As expected, SKT chose Blind Monk.
Hanyi heaved a sigh of relief. Although they had taken advantage of the ban segment, they had decided to use their ultimate skill. Thus, they decided to let Blind Monk go.
SKT was also quite satisfied with their choice. Although Dumb Chicken was known as an old man, Blind Monk was also quite good at playing.
It did not matter if his roundhouse kick was slow. He was not a controlling jungler anyway. Controlling the map and circling the enemy's vision were his specialties. Back in the days when Spider's mid lane blocked the enemy's vision and Nunu circled the enemy's sentry with Skateshoe W, the commentators were in awe.
"Ember and Fire Man, YM will choose the bottom lane duo," Mille said. "Let's make a more conventional choice."
SKT brought out Ice Karma. Wolf was half leaning against the back of the chair, his small eyes emotionless.
As the strongest bottom lane team in S6, they were not worried about the finals at all. The two young players opposite them would only become SKT's losers.
Of course, they would not underestimate their opponents. They were approaching the critical juncture of SKT's triple championship. If anyone dared to be careless, Dumb Chicken Faker and Coach Li Hom would make sure that they would not be able to return to Korea.
"Excavator and Ike," Doll hissed. "Give Jin Gong a hero who can solo carry to deal with Duke."
In the country's Shark-fighting live stream 13703, in the lower right corner of the screen, a fat man with features that resembled Lu Han was watching the match attentively.
This was the live stream of a former professional player, Flame Rat Mountain Mud. His real name was TengXianxia. Like the members of a male idol group in China, he was also a four-character younger brother.
Mountain Mud's main achievement in his career was to beat Smile until he retired and Brother Ma became autistic.
At that time, SMLZ asked Mountain Mud to choose a support with a shield, and he brought out Hanson. In the second match, SMLZ asked for a support with a healing function, and he brought out Swordgirl to assist SMLZ. The most ridiculous thing was that they won that match.
Mountain Mud's eyes were glued to the computer screen. When he saw SKT's choice, he stretched out his two chubby little hands and cheered.
"Wu … Clockwork and Jess. SKT's lineup is too solid?"
"All I can say is, as expected of SKT. Brothers, let's take this round!"
"Yesterday, I told you that SKT would win for sure during the livestream. You guys didn't believe me?" Shanni's face cracked from laughing. "I don't even know how we lost this match."
"If you don't understand, then ask. Is the streamer a traitor? Is he supporting LCK in the finals?"
"Don't call me that. The streamer used to be a meritorious member of SKT. What's wrong with supporting his old team?"
"Looking at Brother Flame's face, it's obvious that he's betting on SKT."
On the commentary platform of Staples Center.
"Jace and Clockwork. Both are solid choices." Mille felt that SKT's lineup was ridiculously solid. "Let's look at YM's last choice …"
"PDD, what are you laughing at?" Doll noticed that PDD was chuckling.
"Nothing, I was just thinking about something happy." PDD joked casually.
"I've chosen?" Xiao Ming was excited when he saw SKT's selection.
Hanyi glanced at both teams' lineups and confirmed that there were no problems. "Choose."
Xiao Ming typed in the search engine for the hero and clicked confirm.
The live audience burst into cheers. The bullet screen of the livestream was also filled with question marks. YM's last choice was unexpected!
"What do you mean? Don't want to win?"
"Is this the big move?"
"Why do I feel like they've randomly chosen?
Since they can't win, they might as well save some face for themselves. "
"Ah, this …" Mille's mouth was agape. "Holy Spear Ranger Lucian!"
"Is Lucian going to take the mid lane?"
Doll was equally surprised. "In the entire S6, Lucian was only chosen in the group stage. At that time, he was used to take the bottom lane!"
"I remember that the last time Lucian appeared in the mid lane was in the 2014 LPL Summer League. At that time, WE's mid laner, Ninja, chose this hero. At that time, it was in three categories. It's completely different from the current mainstream!"
(Tip: After Ninja chose Lucian as the mid laner in the 2014 Summer League, he was chosen by the mid laner again in the 2017 LPL Spring League. The player who was chosen was Xiao Hu from RNG. However, the most well-known player was Lucian, who was chosen by Xi Ye in the 2017 MSI.)
