At 19 minutes, there was a 17-1 kill difference!

All the European spectators couldn't help but gasp when the base exploded, and even the local commentators on the commentary desk clearly had unnatural expressions...

————Except for Perkz, who seemed to be "snickering" openly.

"Haha, this is too easy to play~~" Xun made a gesture of his sleeve being slightly dirty when he stepped off the stage: "Hey, it's not me saying this, even Chuan could do it. It feels like there's no intensity at all~"

"Then how about letting Chuan come up to play a game? It's not easy to come to MSI once," Flandre suggested proactively.

He really felt no pressure, and empathized, thinking that Beichuan had finally made it to the venue and must really want to get on stage while sitting backstage.

"I have no opinion."

"Sure, sure~ Master Ye, what do you think?"

As everyone spoke, they looked at Ye Bo to seek the final opinion.

Ye Bo, of course, had no opinion.

After all, such training opportunities in international tournaments are very rare, and they definitely have extraordinary effects on the training of players, which cannot be compared to the league.

V5 bought Beichuan in the first place with the idea of letting the two improve together, but later Xun's progress speed was obviously faster than the other, but they never gave up on cultivating the latter.

"Oh!? Breaking news, V5 has changed their jungler!" Flowers, who had no hope after watching the first game, showed joy again.

"This might be an opportunity for G2! As far as I know, the player Beichuan has had very few appearances in V5, and he should not be their main player!"

Captain Flowers also nodded and said: "G2 has also come to the blue side, this should be the most hopeful game. If they lose, V5 will surely change back to Xun immediately."

The G2 members on the other side thought the same.

In the second game, they were extremely serious from the draft to the content of the game, choosing a standard four-protect-one AD carry lineup, and they actually managed to stabilize in the early game.

Of course, it was mainly because V5 was also practicing their lineup in the second game, letting Beichuan use tank utility heroes that Xun usually uses less.

This was actually a tacit understanding between the two in private.

The two junglers communicate frequently, and their understanding of playstyles and other aspects have already converged.

And Xun specializes in the jungle-carry offensive system he is best at, while Beichuan uses more heroes like Maokai, Poppy, Sejuani, and even Ivern...

Obviously, Beichuan's special training has been effective!

Although the heroes he chose were utility-based, his actual playstyle was still the original offensive one, which led to him picking a Sejuani but instead constantly counter-jungling Poppy's jungle, making Yike equally exhausted.

Ye Bo also practiced an Orianna that he usually didn't have much chance to play, which led to a relatively slow rhythm in the early game.

But slow is slow.

Once it came to team fighting, the strength gap between the two sides was immediately revealed again.

"Sejuani carries the ball and flashes into the fray! Orianna's ball pulls back three people in mid-air! But Jinx flashed!"

"Hans Sama's positioning is very good! He can output without pressure, no one can touch him, this team fight is hard to say! G2 has a chance!"

"Why does this Jinx seem to have no damage at all!"

The four-protect-one Jinx, nearly at three items, bombarded Ornn, Sejuani, and Braum in front of her with her rocket launcher.

But clearly, Sejuani had already been counter-attacked by the four of them to very low health, but she just wouldn't die after shooting for a long time.

If she had killed one, Jinx might have had room to operate once she got excited and started running!

"Ah, so Jinx bought Rapid Firecannon as her third item, that makes sense. In that case, she should wait until she buys Armor Penetration Bow as her fourth item to be better at team fighting," Flowers comforted everyone.

"Wait! Why did he go home and buy a Vampiric Scepter!?"

"Could it be that he wants to build Blade of the Ruined King? But it definitely doesn't feel as strong as Armor Penetration Bow, the three big tanks on the opposite side are too tanky." But in reality.

Facing such a super tanky lineup, Jinx's fourth item wasn't even Blade of the Ruined King, but Bloodthirster!

Even the V5 members on the opposite side didn't understand this itemization logic.

Hans Sama just thought that the opposing Orianna could often touch him at extreme range, but he didn't want to build Maw of Malmortius, so he bought a Bloodthirster to prevent poke, without thinking too much.

But it was such a simple item choice.

It can be said that it almost directly led to G2's defeat!

