"Before the game, the coaches of both teams tossed a coin to determine EDG's priority. They were free to choose sides in the first, third, and fifth games, while YM chose sides in the second and fourth games."
Remember said, "EDG chose the blue side in the first game, banning them first. This is a bit beyond my expectations."
"Yes, before this, all the teams fought for the red side in order to prevent YM's last counter position. After all, Ran's mid laner hero pool is a bit strange, and it's often impossible to guard against."
"But EDG must have their reasons for choosing this," Mille continued, "They chose to ban Shen, Blind Monk, and Vampire, and released Xiao Ming's Hammer Stone."
YM was still discussing the last ban position. Previously, they had banned Chiwil and Excavator.
"If we release Ember, we can take Ice and Hammer Stone. What do you guys think?" Hanyi asked for the opinions of her own bottom lane.
"That's not good. I don't have to choose Hammer Stone. What if the opponent plays Ember and Tam? Our plan before the game will be difficult to carry out." Xiao Ming scratched his neck and said.
"Ban Ember. It's too risky to release him," JKL said.
Hanyi had no choice but to ban Ember. EDG had achieved their goal of choosing the red side, and they did not dare to release Ember to Deft. YM could only use this ban position.
"EDG chose Ice first. It's not a big problem. Deft's performance in Ice at the end of the season was quite eye-catching. Coupled with Ember being banned, he is one of the few good ADC choices," Remember said.
"Captain Tam, you guys take these two first."
Hanyi turned a page in her notebook, which recorded the good use of heroes and lineups of the opposing team's five players. The coaches usually did their BP based on these.
EDG took Bull's Head and Wine Barrel.
"Look at YM's third and fourth choices, Princes and Verus …" Mille analyzed. "They are very unique to YM. Their ability to move around the tower is not bad."
"Cards and Gnar. EDG has taken out their last two choices," Remember said. "For this hand of cards, I personally prefer to use Pick instead of Ban because Ran's cards performed very well in the previous semi-final between YM and WE."
"Yes, we had no choice but to choose Gnar. In Mouse's hero pool, only Gnar can suppress Captain. We didn't dare to use the Big Tree from the previous practice. Firstly, it's because the mid and jungle are all AP damage dealers. If we add another Big Tree, it would be unbalanced. Secondly, it's very difficult for a Big Tree to deal with Captain's push in the mid and late game."
"But I'll tell you the truth. Gnar couldn't win against Captain in the mid to late stages of the game, whether it was a team battle or a solo battle. Although Gnar could use the Buddha's Palm with an extremely high upper limit in a team battle, the margin for error was too low. The current teams wouldn't fight with you when they see Gnar's anger."
Mille evaluated objectively.
"Let's see what YM's last pick will be to play Scout's card?" Doll murmured.
"Yasso?
They won't pick him, right? "Mille said with a smile when he saw Yasso's avatar on YM's fifth floor.
"If you dare to pick Yasso, I'll send you to the bottom lane." Lin Yan looked at Xiao Ming and said, "I'm not kidding. Yasso on the first day of Shark Fight was the best I could do."
Xiao Tian shuddered. He was reminded of the mole, Happyboy, who took the role in advance.
"Pick Ice Maiden," Hanyi said. "Remember what I told you before. Act more realistically. Don't scare people away."
"No problem." JKL gestured.
"Ice Maiden, one of Ran's signature heroes. She's very good at jungling," Doll said.
"Then I think this game will be a clash between the mid and junglers. Whoever takes the initiative to go to the bottom lane will have the upper hand in the early and mid game." Remember to add.
Lin Yan adjusted his Rune Talent and started rubbing his wrists.
The lineups of both sides were confirmed.
Blue EDG: Gnar, Wine Barrel, Cards, Ice, Bull's Head.
Red YM: Captain, Princes, Ice Maiden, Verus, Tam.
"The first round of the 2016 LPL Summer Finals has officially begun!
Let's enter the Summoner's Canyon together! "
Following Doll's excited voice, the tens of thousands of spectators cheered.
For level one, both sides started the game as usual. They took defensive positions and did not rush in.
As soon as the minions gathered in the mid lane, Lin Yan went online and started eating the minions.
Cards were relatively weak before level six. His legs were too short and he did not dare to push the minions. He simply pulled the minions in front of his tower.
The performance of JKL and Ming in the bottom lane finally began.
The two of them ate the Magical Swamp Frogs and went online. Because of Tam's W skill, they were very profitable in the early game and did not waste much health.
On the other hand, EDG's Bull's Head and Ice were slightly inferior. The Gargoyle's Camp reduced Meiko's health by 13.
Bull's Head was at level one and was even weaker than Tam. After eating the minions to level up by 2, JKL used Verus's passive attack speed and took the opportunity to press forward and fight with Deft.
Deft was used to being arrogant in the LPL and could not take any losses. Seeing that JKL dared to come up for a blood swap, he turned around and fought back.
However, he underestimated JKL's determination. He activated his Healing E [Evil Spirit Arrow Rain] and slowed down. It looked like he was determined to fight it out with Deft.
Xiao Ming's Tam ate one of the minions and spat it at Deft. He ignited it and killed it.
At first, Meiko thought that it was just a normal blood swap. He did not expect YM to use two summoner skills and forcefully reduce Deft's health.
He hesitated for a moment and did not use Flash and Ignite. He kowtowed on the spot and pushed Tam up for a round.
