The schedule for the International All-Star Game has been released, and the opening match features a clash between last year's champions and runners-up: the French Tulip versus the Huaxia Dynasty.
The event organizers clearly saw the potential in this gimmick to attract more attention to the All-Star game, proclaiming that the runner-up would challenge the champion. Inviting the previous season's champion and runner-up to play the opening match is a well-established tradition in various professional esports events.
The effect was indeed very good. This opening match was highly anticipated and unprecedented, especially by Huaxia audiences. The runner-up position was an honor, but it also represented a regret. They hoped to see the Dynasty defeat the Tulip and get the season off to a good start.
Not only the audience, but all the teams aspiring to enter the international league are paying attention to this opening match, preparing to study the characteristics of the Dynasty and Tulip, and to target them in the official match. Knowing yourself and your enemy is the key to victory.
Han Xiao was also paying attention to the match. After all, the Dynasty Guild had bought hundreds of Ability Potion from him in bulk, and he needed to observe their effects to see if he needed to provide after-sales service.
The All-Star Game will continue the approach used in last season's international tournament, featuring specific "Gathering Crystals"—items similar to Dungeon Crystal —that will bring participating players together in a virtual arena for the competition. The entire event will be broadcast live by the official organizers and Galaxy Times, with commentators providing commentary.
A few days before the competition, Galaxy Times interviewed both the Tulip Team and the Dynasty Team, asking them for their opinions on the match.
Tulip's captain, the legendary player Lost Angel, exuded confidence, declaring that he would definitely win this match and defend the honor of the previous champion. With the champion's aura, most viewers naturally favored Tulip.
On the Dynasty side, the kings, Kings and Generals never knew the meaning of humility. They bluntly told the Tulip to wash their chrysanthemums clean and wait, and they would definitely crush their opponents—of course, this was not his exact wording, but that was the gist of it.
When faced with a tough opponent, Huaxia viewers didn't want to see the Dynasty being humble and low-key. Only fighting spirit could boost morale, so they rallied on the forums to show their strong support. After all, the Dynasty had been advancing triumphantly in the regional regular season, showing an indomitable spirit. Huaxia players had extremely high expectations for the Dynasty, fearing that they would become the same as last season's Temple.
The Temple faced a lot of criticism last season, becoming a negative example – a team that was fierce in domestic competitions but weak in international ones.
Experts from various fields conducted pre-match analyses, with most believing that the Tulip were slightly stronger, a view shared by the official organizers who positioned the Dynasty as the challenger.
The Galaxy Times published a summary report:
"The two captains Kings and Generals and General and the Lost Angel, exchanged barbs, neither backing down. Both seeded teams have the potential to win the championship, and they are evenly matched. They will deliver a thrilling and exciting battle, keeping the suspense until the very last moment. Who will emerge victorious? Stay tuned."
Amidst much anticipation, the opening match was fast approaching.
Countless players flooded into the live streaming channels. In addition to the official channel, there was also the Galaxy Times ' rebroadcast channel, which invited guests to watch the game together. Many viewers laughed when they saw the guest list of the Huaxia version of Galaxy Times, which included Meat Bun Hits Dog.
Meat Bun's video career is booming, finally turning him from a nobody into a celebrity with a group of die-hard fans and haters. His presence among the various professional gamers as a guest is rather amusing, almost like a cheap imitation...
The two teams entered the competition venue early using the gathering crystal. Under the guidance of the host, Kings and Generals and the Lost Angel led their teams through a brief interview and then went to prepare.
While waiting, the commentators and guests did some analysis, and then started chatting idly.
The female commentator from Galaxy Times on the Huaxia section asked the guests, "The match is about to begin. Why don't you all predict the outcome and tell us which team you're rooting for, and why?"
The guests' answers were all similar: they said Tulip was very strong, but they favored Dynasty, and they went on and on with a bunch of rational analysis reasons, mainly because they didn't dare to tell the Huaxia audience that they favored the enemy.
Only the Meat Bun, unlike the slutty and cheap woman next to it, held an extremely firm and unwavering stance.
