socalfunplaces Chapter 2020: The 'Monster' Awakens, the Battle of the Kings!
Chapter 2020: The 'Monster' Awakens, the Battle of the Kings!
In any game or competition, there is no future in having a dominant player.
Take the national table tennis team, for example.
In order to alleviate the impact of the long-term monopoly of domestic table tennis teams on the development of the sport.
The national team has gone to great lengths, including a "wolf-raising plan," to help other countries improve their skills in order to ensure the healthy development of the sport.
Although Fang Yun didn't have such lofty ambitions, he was well aware of the dangers of monopolies.
This is why, when he was about to unify the Martial God Altar in Bianliang City, he chose to leave 2008 and Lantingxu and rebuild two top-tier server teams in those two servers.
But this is far from enough.
Whether it's 2008 or the Lanting Preface.
Both teams are significantly less established than Bianliang City in terms of historical and cultural foundation.
Especially the Preface to the Orchid Pavilion.
Since the dried pineapple was of decent quality, and Fang Yun had more and more accounts in his possession.
As a result, he devoted significantly less energy to this area.
Insufficient investment means that the overall strength of the Lanting Preface is at the bottom among the three masters.
Therefore, in addition to including the Lanting Preface in the plan, we also need to incorporate the task of strengthening the Lanting Preface.
He also needs to appropriately reduce the frequency of appearances of the main players of Bianliang City in the regular season, while allowing 2008 and Lantingxu to shine more, in order to achieve a certain balance.
Judging from the current situation, everything is basically proceeding according to his plan.
Nowadays, Bianliang City has basically become the Suns' home court for the regular season.
In 2008, its overall strength was only slightly inferior to that of Bianliang City.
Therefore, they often slack off in the regular season and rarely let their real starters play.
Only the Preface to the Orchid Pavilion.
Because they only have one core player, they can freely express themselves.
This is also one of the reasons why they were able to win the championship last time.
Therefore, the audience in Bianliang City wanted to see their own team win the regular season championship.
At this point, it seems we can only hope that the Suns will suddenly unleash their full potential.
at the same time.
While winning both battles in Bianliang City with ease.
In 2008, the pace of pushing forward with the Lanting Preface was just as relentless, even more so than with Bianliang City!
In the second round, 2008 defeated his opponent Liugongdao in less than 10 rounds.
The Lanting Preface took a little longer, almost 14 rounds, before it finally defeated its opponent, Huanghuagang.
The two teams' performances, so different from previous years, finally caught the attention of some interested people after the second round of the group stage.
"No... I can understand Lantingxu's winning streak, since they're probably aiming for a second consecutive championship, but 2008???"
"Holy crap, the sun's risen in the west! The King of Salted Fish has actually perked up?!"
"That's weird, that's fucking weird!"
"Why do I have this feeling... that 2008 seems to be aiming to surpass the Lanting Preface?"
"How is that possible? These two teams have no grudges against each other. The Lantingxu team just won the championship last time, and now they're trying to disrupt things in 2008? That doesn't make sense, does it?"
"I don't know, but something's definitely off about this year's 2008. We'll have to wait and see."
"Don't forget about Bianliang City in this tournament. They played very aggressively in the first two rounds, achieving two consecutive victories at lightning speed!"
"Good, good, good. Now that Hundred Flowers Village is gone, the Three Musketeers are suddenly all pumped up with adrenaline?"
"If that's really the case, then I can only say it's good that Hundred Flowers Village is absent!..."
Although only two rounds of the group stage have been played so far.
However, the unusual state of 2008, the Lanting Preface, and even Bianliang City still attracted the attention of some players.
The Preface to the Orchid Pavilion is alright.
As the previous champion.
They played so aggressively right from the start, clearly aiming for a repeat championship.
Everyone can completely understand this.
But apart from the Orchid Pavilion Preface, 2008 and Bianliang City are quite strange.
These two teams are notorious for being the worst performers in the Martial God Altar. Bianliang City is the biggest worst performer, and 2008 is the second biggest worst performer.
Although Bianliang City's performance has improved considerably since the Suns team was brought in.
But ultimately, they haven't won a regular season championship in far too long.
For the general audience...
Bianliang City's participation in the regular season but failure to win the championship is itself a form of slacking off.
As for 2008.
This team is actually the most ridiculous of the three musketeers.
He reached his peak right from the start, winning second place in his first All-Star game and then taking the championship the following year.
Such an impressive record.
In the entire Dream World, apart from Bianliang City, which is firmly ahead of them.
No other server can compare.
