The YM players took off their headphones, and a few of their teammates took turns to rub Lin Ran's hair, messing up the hairstyle that the makeup artist had painstakingly done for him.
Lin Ran stood up and lifted his arm to grab JKL's neck. JKL was the one who had rubbed his hair the most, and pulled him into his embrace.
"Big Head's son, do you know that you can break your head, bleed, but you can't mess up your hairstyle?" Lin Yan shook his hair and gritted his teeth.
Xi Ye took off his headphones and looked at the audience. He was confused and didn't know what to do.
If his support awareness was slightly inferior to Lin Yan's in the first round, and he couldn't keep up with his opponent's rhythm, then the second round was a big problem with his understanding of the game.
If he imitated the opponent's mid laner and attacked Vampire with everything he had, would this card still be able to stand in front of his cooked wheaten food tower?
He shook his head helplessly and patted Mystic, who had lost her virginity. The two of them left the player area together.
Lin Yan returned to the team's lounge, and was greeted by cheers and physical contact from the management team.
Chubby's eyes narrowed into slits when he smiled, Hao came over and hugged Lin Yan's shoulder intimately, and a few of the operation girls' flattery almost made Lin Yan bloat.
After the break, YM took the lead and returned to the player area.
Lin Yan took advantage of the break to grab a cup of Red Bull. He drank it in one gulp, and felt refreshed. He wasn't sure if it was just a psychological effect.
This was a crucial match for the ticket to S6, so all the players present were very nervous, and maintained a high level of excitement at all times.
Lin Yan had a habit of not eating lunch on the day of a match, and it was already seven o 'clock in the evening by the time the second round was over. He hadn't eaten for 12 hours, so it was inevitable that he was hungry.
At this time, the five members of WE and their coach walked out from the backstage.
"Why do I feel like their expressions are a bit off?" JKL looked sideways and said.
"Are they too nervous?" Xiao Ming put on his headphones and started shaking his legs. He was still chewing gum, and his expression was relaxed and natural.
"That's for sure. Anyone would be anxious if they were behind 0-2." Xiao Tian turned on his headset and poured coffee into his mouth.
Lin Yan turned his head to look at the WE contestant benches. All five of them looked anxious and confused. Even the coach looked a little sluggish, as if he had lost his soul.
He could understand WE's current situation if he put himself in their shoes.
WE made a lineup change at the beginning of S6. After Kandi and 957 entered the starting lineup, the team officially took off. They only took three months to win the Spring Season.
This gave the management and players hope of advancing to the global finals.
However, the higher the expectations, the greater the disappointment.
By the time the match ended, WE had already lost 6 matches in a row against YM. They could not find a way to beat YM and were beaten until their heads were spinning.
The LPL team sitting on the side was about to steal the S6 ticket that WE had been waiting for for half a year.
Just as Su Cheng said, WE, as a "repeater", began to fear defeat after losing two matches. This was because if they lost one more match, they would have to fight in the extremely cruel bubble match.
There, WE would have to face one of RNG, EDG, and YM.
No matter which team it was, WE would have a hard time beating them.
EDG had the best operational ability in LPL, deftmeiko was at his peak, and the team's teamwork was excellent. RNG had Xiao Hu, the LPL's top mid laner who would get excited whenever he played against Xi Ye. YM?
Not to mention, they were already behind 0-2. It would be harder than ascending to the heavens to make a comeback.
The glittering door to S6 in the Spring Season was slowly closing.
"Welcome to the live broadcast of the third match between YM and WE …" Doll said, "Right now, WE is standing on the edge of a cliff. Let's see if they can recover and adjust their state of mind."
Mille pondered for two seconds, "I can only say that YM's momentum is too strong. They relied on their individual ability and teamwork to make up for their disadvantage in the early and middle stages of the last match."
"Yes, we saw in the previous matches that if WE could gain the upper hand in the early and middle stages, they would not lose. However, in the last team battle of the last match, YM showed us what teamwork is. They allowed Jin Gong to TP to the high ground in the midst of thousands of troops, and with the help of Cards, they successfully stole the base."
"WE's condition today is indeed a bit bad." Joker spread out his hands and said, "They made a big mistake in the last match. This can be seen from the fact that they didn't manage to kill Cards with 4 packs on the top lane."
"Not only did they let Cards escape, 957's Ike was also killed by a tower jump. At the same time, they lost their second Earth Dragon. Without that Earth Dragon, Cards wouldn't have been able to destroy WE's base. They would have been able to drag it out for a while."
