You promised a top lane tutorial, but you're just using Worlds as material for your videos?

Chapter 402, Chapter 7.18: S7 World Championship Version Released

As Zhu Zhen was giving his closing remarks, the rousing background music was still playing.

The audience erupted in even louder cheers.

"Damn, it's finally over!" Zhou Dian thought to himself.

At this point, Zhou Dian no longer felt the same exhilarating and magnificent emotions he had when he first heard the expedition speech.

Why?

My eyes hurt because of the flashing lights overhead.

As soon as the opening speech began, colorful flashlights started flashing wildly on the stage.

When Zhu Zhen announced the end of the League of Legends sixth anniversary celebration, the team members on stage all had their heads slightly lowered, barely able to withstand the "laser" damage.

Zhou Dian, who was standing in the very center of the stage, was the most severely affected by the "light pollution".

Where did they find this lighting technician? It's outrageous!

"Now, everyone who's here today, please leave in an orderly fashion!" Zhu Zhen said. "I also hope that in the future, we'll create many more unforgettable memories and stories in Summoner's Rift!"

"thank you all!"

The audience began to leave, and the members of Team Three also came down from the stage, finally escaping the onslaught of flashing lights.

After the three teams of fifteen members came down from the stage, the background music suddenly changed from rousing to upbeat.

A group of long-legged girls in short skirts, each holding a folding fan, danced a strange "fan dance".

offstage.

"Let's go, let's go! Stop looking! Pack your things and go home early!" Zhou Dian said, pulling Eimy with his left hand and PYL with his right.

The two men were watching the girl dancing on stage with great interest.

"Cough cough!"

"Cough cough!"

Pulled by Zhou Dian, the two coughed twice, then reluctantly turned around and followed their teammates backstage.

But what Zhou Dian was really thinking was, "Damn it, I want to see too, but my eyes are blinded by the flash, and I can't see anything at all right now!"

Who wouldn't love to look at those long, white legs?
After the send-off ceremony, the three teams returned to the backstage lounge, tidied up briefly, and then went back to their respective hotels.

It was getting late, and according to the team's arrangements, everyone would stay in the capital for another night and return to the Shanghai team base the next morning.

Because he needed to leave for the airport early the next day, Zhou Dian took a shower early that night and went to bed.

Thinking about the World Championship main event a month from now, Zhou Dian felt anticipation, longing, and of course, boundless determination.

Other regions around the world have been suppressed by the LCK region for far too long.

Even at the MSI in May this year, LGD defeated SKT to win the Mid-Season Invitational.

In the inaugural Intercontinental Cup in July, LPL also defeated LCK.

However, the World Championship (S-Series) will always be the most prestigious tournament in League of Legends, unmatched by any other tournament.

A region cannot be considered a champion if it fails to win the S-series championship.

Let the LPL region's counterattack begin with this World Championship held on home soil!

On September 4th, all LGD personnel who went to Beijing returned to their Shanghai base.

At dusk, at the LGD team's base.

The club owner arrived at the base and first congratulated the LGD players and coaching staff.

He then affirmed and highly praised the entire team for their efforts in winning the LPL championship.

Then, he took everyone out to attend the celebration banquet that had been prepared in advance.

After the celebration ceremony, LGD will give the team members a week off to rest.

A week later, they regrouped and began preparing for the S7 World Championship.

There is less than a month left until the start of the S7 World Championship.

More precisely, there are less than twenty days left.

For the first time, Riot Games has added a Play-In Stage to this World Championship, instead of starting directly from the Group Stage of the main event.

The first match of the qualifying rounds will begin on September 23.

Unlike previous World Championships, the final 16 teams will start from the group stage.

As of now, the summer splits and S7 qualifiers of all major regions have been completed for this World Championship.

However, only 12 teams have been confirmed to participate in the main event of the S7 World Championship.

The previous World Championship consisted of 14 teams, including the first, second, and third seeds from the four major regions and the first and second seeds from the LMS region, plus two wildcard teams, making up the 16 teams participating in the World Championship.

The champions of each wildcard region will compete for these two spots in the World Championship before the start of the S-series.

This year, Riot Games introduced the Play-In Stage to increase the number of tournaments and give more opportunities to wildcard regions.

Apart from the LCK region, the third seeds from the other four major regions—LPL, Europe, North America, and Taiwan—must participate in the Play-In Stage.

