After Mountain River, Jianghu became the second professional team that was defeated by Underworld Frontline.
At the same time, they were the tenth team that was defeated by Underworld Frontline.
Ignoring the 'bye', Brother Jue's team defeated every opponent that they faced in the eleven rounds with a score of 3: 0. Of the remaining fourteen teams, there were only two teams that maintained this' zero loss' record. One was Underworld Frontline, and the other was Door to Heaven.
What was interesting was that these two teams were both civilian teams without any studio background …
By the end of the eleventh round, even though there were still a few rounds left in the Tournament for the Best S3, it was already pretty obvious which teams were in the running for the championship.
Regulation, Trash Alliance, Door to Heaven, and Underworld Frontline, these four teams, be it the upper limit of their power, the depth of their line-up, or their performance on the way to the next round … were far stronger than the other teams. If there were no accidents, the champion would be born among them.
Therefore, for the players of the remaining ten teams, the following "random matchups" became very important … In theory, if the four teams met consecutively in the next two rounds, there would be at least one runner-up among the remaining ten teams.
However, things did not progress in the direction that they had hoped.
At midnight on the 14th of April, the matchup for the twelfth round of S3 was announced. There were fourteen teams participating in this round. Since it was an even number, there was no bye, and all the teams would face off against each other. The result showed that the four teams with the highest chance of winning … did not meet each other.
Even though the probability of this happening was not so low that it looked fake, there were still rumors on some social media platforms that the organizers were secretly manipulating the matchups.
Of course, this kind of speculation that had no evidence and had nothing to do with it did not cause much of a stir. Compared to the problems that Thriller Paradise had caused over the past year, this was nothing.
Thus, the twelfth round passed in such an explosive atmosphere without any suspense.
After this round, the top seven teams of S3 were born. These seven teams were:
Currently, the number one studio in the professional gaming circle — [Order]; an alliance formed by a group of non-contracted professional players and casual members of society — [Trash Alliance]; a veteran studio that had achieved many glorious results but was now gradually being relegated to the second tier — [Sweet Potato]; a strong team formed by seven decent casual players — [Black Eight Wonders]; a team formed by seven popular game streamers — [We Are Not Cheating]; the biggest dark horse of this competition — [Heaven's Gate]; and the indescribable but seemingly unnecessary [Frontline Hell].
According to the rules, in the thirteenth round of the competition, one team would have a bye, and half of the other six teams would be eliminated to determine the top four.
However, on the morning of April 16th, when the list of matches was supposed to be announced, the Dream Company caused trouble again …
They did not update the results of the matches on the official website on time but released an announcement — "Notice regarding the follow-up rules of the Tournament for the Best S3."
Just this title alone caused ninety-five percent of the players to go crazy before they even clicked on the link to the article. This was because the title exuded a thick sense of conspiracy, the kind that could not get any darker.
Almost everyone came to this conclusion before reading the article. "The Dream Company must be trying to send the four seeded teams into the top four, but since there are only seven teams, if the results of the four teams are staggered, then it will be fake. This way, the players will suspect that all the previous random results are manipulated. Therefore, the Dream Company had to add a new mechanism to achieve their goal."
It had to be said that the players' eyes were sharp, and their guess was not wrong.
According to the announcement, the original 'random matchmaking' mechanism was still in place. In fact, the results of this round were already listed in the announcement.
The matchups of the thirteenth round were: [Order] VS [Door to Heaven], [Trash Alliance] VS [Sweet Potato], [Underworld Frontline] VS [Black Eight Miracles], and [We Didn't Cheat] had a bye.
However, on this basis, the Dream Company added three new rules …
The first rule was that every team that had a bye in the previous twelve rounds would be considered one point behind in this round.
What did this rule mean?
Firstly, [Sweet Potato], [Black Eight Miracles], and [We Didn't Cheat], these three teams that had never had a bye would definitely be fine.
