Xie Mingzhe made good use of the last three days to sort out all of his cards, and with Chen Qianlin's advice, he put together several decks suitable for individual competitions.
The Star Card Master Invitational Tournament does not have a "double mode" or "team mode". All contestants must go through rounds of brutal screening in their own name, and only the final 32 contestants will be eligible to register for the professional league.
This grand competition not only attracted widespread attention from the whole nation, but also the league's clubs would watch every game in the final round of the top 32 to look for promising talents so that they could sign them to the club in advance. Some clubs would even look for newcomers in advance during the "Top 100 Battle" stage of the semi-finals, which was also the only way for newcomers to enter the league.
The top 32 players can basically get the opportunity to sign with major clubs. If there are some players with outstanding talents but fail to enter the top 32 due to poor performance, the clubs can also sign them in advance as reserve players in the training camp. After receiving formal training, they can participate in the competition next year to obtain official registration qualifications.
It is said that in the last Masters Tournament, five players were selected by various clubs and became reserve players, and they will compete again this year. The players who have undergone rigorous training by the clubs will definitely be much stronger. Compared with ordinary online game players, the gap is not ordinary. These people will become the biggest obstacle for the four Nirvana players to advance.
At the same time, the major guilds have also discovered many talented players in the game and trained them to participate in the competition. There are also some strong private players who have signed up to participate in the competition. The number of people who signed up for this year's Masters Tournament exceeded one million, which is unprecedented.
Xie Mingzhe was not under much psychological pressure. After all, he had been playing against players from Fenghua Team 2 frequently, so he was considered a half-reserve player and had accumulated a lot of practical experience. Moreover, his master personally checked his deck combination, and his senior brother also told him a lot of things to pay attention to in individual competitions. Xie Mingzhe was quite confident in himself.
As a former professional player, Chen Xiao will certainly have no problem getting back into the top 32; Yu Ke has enough talent and reaction speed, so as long as he doesn't make serious mistakes due to carelessness in the elimination stage, he should also have no problem; Chen Qianlin is most worried about Qin Xuan.
The young man had long hair and the temperament of an art academy student was very special. He looked a little gloomy and seldom spoke. His taciturn personality made it difficult to get along with him. But over time, Chen Qianlin discovered that Qin Xuan was very serious and hardworking. Every time Xie Mingzhe made a strange scene design request, he could complete it as quickly as possible and his work efficiency was extremely high.
However, his competitive skills are indeed not comparable to those of the other three. During this period, Chen Qianlin has been carefully observing the training of the four people. Qin Xuan is not good at individual combat, but at controlling the overall situation. This is why Chen Qianlin arranged for him to serve as an auxiliary in team battles.
Chen Qianlin believes that Qin Xuan will become an excellent career assistant in the future.
However, the Grandmasters Tournament is an individual competition, and Qin Xuan, who is not good at attacking, is actually at a great disadvantage. In addition, Chen Xiao's plant deck style tends to focus on critical hits and fierce attacks, which does not quite match Qin Xuan's personal temperament.
After careful consideration, Chen Qianlin decided to personally customize two plant cards for Qin Xuan and add them to the deck for this Masters Tournament. Since Nirvana's current deck is all dark plants, Chen Qianlin also made two new cards with negative states in the style of dark plants -
The first one is "Blood Rose", a rose flower that is blood red all over, and the petals are constantly dripping blood. When the petals bloom, they will trigger the negative state of "bleeding" for the group within the range. This card only has one skill, "Blood Rose", so the basic data is very high. The skill has a short cooldown time, a long action time, and causes a considerable amount of continuous bleeding.
The other is the "Black Elderberry", a less common forest shrub with berries of many colors. The diameter of the berries is no more than 1 cm, and they are clustered together like miniature grapes. One of the black berries can be used as a black dye, while the red berries are mostly used to make various foods.
Chen Qianlin seized on this feature and designed a "berry color change" skill. The red berries restore health to the entire group, and the black berries spread out in a range that causes the enemy group to be dyed. The dyed state continues to lose blood every second, and can coexist with the bleeding state of the bloody rose.
In this way, the two cards will overlap their negative effects at the same time, and the enemy group will lose health very quickly.
