As they passed through the dimly lit contestants' passageway, the faint cheers gradually grew louder. The stage lights in the stadium shone down, and the light in front of them grew brighter.
The Staples Center was overcrowded. The sound of twenty thousand people gathered together and filled Lin Yan's ears.
As they walked up the stairs, the trophy in the center of the stage came into view. This was the Summoner's Trophy that thousands of professional players and millions of players yearned for all over the world. It symbolized the supreme glory of the division and the team.
SKT's coach went up the stage at the same time.
Lin Yan noticed that Faker had been staring at the Summoner's Trophy with a longing gaze as he walked past.
The two teams looked at each other, walked past each other, and went to their seats.
"Xiao Tian, did you do that on purpose just now?"
Lin Yan said as soon as he sat down and put on his headphones. "When you were folding your palms, you slapped me so hard that I was almost sent away."
Mongoose immediately shut up and started his custom warm-up.
"Brothers, what are we eating tonight?" The big-hearted Jack started chewing his gum while shaking his legs.
"Seafood noodles. Do you want to eat?" Lin Yan laughed.
"Eat seafood?"
Jack was allergic to seafood and would be sent to the hospital if he ate seafood. He immediately retorted, "I want to eat beef tonight, not the kind from fast food restaurants!"
"Okay, I'll treat you if you win, and you'll treat me if you lose." The serious Hanyi laughed.
After the equipment was adjusted, PDD's fat figure once again occupied half of the screen on the LPL commentary platform.
The familiar 'SilverScrapes' music of the best-of-five match started playing again!
"As expected, SKT has chosen the blue side, leaving the difficult problem to YM." Doll started to come up with a plan amidst the uplifting electronic voice. "Let's think together, how should YM do this BP?"
"I thought about it while I was resting just now. It's enough to ban either Panther Lady or Time. Without one, SKT's system won't work." PDD had a deeper understanding of the game than the two commentators.
"The remaining EZ will be locked down. SKT will most likely ban Lucian for the last ban position. This way, YM will have to lock down Sindera," he said logically. "This is just right. All the key heroes will be locked down."
With a crisp sound, the BP image appeared in front of everyone.
SKT's first ban was given to Lucian.
"As expected, YM has locked down Azreal first. It's about the same as what I expected." PDD stuck out his chest and spoke in a deep voice.
Without hesitation, Kkoma ordered Duke to ban the Spider Queen. He would not give Xiao Tian a chance to use the Spider Queen in the entire finals.
YM's next move was to ban Sindra. It was a reasonable choice.
"Jinlong King or Ryze, which one would make you feel better?"
Kkoma patted Faker's shoulder, intending to let his mid laner decide the last ban position.
Faker hesitated for a moment. "Dragon King, please. As long as YM doesn't gain an early advantage, it'll be very difficult for them to fight us. Besides …"
Moreover, he didn't play this hero.
Kkoma understood tacitly and sent Dragon King to the ban position.
"Then YM will have to ban Flowing Time or Panther Lady in the end," Doll said matter-of-factly. "In the previous round, Sindra wasn't able to open up the situation in the middle lane. If it's another hero, it'll be even worse."
As soon as he finished speaking, a cold and elegant tall girl with a long sniper rifle and a purple hat was sent to the ban position.
"Policewoman?" The three LPL commentators asked in unison.
"This …" PDD was slightly hesitant. He turned around to look at YM's player area behind him. Hanyi was discussing with her team members. It seemed like they did not ban the wrong person.
PDD was about to faint. In the previous few matches, he thought that Hanyi was indeed not an iron-headed coach. He did not expect her to give him such a big one in the final round.
"In the previous round, SKT's outstanding performances were Flowing Time and Panther Lady. YM didn't ban any of them and released all of them?!" Mille was dumbfounded.
The audience below the stage whistled and booed. After the end of the fourth round, SKT was undoubtedly the one who had the upper hand.
Priority pick, Panther Lady's big move that had yet to be dealt with, outstanding operational skills, and a team with many years of championship experience …
Everything seemed to be on SKT's side.
The domestic audience could not accept it. From their perspective, YM had made an idiotic BP.
"Coach, what the f * ck are you doing?
Aren't you banning Flowing Time? "
"Don't be so awkward. The domestic coaches are only in charge of ordering takeout. What does BP have to do with them?"
"I'm going to vomit. In any case, they should lose in a more normal way. Isn't it too sullen to release SKT's big move twice in a row?"
When kkoma saw that YM's last ban position was given to Policewoman, he could not help but be stunned for two seconds.
