Chapter 407: The Finals Begin
"Welcome to the live broadcast of the League of Legends Season 1 World Championship Finals. I'm your caster, Huiyi."
"And I'm the caster, Kezhen."
Huiyi shouted to the audience below the stage: "Today is the finals! Everyone, tell me loudly, are you excited?"
The audience played along, shouting back: "Excited!!"
After the warm-up video earlier, the atmosphere at the venue was already electric. The audience eagerly anticipated the final match of the championship. The enthusiasm of the two casters also spread to the crowd, leaving everyone thrilled.
"Now, let's welcome the two final teams. Both have defeated one strong opponent after another to stand on the highest stage of League of Legends. Today, one of them will ultimately claim the Season 1 World Championship title!"
"First, let's shout it out loud: N! R! G!"
The venue instantly erupted with deafening applause and cheers. Soon, all the voices merged together, loudly chanting the name of the NRG team.
Amid the crowd's roaring shouts, all five members of NRG took the stage, waving to the audience.
"Next up, also a strong contender for this championship, SOT!"
There was some applause and cheers from the audience, but compared to NRG, it was far too quiet.
Audiences who disliked this team didn't boo or laugh; they simply expressed their feelings with silence.
Clearly, some spectators still maintained good sportsmanship, but for a large portion of the audience, the pre-match microphone insult incident had severely tarnished the team's image. They obviously didn't want to offer any cheers to a team that had once insulted IF.
In fact, many of these spectators had originally liked SOT, especially their mid-laner Frost. For things to have come to this could only be described as bringing shame upon themselves.
The casters clearly noticed this somewhat awkward scene and quickly said: "Alright, please let the players from both sides take their seats. Audience, give your applause and cheers once more to both teams. The exciting match is about to begin!!"
Overall, the S1 World Championship kept things simple. On finals day, there were no extra segments—no theme song performances, instrumental pieces, or cosplay shows. They went straight to the main event.
For many spectators who were passionate about the competition, this was just right. After all, most people bought tickets to the finals to witness the birth of the champion, not to watch some strange song and dance performances.
The players were adjusting their equipment, while the two casters analyzed some key points and made score predictions.
"I think the key to this battle lies in the mid-jungle duo."
"Although NRG's bot lane is slightly weaker, they've definitely done targeted practice during this time. The bot lane will be at a disadvantage, but it shouldn't get completely crushed."
"So, for NRG to win, the key is whether their mid-jungle duo, K, can completely suppress Frost and tie him down in the mid lane."
"Especially Black. The jungler is a position that can create miracles. Honestly, after playing through the finals so far, many of our previous misconceptions have been overturned. The mid-jungle duo's role is far greater than we imagined. So this time, NRG can be said to be the team with the best chance of winning the championship domestically."
Kezhen, being an active professional player and team captain and shot-caller, had a very clear insight into the key points of the match. After his analysis, the audience's anticipation for this match reached its peak!
Huiyi pressed his earpiece: "Alright, both teams' equipment has been adjusted. Next, let's watch a video to see how NRG's key player, jungler Black, views this match."
The big screen switched to a shot of NRG's jungler, Jiang Hao.
In front of the camera, Jiang Hao still looked a bit shy, clearly not yet used to this feeling.
"I think this is the best opportunity for our entire team. We carry the hopes of many brother teams. If we lose, we have no excuses; we can only let this day become a permanent regret. So, we will give it our all to win this match."
The audience cheered again.
Indeed, Jiang Hao was right. In this finals, the domestic team had every advantage—the early server launch, the largest player base, home-field advantage, and IF's unreserved sparring before the match. All possible preparations had been made. If they still couldn't win the championship under these circumstances, it would truly be a lifelong regret!
Soon, the big screen cut to the match screen!
The ban/pick phase proceeded very quickly. Clearly, both teams had done a lot of practice matches during this period and were very familiar with the current key champions.
In the first game, all attention was focused on the mid-jungle duo. All six bans were given to mid-jungle champions. NRG, as the blue side, picked first and chose Gragas over Karthus.
SOT successfully secured Karthus and paired him with Amumu, a teamfight-oriented champion.
NRG's mid-laner chose Anivia, hoping to somewhat compensate for their teamfight weakness.
After the game started, NRG's Gragas began aggressively invading. SOT's jungler Amumu cautiously farmed, but since this champion was too weak before level 6, he not only got killed once but also fell behind in development.
Every time Amumu was killed, the venue erupted in cheers, because this jungler was the one who had cursed the most during the microphone insult incident and was the most unrepentant.
In the early game, NRG gained some advantage. But during a crucial dragon teamfight, SOT's excellent kiting stretched NRG's formation. Amumu's entry instantly tipped the scales of the teamfight, and Karthus, even after dying, managed to secure a triple kill with his ultimate!
After this teamfight, Karthus became unstoppable. The gap in teamfight capabilities between the two lineups was fully exposed. In the end, SOT won the first game.
After this loss, NRG's players looked a bit grim, but there wasn't much frustration on their faces—instead, they were filled with fighting spirit.
The audience also cheered and shouted loudly, encouraging them.
In the spectator stands.
Li Jingsi looked at the big screen: "Not good. I hope NRG's players' mentality isn't affected."
Chen Mo, watching the live stream on his phone, said: "It's fine. NRG's mid-jungle duo is known for having strong nerves. They've gotten through worse before. One game loss won't affect their mentality. Besides, I think NRG has a better chance of winning."