Doll turned to look at PDD. Only then did he realize that the corners of his mouth were slightly raised. His expression was obviously not right.
PDD held back his laughter and said, "To be honest, I know that Ran practiced Lucian this week, but I didn't expect them to use such a trick in the first round. I thought they'd stabilize the situation first."
"Let's see what YM's hidden big move will do. Lucian is a clockwork, so the mid lane should be advantageous." Mille crossed his arms in front of his chest.
"The lineup is locked. This BO5 will decide whether SKT's Double Champion will be crowned or YM's new king will be crowned!"
Twenty thousand people in the stadium cheered in unison. They waved the support items in their hands and cheered for the team they supported!
"What's the meaning of this?"
When he saw the last player selection, Yamanishi got up from his reclining chair. "YM is messing with people's mentality, right? Even their mid laner, Lucian, is here?"
"You still have the nerve to say that?
Death Song's jungler defeated Smile and Hanson's support made Old Scoundrel Sima depressed. Have you forgotten what you did? "
The bullet screen mercilessly exposed Yamanishi's hypocrisy.
Yamanishi looked dispirited. "Ouch, ouch … YM is playing dirty. I'm dizzy, I can't take it anymore."
After he finished speaking, he leaned back and closed his eyes.
"The streamer left peacefully. Start filling the bullet screen with the word 'memorial'!"
Both teams' lineups were confirmed.
Blue SKT: Top Laner Jess, Jungler Blind Monk, Mid Laner Clockwork, Bottom Laner Ice, and Karma.
Red YM: Top Laner Ike, Jungler Excavator, Mid Laner Lucian, Bottom Laner Lu Jin, and Fire Man.
Lin Yan equipped Ignite and selected War Zeal's talent. He rubbed his wrists and waited for the match to begin.
On the other side, Faker chose to bring out Flash Healer. He sat there with his eyes closed and took deep breaths to adjust his state of mind.
Even though the opponent had chosen Lucian, it did not affect his maneuvering in this match. Faker was confident that he could take out the opposing mid laner.
He knew that his opponent was not weak, but so what?
How many talented mid laners had he sent away in his career?
Was he short of one?
"Early game, focus on Xiao Tian. Phyllostachys Pubescens is on call. If you need anything, just say it," Lin Yan said as he looked at the loading screen.
As everyone knew, Lucian's margin for error was low. His hands were short, his body was fragile, and he had no control over his body. Mid to late game team battles were a test of positioning and maneuvering.
His shortcomings were obvious, but so were his strengths. Early game suppression and small scale combat ability were extremely strong.
Lin Yan's ability to bring out this advanced technology was closely related to the current version. It was not a rash choice.
In this version, junglers were the arrowheads of offense. As long as the jungler could gain an advantage, the situation of the match would be considered to have been torn open.
Mid lane was the position most closely related to junglers. To help the junglers, one had to obtain lane control. This required the mid laner to choose a hero with the ability to clear lanes or a strong lane suppression ability.
Dragon King belonged to the former, while Sindra and Lucian belonged to the latter.
Both of them could control lane control in the early and mid game to support the junglers. They could use the vision advantage of the green jungler to roll the economic snowball from the flanks and win the match.
Accompanied by the cheers of the live audience, ten heroes appeared on both sides of the Summoner's Canyon. They bought their equipment and walked out of the fountain.
Mille observed the movements of both sides from God's perspective. "SKT wants to invade in the early game. It looks like they want to scout YM's early game jungler route."
Phyllostachys Pubescens, who was standing in the bushes near the river, saw the SKT players rushing over. "Shall we fight? Shall we fight?"
Lin Yan did not give it much thought. "Take two steps back. We'll fight in the junglers!"
"It looks like YM is going to take on this team battle." Mille was a little worried. "But SKT's four heroes, Blind Monk, Jess, Ice, and Karma, are quite strong!"
Xiao Tian left the bushes near the river and ran towards the junglers to meet up with his teammates.
"This is the spot. Let's fight here!" Lin Yan pinged the bushes behind the wall behind the red buff.
This place was connected to the river and the red zone. If SKT wanted to place the red buff in YM's jungler to scout Xiao Tian's jungler route, they had to enter this bushes.
SKT huddled together and entered the junglers' junglers. YM stood in position and prepared for battle.
