Faker scratched his forehead in frustration.
He did not expect the opponent's midlaner to deal just enough damage. Now that he had used all his Purification, he would have a hard time in the next few minutes.
Lin Yan pushed the minions to level 6 in front of Dumb Chicken. Then, he headed to the bottom lane with Phyllostachys Pubescens.
"Retreat, retreat." Dumb Chicken looked at the wave of cannon minions below the tower and quickly reminded the bottom lane. "Ryze has reached level 6, he might be able to drive down!"
Bang and Wolf watched as YM's midlaner disappeared from the middle lane. They could only give up on a wave of minions and retreat.
"Take the minions, don't rush down." Lin Yan looked at SKT's duo's movement on the minimap. He knew that he could not catch them at the bottom lane.
While the two were farming the minions, Bang's Ice shot a drone Eagle Soars the Sky, illuminating Ryze and Excavator in the Dragon Pit.
SKT did not choose to move closer to the Dragon Pit after detecting YM's movements. Faker's death made it impossible for them to fight for the map's resources.
Xiao Tian's Punishment landed steadily, accompanied by a roar of unwillingness when the minions died. At 6 minutes and 30 seconds, YM controlled the first Water Dragon!
"If we continue to fight like this, if we control every single minions, we'll have a huge advantage in the later stages of the game when we take down the Ancient Dragon!" PDD clenched his fists tightly.
In this version, the Ancient Dragon would spawn after 35 minutes. It would increase the minions' buffs and provide additional damage according to the number of minions consumed. Its attributes were quite attractive.
Lin Yan returned to the city, replenished Goddess's Tear and Red and Blue Crystal, and rushed back to the top lane.
Even though the bottom lane was weaker than the duo of SKT, with the help of Jayla and Ember's heroes, as well as the addition of the Water Dragon, their endurance had increased to a whole new level. JKL and Ming had not encountered any major problems.
The match went on for seven minutes.
"What's Dumb Chicken doing?"
Through the caster's camera, PDD watched as the blind monk consumed the newly refreshed Red Buff and successfully reached Level 6. The monk then continued to circle downward without stopping, causing him to panic.
"He's trying to grab it by force!" No matter how bad Doll's understanding of the game was, she finally realized what was going on.
Even Doll realized what was going to happen. Most of the audience could guess what Blind Monk was going to do next.
"They have Bobby's TP. The bushes behind you aren't blocked, right?" Dumb Chicken came to the next tower.
Wolf thought for a moment and gave a negative answer.
He hadn't returned home yet, and the line of soldiers had always been under their control. He knew very well whether or not there was an enemy's spy in the bushes.
"Xiang He, stop Rui Zi. Don't let him support the front." Dumb Chicken calculated everything and knew that Rui Zi still had a big move in his hands.
Even though Ryze's Level 1 R only had a distance of 1,500 yards, in this kind of early stage battle, a 1,500 yard teleportation distance meant that he would arrive at the battlefield three seconds earlier.
These three seconds were enough for Ryze to use a full set of skills, and it was very likely that he would lose a member in advance.
"No problem."
Faker increased the speed of pushing the line and used the minions to trap Lin Yan in the middle lane.
"Is SKT really going to make a move?"
Doll was in disbelief. "He doesn't even know Xiao Tian's position. Ella's small-scale team battle ability is quite strong. If SKT is counter-hunted by Xiao Tian, it'll be a wave of explosions!"
"That's right. He hasn't entered Xiao Tian's jungle before. Bang's Eagle Soars the Sky was used to scout the little dragon pit's vision, and it's still on cooldown. SKT can't even pinpoint Xiao Tian's position. Isn't Dumb Chicken a little too hasty to make a move now?"
Mille was anxious.
This was because they could see Xiao Tian killing the Gargoyles in the upper half of the map from God's perspective. The commentators didn't know why Dumb Chicken was so daring. He obviously didn't see Xiao Tian's movement, but he still wanted to forcefully capture him.
However, even without scouting, Dumb Chicken was certain that Xiao Tian was not in the lower half of the map.
Last time, when Faker was caught, Xiao Tian came out from the bushes below. It was obvious that the monsters in the upper half of YM had been killed for a while.
This made Dumb Chicken certain that after Xiao Tian had captured the little dragon and controlled it, the 100-second respawn time of the normal monster camp would have passed, and new monsters would have spawned in the upper half of YM.
At the same time, Xiao Tian had given the first blue buff to Ryze in the middle at the three-minute mark. This proved that Excavator's red buff was the opening route.