Falling behind 0-2, even Zhou Kole, who always had high hopes for WE, was no longer stubborn.
The BP segment began. YM chose the red side and left the counter spot.
They left the ban spots for Chiwil, Gnar, and Boulogne as usual.
WE still chose to ban the three heroes, Blind Monk, Hammer Stone, and Ember.
"This match has changed sides. It's WE's turn to pick Shen first." Doll laughed, "It looks like they are very wary of Jin Gong's support ability."
"The key is that YM can always capitalize on WE's opportunities in the early game. Jin Gong's two Shen games, the first R of each game can get the economy of a blood tower. This ensures YM's early game economy snowball. This is crucial for a team like them that focuses on the early and middle stages of the game."
"After all, after the TP nerf, the top lane's influence on the overall game will gradually weaken. Shen's influence is relatively small, so the team with him can use the numbers difference to launch a flank attack in the early game."
Mille had a thorough understanding of YM's early game strategy.
Hanyi maintained her characteristic of changing the soup but not the medicine. Her core strategy was to let YM's five players fight until the end.
After all, WE's skill level couldn't force them to use more tactics.
After the BP segment ended, both sides finished choosing their lineups.
The blue side WE: Shen, Excavator, Lisandra, Ice Shooter, Bull's Head, Chieftain.
The red side YM: Captain, Princes, Card Master, Verus, Tam.
YM's strategy was still 131 points, but this time they had three core lineups, so they had to eat a lot of resources.
In a normal balanced game, the team only had enough resources to support two cores. If they wanted the third core to develop, they had to have enough advantages in the early and middle stages of the game.
This way, the three cores would have room to grow and eat more minions and jungle economy.
Originally, Lin Yan thought this match would drag to the middle and late game, relying on a team battle or a split push to win.
However, he didn't expect WE to make such a huge mistake.
JKL's performance in the previous game was average. This time, he strongly requested Hanyi to give him another chance. In this game, he killed Mystic at level 4.
Xiao Tian took the opportunity and wasted his level and economy to firmly control the first water dragon.
Lin Yan was targeted repeatedly. Kandy's Excavator kept circling around the middle lane, so Lin Yan could only hide under the tower to develop.
This gave Xi Ye the capital to push and roam.
However, it was useless. He had just reached level 6 when Jin Gong supported him in the top lane, and JKL cut off Zero's head.
When Lin Ran saw that the JKL's development had taken shape in advance, he wasn't in a hurry. He minded his own business and slowly replenished his troops under the tower. He watched as Seer's Ice Lady ran up and down, busying herself.
10 minutes later, Xiao Tian used a wave of Agility Reverse Crouch and caught Kandy gank in the bottom lane.
Lin Yan ran to the back of the tower and used a big move to teleport down. Xi Ye also teleported to the bottom lane.
In an instant, 9 people gathered at the bottom lane and a team battle broke out.
Even though Jin Gong had only supported with one big move, YM had still managed to win in an unbelievable manner.
Zero's Bull's Head actually flashed and kowtowed.
In the entire team battle, he only used a Ignite and a W, and the rest of the time, he used his R to resist damage.
However, YM didn't care about him at all.
Lin Yan's Yellow Card froze Mystic's Ice, and together with JKL's accurate Piercing Arrow, they killed the ADC first.
Even though Xi Ye's Ice Maiden's E flashed and did a good AOE, Xiao Ming's Tam protected JKL well.
A healthy Verus played a crucial role in the small team battle in the early stages.
Especially when Little Tian used [Heaven's Fall and Earth's Rend] to cover the three of them, JKL's Verus used [Corruption Chain] to control more people.
With the activation of his passive Desire for Vengeance, Verus' attack speed became more and more ridiculous. JKL kept attacking crazily, and together with Lin Yan's Omnipotent Card and Captain's Cannon Barrage, they cleaned up the mess.
WE's team battle ended in a complete defeat. JKL single-handedly took down a blood tower, and his economy skyrocketed.
JKL and Xiao Ming switched to the mid lane and started suppressing WE. Lin Yan rushed to the top lane to continue soloing, while Captain went to the bottom lane to develop.
Once the gap in the bottom lane was opened, it was hard to fill.
At 20 minutes, Mystic was already behind JKL by more than half a set. YM used the vision pressure from the mid lane to nibble away at Kandy's jungle.
After Baron Nash respawned, YM decisively went for the dragon. Lin Yan took advantage of the loophole in WE's formation, and went for Mystic who was alone.