"I'm rooting for Team Tulip; France will win!"
Many guests took notice.
The commentator couldn't help but ask, "Are you sure? Why?"
"This is a bit complicated to explain..." Meat Bun said seriously, "Have you ever heard of 'reverse milking'?"
The commentator was immediately at a loss for words, thinking that Meat Bun had lost his mind, but it turned out he was just being cheeky. If he weren't concerned about his image, he would have said, "What the hell are you showing off?"
After Meat Bun explained, the barrage of questions turned into a dense barrage of "France will win," sparking a wave of collective backlash against the prediction.
After a few playful moments, the competition officially began, and the relaxed atmosphere instantly became tense, with the audience highly focused and engrossed in the game.
The first match was a team battle, and the broadcast camera followed both teams throughout. Han Xiao mainly watched the Dynasty.
The arena was randomly set up with a rather complex terrain. Upon entering, the Dynasty did not rush to find opponents, but instead took out one mechanical device after another to make tactical arrangements.
The commentator added, "The Dynasty has chosen a steady and methodical approach, using mechanical tools to create favorable conditions. It's worth mentioning that all the tools used by the Dynasty are Black Star series machines. The Black Star Army has a complete system of mechanical products, which provides the teams in the Shattered Star Ring region with a convenient way to formulate tactics. In comparison, the Tulip team does not have an advantage in this area."
Meat Bun nodded in agreement, "Indeed, according to my investigation, players in other regions lack the easy way to obtain complete sets of equipment like the Black Star Army. Although professional players can still assemble a powerful set of top-tier equipment, it will take them much longer."
The mere mention of the Black Star Army sends Huaxia players into a frenzy, with the chat flooded with comments like "Black Star is awesome," "Leader, love me again," and "Dragon Emperor Fan Club was here," and so on...
In private, it's fine, but mentioning the Black Star Army in public at international tournaments excites Shattered Star Ring players. The Black Star Army is the link connecting many Shattered Star Ring players, becoming a common language.
Han Xiao was somewhat surprised. He was caught off guard by the sudden mention and felt a strange sense of "I may not be in the martial world anymore, but my legend lives on."
The match continued, and the two teams moved across the map, finally discovering each other's whereabouts and quickly closing in.
The audience tensed up instantly, holding their breath as they awaited the battle. In their eyes, a clash between top teams was bound to be a devastating event, an unstoppable explosion that could lead to utter destruction...
However, fantasy often differs greatly from reality, and the actual situation is contrary to expectations.
There was no evenly matched battle; the Dynasty completely crushed the Tulip team from start to finish, delivering a brutal beating and ending their opponent in a swift and decisive manner.
The commentators and guests were so excited they were almost incoherent. The Huaxia audience was thrilled, but the audiences from other countries were stunned. They had no particular bias and had expected to see a back-and-forth battle, but they never expected that the defending champion would be so easily crushed and defeated by the runner-up.
In the ensuing arena match, the Dynasty won with an absolute advantage.
The official commentators and referees were dumbfounded. The organizers wanted to make the opening match a thrilling battle between the two champions and runners-up, which is why they arranged for the previous champions and runners-up to play against each other. However, Tulip suffered a shocking upset and were easily defeated by the Dynasty.
The victory of the Dynasty was a foregone conclusion, the barrage of comments went wild, the forums were filled with jubilation, Huaxia audience felt a sense of pride and wanted nothing more than to praise the Dynasty to the skies.
Han Xiao was not surprised by the result at all. In his previous life, the French Tulip won the first championship, but in the second season they became just an average strong team, and in the end they almost failed to make it to the quarterfinals of the international competition, their strength had been greatly reduced.
The Dynasty is much stronger than last season, so this result is normal in his view.
Although the Tulip were the defending champions, the French team lacked the unique advantage that the Huaxia team had—there were too few critics in France!
Without encouragement or pressure, unlike the Huaxia athletes who live in harsh environments and are highly motivated to avoid criticism, the French team's style is clearly not one of diligence. They become complacent after winning a championship, essentially showing off their own achievements. The Dynasty team, having won second place in the previous edition, is even more motivated.