In this version, the red buff refreshed in 1 minute and 40 seconds, and the second red buff refreshed in 6 minutes and 50 seconds.
With these two conditions combined, Xiao Tian had taken about 6 minutes and 30 seconds to finish off the little dragon. When Excavator returned to the city, they would be faced with three groups of fresh monster camps in the upper half of the map.
Other than the crazy Spicy Saucepan in the semifinals, no jungler could resist this temptation.
Dumb Chicken, an experienced jungler, used every detail of the game and guessed Xiao Tian's current position based on his experience.
From the OB perspective, Ember and Ice were killing each other, while Ella and Karma harassed the opponent from time to time.
It looked no different from usual, but the viewers and commentators watching from the God's perspective knew what kind of bloody storm was about to break out.
Wolf took advantage of Xiao Ming's small movement and decisively attacked.
"Karma, flash forward and chain Ella!" With Mille's shout, SKT launched the first attack of the game!
The moment Karma moved forward, Blind Monk came out from behind!
Xiao Ming wanted to use E [Entangling Root] to bind Karma and then flash out of his Psychic Chain range.
"Wolf's movement just happened to avoid Ella's vines, this person's control is too exaggerated!
The Psychic Chain is still tied to Xiao Ming, the distance of his flash is not enough to pull the chain away! "
"Bobby's teleportation landed on the minions' line, trying to protect his teammate!"
Dumb Chicken used W [Golden Bell Cover] to help Karma, and at the same time, he was already beside Ember, his right leg gathered power and shot out.
At the same time, he pressed the F key on the keyboard, trying to kick Ember back with an R flash!
However, to his surprise, two golden lights flashed almost at the same time!
Ember was kicked away, but the direction was toward YM's defense tower!
"Jack's reaction is too fast!
He used his flash before Blind Monk used his big move, but Dumb Chicken's R flash did not kick him back, instead, it changed direction and sent him back into the tower! "
"Dumb Chicken's kick is saving lives!"
PDD shouted. He saw Ember, who was half health, being hit by Blind Monk's [Sky Sonic Wave] in the air. However, Jack had already returned to the tower's shooting range, so Dumb Chicken did not dare to approach him without a flash.
The audience could not help but exclaim when they saw this scene. Ember's escape maneuver was absolutely worthy of praise!
"This is the reaction of a young person!
Dumb Chicken's first wave of R flash attacks, and SKT only received Xiao Ming's kill! "
Mille could not help but boast. "The ADC is still alive, this is completely acceptable to YM!"
Lin Yan, who was in the middle lane, was pushed by Faker, so he could only use his skills to finish off the minions.
Two E attacks hit the same minions, spreading the effect of [Surge], then a Q [Overload] to finish off the minions with low health.
This way, after killing the minions with low health with the effect of [Surge], the damage effect of Q [Overload] could be spread out to deal AoE damage to clear the lane.
Ryze's E skill, which had a cooldown rune, only had a cooldown of two seconds, so his pushing speed was not slower than Victor's.
"I'll try to catch him …" Xiao Tian ate the red buff, and when he saw Dumb Chicken going to the bottom lane, he planned to do something.
However, Faker also knew that Xiao Tian was in the upper half of the jungle, and the accessory eye that he had placed under F4's camp had already captured Xiao Tian's position.
The moment he saw Xiao Tian, he immediately retreated.
Lin Yan saw Faker controlling Victor to move downwards, and knew that Xiao Tian's position had been exposed.
"Don't go yet, help me push the minions in." Lin Yan's command stopped Phyllostachys Pubescens from turning back.
The two pushed the minions into Faker's defense tower.
"Follow me, don't go to F4's position, the other side has vision from here."
Lin Yan knew very well, so he led Xiao Tian around the middle lane for two seconds, waiting for the vision provided by the minions to disappear before running up the river.
He pinged the minimap.
"Once a wave hits the top lane, Nael's rage is very low."
"But there aren't enough minions …" Jin Gong subconsciously looked at the minions that were badly damaged by Nael.
Then, he realized that his midlaner was Ryze, and immediately stopped talking. Bobby angrily started smashing the minions with his small hammer.
The minions of both blue and red minions in the top lane gathered in front of Duke's tower, and he threw boomerangs to reduce the minions' health, firmly controlling them in front of his tower.
Being able to freely control the minions in front of the tower was a kind of control of the minions, and from Duke's point of view, this position of the minions would be very difficult for the short-handed Bobby.