At that moment, he did not understand Hanyi's train of thought. Just now, he had done a lot of BP role-playing thinking in the lounge. He had never expected YM to release Flowing Time.
"Let's pick Panther Lady first."
Kkoma frowned. Although he did not understand, it did not stop him from taking down the only T0 hero in this version of the game.
"Ice, Karma." Mille adjusted his emotions and tried to make his voice sound calm. "YM will take down the bottom lane combination first. This is a perfect replication of SKT's bottom lane in the previous round. Bang's team performance in that match was impeccable."
"SKT will take down Jayla and Ember," PDD said in a low voice. "This bottom lane combination's ability to push and suppress is surprisingly strong."
"Jayla is mainly used to counter Karma. This matchup is a big advantage." Doll resisted the urge to sigh.
Ike + Blind Monk, YM's third and fourth hands were locked onto the top lane.
"Nar and Flowing Time, SKT's lineup looks quite perfect." Mille pursed his lips. "It's still Panther Lady + Flowing Time. SKT won't change heroes while they're hot!"
"Let's see what kind of hero YM can pick when they give the counter position to the mid laner."
PDD opened his mouth. YM's coach, manager, and members were all poached by him. Hence, even if this round of BP was a little retarded, he still had some expectations.
The moment they saw SKT's lineup clearly, everyone in YM laughed. Xiao Ming's laugh was especially exaggerated. He squinted his eyes and the corners of his mouth were about to reach the sky.
"The last position …" Before Mille could finish his sentence, YM had already locked onto it!
Gorgeous red waves, naked clothes, and the muzzle of the gun in her hand emitting flames.
Good luck does not favor fools.
"Gunner!" Doll was stunned. "What's this?"
"Gunner goes to support Jayla, Karma's mid laner against Flowing Time!"
When PDD saw YM's last choice, he felt that he could do it again. "YM used their last move to swindle SKT!"
As Gunner locked onto it, the original whistles and boos in the stadium disappeared and were replaced by gasps of surprise!
Kkoma licked his lips. YM's last choice was beyond his expectations.
After analyzing YM's mid laner Lin Yan from many angles, kkoma knew that he rarely chose support heroes when facing strong teams.
During the group stage, Lulu gave JKL a run for his money because she was facing a noob team.
Titan, the mid laner who was used many times before, could not enter the finals due to a wave of nerfs.
For the rest of the matches, Ran would choose heroes who preferred roaming or extreme lane control. In this version, he rarely used his late magic core and even banned Victor before the finals.
Hence, when YM chose Karma, he subconsciously thought that it was a support and decisively gave Wolf Jayla as the counter. Who would have thought that Lin Yan would be playing the role of a dog again?
Kkoma hurriedly comforted his team members and then took off his headphones to shake hands.
Both teams' lineups were confirmed.
SKT: Top laner Nar, Wild Leopard Lady, Mid laner Flowing Time, Bottom laner Lu Jin and Jayla.
YM: Top laner Ike, Jungler Blind Monk, Mid laner Karma, Bottom laner Ice and Gunner.
At this time, whether it was the audience in the stadium or in front of the various terminal screens, everyone held their breath and waited for the arrival of the final match!
Whether it was the first time the new black and red king ascended to the throne or the Red Dynasty continued the legend of three consecutive championships, it all depended on this match!
The moment the Summoner's Rift appeared on the big screen on the stage, the audience suddenly cheered and shouted!
Lin Yan listened to the cheers, bought Doran Ring and potions, and walked to the lane.
Both sides were still in a defensive position. No one wanted to fight a level one team as there were too many variables.
"He might come to catch me when he's level three. Xiao Tian, you should go for level three as well," Lin Yan said.
"Okay, I'll go for level three on blue. I'll go for red later," Xiao Tian replied without much hesitation.
After receiving the jungler's confirmation, Lin Yan began to push the lane.
Hero Karma relied on the short cooldown and high AoE damage of Q [Spirit's Flame], and his ability to push the lane was very strong in the early game.
Lin Yan's two Q's easily dealt with all the long-range soldiers to low health, and then he ate them bit by bit.
Faker's playstyle was the same as the previous match. He first pushed the lane in the early game. After all, before W [Travel to the Future] could spawn double bombs, his ability to retreat was relatively weak.
When the third wave of artillery arrived, Lin Yan pushed the lane away and went to SKT's F4 camp to scout. The four Razorbeak Birds stayed there obediently.
Lin Yan was certain in his heart, and quickly called for his jungler.
After returning to the lane, the third wave of artillery met for a few seconds. Lin Yan and Faker both ate three melee soldiers and successfully leveled up to level three. Faker immediately went forward to reduce his speed, and an arrow poked out from the bushes.