With the level and equipment advantage, it was easy for a card master to kill an AD. With a Yellow Card, Omnipotent Card, and a few normal attacks, the Ice Archer was killed on the spot.
Kandi still wanted to use the dragon to help drag the team into the later stages of the game, but all of his movements were clearly seen through by YM.
JKL's [Flash] and Jin Gong's [Triple Barrel Shot] instantly killed Kandi.
After getting the Dragon, YM started to split into three lanes. WE's mentality was obviously unbalanced, and more and more openings were exposed when they switched lanes.
In the end, Xiao Tian seized the opportunity.
With an EQ + R, Xiao Tian started the team battle from afar. Jin Gong's Cannon Barrage, which was buffed by Death's Daughter, bombarded the WE players who were within the range of Xiao Tian's Cannon Barrage.
After that, it was time for Lin Yan and JKL to reap the spoils.
All of WE's players were killed, and YM took down WE's base in 26 minutes.
"Let's congratulate YM!"
WE's Crystal exploded. Doll said, "They've won the ticket to the finals of the summer tournament that will be held on August 26th at the Guangzhou International Sports and Arts Centre!"
"Yes, they've won three straight sets. YM has continued their hot streak in the regular season!"
Mille continued, "They'll be competing with the winner of the other semifinal match tomorrow for the championship!"
Joker added, "Regardless of whether WE wins or loses in the third place match, they'll still have to play in the cruel bubble tournament to fight for the third ticket to S6."
Doll fiddled with his headset and heard the broadcast from the backstage. "Based on the current state of the semifinals, WE, Snake, and VG have been confirmed to enter the bubble tournament. The fourth team will be selected from RNG, EDG, and YM."
"Then WE's journey to the bubble tournament will be very difficult." Mille looked at the WE players who were slumped in their chairs after losing the match and sighed. "I can only hope that their results are worth their efforts."
Lin Yan took off his headset and drank the Red Bull drink in his paper cup. Then, he led his teammates to shake hands with the WE players.
The WE players were obviously mentally unstable. When Lin Yan shook hands with them, he realized that they were all out of it.
As their opponent, Lin Yan knew how much pressure WE had to face in the third round.
Due to the various maneuvers and chaotic decision-making, WE's well-trained operations team revealed many flaws in the third round.
The officials invited Lin Yan and JKL to participate in the post-match interview.
"Ran, I would like to ask you something. In the second round, when you controlled the card master to escape, what were you thinking at that time?" The female host smiled and passed the microphone to Lin Ran.
Lin Yan was stunned for two seconds after hearing the question. What was I thinking?
Of course I ran. Was I supposed to just stand there and wait for death?
How could she ask such a stupid question?
Originally, Lin Yan would have found a random excuse to dodge the question. However, since he was in a good mood after winning the match 3-0, Lin Yan didn't mind giving them a chance to explain.
"At the time, someone was guiding me," Lin Yan said with a straight face. "I followed the instructions and used my ultimate card to teleport me to F4's camp."
JKL looked at him in shock. The female host was also stunned.
"The moment I saw the Beak Bird's camp, I finally knew the identity of that person. F4 was his will in the mortal world!"
Lin Yan looked serious. "It's him, the great Piggy Immortal who has been studying MSI's opponents — Granule Spicy Dance!"
When he said the last sentence, the audience burst into laughter.
"You can reach the Factory Director?"
"That little bastard is hinting that the Factory Director will protect KDA?
Your account is gone. "
"But this joke is pretty funny. The key is that it corresponds to F4."
"How can he say something like that with a straight face and not laugh?"
The number of comments in the live broadcast instantly increased.
Below the stage, Su Cheng covered her mouth and laughed. Her fair cheeks were dyed with a touch of soul-stirring pink.
The female host reacted quickly and quickly changed the topic.
"Then tomorrow's second semi-final will determine another finalist." The female host had learned her lesson and handed the microphone to JKL. "Do the two of you have any expectations for your opponents?"
"They're … about the same. They'll play the same." JKL looked at Lin Yan and began to hint. "After all, the two teams are about the same level."
What he meant was that EDG and RNG both lost to YM in the regular season, so they were about the same level.
The female host obviously understood what he meant. She raised her eyebrows and quickly cut in from another angle.
"That's true. RNG and EDG are both the top teams in LPL. What kind of sparks will these two teams produce tomorrow?
Please look forward to it … "
Lin Yan felt that the female host would probably get an excellent grade in the "EQ" class. Her understanding of the game was not very good, but her ability to adapt was quite reliable.