"Ryze is going to drive the minions into the tower, and Duke doesn't seem to have noticed, this is a good opportunity!" Doll lowered his voice.
The next wave of minions on the top lane (the twelfth wave) left the top lane's first tower in 7 minutes and 40 seconds, and Lin Yan activated [Warp Realm Leap] in advance!
A light blue circular portal appeared, and unstable runes wreaked havoc within, teleporting to SKT's top lane's first tower 1,500 yards away, behind Duke!
The moment Duke saw the portal's terminal appear beneath his feet, it was too late for him to retreat. After two seconds of channeling time, Ryze and Excavator appeared behind him with an artillery vehicle!
Lin Yan used EW to take the lead and imprison Duke, then used [Overload] to increase his speed and retreat into the distance.
Xiao Tian used [Tunnel] to send Duke flying, then Jin Gong and Bobby adjusted the angle and used [Heroic Charge] to knock Duke unconscious under the tower!
"There's no way to avoid it, YM's chain of control is too good, Duke was controlled until he died, and he couldn't even use [Blink], so his head was taken by Ryze again!" Mille was excited.
"YM's three-man attack has succeeded in encircling the top lane. After killing Duke, they can still control SKT's top lane!"
Doll looked at the minimap, rubbing his chin with his fingers.
"But Stupid Chicken is also very cunning, he originally wanted to go back to farm his Gargoyles, but when he saw YM's mid lane going up, he rushed back to the bottom lane to force Jack to retreat."
"Faker went to the middle lane and ate a huge wave of minions." PDD frowned. "The economic gap hasn't widened, SKT's ability to make up for their losses is too strong."
"In just two minutes, battles broke out in the middle, bottom, and top lanes." Doll clicked his tongue in praise. "Both teams give me a feeling."
"What do you mean?" His old partner, Mille, was good at playing the supporting role, so he quickly changed the topic.
"YM and SKT are like two chess players in a game of chess. They have full control of the situation. Whoever makes the first move, the other party will definitely retaliate elsewhere." Dolly seemed to have heard this theory from somewhere, but his explanation was clear and logical.
"If you grab my mid lane, I'll immediately turn around and grab the bottom lane. If you grab the bottom lane, I'll go over to the top tower. It's fine if both sides don't make a move, but if they do, it'll affect the overall situation. This is because when the jungler shows his head to look for opportunities, he'll also reveal his weaknesses. You can only appear near your teammates on one lane, and the other two lanes will be exposed, allowing your opponents to trample on them."
PDD nodded. "Both sides' ability to seize opportunities is unquestionably the best in the world, but the key is the gap between their mid-game operation and handling. Compared to SKT, YM is still a little young."
As YM's boss, he did not mince his words.
This was indeed YM's problem. Whether it was the commentators or the audience, they had to admit that YM's snowballing advantage in the early game was unparalleled.
In this summer's pure late-game operation version, YM's average game time was less than 30 minutes, which was enough to prove their terrifying early game offensive ability.
However, once they lost their advantage in the early game, they would fall into a temporary state of confusion. The easiest way to deal with this was to forcefully take down the Dragon in a group battle, or let Lin Yan and Jin Gong steal from the enemy's base.
However, against the experienced SKT, would this method work?
Lin Yan ate the fresh blue buff and returned to the middle lane to continue pushing.
After his level and mana had increased, Lin Yan's pushing speed was very fast. He did not have any big moves at the moment, so after eating the minions, he did not wander around. Instead, he plunged into the jungle and started draining Xiao Tian's health.
The caster had nothing else to do at the moment, so he simply aimed the camera at Lin Yan's Ryze and watched the bald blue-skinned wizard sweep his own jungle clean.
Lin Yan's operation of farming F4 was quite smooth. First, he threw an E [Spell Surge] on the big bird's head, then he pulled the distance and waited for the second E to cool down before throwing it out again.
The effect of the Surge instantly spread.
Then, as the Q [Overload] destroyed the Surge effect on each of the Razorbeak Birds, it also refreshed a layer of shield to resist the F4's damage.
This way, he was able to farm without taking any damage.
Seeing that there were no battles breaking out in the bullet screen, the discussion topic revolved around Lin Yan's farming operation.
"Gui Gui, this farming proficiency, you must have drained a lot of your teammates' health, right?"