But this was a top-tier team that seemed to have a bright future.
However, their performance in the regular season was even worse than that of Bianliang City!
Although Bianliang City likes to slack off during the regular season, no matter how much they slack off, they still manage to make it to the knockout stage most of the time, only to be crushed by their opponents in the knockout stage.
But 2008 was a good year.
They don't even bother to make it to the knockout stage!
That's right.
As the champion and runner-up of the All-Star Game.
Abai's 2008 team couldn't even make it into the knockout stage for most of the regular season!
Tell me, isn't that outrageous?
At first, everyone thought that their tanking in the regular season was completely self-destructive.
But as time went on...
2008 continued to do things its own way, which gradually turned the initial criticism into acceptance.
It's true that this team of lazy bums is a bit too much.
But at the very least, they never tank in the All-Star Game.
The key is.
As a dream team with a billion-dollar family.
Their performances at the All-Star Game are consistently dazzling, and their guaranteed top-four finishes give them a strong foundation to face numerous criticisms.
Call me a loser if you want, but if you call me bad, how about I show you my All-Star stats?
Therefore.
Nowadays, most viewers have a very indifferent attitude towards the 2008 team.
With no hope in the regular season, the All-Star game automatically grants them a championship contender status.
With such a "stable" style, what's the point of criticizing it?
Just when everyone thought they would carry on with this bizarre style to the end.
But why did 2008 inexplicably stand out?
This truly caught everyone off guard.
Lantingxu aims for a second consecutive title, while Bianliang City and 2008, these two salted fish kings, are both more assertive than the other.
The audience, who thought that this year's Martial God Tournament might not be very interesting after Baihuacun's absence, suddenly became excited!
No matter how strong Baihuacun is, they are still only the All-Star semifinalists.
The sudden surge of the top three All-Stars is far more exciting than Baihuacun winning the championship!
that's it.
Amidst excited gazes.
As time went on, the three musketeers' slaughter in the group stage not only did not stop, but their attacks became even more brutal!
Until nightfall.
After the fourth round of group stage matches.
The audience, who had watched the game all day, were completely dumbfounded by the undefeated trio of musketeers.
"Can anyone give me a piece of their mind? The Three Musketeers all won their first group stage match on the first day, is that reasonable?"
"What a load of nonsense! I've never seen anything like this before!"
"That's right, I'm a veteran of the Martial God Tournament, but this is the first time I've ever seen a situation like Bianliang City, 2008, and Lantingxu all erupt at the same time."
"That's strange. What triggered these three teams? Why did they suddenly erupt, and all at the same time?"
"Do you think it's possible that they're collectively trying to sow discord between Baihuacun and others?"
"??? Is the person upstairs crazy or has lost their mind? The top three are trying to sabotage the fourth one. Have you taken too many fake medicines?"
"Haha, this guy is really something. I'd believe it if other teams were trying to sabotage Baihua Village, but the Three Musketeers... that's impossible!"
"I guess Bianliang City performed so well this time because they were criticized too badly last time, while Lantingxu wanted to win the championship again, since they only won in 2008. I haven't figured out their motivation for this surge yet."
"It's that simple. Maybe they just want to stop the Lanting Preface from winning the championship again?"
"That doesn't make sense. These two teams have no grudges against each other. Why would he bother with the Lanting Preface in 2008?"
"This is just a rumor, not necessarily true, but it seems like Pineapple and Ah Bai don't get along very well..."
The Three Musketeers' perfect record of four wins in four group stage matches on the first day dominated various forums.
The vast majority of Fantasy Westward Journey players were completely bewildered at this point.
The salted fish kings suddenly stood up, even though Hundred Flowers Village was suddenly absent.
This scene looks like they're trying to sow discord between the two sides.
But here's the thing.
These three musketeers were the champions, runners-up, and third-place finishers in the All-Star Game earlier this year.
People might believe that one of them wanted to undermine Baihuacun, but it doesn't make sense that they all did it together.
If it weren't for this...
Then everyone can only speculate based on other motives.
The Preface to the Orchid Pavilion is the easiest to guess.
After all, they won the championship last time, and they definitely want to win it again this time, so it's normal for them to play more aggressively.
Although Bianliang City doesn't need to compete for a consecutive championship, their performance in the last tournament was so poor that even the usually laid-back Bianliang City audience was getting impatient with them.
Therefore, it's understandable that they want to salvage their reputation by beating their opponents.
Only 2008.
The first day of the group stage was almost over.
The reason for their sudden outburst remains a mystery to everyone.
