Chapter 393 The Curse of the Eight Strong

The second round of the group stage began in the blink of an eye, with the four teams from Group B competing on the first day.

The Dragon Ball team displayed their "kingly style" in this lowly group. After sweeping the first round of the group stage, they once again swept the other teams in the group in the second round, winning 6-0 to advance.

However, Dragon Ball's advancement was actually expected by everyone. What truly surprised everyone was the team that advanced as the second-place team from Group B.

FNC, who lost all their matches in the first round of the group stage, won all four of their three matches in the second round, except for a loss to Longzhu, and ultimately pulled off a stunning upset to advance to the next round.

FNC's upset victory reminded many viewers and teams of what Li Chen said in a post-match interview: many teams were holding back.

Many people thought it was impossible at the time, but now that I think about it, it actually makes some sense.

On October 13th, the second round of group stage matches began in Group C. RNG, the team that everyone had high hopes for, suddenly lost to G2 in the last game. Although they still advanced as the top team in the group, they did not have a perfect record.

The second team to advance was SSG, who were defeated twice by RNG. They defeated G2 twice and ultimately advanced with a narrow one-point advantage.

After watching the entire day's matches, Li Chen raised an eyebrow slightly. As an opponent, he could sense that RNG and SKT's performance this year was definitely stronger than their historical counterparts.

Even under these circumstances, RNG still lost to G2, which has a somewhat fatalistic feel to it.

However, apart from Li Chen, no one else cared about the outcome of this match. Netizens were all fantasizing about the three LPL teams, with two teams advancing as first place and one as second place, even going so far as to defeat LCK 3-1 in the semifinals and ultimately have an internal battle at the Bird's Nest.

On October 14th, the Group D matches began. WE's performance gave LPL fans a surprise. They won all their matches in the second round of the group stage and ultimately advanced as the top team with a score of 5-1.

The Rabbit team won their tiebreaker against the North American Snake team and advanced as the second-place team, while the Flash Wolves, on whom Taiwan had high hopes, suffered a near-total defeat, losing 1-5 and going home.

This result gave LPL fans another surprise, and the chat exploded when the match ended.

Holy crap, all three teams qualified for the quarterfinals as champions! Am I still half asleep?

What year is it tonight? Have I traveled through time?

【No, EDG hasn't even played yet, what are some people so happy about?】

[Hilarious! Do I even need to watch EDG's matches? I'll wake up to another resounding victory.]

[Oh yeah, right, the traffic team just loves to pop champagne at halftime.]

There are some groups online who consistently criticize EDG, but EDG fans are used to it and don't care about these rumors at all.

After all, no amount of talking can compare to the exhilaration of a resounding victory.

However, when October 15th arrived and the highly anticipated second round of Group A matches began, netizens realized the seriousness of the problem.

When the EDG team members walked out from backstage on the screen, Li Chen's stunning good looks were not among them, but instead the chubby A Guang, the comments section exploded.

【Wait, who is this person? I have such a big C-cup!】

[Geneva refund? How can you treat us like this?]

[Bro, I know you're in a hurry, but don't worry, you're watching the live stream, you haven't paid.]

He probably bet on EDG to win all their matches and advance.

[Relax, it's just giving A-Guang a skin. It doesn't matter who plays for C9.]

Backstage at EDG, Abu said with slight worry, "Achen, even WE has advanced as the top seed in their group. What if we only finish second? Wouldn't that be a bit too much of a problem?"

Li Chen waved his hand and said, "Sister Bu, don't worry. How can you be so sure we'll advance as the second-place team in the group? Given the current situation, C9 and AHQ have no chance of beating us unless they can lose to SKT twice in a row. Otherwise, we've got the first place in the group for sure."

"Twice? I feel like three times wouldn't be a problem at all?"

Abu muttered to himself as he turned around, looking at the screen with some concern. Both teams had already started banning heroes.

With Li Chen gone, C9's pressure to ban players instantly decreased, and even though they were on the red side, they had the resources to ban a mid-lane LeBlanc.

On the commentary stage, Rita was clearly disappointed. She had been reassigned to commentate on EDG's match today specifically for this purpose, but Li Chen did not get to play.

However, as the leader of CC Alliance, Rita still demonstrated her professionalism: "We have received a notification from the backstage that C God is unable to play today due to physical discomfort, so substitute player A Guang will take over as the top laner."

However, since C-God led the team to a perfect record in the first round, EDG's chances of advancing remain optimistic. A win in this match would secure them a spot in the next round, so there's no need to worry too much.

Miller nodded slightly: "We also hope that C-God can recover as soon as possible. After all, the knockout stage will begin after the group stage, and EDG cannot afford to be without C-God."

[Classic physical discomfort, do you think I believe it?]

[Geneva refund? How can you treat us like this?]

[Dude, how much are you holding back? You keep sending them out!]

Smart people only bet on EDG to win the championship; they don't even look at the others.

Based on my twenty years of experience as a veterinarian, EDG definitely didn't offer a bonus for winning all their group stage matches.

[Dude, you're a miracle doctor!]

The chat was buzzing with activity, and the draft phase was underway in the game. Finally, the lineups for both sides were finalized, and the game entered the loading screen.

EDG (Blue Team):

Top Lane - Cho'Gath

Jungler - Gragas

Mid-lane - Airplane

ad——mouse

Support - Lulu

C9 Red Team:

Top Lane - Trundle

Jungler - Sejuani

Mid Lane - Syndra

ad——Little Cannon

Support - Rakan

At the start of the game, both junglers acted like they were on steroids, moving around unusually frequently, doing things everywhere, and even invading each other's territory.

However, the factory manager is the factory manager after all. In the early jungle skirmish, due to his slightly inferior skills, he couldn't win the one-on-one fight and had a frog concubine stolen.

However, the factory manager's ability to find opportunities later was also good. He successfully counter-ganked twice in a row, and in total, he achieved a one-for-three exchange, helping the team gain an early advantage.

C9 is clearly not a team that can play a good game in terms of strategy. Despite being at a disadvantage in the early game, their mid-game strategy was a complete mess, allowing EDG to snowball their lead.

Finally, at the 38-minute mark, EDG pushed forward with the Baron buff and easily won the game. Based on the current scores in Group A, four points are enough for EDG to secure a spot in the next round.

As soon as the game ended, Li Chen posted a pre-prepared Weibo message:

EDG has once again entered the quarterfinals of the World Championship. The ominous curse of "every year in the quarterfinals" has descended. Do you guys think I can break it?

(Just kidding, don't take it seriously)