Chapter 346-Battle for the First Division, the Intercontinental Championship begins!
After playing in Sao Paulo for a few days, the IG team returned to China.

A few days have passed, but the shock caused in the country remains unabated. Every day, many fans wait at the airport for the IG members to return home.

With the warm welcome from the fans, it was already ten o'clock in the evening when we returned to the base.

"The fist really cost a lot of money!"

As soon as we returned to the base, Fumanduo came over with a printed version update announcement.

"Let me see, Lee Sin and Shen are all nerfed, Gargoyle Stoneplate is reduced in price... This? No, man, this thing is so powerful, why do you want to strengthen it? "

King Ning was dumbfounded.

In the spring season, tank jungle has become the mainstream due to the two changes of Colossus's Courage and Gargoyle's Stoneplate.

Even because of the experience compensation mechanism and equipment mechanisms such as the Slag Giant Jungle Knife, it is more suitable for Xiang Guo's fasting style of play.

Yuan Shen may be one of the few players in the world who still insists on being a jungle core and rhythm-type jungler.

I didn’t expect to be targeted again after this MSI.

"I'm used to it. It seems that the fist is really anxious."

Yuan Shen smiled.

It is obviously not conducive to the gaming ecosystem if one team monopolizes all international championships.

In the past few years, Riot has made several changes aimed at IG, but each time IG has been able to adjust quickly and win the championship.

This is certainly related to his foresight, but the more important reason is that the players on IG have such a deep hero pool.

Even if new heroes are released, they can be practiced very quickly, and the tactical system will not be restricted by the player's hero pool at all.

"They won two consecutive S-League titles, and now they've won two consecutive MSI titles. They really don't give me any chance to survive. I'd be anxious even if they gave me one!"

Baolan smiled.

"But it's interesting to be targeted like this, isn't it?"

Rookie shrugged.

There are very few players who can put pressure on him in the laning phase now.

There are a few who can compete with him, but they will be timid because the disadvantage in the jungle radiates to the middle lane.

Yuan Shen, on the other hand, thought further.

Riot’s goal now is very clear, which is to interrupt IG’s winning streak.

Not only did they frequently change the version, they even made drastic changes, and they even added a major competition.

Intercontinental Series Asia Showdown.

This new event is held around July every year and is the last international competition in the year before the S game.

However, the rules of this national competition are different from all international competitions... It adopts the nature of confrontation between regions, full of honor and disgrace between regions.

A total of thirteen regions around the world participated in the competition, which were divided into five different competitions based on maps.

The Asia Challenge has three divisions: LPL, LCK, and LMS!
Each region will select the top four teams with the highest points according to the ranking of the Spring Season to represent their respective regions and fight against other regions!
When it comes to the semi-finals and finals, the qualifying schedule will not even be reflected, and the coaching staff of the entire division will have to make temporary arrangements and decisions!
Therefore, some people call it "Tian Ji's Horse Racing", which depends on which side has the stronger coaching team and which side has more team leaders...

The show’s effect is extremely good.

When playing BO5, the four teams from each major region will take turns to play. It is full of possibilities and playability, and also full of an inspirational spirit called unity!
Obviously, even if there is no chance of winning against IG, this is a competition between regions, and there is still an overall gap between LPL and LCK.

The results of last year's World Championship speak for themselves.

RNG and EDG were defeated by the LCK teams one after another, only IG dominated the whole time.

Even if it weren't for IG in the past two years, LPL's overall performance would still be surpassed by the LCK region.

Intercontinental Championship is an international competition that brings the honor and disgrace of the region to the extreme. The three words "family" are no longer a joke here, but the biggest factor that truly affects the victory of the game and even the championship!
The unique competition system requires all major competition areas to unite.

It's useless if you have only one strong team, you need four teams to be strong together to win the championship!
The LPL teams selected for the Intercontinental Championship this year are IG, WE, RNG, and EDG.

Originally, there were the Big Three of S7 in history, the three strongest teams, and the IG team that dominated the world because of the butterfly effect created by the appearance of Yuan Shen.

These four teams were also the four teams that made it to the end of S7 in history.

In the last round of the bubble match, IG lost to WE 2-3 and unfortunately stopped at the door of the world championship.

As the champion of the Spring Split, IG has become the top team in the LPL region!
As for the other three teams, they are also powerful teams in LPL.

Such a lineup also makes LPL audiences very excited.

The summer season will open soon, and the groups will be redivided based on the results of the spring season.

However, after a period of adjustment, IG's performance was not as invincible as fans expected.

In fact, after the start of the summer season, IG did not have the unstoppable momentum of the spring season, and there are many reasons for this.

The biggest reason is version change.