Watching the various discussions that erupted in the spectator area and on various forums surrounding the sudden collective outburst of the Three Musketeers.
Fang Yun remained silent and smiled throughout.
To say that he wanted to sow discord among Baihua Village is really judging others by one's own standards.
Before the start of this competition, he had no idea about the specific list of participants.
Under such circumstances, how could he possibly have foreseen Baihuacun's absence and then come up with the idea of teaming up with the other two teams to embarrass Baihuacun?
As for why the three musketeers chose to collectively erupt instead of wanting to embarrass Baihua Village, they did so.
Fang Yun knew perfectly well why the other two teams were doing so well, but he was a little surprised that the Suns had so thoroughly crushed their opponents today.
They are very familiar with the style of Sun and Fang Yun.
Basically, unless there are special circumstances, they will choose to operate in a stable manner most of the time.
But the Suns' team style has clearly changed today. Their offense is very sharp, but their defense is much weaker.
Fortunately, the Suns have a lot of experience in major competitions.
Even if you give up defense and go all in on offense.
But at least in the first four rounds of the group stage, no team has been able to withstand their attacks and launch counterattacks against their weak defenses.
But Fang Yun, who had been through it all, knew.
This approach works in the group stage, but it won't work in tomorrow's knockout stage.
If they continue playing like this, they're probably going to suffer some consequences.
Just as he was thinking about whether he should remind Taiyang and the others after the fifth round,
But as the final group stage matchups were announced, the viewers on various servers, who were already somewhat tired from watching the games all day, suddenly froze—
"Group Stage Round 5, Bianliang City VS...2008?!"
"Holy crap! Holy crap! The King versus the Queen, and it's the final group stage match? Is this something I can even watch?"
"WangYi's matchmaking is really messing things up, putting the two kings together in the final round of the group stage, and both of them are undefeated with four wins each. Won't they end up fighting like dogs?"
"That's true. Both teams have four wins and have basically secured their advancement. If they meet under these circumstances, they might really have to abandon their brains and choose to just brute force!"
"Great, great, this is just in time! I've been watching the game all day waiting for this!"
"It's a pity. It would have been even better if this round had been the Lanting Preface from 2008."
"Upstairs, you really love making things worse, don't you? Are you afraid that the Lanting Preface will actually win the championship?"
"Stop talking nonsense! This is such an exciting final match of the group stage, let's get some people to watch!"
The matchmaking list for the final round of the group stage has been released.
The moment I saw the Bianliang City VS 2008 match.
All the viewers who were watching this final battle were completely stunned!
The King of the Martial God Altar meets the Little King of the Martial God Altar.
The last time I saw a scene like this was during the All-Star Final Four.
After all, these two teams are too strong. If they weren't in the same pool, it would be a clash of titans.
This is the first time anyone has ever seen a team meet so early in the group stage.
So one can imagine.
The moment this group appeared.
The world chat channels on all the servers immediately erupted in excitement, with countless players calling out to their friends and more and more viewers flooding into the spectator area, all eager to witness this fierce battle between the two kings!
Of course.
Considering that this year's team from Bianliang City is not the "Thousand-Character Team" but the "Sun Team".
Their appeal is still much weaker compared to those with thousands of followers.
Most of the spectators who came to watch the battle were not there for them, but for the name Bianliang City.
As for how this match will turn out, judging from the audience's reaction so far, Bianliang City's chances of winning are definitely not as high as the other side's.
That's right.
It's obvious that Bianliang City is basically being trampled on every time 2008 happens.
However, unless they are not launching a campaign with a score of over 1,000, people's expectations for them will drop significantly.
On the contrary, it was 2008.
Although this team was quite sluggish before, and was frequently eliminated in the group stage.
But their commander-in-chief was, after all, Abai.
In particular, the 2008 team led by A-Bai came on strong, crushing the teams in the first four rounds of the group stage even though the real main force of the billion-dollar family did not play.
Now, in the final battle, they will face Bianliang City, led by the Sun.
By any measure, their winning percentage is higher.
The people who felt the most wonderful at this moment were probably the audience at the Orchid Pavilion Preface.
The collective outburst of these three masters is actually not a good thing for the Lanting Preface.
After Baihuacun withdrew from the competition, they thought their consecutive championships were basically secured.
However, the outbreak of the Bianliang City conflict followed in 2008.
Just thinking about what these two teams were like at their peak.
Fans of the Lanting Preface felt a chill run down their spines—
The monster has woken up. Does that mean our team can still keep their winning streak? (End of Chapter)