By the critical resource team fight at 30 minutes, G2 couldn't show any strength to fight at all from the front. The three big tanks just stood in front and let you hit them, and Jinx's output didn't even show a fluctuation to the naked eye!

A four-protect-one lineup, and it ended up having no damage!

V5 repeated their old trick, preparing to let Sejuani carry the ball into the fray.

But this time, perhaps because they practiced less, there was a slight coordination error between Beichuan and Ye Bo. Sejuani flashed and QR'd a bit too early, the ball hadn't been fully attached yet, but the hand Ye Bo had on the R key had already pressed it!

But just at this moment, Ye Bo's eyes suddenly froze.

He seemed to have noticed some "strange phenomenon."

It seemed that the situation was not quite the same as what he had expected?

"OH MY GOD!!! Orianna and Sejuani actually pulled five people!!! The coordination between Ye and Chuan!"

"Why is Ye's Orianna always able to initiate team fights like this? How is his Orianna different from others!"

"And although Jinx reacted extremely quickly with Cleanse and Flash, a DF combo to pull away, he really has no damage! He can't even shoot through Sejuani's pig skin! It feels like V5 could win even if Orianna missed her ultimate!"

【Are you kidding me, bro? Professional players don't know how to build items? Even I, a Silver player, know that this lineup needs to buy Armor Penetration first!】

【So it really is a makeshift team, professional players aren't as powerful as imagined, I feel like I could do it too~】

【Classic example of denying the whole, right? European and American teams are trash to begin with, you go try sitting in that V5 mid lane position!】

【To be fair, I think this Chuan is also quite handsome.】

【Not to mention, Chuan actually looks pretty good like this. At the very least, it feels like a waste to keep him on the bench. He'd really be fine on some teams with weak junglers, right?】

The fleeting change, followed by that eye-popping, five-man bombing team fight, successfully captured everyone's attention.

Except for Ye Bo himself, no one noticed that slightly strange change just now.

After 2-0.

G2 clearly began their traditional "giving up" mode, directly picking their respective signature champions.

Caps pulled out Yasuo to play against Sylas, and top laner BB even pulled out the classic "ranked hero," Darius!

Of course, BB's Darius and another European rookie, Adam, are actually known as the "two great kings of Europe," so this really is their signature.

Unfortunately, Flandre didn't indulge them, and immediately countered by picking top lane Quinn to torture the opponent!

"They have this kind of champion depth? The global ban-pick mode is truly a buff for players with such deep champion pools," Pierce exclaimed. "You two, do you think there's a chance in this game?"

Perkz could no longer hide the smirk on his face, so he simply stopped pretending and said with a full smile: "It's definitely over!"

"Although Sylas isn't strong in this version, this is Ye's Sylas, after all. Leaving it open in a match point game is just asking for trouble~"

"If you ask me, G2 might as well have left Akali open. It's all fireworks anyway, might as well give everybody the biggest one~"

Drakos still gave the home team some face, reluctantly trying to save them some dignity: "That's not certain. Beichuan does feel a bit nervous. It wasn't very obvious when he played Sejuani earlier, but with a champion like Viego in this game, there might still be a chance."

The pressure of the international stage is completely different from the league—this is the core reason why many people are kings in their leagues but crumble the moment they reach the world stage.

Not to mention someone like Beichuan who is playing in an international tournament for the first time, even some veterans who have played for many years are the same.

Of course, V5 only let loose and played this way because they saw the opponent's tendency to give up, treating it as finding their rhythm for the finals.

And just as the commentary desk said.

Although Sylas isn't strong in this version, it depends on the ID.

Caps seemed to dream back to last year's World Championship; as he laning, his eyes began to look clear, and soon good news came from the mid lane.

However, signature champions still have their charm.

BB's Darius found an opportunity in a Rift Herald team fight to Q-Flash into the fray, using the sharp Noxian Guillotine to execute Quinn and trigger Bloodrage!

IQ instantly -200%, courage instantly +500%!

"Darius has charged in... Darius has been insta-killed!"