The reason why the LCK's third seed doesn't have to participate in the play-in stage is mainly because the LCK has been the undisputed number one region for the past few years, so it's normal for them to receive some preferential treatment.

The third seeds from the other four major regions, along with eight wildcard teams, make up a total of 12 teams, who will participate in the qualifying rounds to determine the four main tournament spots.

Of the 12 teams that have already secured a spot in the S7 World Championship main event, three are from the LCK, and the other four major regions' number one and two teams make up a total of eight, for a total of 11 teams.

Another team is GAM, which comes from the Vietnam region.

At this year's MSI Mid-Season Invitational, GAM impressed audiences worldwide with their outstanding performance in the MSI Play-In Stage, and also earned Vietnam a direct qualification to the World Championship.

In fact, in recent years, the strength of the wildcard region has gradually improved significantly.

At the S6 World Championship, the Russian team ANX defeated CLG and G2, two teams from the established European and American regions, to advance from the group stage.

They became the first wildcard team in history to advance from the group stage in the World Championship.

Furthermore, in the two-round group stage matches, the Russian team also won a game against the then-newly crowned LCK champion and LCK's number one seed, ROX Tigers.

In that grueling 67-minute battle, ANX's long-haired support player made a name for himself with his Taric.

Ultimately, at the end of the group stage, both ANX and ROX had a record of 4-2, requiring a tiebreaker to determine the group winner.

In the tiebreaker, ANX lost to ROX and finished second in their group.

Although ANX lost to H2K from North America in the knockout stage and stopped in the quarterfinals, they earned themselves the title of "strongest wildcard".

Though defeated, you are still honorable!

The Vietnamese team also impressed audiences worldwide at this year's Mid-Season Invitational.

Especially their jungler – Levi, nicknamed "Captain".

Of course, the reputation of Vietnamese junglers was already established back in 16 by Snake Esports' Vietnamese import, SofM.

Besides their performance, what was even more impressive was the keyboard and mouse they used at the Mid-Season Invitational, which cost less than two digits of RMB.

Actually, back in Season 3, Team WE lost to the Saigon Jokers team from Vietnam in the main tournament.

The Vietnamese players are quite something!

The four third seeds from the four major regions, along with eight wildcard teams, will compete for four main draw spots. Generally speaking, people would assume that the four third seeds from the four major regions would easily secure these four spots.

However, there are the amazing performances that ANX and GAM have had in the past.

Many viewers are also hoping that wildcard teams will break through the qualifiers and make it into the main event of the S7 World Championship this year.

If a wildcard team makes it through the play-in stage, then the third seed from each of the four major regions will inevitably fall in the play-in stage.

Of course, viewers without LPL participation might worry that WE won't make it out of the play-in stage.

With WE's strength, breaking through the qualifying rounds will be a piece of cake.

Even if WE loses just one game in the qualifying rounds, they'll probably get a lot of flak.

After the entire LGD team went on vacation, Zhou Dian did not go out to play; he remained at the team's base.

The day after the Summer Split championship celebration, Zhou Dian began solo queue training.

That evening, the Korean server began maintenance and updated to the new version.

After this maintenance, the Korean server will be updated to version 7.18, which is the version used in the S7 World Championship.

As for the Chinese server, it will be several days later.

Zhou Dian had already seen some of the changes made in the new version on the relevant website.

In patch 7.18, there were some changes related to the champions in his champion pool.

Among these improvements, Fiora's passive movement speed bonus has been increased, and her ultimate skill's movement speed bonus has returned, which is a decent buff.

On the other hand, Fiora has been getting buffed little by little in the past few patches.

This is good news for Zhou Dian.

Then Cassiopeia's Twin Fangs (E) damage was nerfed.

Other champions like Gnar, Jarvan IV, and Lucian have also received some minor nerfs.

The shield value of Prince's Golden Aegis (W) has been weakened, making it basically impossible for him to survive in the top lane, and he has been completely relegated to the jungle.

From now on, LGD will prioritize building Jarvan IV, making the tactic of switching between top and jungle less effective.

In other aspects, the changes were also minor.

Since it's the World Championship version, Riot Games is hesitant to make any major changes.

Zhou Dian noticed that a hero that hadn't changed in a long time had made some moves in this World Championship version.

That's the blind monk.

In patch 7.18, Lee Sin's W ability shield value was increased.