Deft did not expect YM to be so aggressive in the bottom lane. Seeing that he was on fire, the healing provided by the healer was obviously not enough. He simply used Flash and retreated to ensure his health.
"YM's bottom lane is not winning this round, right?"
Doll was a little uncertain. "Two summoner skills in exchange for one Flash. Deft will eat the health potions on him and wait for the War Overlord's Bloodlust to recover."
"However, YM has protected their bottom lane in this round. Tam can enter EDG's jungle to control their vision," Mille said.
"That's right. If we can catch Factory Director in the early stages of the game, it's not a loss." Remember nodded.
Xiao Ming's vision was fixed and he saw Wine Barrel walking towards the red buff. His vision was exposed. Xiao Tian could easily see through the tab that Factory Director was going to eat the red buff.
However, YM's setup was not as simple as the three commentators imagined. Xiao Tian's Princes was farming F4 + 3 Wolves. He leveled up to level 3 at the fastest speed and went straight to Factory Director's jungle.
When he arrived, Factory Director had just finished eating the red buff and was about to leave. Xiao Tian's EQ combo in the bushes sent Factory Director's Wine Barrel flying.
Although Xiao Tian did not use the blue buff, the amount of blue on him was barely enough to use the W [Golden Holy Shield]. Coupled with the red buff's slow, he kept sticking to Factory Director.
Both the bottom and middle lanes were pushed. Factory Director looked at Xiao Tian who was sticking to his face and knew that if he used the E [Meat Egg Impact], he would only be blocked by Xiao Tian.
He had no choice but to use Blink and run out of the jungle.
"Hey," Mille exclaimed softly. "YM's setup is not bad. Wine Barrel still eats Blink. Factory Director can do very little in these five minutes."
"Yes, Xiao Ming's vision has done a great job," Remember said.
Xiao Tian ate Factory Director's F4 and then inserted his own Eye Accessory into the bushes.
After Xiao Ming returned, JKL pushed a wave of minions and then inserted his Eye Accessory into the bushes at the bottom lane closest to EDG's defense tower.
There were quite a lot of minions in this wave. Before Deft and Meiko could finish clearing them, the next wave of minions rushed over and collided with YM's minions at the bottom of the tower.
This would be JKL's first wave of push-back.
Deft planned to clear them slowly and let JKL lose as many minions as possible.
The push-back minions gathered in front of the tower.
Mr. Dai and Meiko left the protection of the tower and came to the central position.
Lin Yan also pushed a wave of Scout's minions. He had 25 swords on him and went home to buy Dark Seal and Reusable Potions.
Xiao Tian did not see Factory Director's movements from EDG's F4 in the bushes.
Unless he did not use the green buff in the first wave, he must have just finished farming Demon Swamp Frogs and was eating the river crab in the top lane.
EDG's bottom lane did not know anything about this and was still blocking the push-back line bit by bit.
The moment the two of them crossed the river by relying on the minions, Lin Yan gave the order to attack.
Xiao Ming's Tam flashed past the minions' Q [Giant Tongue Whip] and hit the Ice Archer's graceful body, leaving a red mark with saliva on her exposed white skin.
Before JKL, Lin Ran had placed a TP on the bush closest to EDG's line of sight.
"This is a TP from the back, Ice Maiden is level 3 and needs support!" Doll shouted.
JKL used E [Ghost Arrow Hail] to slow down Deft again. This made it difficult for him to move without Blink.
Meiko used her horns to knock JKL away and then used her Q [Earth Shatter] to knock Xiao Ming away.
Deft tried his best to heal himself and even tried to use the acceleration to save himself.
However, Lin Yan had already landed.
E [Glacier Path] was close to Mr. Dai's face and W [Frost Aura] restrained the Ice Archer.
JKL drew his bow and gathered power. Q [Piercing Arrow] hit Deft without any suspense and took away one of the Ice's health points.
The fans who supported YM cheered, while the EDG fans quieted down. The cheers from before were suddenly cut off, as if they were stuck in their throats.
"Beautiful support!" Mille could not see through YM's early game layout.
He did not expect EDG to fall into YM's trap from the very beginning of the first battle at the bottom lane.
Speaking of which, this was a tactic that Hanyi stole from the semi-finals between EDG and RNG.
However, this was an improved version.
First, the bottom lane would be reckless. They would use a combination of slow and heavily injure skills to trick the opponent's AD into Blink. They would control the lane and assist them to set up vision in the opposite jungle. Then, their own jungler would invade.
Then, the bottom lane would push deeper, bury vision in the bushes, and wait for the push-back line to arrive.
Lin Yan returned to the city to replenish his equipment. As soon as he saw the bottom lane's minions crossing the river, he would immediately TP support.
He would catch the AD without Blink.
This huge wave of push-back lines was eventually split equally between Lin Yan and JKL.
"I can't go down. Princes is on my face," Scout said in an apologetic tone.
"It's okay. Wait for me to Blink and catch the middle lane." Factory Director took the initiative to say.
Lin Yan ate the minions and the first blood assist money. He returned home to buy the buff book and then rushed to the top lane.
Xiao Tian ate a large wave of minions under the middle lane tower and went straight to level 5. He returned to the city to buy the green jungler's knife, longsword, and True Eye before rushing to the jungle again.
YM had established their early advantage.