"Darius's armor build against Quinn is basically running naked in front of Sylas. This is the foreshadowing of the mid lane laning phase not going well. Sylas's damage is too high; even stealing Darius's ultimate hurts so much. Otherwise, it feels like BB could have killed everyone!"

"But V5's bot lane didn't come, and the mid-jungle duo is still trying to fight back? Even though G2 is in poor condition, they still have four people!"

"Wait, what?????"

Viego possessed the shell of Darius and cooperated with Sylas to pursue.

G2 gave up the bot lane tier-one tower to come to the Rift Herald; it can be said that even if they got the Herald, they didn't profit at all. Seeing the two opponents still pursuing, there was naturally no reason to retreat.

But that Viego-Darius, as if he had received the highest command from the Order of the Shadow Isles, charged into the crowd without caring for his life, grabbing anyone he saw and fluidly performing A-W-E-A-A-A.

By the time he auto-attacked to trigger Bloodrage, the Viego-Darius was also nearly dead.

However, some people had already vaguely guessed something.

The Viego-Darius suddenly flashed forward with a Q, using his life to apply Bloodrage to the opponents, and the cooldown-reset Sylas flashed, transforming into a phantom of Darius, and slammed down 【His Own Path - Noxian Guillotine】!

"Bang!"

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

Sylas stealing Darius's ultimate cannot stack Bloodrage, and Viego possessing Darius can stack Bloodrage but has no ultimate to execute, but when the two are combined, it has a very miraculous effect!

It can be called the "Pickpocket Combo" where they steal everything from you!

Perkz flashed forward, still wanting to make a play, but ended up being almost killed in one hit by the full-stack Bloodrage true damage.

Only Caps swung his left arm and ran away without looking back, saving his life.

"It's over!"

The European audience at the venue also cheered passionately.

After all, those who genuinely believed G2 could win before the match were in the minority, and V5 had quite a few fans locally as well; after the result came out, the atmosphere was still comparable to a home game.

"Congratulations to V5! They have become the final winners of the winner's bracket! With a 3-0 record, they proudly advance to the MSI Grand Finals stage first!"

"They will wait on the finals stage for the results of the lower bracket to emerge, waiting for their final opponent in the finals!"

"And our G2 team will return to the lower bracket to engage in a brutal 2-1 duel, fighting for the last ticket to the finals..."

【That was truly light and easy, feels like they can award the trophy early! Let me ask, who in this lower bracket can even fight?】

【G2 is really trash, this Perkz is even more of a "brother" than his brother, the vibe is too strong.】

【Who is "brother"? I'm not familiar with people who can't even make it to MSI.】

【Jingdong must be grinning from ear to ear. With V5 helping them create psychological trauma for G2 and Gen. , isn't it an easy win? Suggest they just thank them/ff when they enter the finals.】

【Heh, does anyone really think V5 is safe? They are just the winners of the winner's bracket, not the champions!】

【Nothing wrong with that. After playing LoL for so many years, where do the "champions" come from? Aren't they all just self-defined winners? Playing custom games is hilarious.】

The back-to-back tournament continued the next day.

The V5 team sat firmly on the sidelines, observing their opponents, analyzing the battle situation, and looking forward to seeing what the two biggest opponents might reveal in their fight.

The four teams with a 2-1 record will undergo two rounds of draws, and each must win two more best-of-five series consecutively to advance to the finals.

This undoubtedly destined that quite a lot would be exposed, which can be considered one of the advantages of advancing to the finals with a 3-0 record.

And Perkz, who was drawing the lots on site, actually pulled off another god-tier move and created a huge spectacle—JDG and Gen. met a round early!

Of course, the result didn't matter; after all, these four teams were likely the final opponents for each other anyway, it was just a matter of the order of play.

But, when the next day arrived.

The thing that truly made everyone drop their jaws and was completely unexpected...

I don't know if Gen. was beaten out of their wits and hadn't recovered, or if JDG had their "Ren and Du" meridians opened, but it was a situation no one could have imagined.

The normal situation was actually a completely one-sided confrontation!

Pierce on the commentary desk shouted extremely excitedly: "JDG!!! It seems like the LPL is about to send the entire LCK region home first!!!"

"I said it, Europe really is the second region!"

(End of chapter)