Secondly, teams like [Trash Alliance] that had encountered 'opponents forfeiting after the matchmaking results were out' were not considered to have a bye, so they had escaped the disaster.
However, [Underworld Frontline], who had a bye in the fourth round, and [Door to Heaven], who had a bye in the tenth round, under this rule, it meant that they had a one-nil lead before the start of the competition.
And they … were not the worst off. [Order], who had a bye in the eighth and eleventh round respectively (this was why the word 'again' was used in Chapter 1372 when it mentioned that [Order] had a bye in the eighth and eleventh round respectively), had to enter the competition with a 'two-nil lead' attitude in this round.
Looking at the matchmaking list … [Order] VS [Door to Heaven] would be considered to have a one-nil lead from the start, which meant that the latter had the match point in their hands right from the start. However, both teams still had to form a complete lineup of seven people and start the competition from the 'vanguard battle'.
As for [Underworld Frontline] VS [Black Eight Miracles], it was still fine. With Brother Jue and the others' abilities, it would not have much of an impact even if they gave up one match. It was very likely that the competition would still end before the participation match.
Then, looking at the second rule that was added …
In the next round (the fourteenth round), the four teams that had successfully entered the top four would each be allocated a 'divine artifact'.
The four divine artifacts were [Crown], [Holy Grail], [Philosopher's Stone], and [Amulet]. As for the origin and explanation of these four 'Atari divine artifacts', the official website also released a video. This video was created by a well-known game review video author at the beginning of the twenty-first century, and it was called 'Sword Seeking'. This video introduced the origin, value, and related rumors of the four divine artifacts in detail.
Of course, the Dream Company would not give the players the real thing. What they gave was a data version of the 'four divine artifacts'.
The Dream Company claimed that these four divine artifacts each had a significant team buff, and between the buffs, there was a relationship that was sufficient to reverse the outcome of the competition. However, as for what the buffs were, it would only be announced after the end of the next round of matchmaking.
In addition, the performance of each team in this round would also determine the order and rights of the distribution of the divine artifacts in the next round.
The rules were as follows: In terms of time, the team that won in the fastest time could exchange the remaining divine artifact with the divine artifact in the hands of any team after the other three teams had obtained the divine artifacts. Of course, they could also choose not to exchange. The team that won in the second fastest time could be the first to choose the divine artifact, and they would distribute one divine artifact to the team that won in the third fastest time and the team that won in the first round. The team that won in the third fastest time could choose whether to exchange the divine artifact in their hands with the team that won in the first round. As for the team that won in the first round … Unfortunately, they could only passively accept the results of the distribution.
Finally, the third additional rule was set — the team that won in the first round could choose to exchange positions with any team. Of course, they could also choose not to exchange positions and directly advance to the next round.
Seeing this, everyone should be able to guess … That's right, the members of [We're Not Cheating], the party that chose the third rule, after learning about the rules, after a short discussion, they decided to switch places with [Heaven's Gate].
No matter how one looked at it, the exchange was beneficial to them.
Simply calculating, if they did not exchange positions this round, the three opponents that they would face in the next round would be [Underworld Frontline], [Trash Alliance], and the winner between [Regulation] and [Door to Heaven]. They would all be seeded teams, and they would have the priority to get the divine artifact. No matter how one looked at it, it was a dead end.
But what if they exchanged positions? Then the situation would be completely different.
The members of [We Are Not Cheating] were all relatively famous game streamers. Four of them were former professional gamers, and even though the other three had not joined a professional gaming club, they were all full-time gamers. In terms of gaming time, they were not something that amateurs could compare to. At least in Thriller Paradise, their skill level was no different from professional gamers. In fact, they might even be better.
It was not hard to see that such a team had a high opinion of themselves and had a certain level of ambition. Even if they did not think that they would be lucky enough to win the first round, they could still fight for the second place.
So, to continue to win and advance, who should they exchange positions with?