"This farming is much smoother than some junglers. I've even seen Blind Monk, who had the opening [Hunter's Broadsword], not punish him for eating the Razorbeak Birds. Don't you think that's ridiculous? Blind Monk lost half his health in one set of junglers, this is simply unheard of!"
After eating two sets of junglers, the economic gap between Lin Yan and Faker was widened by nearly 200 gold coins.
After two minutes of turbulence, Summoner's Canyon once again fell into silence.
The members of both teams knew that if they made a mistake in gank, their opponents might find an opportunity elsewhere.
At this time, Blind Monk and Excavator had not blinked, so the success rate of catching them was not high. They had to wait for a while longer.
With two heads in hand, Lin Yan managed to farm 135 hits in 12 minutes and returned to the city.
"Lil 'Dino, gather a wave and force them to come over for a team fight."
As he commanded, he took out the Staff of Time. His combat power had increased by a level.
Since it was difficult for YM to defeat SKT by relying on their strategy, their main goal in this match was to use the neutral resources — Dragon, Lil 'Dino, and Primordial Dragon — to force SKT to form a team fight.
At this point in time, YM had a slight advantage. They had to make this snowball bigger as soon as possible, or else they might repeat the previous match and be dragged along by SKT.
"This Ryze's development seems to be ahead of its time," Mille said. "12 minutes of Goddess' Tear and Staff of Time, there's some damage output."
Faker Victor's Hex Technological Core had two upgraded skills, QE, and he also had a Doran's Ring and a pair of straw sandals.
His equipment was not bad, but compared to Lin Yan's Ryze, it was still lacking.
"Since SKT's bottom lane was under pressure, Wolf used the Eye Stone to set up the Lil 'Dino's vision. YM is now stuck at the entrance of the Blue Zone, so it's difficult for them to enter."
"Dumb Chicken has already used the Heavenly Sonic Wave to jump into the Lil 'Dino. SKT is guarding both sides of the river, preventing YM from entering the Lil' Dino's range!"
"This is the red team's map disadvantage. Once the Lil 'Dino's vision is blocked, they won't be able to enter the river!"
"Brother Ran, open the Tank and let me go in and snatch the Dragon!" Mongoose knew that they did not have much time left.
If they missed this Fire Dragon, they would have to wait 19 minutes for the next Elemental Dragon to spawn.
By then, they would have entered the middle phase, and they would have to fight for resources in both the Dragon and Lil 'Dino maps. It was very likely that SKT would reverse the situation.
"Jin Gong, you enter the portal too." Lin Yan was very calm. "Let's beat Blind Monk and take down the Fire Dragon first!"
As he spoke, he activated his ultimate, and the teleportation point was right in the Lil 'Dino's Dino!
Bang's Ice drone scouted the area and knew what YM wanted to do. He held the Magic Crystal Arrow tightly in his hand.
The moment Ryze teleported Jin Gong and Xiao Tian into the Lil 'Dino's Dino, Bang activated his ultimate and went straight for the remaining three YM backline players!
"I'll tank it!"
Xiao Ming was brave and decisive. Other than him, there were only two DPS players left. If he did not tank the arrow, who would?
The moment Jayla was stunned by the Magic Crystal Arrow, the rest of SKT rushed over, not caring about the Fire Dragon in the Lil 'Dino's Dino at all!
"SKT doesn't want the Fire Dragon's attribute benefits. This time, they're going for the economic advantage!"
Amidst the impassioned voice of the live English commentator, the first official team battle of the match began!
Xiao Ming's finger kept pressing on the R button, hoping to activate the ultimate Strangling Vine as soon as the stun effect was lifted.
In a dark corner behind the blue buff wall, a golden light flashed.
A man with a mechanical arm on his shoulder suddenly appeared behind the YM players!
It was Faker!
The Mechanical Pioneer with brand-new technology released all of his energy in an instant!
The gravitational field locked onto Jayla and Ember, and the ultimate Chaotic Storm swept across the backline of YM. Then came the Siphon Energy and Death Ray, and the Thunder Lord's decree descended from the sky!
"Faker blinked into the field!"
"Oh my god, Ember's healing couldn't save Jayla!
Faker instantly killed Xiao Ming, and Jack was also reduced to half of his health points by the Death Ray and Chaotic Storm! "
JKL hurriedly used his Flash and retreated, pulling out of the gravitational field's range. Lin Yan used EW to imprison Victor.
The moment the Rune Imprisonment energy wrapped around Victor, Faker's Purification was released.
The crowd control was lifted instantly!
