On the day when the Black Rose team swept the MTG team, the final battle results of each group were also reported from the other venues.
In Group A, the Apocalypse defeated North America’s LGG team, and their next match against the TTT team became a key factor for which team could advance to the semi-finals; in Group B, South Korea’s ACE team once again swept Europe’s team, RD, by a large margin, and gained the first entry ticket to the semifinals. As for Group C, Korea’s UG team, who had been the favorite to win the group, narrowly lost to North America’s OB team, which gave the Scattered Clouds team a slight chance of survival in their next match with the OB team.
At the end of the second round, except for Group B, which was already settled, the winners of the other three groups all depended on the results of the third round. This made the final round of the group stage attract a lot of attention and become the first highlight of the international competition.
In the days when the teams were making their final adjustments before the final round, netizens initiated their own online polls to determine the teams’ winning rates. The top three teams that came out were ACE, Apocalypse, and Black Rose.
The Black Rose team only finished third? When the data was released, many fans were in disbelief. This led to videos of matches being widely broadcast online again, becoming almost a nationwide carnival. All this time, the one who kept quiet was the MTG team, precisely the abused.
In response to the “enthusiasm” of netizens, the MTG team, which was forced to become an Internet celebrity, could only bear it silently.
In this round, their two group-stage games have come to an end. With a record of one win and one loss, there was practically zero hope.
If the Black Rose team won in the third round of the competition, then a spot in the semi-finals was already secured. If the Black Rose team loses to the North American NTP team… Haha, if they wanted to win on points, NTP had to annihilate Black Rose, which I’m afraid even the MTG members themselves wouldn’t believe.
It was over. For the MTG team, their journey in this year’s World Championship could be said to have ended prematurely.
“You just wait and see!” Jiang Minjun was not reconciled but could only watch himself fiercely saying so repeatedly on camera through online videos.
Far away in a hotel room, Lin Xiao was sitting cross-legged on You Jing’s bed, watching the game video. He sneezed hard and sniffed, but that didn’t affect his mood at all. He nudged the person next to him sideways and greeted him with a smile: “Jing Jing, wake up! The sun is shining on your butt!”
Amid countless opinions, the final round of group-stage matches has finally officially begun.
In this round of matches, no team was able to create a miracle.
The European TTT team, which already had registered one loss, showed almost the same one-sided trend in the battle with the Apocalypse team. The Apocalypse, which already had one victory against the LGG team, further solidified their position and smoothly advanced to the upcoming semi-finals, much to the delight of domestic fans.
Compared to the exciting matches in Group A, the ones in Group B appeared much calmer. SWW team and RD team have lost their qualification for advancing in competition and have now become exhibition matches between two teams from the European region. This marked a successful conclusion to their World Championship journey.
After that, good news came from the Group D match. Team Black Rose emerged victorious with a score of 8:5 against Team NTP from North America in the final matchup.
However, the audience watching this game felt somewhat speechless after it ended.
When the Black Rose team scored a total of five points in the individual and small team matches, they were once again in perfect rhythm to completely crush their opponents. Unexpectedly, they actually abandoned in the final team match, with all members still alive.
At that time, they had successfully killed three opponents, and the situation was 5V2. Although entering “GG” at this time did not affect their path to the semi-finals at all, it seemed particularly unacceptable in the eyes of some fans of the MTG team. It felt like the tag “shaved off” had been specially dedicated to MTG as a unique trademark, the only one of its kind in the world.
Vicious, so vicious! Everyone felt they had a new understanding of the Black Rose team.
After the conclusion of three consecutive sets of matches, when two teams successfully entered the semi-finals, the domestic fans cheered in excitement. At this point, the yet-to-be-decided Group C match has become the focus of everyone’s attention.
Fans watched the live broadcast in silence.
The round between Scattered Clouds and the North American team OB, after the individual and small team matches, ended with a tense score of 2:3. Currently, the crucial battle of the main team was underway. However, Scattered Clouds, which only had Wen Shuqing and Yan Lingjiang left, faced the OB team, which had four people, including the priest, alive.
