170: Chapter 170, Stage 3, First Race!

"A Shui Team's top laner is Zz1tai, who excels at champions like Gangplank. Their jungler and Mid laner are..."

"On the Uzi Team side, the captain is the bot laner Uzi, and the other players are all Challenger tier in the first server. This time, it can be called a clash between titans."

Amidst the commentators' voices.

The players from both teams had already appeared in the center of the stage, and following the instructions previously given by the staff, they bowed to the cameras and the audience below.

Because the Opening Match schedule was somewhat rushed, this was also their first time at the competition venue.

When looking at the two huge statues behind them, a look of shock appeared in the eyes of these players.

However, very quickly.

Both sides headed towards their positions and began to take their seats.

And all of this.

From beginning to end, it was broadcast to thirty million viewers nationwide.

That's right, in just these few short minutes, the number of league of legends players in major live streaming rooms across the country had already reached thirty million.

Many people set alarms so they wouldn't miss the rewards, so at the time the match started, countless new viewers flooded into the live streaming rooms.

league of legends has one hundred million monthly active users, and nearly half of them are players from Great Xia.

And watching the players enter just now.

The chat was also constantly discussing it.

"Isn't this too exaggerated? Besides the stage design, there's also a player entrance and bowing segment. Do they really think of themselves as some popular traditional sports event?"

"It cracks me up. Did you see this group of people? One is trembling more fiercely than the next. It's a good thing there wasn't a self-introduction segment, otherwise, I think many of them wouldn't even be able to speak. That captain of the Uzi Team, his face is beet red."

"To the person above, there's nothing to mock about this. Now that tens of millions of people are watching the Opening Match for rewards, you'd be trembling even harder if you went up there."

However.

Just as the chat was constantly discussing the performance of A-Shui and the others, someone quickly noticed something wrong.

Why is there an extra person on the A Shui Team side?

"Am I seeing things? Why are there six people on the A Shui Team side?"

"It really is? What does this mean? Are there substitutions?"

"This person didn't even bring any equipment, and it seems like they don't intend to sit down, just standing behind the others."

Watching the confusion in the chat.

At this moment, the commentators' voices began to continue in the live streaming room.

They were very familiar with the situation of the A Shui Team.

Currently.

Among the sixteen teams from Great Xia that entered the third stage, only the A Shui Team has a coach; for all other teams, champion bans/picks and tactics are prepared by the players themselves.

"Currently, the camera is focused on the A Shui Team's coach, Liu Yang. Since the first round of the competition, Liu Yang has been serving in the coach position for the A Shui Team."

"That's right, all tactical choices and champion bans/picks for the A Shui Team are entirely handled by Liu Yang. He is also the only coach among the current sixteen teams."

"However, in the neighboring South Korea region, although they don't have coaches, I've heard that it seems a few teams have some kind of tactical analysts."

"I've heard that too, but looking at the current landscape of league of legends esports competitions, the roles of both should be the same. It's just that those tactical analysts in South Korea only have an advisory role, but Liu Yang is actually able to arrange the players' champion selections."

Under the commentators' explanation.

Countless viewers in the live streaming room instantly understood that the extra person on the A Shui Team side was actually a coach!

For a moment.

The screen was filled with mockery.

"It cracks me up, there really is a coach. Where's that guy from just now who said 'would there be a coach'? Are you a prophet?"

"There are commentators, there's a coach, and there's also a stage design and player entrance segment. Goodness, they really built everything according to professional matches, but the key is, this is just a game competition. Without rewards, who would still watch?"

"I think so too. Even if this game competition is actually a bit interesting, after the rewards are gone, I won't have the motivation to watch anymore. No one would waste several hours watching a bunch of people play a game competition."

"It's too pretentious. I bet one hundred yuan that this team with a coach will definitely lose miserably."

However, at this moment.

The players on the field didn't know what direction the chat in the live streaming room was taking; they had already finished debugging their equipment and entered the room.

The match officially began.

The screen in the live streaming room also turned into the champion ban/pick screen for both sides.

"Can you hear me?"

"Yes."

"Received."

"Over, over."

Speaking a few times into his headset, Liu Yang quickly received responses from the players. After calming down, everyone's voices were relatively steady, except for the Support, Fatty, whose voice was still trembling a bit.

"Relax, don't be nervous. This is just the first game of the first match. Just get into the zone first. Besides, it doesn't matter if we lose; we can still play in the losers' bracket."

Walking behind Fatty, Liu Yang spoke while massaging Fatty's shoulders.

"This time, don't carry any burden. Just relax and show all of our strength; don't be afraid of losing."

"The opposing Uzi Team is very powerful. Among the Great Xia teams I've followed, their strength can rank in the top two. This time, I'm afraid it will be very difficult. It's enough if we play a brilliant match; don't have any pressure."

Listening to Liu Yang's words, Zz1tai couldn't help but ask a question.

"What rank is our team's strength?"

Liu Yang paused.

"Among the sixteen teams, we are about at the fifth level. There is some gap, but it's playable."

"Alright, let's ban/pick champions. First, ban a few of the champions that the opposing bot lane excels at."

At this moment.

Both teams officially began their tactical battle. However, in this first game, the champion bans/picks for both sides were quite common; they were all aimed at banning the strongest champions of the opponent's strongest players, nothing special.

Adding both sides together, three bot lane champions were quickly banned.

You have to know.

Because league of legends hasn't been out for that long yet, there aren't many champions. They are still using the rule of three bans per side, for a total of six ban slots.

The commentators' voices also rang out at the right time.

"Out of the six ban slots, three were given to the bot lane in the first game, which is enough to show that the key to winning this game is in the bot lane."

"That's right, the captains of both sides are AD players. The outcome of this match is largely the outcome of the bot lane."

"However, looking at the data, the player Uzi should be the number one ranked AD among all teams currently."

"But those are all data from online matches. Now that it's offline, who wins or loses is not certain yet."

In order to have more communication time with his teammates.

Therefore, on the A Shui Team side, Liu Yang was always utilizing time to the extreme, waiting until the last second to make bans/picks. On the other hand, the Uzi Team almost always picked and banned instantly, and from beginning to end, they felt that a coach was just a figurehead.

The chat was also getting a bit impatient.

The screen was constantly filled with 'hurry up'.

There were also quite a few people cursing the A Shui Team for dilly-dallying.

Finally.

After both sides went through a round of conventional champion selections, the screen went black.

The first game.

Officially began!