"Steady. Don't go in all at once. We have Ice to pull slowly." Faker looked at the dark bushes in front of him and was very alert.
Bang was far away. He first cast a skill at the bushes. Ten Thousand Arrows left his hands and did not discover anything.
Wolf inserted the accessory's eye into the bushes. Bang took a small step back. He did not give up the position of the eye. If the accessory's eye was also inserted at this time, there would be a gap in their vision at the bottom lane. Excavator could take advantage of this gap to enter.
Bang had a lot of small details.
Dumb Chicken walked forward and inserted his vision into the red buff's camp.
SKT turned around and was about to leave. They sincerely believed that YM would not dare to fight. After all, the level one lineup they had chosen was too strong.
However, the moment they retreated, a Temporal Field suddenly appeared under their feet!
Ike swung his bat and entered SKT's vision. The other four members of YM also peeked out from the bushes on the other side of the red buff.
Jin Gong had learned W's [Time Stagger] at level one. He wanted to take on this level one team!
SKT hurriedly moved to avoid it. However, they were too late. Jin Gong stepped on the edge of the Temporal Field. Karma and Jess were both fixed in place and stunned for 1.75 seconds!
"Fight fight fight!" The commanders of both teams shouted in the team voice chat.
Neither side thought that they would lose!
Ten heroes from both sides collided outside the red buff's bushes!
"Level one teams are fighting just like that. Are both sides so violent?" Doll shouted.
Xiao Tian learned Q's [Queen's Wrath]. His sharp claws tore at Karma's body. Xiao Ming's Fire Man also took out W's [Pillar of Flames] and equipped Ignite. Everyone in YM focused their attacks on Wolf.
Brittle Karma only had blue equipment. His HP and resistance were relatively low. He could not withstand such explosive damage.
However, Faker's Clockwork did not have any skills previously. He learned E's [Shield] and equipped Karma with a shield.
With Bang's healing, Wolf still had a sliver of HP left when he recovered from the stun effect!
Ignite was attached to Xiao Tian's body. Roll strengthened Q's [Soul Flame]. While dealing AoE damage, it also left a ring of fire on the spot.
The moment Karma released his skill, Lin Yan's normal attack followed up with Q's [Transparent Holy Light] to finish off Karma. At the same time, he also dealt damage to Jess.
At this time, SKT's damage output was also released. Jin Gong's HP was still maintained due to the shield provided by the Temporal Field.
However, Xiao Tian, who was attacking from close range, was not so lucky. His HP decreased rapidly. In the end, he was finished off by Dumb Chicken's two-stage Q's [Echo Strike].
"Both sides' jungler and support have swapped." PDD's voice was loud and clear. "After each side lost a general, they still don't plan to retreat. Do they want to continue fighting?"
"They still want to fight. Neither side wants to retreat!" Mille did not expect the match to be so intense right from the start.
The audience was also very supportive of this kind of close combat match. They shouted so loudly that it almost covered the continuous kill notifications from the stadium's broadcast.
"Kill Jess, kill Jess!" Lin Yan commanded loudly as he controlled Project Lucian to shoot a normal attack.
JKL shot the third bullet. Duke realized that his HP was decreasing rapidly. After shooting Q's [Electric Surge], he retreated in a flash.
At this time, Bang and Faker were also attacking non-stop, trying to stop YM's players.
However, Jack was furious. He shot the last bullet in a flash, and the critical hit decapitated Jess!
Jin Gong's HP was also low. At the same time, JKL was in a bad position to finish off the shot!
Moreover, due to his hero's mechanism, he was forced to change bullets. During this time, he was unable to attack.
Bang's Ice became more and more powerful with the help of his passive [Frost Shot]. This passive would cause 110% damage when he attacked an enemy with a speed reduction effect.
Jin Gong hit the Blind Monk with three rings and an additional W passive damage. Then, he was killed by Bang's [Frost Arrow].
At this time, both sides were left with three generals.
SKT's two C's were still in good condition. Dumb Chicken had taken a lot of AoE damage earlier and his HP had decreased by a lot. On the other hand, YM's Jack's HP was almost half. Fire Man and Lucian's HP were relatively healthy.