In League of Legends, there is a type of champion whose skill mechanics are so excellent that even a slight buff can significantly increase their pick rate and win rate.

Designers are extremely cautious when buffing these types of heroes, but they are ruthless and decisive when nerfing them.

Lee Sin clearly belongs to this category of heroes.

Regardless of whether the version is suitable or not, Lee Sin can be seen in the World Championship every year.

Lee Sin's ultimate ability, that kick, gives him the power to turn the tide of battle.

Upon seeing that Lee Sin's W skill shield deserved a buff, Zhou Dian immediately thought of something.

After today's update, I'm afraid there will be a lot of Lee Sin players building Ardent Censer in high-elo games.

The recent emergence of the "Walking A Monster" has led to his rampage in high-elo Korean servers, with players often carrying supports in 2v5 situations, giving everyone a new understanding of the potential of Ardent Censer.

Recently, there have been more and more soft supports in high-elo games, while hard supports are becoming increasingly rare and are almost extinct.

Therefore, it's actually quite suitable for a blind man to get an incense burner in the mid-to-late game.

The hero Blind Man is particularly strong when he has one or two items, and becomes weaker when he has more items, especially when his economy is similar to his opponent's.

In the late game, nothing feels right, so you have to rely on that one ultimate kick.

If that's the case, then we might as well make an incense burner.

In patch 7.18, Knight's Vow was also reduced in price.

When the time comes, Knight's Vow and Ardent Censer will be released together, and it will be pretty good to play the second support role!
As for the Chinese server, it will be updated to the 7.18 World Championship version on September 13th.

The S7 World Championship Play-In Stage will begin on September 23.

After the Chinese server updates to version 7.18, the teams that need to participate in the qualifying rounds have gradually arrived in China.

At that time, the players from these teams will all be using super accounts to compete in the Chinese Super Server.

The top of the canyon is about to get lively.

Zhou Dian plans to familiarize himself with the World Championship version on the Korean server in the next few days, and once the Chinese server updates to 7.18, he will also try playing on the Chinese server's Challenger tier.

After all, it's been a long time since I've played on the Chinese server. Sometimes when I play on the Chinese server, it's quite fun to run into all sorts of skilled players.

However, Zhou Dian estimates that by October, the month the S7 group stage officially begins, LPL and LCK players will still spend a lot of time playing on the Korean server and won't spend all their ranked time on the Chinese Super Server.

Besides the difference in game pace between the Chinese and Korean servers.

Another reason must be due to a major feature of the Chinese version of the game – actors (players intentionally throwing matches).

Although, due to the fact that this is the World Championship held in China, Tencent has vowed to crack down on "actors" (players intentionally throwing matches) on the Chinese Super Server during the tournament.

However, the issue of actors has a long history and deep-rooted problems in the Chinese version of the game.

It's not so easy to clean.

Sometimes, you simply can't tell if they're actors or just genuinely bad at the game!
They're all Oscar-winning actors.

Before the Chinese server updates to the 7.18 World Championship version, there is one more thing to pay attention to.

That was the draw ceremony for the play-in stage and group stage of the S7 World Championship.

The draw ceremony for the S7 World Championship Play-In Stage and Group Stage will begin on the evening of September 12th.

Today, LGD's short week-long break came to an end, and all LGD players have returned to the team base.

In the LGD training room, Zhou Dian and his teammates were not playing ranked games, but watching the draw ceremony with the coaching staff.

The draw ceremony won't take long, and whether or not you train in that short time won't have much of an impact.

Everyone is really looking forward to their team's group stage draw and hopes to be placed in an easier group.

The LPL broadcast of the draw ceremony was hosted by Ren Dong, but the actual draw was conducted on-site by people from Riot Games.

The first step was the draw for the qualifying rounds.

The 12 teams that qualify will be divided into four groups of three teams each.

The three teams will play a BO1 round-robin tournament within the group. After four matches, the top two teams in the group will advance to the next round.

The eight teams that advanced then played a best-of-five (BO5) match, with the first-place team from each group playing the second-place team.

The four teams that ultimately win will advance to the main event of the S7 World Championship and participate in the group stage.

"After introducing the schedule and format of the qualifying rounds and group stage, I believe that everyone is very much looking forward to this year's qualifying rounds," Ren Dong said.

"So today, the two draw guests are also very familiar to everyone: AmazingJ from IM and Rookie from IG!"

(End of this chapter)