Using the method of elimination …
Exchanging Sweet Potato meant that they would have to fight [Trash Alliance]. That was basically suicide.
Exchanging Black Eight Miracle meant that they would have to fight [Underworld Frontline] with a 1: 0 ratio.
As for [Trash Alliance] or [Underworld Frontline] … it was possible because they had a 70% chance of taking down [Sweet Potato] or [Black Eight Miracle]. But … winning did not mean that they would win. At this stage of the competition, the remaining teams would not be that weak. If they ended up with a 3: 2 ratio, then it would be very awkward.
Considering the rules of the next round, if they played all five matches or dragged on for too long, it was very likely that they would become the third fastest team to win … Spending so much effort in the end only to have a little more initiative than insisting on a bye was not worth it.
As for the plan of "changing out [Order]," it was naturally rejected as the first one … Not to mention, going up against [Heaven's Gate] with a 1: 0 start was similar to going up against [Hell's Frontline]. It was a 2: 8 start. Moreover, this move also saved [Order] who was on the brink of death. To [Order], between "being countered by the aura of the artifact in the next round" and "going against [Heaven's Gate] with a situation where they had the match point at the beginning," the former was obviously more controllable.
In summary, "exchanging [Heaven's Gate]" was the only and best choice for the streamers.
With this change of position, [We Are Not Cheating] would have a 2: 0 lead at the beginning. As long as they won one point, they would advance. Moreover, they would advance by eliminating [Order]. Regardless of the details of the process, if this became a reality, they could brag about it for the rest of their lives.
More importantly, with a 2: 0 lead at the beginning, it was equivalent to saving two rounds of time. If things went well, not only would they be able to "eliminate the insufferably arrogant [Order]," they would also be able to steadily obtain the right to choose the artifact in the next round. That was to say, they would have a 100% advantage of being countered by the artifact.
Therefore, compared to insisting on a free pass, exchanging [Heaven's Gate] was undoubtedly the best choice. With this change, there was a high probability that they would be able to get a runner-up.
…
To make a long story short, after a day of torment, everything was settled in the early morning of the 17th.
[Trash Alliance], [Underworld Frontline], as well as the "lucky" [Heaven's Gate] that was switched to the free pass, had all advanced as expected.
In the previous 24 hours, [Order], who had been actively preparing for battle while protesting against the rules, finally turned the tables with a 3: 2 score and defeated [We Are Not Cheating].
This was a very "ugly" match … at least in the eyes of the audience.
[Order], who had always presented themselves as a king, had sent out all of their "Drunken Dreams" in the first three rounds. They had also let these four come up with a set of Mark Selby-style "grinding" tactics, turning the three matches into a very dull and drawn-out battle.
[Order] had done this for three reasons:
First, it was naturally to seek stability … In this kind of match where the opponent had three match points at the beginning of the match, no matter how stable they were, it wouldn't be too much. After all, they still had an absolute advantage in terms of raw strength. As long as they completely gave up on the ornamental aspect and took the matter of "stability" to the extreme, they would be able to maximize their chances of winning.
Second, stalling for time was also a part of psychological warfare … The team behind [Order] had already calculated clearly what the members of [We Are Not Cheating] were planning before the match. They had grasped the opponent's mentality of "wanting to take down the match point in one go" and implemented the three words "stalling," "grinding," and "exhausting" to the end. The longer the match dragged on, the more impatient the opponent would be, and then they would be full of flaws …
Third … contributing such a match was also a silent protest from [Order] to the Dream Company. What they wanted to express was: "Since you guys used the rules to launch a surprise attack on us, then we'll counter-attack with the ratings and reputation of this match."
Unfortunately, at this stage, no one in the Dream Company cared about these things.
In the final stage of this "gamble," those employees who had been under the "cognitive interference" for a long time would be more affected and shackled in their thinking … Naturally, they wouldn't think about things that the "higher-ups" didn't want to care about. They wouldn't even form the relevant concept in their minds …
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