"Continue to attack, don't be afraid!" Lin Yan stared at Dumb Chicken, and shot after shot at the Muay Thai Blind Monk.
SKT had no time to care about Lin Yan and Xiao Ming. Their target was Ember, who was not in good condition.
Both sides had a tacit understanding. They focused all their attacks on the enemy's hero with the least HP.
At this point in the first-level team's battle, the loss of one hero would greatly affect the outcome of the battle!
Faker used healing skills to try and raise Dumb Chicken's HP. However, Lin Yan had already used [Ignite]!
The two YM archers fired a shot at the same time. Blind Monk's HP was low. Dumb Chicken wanted to run away, but Xiao Ming used [Ignite] to finish off Blind Monk with a normal attack!
Meanwhile, JKL only had two bars of HP left!
Bang pursued relentlessly, and Lin Yan quickly aimed his gun at Ice.
After two shots, Bang finally realized that something was wrong. Lucian's damage was too high!
"Lucian's [War Zeal] is almost fully stacked. This talent provides him with almost 10 points of attack, which is equivalent to having an extra long sword. Ice can't withstand his damage!"
Mille shouted excitedly.
Bang endured Lin Yan's damage and chased after JKL. Then, he used [Flash] to get closer to Clockwork.
At this time, Xiao Ming, who had killed Dumb Chicken, rushed back. Both sides continued the 2v2 battle. SKT's two C's against YM's Mid!
SKT's two C's had thought that they could defeat the opposing Mid with their Doran series equipment. However, after two seconds, they realized that the situation was not right.
"We can't win, we have to retreat!" Bang shouted.
Faker's Clockwork had learned the E skill to protect Karma. During the cooldown period, Clockwork could only passively attack, and his damage was not much higher than Fire Man.
On the other hand, Lucian's condition with the Doran's Sword was too good. Furthermore, his [War Lord's Bloodlust] was fully stacked. How could Ice, who only had [War Lord's Bloodlust], be a match for Lucian?
However, it was too late to retreat.
Lin Yan's [Translucent Holy Light] was activated again. His [War Zeal] was fully stacked, and his Q penetrated Ice's body. Clockwork E's shield had also finished its cooldown period. Faker used it on Bang immediately, but he still could not withstand the damage.
Lin Yan used [Flash] to rush forward. Two passive bullets hit Ice's graceful body, and the impact on her skin was extremely crisp.
He followed up with a normal attack, and Bang was also killed!
At this time, Lin Yan only had a little more than 13 HP left under Clockwork's damage. Faker used his normal attack at maximum range, and Lucian had less than 200 HP left.
Faker knew that he had no damage output. Even if he used [Flash], he would not be able to kill Lucian. He could only give up and retreat.
Under the black and white screen, Bang felt helpless when he saw that his W [Ten Thousand Arrows] had just been activated.
If it was not for the fact that Ice's level one W [Ten Thousand Arrows]'s cooldown period was increased by three seconds in Version 6.18, he could have used a second W before he died.
As long as there was a reduction in speed, Faker would definitely be able to take Lucian's head.
'D * mn Fist, why are you peeling heroes for no reason? '
"3 for 4!
Both sides' first-level squads have exploded with 7 kills, and the scene is extremely tragic! "PDD shouted excitedly." However, this [War Zeal] Lucian's damage output has dominated the situation!
Ran has taken all three kills, and he's only online after replenishing his equipment. How is Clockwork going to deal with this? "
The Observer replayed the bloody first-level squad once again.
"The double archers' damage output in a first-level squad is still very impressive. In addition, Jin Gong's squad was activated well. Karma only had to use one skill before he died. Furthermore, Duke's Jayce died too quickly!"
Mille discovered a blind spot. "Duke also brought along War Zeal to fight against Ike, but he died too early, and the damage output did not even have the time to come out!"
"On the other hand, YM's ambush formation is quite reasonable. The three backline players were hiding at the back at the beginning, allowing Xiao Tian and Jin Gong, the two frontline players, to take all the skills and damage output. Thus, they defeated this first-level squad with a disadvantageous formation."
"Don't be afraid, just do it and be done with it!
Don't think about playing operations with SKT, just fight with them and drag them into YM's area of expertise! "PDD clenched his sandbag-sized fists, and his face was flushed red.