Chen Xiao knew that his brother had made two cards to help Qin Xuan win the Grandmasters Tournament. He was really jealous. His brother had never made a card for him, but Qin Xuan was so lucky... Chen Xiao couldn't help but whispered, "Brother, make one for me too."
Chen Qianlin glanced at him and said, "With your strength, you don't need me to make cards for you. You can make them yourself."
Chen Xiao: “…”
It seems that his brother is very confident in his ability. Thinking of this, Chen Xiao became happy again. After all, the cards his brother made for Qin Xuan can also be used in team battles! After Qin Xuan finishes the game, he can also let him copy a few for his own collection.
That night, Chen Qianlin called Qin Xuan over, gave him the new card, and said, "Qin Xuan, this card is made for you according to your style. Take it and practice it. Master it as soon as possible. You can use it in the later stage of the Masters Tournament."
God Lin actually made a card for him personally. Qin Xuan was really flattered. You know, even Tang Muzhou didn't have this treatment back then! Although his expression was calm, his voice was so excited that it trembled slightly: "Thank you, thank you, God Lin!"
Chen Qianlin patted the boy's shoulder encouragingly and said, "You're welcome, but try to hide the original information of the cards when you play. I don't want people to know that I'm back so early. Your style is better at stable control of the field. These two cards can help you quickly stack negative states on your opponent and use the bleeding effect to wear down your opponent."
Qin Xuan nodded seriously: "I understand, Master Lin, I will definitely train hard!"
In fact, Qin Xuan was under a lot of pressure, because the final exams of Imperial Capital University were scheduled in January, and he had to prepare for the competition and take the final exams, so he didn't have enough time. In addition, there were two notoriously perverted professors in the art department, and he might not pass the course. In the past week, he had slept no more than five hours a day, and there was a layer of obvious dark circles under his eyelids.
But he didn't feel tired at all, he was full of energy, he knew that Chen Ge and Azhe would have no problem in this Masters Tournament, and Yu Ke would not have any big problems either since he was naturally talented - he was the only one in danger, he couldn't hold his teammates back.
Therefore, during the three days after getting the new card, Qin Xuan practiced all night, sleeping only three hours a day, pushing himself to the limit.
***
January 10th is coming soon, and the first round of the preliminary stage of the Masters Tournament officially begins.
One million registered players are randomly matched. Each player will play ten games in a row and advance to the next level with a win rate of more than 60%. This will eliminate a large number of players. In terms of time arrangement, players can submit a more convenient time period to the system referee. The most people are definitely from 20:00 to 24:00 in the evening. In order to avoid the experts, Qin Xuan deliberately chose 3:00 to 5:00 in the afternoon when there are fewer people.
Qin Xuan had an exam this morning. He went back to school and came to Nirvana Club right after the exam. Since he had submitted a match for the afternoon session, he would be the first to go on the field in Nirvana.
To encourage him, his teammates prepared a sumptuous lunch. Yu Ke was also very considerate and peeled a big apple for him, handing it to him, saying, "Eat an apple. My mother said that eating apples can keep people safe. I hope everything goes well for your game this afternoon."
Qin Xuan's expression froze slightly. The fruit he hated the most was apples... But facing Yu Ke's flattering smile, Qin Xuan still took the apple with a serious expression, took a few bites, and ate it all without making a sound.
At 2:30 in the afternoon, Qin Xuan logged into the game early, and his teammates followed him to watch the excitement.
Today's Phoenix Star Region can be described as "crowded with people". As soon as you enter Phoenix Star, you can see a building in front of you with the words "National Star Card Master Invitational Tournament Special Event" written on it. Crowded players gathered in the hall. The scene was even more spectacular than traveling during the National Day holiday that year.
Qin Xuan entered the building and waited patiently for a moment. Soon, he received a system invitation - your game is about to begin, 30 seconds countdown, get ready. If you do not enter the venue during the countdown, it will be regarded as an automatic waiver of the game.
Giving up the right would result in a loss, so Qin Xuan entered the competition venue without hesitation.
The first game was matched against a player from a large guild, whose name had an obvious guild prefix. Qin Xuan was a little nervous, but he still kept his composure, took out the universal deck that Lin Shen gave him, and won the game safely within 5 minutes.
——Do you want to proceed to the next round immediately?
Qin Xuan took a deep breath and continued to play the next game. The second game was also won in a thrilling way, dragging out the pace for as much as 8 minutes.