2V4 – it’s already a very disparate situation on the battlefield.
Looking at the determined expressions of the two contestants who still showed no signs of giving up, many fans fell silent. More and more began to shout out loud even though they knew they couldn’t be heard.
Their perseverance at this moment seemed particularly unbearable to witness, but it also touched many hearts.
Strategizing their positions and seeking opportunities, they made their final efforts on the battlefield.
However, the reality was not like the dramas portrayed on TV. After another half hour of competition, the match finally came to an end. As they watched the big screen dimming with defeat for the Scattered Clouds team, an eerie silence enveloped the entire venue.
Caught on the cameras, many people were already shedding tears while looking at the backs of Scattered Clouds‘s players sitting in their seats.
Wen Shuqing walked out of the competition room in a wheelchair pushed by Tao Yaofei. The moment he stepped out, the entire audience stood up and gave them the warmest applause for their spirit of never giving up.
Watching the captain of the OB team coming to shake hands, Wen Shuqing had a hint of disappointment in his eyes, but there was no depression. Facing the camera, his gentle face had the same smile as always: “See you next season.”
With that, the Scattered Clouds team’s journey in this World Championship has come to an end.
When the media interviewed them for one last time, Wen Shuqing quietly tugged at his uniform jacket draped over his shoulder and spoke warmly and sincerely: “It is regrettable that we did not win a ticket for the semi-finals. The opponents were strong, but that cannot be an excuse. I believe that our failure can only be attributed to our own shortcomings. I am confident that when we return here next year, we will definitely be stronger.”
After a pause, a hint of a smile appeared on his face: “There are two more teams from our internal League, the Apocalypse and Black Rose. I sincerely hope that they can advance with our hopes and win another World Championship trophy for our country. We must keep fighting!”
Yes, the fight must go on! After bidding farewell to the Scattered Clouds team, all the fans’ hopes now rested on the remaining two teams.
“It’s just us now…” Watching the post-match interview of the Scattered Clouds team, Lin Xiao also felt somewhat emotional. There was a time when he had watched one team after another leave like this. Those teams were rivals in the domestic League, but on the international stage, they were comrades in arms advancing together.
“We’re going to win.” You Jing’s voice sounded very calm, but in his eyes was a dark wave of hidden emotion.
A smile flashed in Lin Xiao’s eyes as he rubbed You Jing’s hand gently and said, “If you are ready, let’s win together and show everyone.”
With the dust settled after the group stage matches, the slots for the semi-finals were finally confirmed. Some teams made it through, while others had to leave. In this mix of joy and sorrow, the competition must go on.
Teams from North America and Europe all fell short of reaching the top four. Among the four qualifying teams, two were from South Korea, and two were from China. It has come down to a final showdown between these two regions.
According to the tournament schedule, the semi-final games will be between Group A champion vs Group B champion and Group C champion vs Group D champion.
Therefore, on the day of the semi-finals, the first match of the morning session will be played between Team Apocalypse of China and Team ACE of South Korea.
“Old Yan, work hard.” When entering the venue, Lin Xiao patted Yan Duzhou’s shoulder and said in a calm tone, waiting for the upcoming battle of the kings.
“I will.” Yan Duzhou responded simply.
After speaking, he didn’t look at Lin Xiao again. His gaze passed over the crowd and landed on the player seats of the ACE team. A tall figure was holding documents and talking to teammates. Sensing the gaze, she turned around and met his eyes for a moment, revealing a faint smile. Looking at Devin, Yan Duzhou’s usually serious face also showed a hint of a smile. The two looked at each other for a moment before finally looking away, their faces turning serious again.
“If you’re ready, let’s go!” With that said, Yan Duzhou led the members of the Apocalypse team to their seats and began the final battle arrangements before the war.
Lin Xiao smiled, looking at their backs, then turned and walked toward the spectator seats. The upcoming battle belonged to Yan Duzhou; for now, he was just a spectator. His own match would take place in the afternoon.
The much-anticipated semi-finals finally officially kicked off.
