The first day of the group stage ended with two victories for the domestic teams.
On the first day, the domestic teams, NRG and IF, had their first and last matches against the European and North American teams respectively. They did not play against the Korean teams.
After a day of matches, a few teams and celebrity players left a deep impression on the audience.
NRG's mid lane duo, Black and Silver.
IF's mid lane player, Hu Jing, and Roy, Luo Yongchang.
Korea's SOT's mid lane player, Frost.
Korea's MAD Demon's support player, Muffy.
Europe's VSG (visiongaming)'s MID lane player, Pure.
North America's WBG (wildbeast gaming)'s ADC player, Turke.
At the current stage, professional teams in LoL were still very reliant on the individual strength of their celebrity players. Although they would steal strong heroes, their understanding of heroes, strategies, and techniques had yet to reach a high level.
When the audience was watching the matches, they would only focus on the more eye-catching players and their signature heroes. After all, they would cheer as long as there was a kill, and they would not be able to discern the tactical intentions and details of the players.
The schedule for the first round of the group stage basically gave the teams from each region a chance to appear. Moreover, all matches were 'best-of-one' matches, and each team only had to play one match per day.
After the first round, each team in their group would play one match each against the other three teams. Generally speaking, the team with two wins would be more optimistic for them to advance.
In the second round of the group stage, the teams had to play one match per day to determine the team's status in the group. This stage was extremely tense and cruel.
Although the two domestic teams, NRG and IF, had won on the first day, the domestic teams were nervous. After seeing the performance of the other teams, they realized that these teams were not weak at all!
The European and American teams performed better than expected. They were not the weaklings that everyone thought they were. On the other hand, the Korean teams had improved significantly, giving off a feeling that they were much stronger than the European and American teams!
In the past, Chinese teams would often arrange mock matches with Korean teams. This could be considered as an eSports tradition that had been passed down from RTS and FPS games. After all, cross-region practice allowed players to challenge opponents with completely different styles, which was beneficial to both sides.
However, due to the Korean server's late launch, the Korean teams had always performed poorly against the local teams. Their individual skills were far inferior, which was why IF's Hu Jing looked down on the Korean teams.
But after today's matches, the leaders of the Chinese teams were shocked to discover that the Korean teams had improved very quickly after analyzing the performances of the strong teams!
The Korean team's two matches today were also against Europe and the United States. One of them was SOT's mid laner Frost's solo performance, using Clockwork Magic to clear the entire field. The other was MAD's support player, Muffy Ox-Head, roaming the entire field, establishing a huge advantage for the team in the mid-game.
This was a world of difference from the South Korean team's performance in the mock competition.
The leaders of the various teams had also started to pay attention to the few strong opponents, especially MG and ntclub who had been assigned to the same group as e-motus and mad. They had even spent the night collecting information and analyzing the playstyles of these two Korean teams.
From the results of the first day, the Chinese and Korean teams were doing quite well. On the other hand, other than veteran teams like VSG and WBG, the European and American teams were performing poorly.
Of course, this had to do with the grouping as there were strong teams and weak teams in each region. Today, it was just the strong teams from China and Korea going up against the weak teams from Europe and America, so there was no doubt who would win.
If the following matches were to be between the strong teams, it would be hard to predict the outcome.
The strength of each region was pretty much the same as Chen Mo predicted.
Overall, there was no doubt that the domestic teams were the strongest. As the Chinese version of League of Legends was released a few months earlier, it had a large player base. During the battles between the top players, the Chinese top players improved very quickly.
If players from other servers came to play in the Chinese server, they would notice that the pace of the Chinese champions was faster than the other servers, and the players had better mechanics as well.
Moreover, at this stage, the Chinese esports scene was relatively clean. There was no influx of money, and the minds of the esports players were relatively simple. This was a group of players who had dreams of becoming an esports player. Although they didn't have a strict management system, they were generally very hardworking, so it was normal for them to be ahead of the others.
Whether it was in terms of individual strength or teamwork, the Chinese teams were clearly better than the other regions.
The European and Korean regions had similar standards, but their styles were different. Korea was more focused on mid-game rhythm and teamwork, while Europe was more focused on development and teamwork.
The esports in these two regions were relatively strong. Many of the professional players in League of Legends had switched from other sports, so they had good reflexes and mechanics. Coupled with good team management and extensive training, they improved very quickly.
As for the North American region, only a few veteran teams could compete with the Chinese, Korean, and European teams.
This situation was just as Chen Mo had predicted.
In reality, in Chen Mo's previous life, the S2 era was the era of the rise. Korea had AZF and Najinsword, Europe had Team M, China had WE and IG, as well as the champion TPA. The difference between the top teams wasn't that big, it was more about the difference in philosophy, tactics, and performance.
It was the same in the parallel world. Currently, League of Legends was still developing, and the strong teams in each region were still figuring things out. There were no regional leagues, so there weren't any regions that dominated.
The local server had opened a few months earlier, and there were far more players in the local server than in the foreign server. This was already a great start. This time, they were fighting on their home turf. If they still couldn't beat the foreign teams, then these pro players shouldn't even bother playing. They should just go home and sell pancakes.
…
In the IF team's practice room.
Hu Jing was watching a recording of SOT's match.
SOT's mid laner, Frost, was one of the top mid laners in Korea. In this match against the North American team, he used Clockwork Demon to kill his opponent once. In the middle of the match, he used a sneaky Hidden Ball to pull four players, clinching the victory.
After the first day of the tournament, the Chinese teams stopped underestimating the foreign teams and started to seriously study the playstyles and strategies of these teams.
The leader asked, "This SOT player is probably the most threatening player in our group. What do you think of his individual skill?"
Hu Jing looked at the recording seriously, "He's very strong, he's very good at every detail. He's very familiar with Clockwork, and has a good understanding of the game."
The leader asked, "Then, do you have confidence in this Frost?"
Hu Jing said calmly, "Don't worry, he's very strong, but he's nothing compared to Chen Mo."
The leader was shocked, "Really?"
Hu Jing laughed, "Yes.
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