But starting from the third game, things went more and more smoothly, and the opponents he was matched with were not very strong. Qin Xuan also became more and more confident, and finally won ten games in a row.
His teammates were very happy for him, and Chen Qianlin was also relieved. In contrast to Yu Ke's style of play, which was to rush forward as soon as he got excited, Qin Xuan's greatest advantage was that he could quickly remain calm no matter how difficult the situation was. He possessed the most rare quality of a supporting player. Only a calm support player could observe the situation on the field and use the key cards to control the field at the critical moment. The cards he made for Qin Xuan seemed to be worthwhile. In just three days, he had practiced so well, which showed how hard he worked privately.
After ten consecutive victories, Qin Xuan breathed a sigh of relief, and the expression on his face eased a lot.
Yu Ke shamelessly came over to take credit: "Maybe my apple worked? Haha, I knew you would win! I'll peel an apple for you before every game from now on!"
Qin Xuan: “…”
Can he say no? He hates eating this!
But in the end he didn't say it, and said seriously: "Thank you."
Chen Xiao came over and patted Qin Xuan on the shoulder: "You have set a good example for everyone. There will definitely be no problems in the subsequent competitions."
On January 10, in the first round of the Star Card Master Tournament, all four players of Nirvana won ten consecutive victories and successfully advanced to the next round.
There will be a day off on the 11th, but Qin Xuan can't rest because he has to prepare for the exam the next day. He works so hard and doesn't get enough sleep every day. If he wasn't in good health, he might have collapsed long ago.
Yu Ke usually trains very hard, but after completing the training tasks assigned by the coach, he doesn't spend more time on training consciously, and prefers to go to the arena to play by himself. However, this little guy is very talented, has quick reactions, and his joker assassination style easily catches his opponent off guard. He is also good at grasping key cards, so he won the preliminary round relatively easily.
It was even easier for Xie Mingzhe and Chen Xiao. Winning six out of ten games was a piece of cake for them.
In the second round, Qin Xuan submitted a match for the evening time slot because the exam was in the afternoon. He lost a game and successfully advanced. The other three players still advanced with ten consecutive wins.
In the third round, the official requirement for the cumulative promotion win rate was increased to 65%. Qin Xuan and Yu Ke lost a game each. Yu Ke lost because of carelessness, while Qin Xuan encountered a master who instantly defeated his key card Blood Rose. Chen Xiao and Xie Mingzhe still won ten games in a row.
After each day's competition, everyone would summarize and discuss, and the atmosphere in the entire club was full of fighting spirit.
By the seventh round, everyone had played 70 games. Even though they were short singles matches, they were already a little tired mentally. As the requirements for advancement were constantly increasing, most of the initial players had been eliminated, leaving only about 200 people. The eighth round would determine the final top 100 players, who would be ranked directly by wins.
Therefore, the eighth round is very crucial. Xie Mingzhe and Chen Xiao have a 100% winning rate to ensure their advancement. Theoretically, Yu Ke and Qin Xuan don't have to worry. With a winning rate of more than 85%, they are very stable in the top 100. They just need to keep up the eighth round and not lose everything.
Chen Qianlin's special training during this period was indeed effective. Everyone's mental quality was acceptable, and there was certainly no collapse in the eighth round. All four people successfully advanced to the semi-finals!
On January 20, the official website released the top 100 list of the rematch, ranked by winning rate.
The first place is actually a famous ID - Fat Uncle, with 80 consecutive wins and a winning rate of 100%!
80 consecutive games without losing a single one. Is Fat Uncle not only good at making cards, but also good at playing games?
Fans who got the news went crazy and collectively flooded his personal homepage to leave messages: "Uncle Fat, you went to participate in the Masters Tournament without telling us so that we can cheer for you!" "Our Uncle Fat is awesome, he made it into the top 100 with a perfect record!" "Uncle Fat 666, keep up the good work in the qualifying round, I look forward to you making it to the top 32 and appearing in the finals!"
In addition to Xie Mingzhe's 100% winning rate, there are six other players who have also won all their matches, including Chen Xiao's alias "Above the Clouds" and several unfamiliar IDs. Chen Qianlin speculated that these players should be the reserve seed players of the major clubs.
The four of them collectively passed the preliminary round, and the next top 100 competition was the most intense competition!