After seeing IG's abnormal performance in the Spring Split and MSI this year, Riot changed the summer season version several times. It's not that the version is not suitable for IG.

Originally, Riot's revision of the Spring Season was intended to target IG, but they did not expect to release three unstoppable heroes, LeBron, and Mantis, which just happened to make IG famous.

Now that everything has returned to normal, the dragon's attributes have been strengthened, the early-stage bottom lane has become more confrontational, tank equipment has been added, and warrior equipment has been weakened, forcing IG to abandon their top, mid, and jungle play and return to the bottom half.

IG's biggest weakness is Sima Laozei and Baolan in the bottom lane.

This is also their only weakness.

The version changes too quickly, and IG didn't have enough time to prepare for the MSI, so they didn't have time to adapt to the new version...

Due to various factors, IG's performance in the summer season was not as good as that in the spring season.

However, they are still at the top of the LPL standings and should be able to advance to the S League without any unexpected events.

Just like that, July 7th came quietly, and the IG team had already boarded the plane to Kaohsiung, Taipei, China.

That will be the venue for this year's Intercontinental Championship.

That’s right, this year’s Intercontinental Championship will still be held in China.

This is the second international world championship held in China after the MSI in S6.

The four LPL teams are ready.

Even if we have to sacrifice the entire region, we must defend the home court's glory!
While IG was heading to Kaohsiung, the outside world's attention was also attracted by the Intercontinental Championship.

This year, important events have come one after another with almost no pause.

For all LPL viewers, the three words "Intercontinental Championship" are of great significance. After all, it has always been said to be the number one league, but in fact it is all supported by IG in the front.

When other teams meet LCK teams, they still lose more than they win.

The overall strength of the region is still far behind that of LCK.

The title of the first division is more due to IG.

But as long as LPL wins the Intercontinental Championship, it will truly become the world's number one region!
Although it is just an Asian competition, the world's top two regions, China and South Korea, are both in Asia, and Europe and the United States are just there to make up the numbers.

Asia's intercontinental competitions also attract the most attention.

Intercontinental Championship officially starts on July 7th

International competitions, sentimental bonuses, regional honors and disgraces, plus it’s a home game…

No wonder all the viewers are so concerned about the Intercontinental Championship.

The discussion outside was increasing day by day. During the few days when IG and other teams were training, the topic had already reached a terrifying level of popularity. Almost every day, people were discussing which team was the top horse, which was the middle horse, and which was the bottom horse in this year's Asia Challenge, among the three major regions and twelve teams.

Tian Ji's horse racing is full of fun.

As for the tickets for the Intercontinental Championship, they have already been sold to sky-high prices, and scalpers have made a fortune. In recent days, all major forums on the Internet have been filled with posts denouncing these unscrupulous scalpers.

At the same time, IG has landed in Taipei and Kaohsiung and arrived at the official hotel

The four LPL teams did not come together this time because they had too many people.

It was not until this time that everyone met each other, and there was the inevitable greetings and pleasantries.

This was also Yuan Shen’s first time participating in an international competition of this nature, and everything he saw seemed very new.

Especially the coaching staff, various staff and analysts brought by the four teams.

For example, the analyst that made EDG famous is abnormally strict, and there is also RNG's top coaching team.

Even those teams that were not selected for the Intercontinental Championship have sent their most capable staff and top players to play training matches with the four LPL teams. If you are lacking in a certain area, you can find a top player who is good at that area to give you 1v1 solo guidance.

Everything was filled with a "big family" atmosphere, which made Yuan Shen feel for the first time that the rise of the LPL region was not without reason!
Just by standing here, you can feel the heartfelt and open-hearted feeling.

Everyone works hard together for their own region, and this feeling is really touching.

As early as the S5 World Championship, Yuan Shen, Mingkai and Wei Shen facilitated internal communication within the region and sharing of training game experience, but at that time they were more working together for the first S Championship.

There is still a competitive relationship between them, so there is no completely selfless sharing of resources.

Including Iron Man’s response method, Wei Shen only told them about it after defeating LGD.

They are both teammates and opponents.

But this intercontinental competition is different. All the teams are united and working hard for the LPL family.

But soon, Yuan Shen's happiness disappeared and he became miserable.

Due to his strength, he was assigned by the LPL Think Tank, which brought together the coaches of the top LPL teams, to personally guide the junglers of the other three teams, including Mala Xiang Guo, Zhachang, and Kangdi, in 1v1 matches within the next day...

Yuan Shen taught him all the gank routes, counter-camping techniques, and even operational reactions.

The people who watched Yuan Shen teach up close for the first time were stunned and called him an expert...