He remembered that in the opening match of his previous life, the two teams facing off were the French Tulip Team and the United States Devil Team. In the end, the Tulip Team was completely crushed by Devil Demon Realm Team. Now, the Dynasty replaced the Demon Devil in the first season and won the runner-up position. So the one crushing the Tulip became the Dynasty.
After the opening match, the opinions of various experts shifted, and they began to lavish praise on the Dynasty, fully demonstrating their long-standing role as Monday morning quarterbacks.
Teams from other countries have come to regard Dynasty as their strongest competitor, and they are studying match videos in an attempt to find counter-tactics.
The Dynasty's victory had a sensational impact, garnering a lot of attention and overshadowing the other three major powerhouses. Huaxia audiences cheered and almost regarded the Dynasty as their main team. In addition to their excitement, the audience also placed high hopes on them.
Most of the players on the Dynasty Team were more or less nervous.
As members of a powerful family, they are well aware that the current situation is a double-edged sword. If they win all the way to the end, needless to say, they will be elevated to god-like status.
But once you lose, everyone's mistakes will be magnified and they'll be criticized relentlessly. The higher the exposure, the greater the pressure. Only Kings and Generals seen it all and don't care about this.
After the opening game's unexpected upset, the International All-Star Game officially began, with strong teams playing exhibition-style matches as a warm-up for the international regular season.
The champions from all nine competition regions demonstrated their skills and style.
This season has a tight schedule. After the All-Star Game celebrations, there was a few days of rest before the conference finals.
In the Shattered Star Ring competition zone, eight strong teams are divided into four groups according to their points ranking: Dynasty vs. Nine Gates, Jiangcheng vs. Madman, Long Sky vs. Fish-Fragrant Eggplant, and Temple vs. Rainstorm, best of five.
The most anticipated match was between Long Sky and Fish-Fragrant Eggplant, two powerhouse teams meeting in the first round. Since only the top four teams can participate in the international regular season, this means that one of the powerhouse teams will be absent from the international regular season.
Last season, Fish-Fragrant Eggplant missed out on the international regular season. This time, they are going all out to defeat Long Sky and strive to qualify.
Unfortunately, Long Sky still won, Fish-Fragrant Eggplant was eliminated again, hiding in the corner and drawing circles.
Soon, the results of the first round of the regional finals came out, with the Dynasty defeating Nine Gates without any suspense, maintaining their momentum.
Jiangcheng and Madman fought fiercely, reaching a 2-2 tie and match point. At the crucial moment, Frenzied Saber and Xie Xiaojian unleashed their power, ultimately defeating Yan Ran's Madman team and advancing to the semifinals.
The Temple faced off against Rainstorm, but the result was a complete upset. Jiang Yuluo was like a god, completely dominating Li Ge. In the end, Rainstorm eliminated the Temple 3-1 and advanced to the semi-finals. The Temple, along with Fish-Fragrant Eggplant, went to draw circles.
The final four teams have been announced: Dynasty, Long Sky, Jiangcheng, and Rainstorm. The result surprised many viewers, as two of the powerhouse teams were absent from the international regular season.
The top four teams from each division have already qualified for the next round; the next step is the battle for the division championship, which is also an honor.
The second round matchup list made Han Xiao suspect that Frenzied Saber had also tested Fording. The two powerhouse teams, Dynasty and Long Sky, faced off, while Jiangcheng was matched against the relatively weaker Rainstorm.
Frenzied Saber only started leading the team this year. Jiangcheng Team was originally just a second or third-tier team, but they actually qualified for the international regular season and fought their way to the top four in their division. Their performance was definitely a dark horse and attracted a lot of attention.
As a mech fighter, his fighting style is diverse, mature, and steady, making him more famous than the previous generation and beginning to solidify his position in the professional circle.
Because of Han Xiao, Frenzied Saber chose a different profession than in his previous life, but so far, his career path has been going much smoother.