Victor continued to move forward with his ultimate Chaotic Storm, and his posture was aggressive!
Behind Faker, Ice, Karma, and Gnar were still chasing after him!
Lin Yan used his Q [Overload]. The two layers of Rune Charge from EW provided him with a shield and acceleration effect, and he also retreated.
Li Xianghe stared at the half-dead Ember, and his normal attacks continued to hit Jack with the goal of killing him.
Lin Yan saw that the four SKT players behind him were getting closer and closer. He activated Sprint and used skills on Victor while pulling him back.
At this time, the Flaming Dragon let out a wail and disappeared into the Summoner's Canyon.
"In the crater, Bobby sent Dumb Chicken flying, and Xiao Tian successfully punished the Flaming Dragon!" Mille looked at the crater while paying attention to the battle in YM's jungle.
"Ice chased after Karma with his acceleration. He blinked and fired thousands of arrows, hitting both Ryze and Ember. Bang wants to keep the backline of YM here!"
"Turn back, turn back, turn back!"
JKL suddenly opened his mouth. He knew that it would be difficult for him to run after being slowed, so he turned back and attacked.
Lin Yan did not have time to respond to Jack, but the skills in his hands were already flinging behind him.
He could now cast E [Spell Surge] every two seconds. With Ryze's Q skill passive, this meant that the Rune Magician could cast an EQ attack every two seconds.
Although the Magical Machine Gun had been reworked, the frequency of casting skills was still far behind other Magicians!
He turned back and fired E [Spell Surge] on Victor, but he did not rush to use Q. He was still waiting for an opportunity.
"I'll take care of Faker, the rest is up to you guys!" Jack turned his head and fired a Q [Mandance Grenade], which hit Victor and continued to bounce backward.
Then, he used W [Fatal Splendor], and accurately pinned Faker's Victor. Then, he fired a critical shot, and Faker's HP dropped to 14 points!
Bang quickly healed him and raised his HP.
Jack, who had turned around to attack, fell under the siege of the four SKT players while he was reloading!
Lin Yan had finally waited for the moment when the E skill refreshed. EQ struck in an extremely short period of time, aiming at Faker who was already covered by the Surge effect!
In the narrow terrain of the jungle, there was no way to dodge Reitz's skills. Faker twisted his body to move, but he was still hit by two skills!
The Surging effect spread to the four members of SKT. Overload surged with the power of thunder and lightning, dealing astonishing AOE damage to them!
Wolf's E skill had been used to increase the speed of Ice. At this time, it had not finished refreshing, and the four of them took the full damage from Ryze!
Victor died instantly, while Gnar, Ice, and Karma lost almost 13% of their HP!
The audience below the stage screamed. Ryze's set of skills almost turned into a health bar vanishing spell!
However, Lin Yan was also in a state where he could not use his skills. He could not escape the fate of being surrounded by the SKT players!
Ignite was equipped, and all skills and normal attacks were directed at him!
Lin Yan, who had the Time Staff, cast the last spell before he died. Ice's HP was lowered, and he fell to the ground, dead.
Jin Gong and Little Sky finally arrived. However, Bang and Wolf cooperated with each other, perfectly taking advantage of Frost and Karma's continuous Movement Speed Reduction and Movement Speed Buffs, continuously attacking and pulling them apart.
Gnar was throwing boomerangs at the side, and they could not get close at all.
"Bang is still moving, still attacking!" PDD's face and neck were red.
On the screen above the Staples Center Stage, Bang continuously shot arrows. His A posture was picturesque, and he actually used reverse movement to dodge Bobby's Q, Holy Hammer Bash.
It was a monstrous AD performance!
Fortunately, Jin Gong managed to find the right angle in the end. He used Flash and pinned Bang against the wall, allowing him to get close to Bang. Coupled with Little Tian's damage output, he managed to kill Bang. However, Jin Gong's health was also at critical levels.
Just as he was about to pick up his passive shield and gain a shield, Wolf's QW combo emptied his HP!
Xiao Tian looked at Gnar, who was about to grow bigger, and was forced to escape.
The audience below the stage cheered for SKT!
"2 for 4, but we managed to control a fire dragon, so it's still acceptable." PDD exhaled. "Luckily, Ran attacked with a huge wave of AOE, or else this Ice wouldn't have died!"
"Bang's really strong. As long as Wolf is willing to protect him, this guy can deal tons of damage before he dies." Mille was worried. "If we want to win against SKT, we have to restrict Bang's growth."