Chapter 381: The First Round of Group Stage Concludes
Amid the cheers of the audience, this highly anticipated clash between IF and SOT officially began!
Clearly, IF had prepared a never-before-seen strategy to counter SOT. At the start, SOT chose to have Mundo start at the red buff, while Diana took the blue buff before heading to the top lane to secure an advantage there. However, IF seemed to have seen through their opponent's tactical intent. Skarner and the bot lane duo directly ambushed in the bot lane brush. As soon as the blue buff respawned, they decisively bypassed the wards, invaded, and successfully stole it.
At the same time, IF's top lane Irelia, with help from Vladimir, secured their own blue buff. Skarner then returned to his own jungle to take the red buff, achieving a three-buff start.
Huiyi: "Wow, you can see that IF's opening strategy was clearly studied against SOT's playstyle. With the blue buff, Irelia in the top lane should have an advantage against Diana. The jungler also gets an extra buff for faster development. In the mid lane, Vladimir has gained a certain edge against Lux in the laning phase. IF's early game rhythm is excellent."
Ke Zhen was also excited: "Yes, obviously IF's strategy worked. Because of Vladimir's inherent champion traits, he can mindlessly push the wave, effectively locking Lux in the mid lane and preventing Frost from rotating to other lanes. If Lux leaves, whether Vladimir rotates or pushes the tower, it will cause huge trouble for SOT."
Huiyi: "But SOT's bot lane is Kog'Maw plus Lulu. If that combo develops in the late game, it's terrifying. I wonder if IF will target the bot lane."
Ke Zhen: "Kog'Maw needs a long time to scale. Right now, IF's bot lane Ezreal and Alistar are basically safe from ganks. Once Skarner hits level six, IF can start causing chaos everywhere."
The match continued. At level three, Skarner ganked bot directly. Alistar flashed in to knock up, forcing both SOT bot laners to burn their flashes.
In the mid lane, Frost's Lux was also aggressively harassing Hu Jing's Vladimir, but Vladimir, being a champion with strong sustain, simply hung back behind the minion wave and healed up with a few Q's.
At level four, Skarner ganked bot again, catching SOT's bot duo in a ward blind spot. Alistar used W-Q combo to knock up Kog'Maw, and Skarner and Ezreal followed up with damage to secure the kill.
"First blood!"
The first blood sound effect echoed throughout the venue, and the audience erupted with deafening cheers!
IF's top lane Irelia successfully suppressed Diana, but because she pushed too far forward, Mundo ganked her and forced her to burn her flash.
At level five, Skarner circled around from the blue buff jungle to gank mid. Vladimir used his ultimate, and the two planned to burst down Frost's Lux, but Frost's mechanics were excellent, and she escaped with a sliver of health.
At this stage, everyone was in a "fight first, ask questions later" mode, constantly roaming and causing trouble. There was none of that tedious, drawn-out macro play from later eras, so the match's entertainment value was explosive. The cheers in the venue rose in waves.
After stealing another buff, Skarner gave his own blue buff to Irelia again, ensuring the top lane's solo advantage. After all, Vladimir didn't need the blue buff, and Hu Jing's job this match was simple: chain Frost to the mid lane.
After Skarner hit level six, he couldn't find a good opportunity to pull anyone, because SOT was well aware of the threat of a level-six Skarner. Being at a disadvantage, they could only ward up and turtle.
IF secured a dragon, but its attribute wasn't great—just a Cloud Drake.
When IF's blue buff respawned again, SOT decided to invade and steal it. Mundo and Diana successfully forced Skarner's flash. However, Hu Jing's Vladimir rotated quickly, flashing over the wall to drop his ultimate. Irelia also flanked around. The three SOT members realized they couldn't win and tried to retreat, but it was too late. Vladimir and Irelia's combat power was terrifying!
Lux tried to use her Q to root Vladimir, but Hu Jing dodged it perfectly with his Sanguine Pool!
In the end, Diana was killed. Lux could only flash away over the Baron pit. Mundo was also caught in a pincer by the arriving Alistar, and his kill was given to Skarner.
SOT paid the price for this reckless invasion. After that, IF's gold lead expanded to around 4,000. Although not many kills had occurred, the advantages in all three lanes and jungle resources were enough to widen the economic gap.
From then on, IF played steadily. Because SOT was at an economic disadvantage, both Diana and Mundo had poor items. No matter who Skarner pulled, they were instantly deleted, so the game quickly tilted in IF's favor.
Although Frost's Lux hadn't died once, with Irelia and Skarner's items online, a single Lux couldn't carry the game.
The match finally ended at 37 minutes, with a score of 11-6. Not many kills had occurred because SOT kept avoiding fights, but the match's quality and excitement far surpassed the earlier games with huge score gaps.
Huiyi: "In the final teamfight, IF was unstoppable, successfully destroying SOT's Nexus and securing the victory! Let's congratulate IF! After the first round of group stage, they finish as the group leader with a 3-0 record!"
Ke Zhen: "Congratulations, IF!"
IF's five players walked to the center of the stage. All five were ecstatic, fully enjoying the applause and cheers of the audience!
...
The final round of the group stage concluded, with all teams finishing with three wins and zero losses, topping their respective groups.
In particular, IF's outstanding performance against SOT won them countless fans. On major forums, domestic League of Legends players were all jubilant.
Although the group stage was only halfway through, the hype for the League of Legends Season 1 World Championship was already soaring. This was evident from the buzz on major forums and streaming platforms.
On streaming sites, many streamers had opened dedicated channels to replay the World Championship's highlights and classic matches. IF's games were replayed over and over, and viewers loved watching them, with tens of thousands of viewers daily.
Some major League of Legends streamers, even during their regular streams, were analyzing the tournament. Some did match recaps, others provided secondary commentary, and still others analyzed the participating teams, their playstyles, and characteristics.
It could be said that almost every League of Legends streamer in the streaming scene was riding the wave of the World Championship's popularity.
This World Championship wasn't limited to the gaming circle either. Many traditional media outlets also covered the event. Although it didn't cause a massive social stir, it was at least a good start.
Because the World Championship was large in scale, offered a high prize pool, and was a competition to win glory for the country, the spirit and values it conveyed were very positive. The Esports Committee was also very supportive.
The League of Legends Season 1 World Championship's influence was growing larger and larger, far exceeding everyone's expectations.