During last year's Olympics, Yuan Shen learned a lot from the Xiangguo factory manager, but just one year later, Yuan Shen has surpassed them a lot.

Time passed in this atmosphere.

Eight teams from the LCK and LMS regions also checked into the hotel.

The next day.

7 month 5 number.

On this day, everyone was in high spirits, and the fans and audiences were excited early in the morning.

Because today is the opening day of the 2017 Rift Rivals Asia Series!
Six BO1 matches a day.

On the first day, the LPL region will play against the LMS region, and all four teams have schedules!
Everyone got up early in the morning. The coaching team, which had worked hard all night, had already arranged the best BP lineup and tactical play for each of the four teams according to their different playing styles.

There is no greater effort than this.

Yuan Shen and others looked at the dozens of people in the coaching team, all of whom had green eye sockets, and couldn't help but feel moved.

It is this kind of LPL that is worth his efforts.

A dog does not despise a poor family, and a man does not despise an ugly mother.

Even when he was most desperate, he never thought about going to other regions to be a foreign aid, and instead came to play in LPL.

Let alone now.

Now that he is successful and famous, he thinks differently than before.

Simply put, the pattern has become bigger.

Because the Intercontinental Championship schedule was too tight and was closely followed by the Summer Championship and even the World Championship, there was no time to prepare in advance, and the coaches and think tanks had to work overnight.

"Play well and try to get off to a good start!" Abu patted the boys on the shoulders and yawned.

Everyone nodded and rushed to the venue together.

Arrive at 12 noon sharp.

At one o'clock in the afternoon, the venue was officially opened, and the venue, which could accommodate tens of thousands of people, was already packed.

Because it is a local battle, the LPL staff are already ready, and the major commentators and hosts are already prepared.

After a grand opening ceremony, the 2017 Asian Challenge officially kicked off.

The first battle is between LPL leader IG and LMS leader AHQ.

As a result, IG lived up to expectations. Although they did not have the abnormal dominance in the summer as they did in the spring season, that was only compared with the spring season. No team in history could match IG's dominance in the first half of this year.

Although AHQ was strong, after a 30-minute battle, their base was still flattened by IG.

So far, IG has helped the LPL region get a point, which is also a good start!
The whole stadium was boiling with excitement, and the name of IG resounded throughout the world.

Then, it was the second game, RNG vs. M17.
Originally everyone thought they were sure to win. After all, the M17 team didn't have much chance of winning against the world-famous RNG.

The result was somewhat unexpected. Uzi did not play due to a hand injury. He did not cooperate well with RNG and the two sides fought for nearly forty minutes. Finally, M17 successfully turned the tables.

The battle situation gradually became tense.

Fortunately, the LPL teams performed well afterwards and actually won all the games, ending the first day of the group stage.

The next day, the LPL region played against the LCK region.

It is also the last day of the group stage.

The first battle was started by EDG.

However, they met LCK's No. 1 seed Longzhu, and after fighting for 37 minutes, they still failed to win the game.

The factory manager's signature Pig Girl blew up Peanut's jungle area, avenging the defeat in the S6 World Championship, but Iboy in the bottom lane was pierced by Pray.

However, no one blamed them for anything.

After all, this is the strongest team in LCK, so it is normal to lose.

However, in the following schedule, other LPL teams are very strong.

After yesterday's huge controversy, Uzi returned to the starting lineup and successfully led RNG to win a game, defeating Samsung and helping LPL get a point.

IG also got one point.

Even WE, who were worried about their sometimes strong and sometimes weak performance before the game, played well in the most crucial match today. Conti suppressed Cuzz with his explosive power, and Xiye's Ahri killed Faker alone, winning the final match of the Intercontinental Championship group stage for LPL!
At this point, the results of the LPL teams in the group stage have been completely determined.

6-2!

Currently ranked first in the group.

Everyone's eyes are on the final match of the Intercontinental Championship group stage, KT vs. FW.

The current record of the LCK region is 5/2. As long as they win this game, they can play an extra game with the LPL region and strive to qualify as the first in the group.

As it turned out, FW lived up to being the pioneer in the fight against Korea. They completely crushed SKT in the BO1, not to mention KT. After a -minute battle, they finally pushed down the opponent's base.

At this point, the 2017 Intercontinental Series Asia Challenge group stage has come to an end.

The LPL region ranked first in the Asian region with an excellent score of 6/2, and directly entered the Intercontinental Finals as the first in the group!
The remaining second and third places are: LCK region, LMS region!
In the next day, the two divisions will face off against each other in the semi-finals. Whoever wins will advance to the finals and fight against the big boss - LPL at the top of the Forbidden City!
(End of this chapter)