It was the same playstyle as the previous match, but this time Lin Yan was alert.
He activated E [Encourage], and used his speed to dodge the arrow.
Xiao Tian's Blind Monk soloed the blue zone's third group and also reached level three. Although his farming speed and speed were slower than Panther Lady's, it only took three seconds.
With Lin Yan's delay, Xiao Tian had already rushed over.
"Blind Monk has appeared, the middle junglers of both sides are going to fight!"
Xiao Tian appeared from the bushes, and W [Golden Bell Cover] crept to Lin Yan's side.
Dumb Chicken knew that Xiao Tian could be there at this time, and he had already prepared to retreat. The moment he saw Blind Monk appear, he pulled him back, intending to use Panther Lady's mobility to leave easily.
In terms of 2v2 ability, Karma + Blind Monk, who had shields, crowd control, and damage output in the early game, were much stronger than Panther Lady's. Dumb Chicken knew that he could not win.
"Chase, chase, chase!" Xiao Tian was not going to let it go. He decisively used E + Flash to slow the enemy, and punched Panther Lady!
"My acceleration still needs two more seconds!"
Faker spoke very quickly. Time's level one E [Time Spring] cooldown was 15 seconds, and W [Travel to the Future] could only reduce the cooldown by 10 seconds, so it could not be continued at this time.
He shot out QWQ, and the first bomb hung above Lin Yan's head, but the second bomb was dodged by Lin Yan. Time, whose speed reduction effect was offset by Karma's acceleration, could not guarantee the hit rate of the double Q against professional players.
After Faker threw the double Q, he could only stare blankly at the normal attack, and had no other use.
At first, Dumb Chicken wanted to use his leopard form to jump and escape, but Lin Yan used the speed reduction effect of Panther Lady to tie Dumb Chicken with W [Unwavering]'s spirit chain.
Dumb Chicken had no choice but to use Flash the moment Xiao Tian raised his hand, dodging the key Heaven's Sound Wave, and then take Lin Yan's RQ.
At this time, Panther Lady only had 13% of her health left. She turned back to human form to heal herself, but her condition was still not good.
"Eat this red, come come come!" Lin Yan and Xiao Tian pushed the minions and rushed directly to SKT's jungle.
They wanted to take advantage of Panther Lady's poor condition to take advantage of it!
At this time, Dumb Chicken was frantically calling for his own bottom lane to come and help.
If Panther Lady was countered with a red buff in the early game, her level in the early game would not be able to keep up!
Wolf in the bottom lane activated a plant with a Q [Fatal Bloom], but the Ice female gunner on the opposite side easily cleared the plant with a normal attack, and then Xiao Ming's E [Hail of Bullets] hit Ella and the minions.
He originally wanted to take a detour from the back of the tower to the red zone, but just as he disappeared from YM's vision, Ice's E [Eagle Soars the Sky] shot over, and directly revealed Ella.
Then, the female gunner triggered W [Meteor Stride]'s passive effect, and her movement speed was very fast, and it looked like she was going to the jungle.
Although there was a slight difference in the distance between the two sides to the red zone, Ella's short legs could not outrun the female gunner.
"They can't, they're too deep in the lane," Wolf hesitated for a moment and responded.
"YM wants to counter this red buff!" PDD was very excited. "Panther Lady can only give it up, no one can help him now!"
"Dumb Chicken, don't you like the quick triple grab?" Mille was also very excited. "Why don't you continue?
Without the flash of Panther Lady's buff, how are you going to play next? "
Lin Yan ate two small monsters, and left the red buff for Xiao Tian.
Xiao Tian went back to get rid of his red buff, and successfully started the game with three buffs.
After returning to the city to replenish the green jungler, Phyllostachys Pubescens began to control the middle lane's vision.
At this time, Dumb Chicken, who was not in a good condition, was forced to clear all the wild monsters in order to get the first wave of jungler. The middle and bottom lanes were all suppressed, and the two River Crab could only give it up.
This time, the vision near the middle lane fell into YM's control.
"As long as the middle lane doesn't collapse, Dumb Chicken's Panther Lady won't have much room to perform. Blind Monk is slightly ahead in experience now, so he's not afraid of Panther Lady in the jungle!"
Dumb Chicken clicked his tongue. Heroes like Panther Lady and Nanqiang needed their teammates to obtain the lane rights to help them invade the jungle.
At least the lane rights in both lanes could ensure that Panther Lady could move unimpeded in the enemy's jungle. Now that the middle and bottom lanes were suppressed, only Duke in the top lane had the lane rights.
To be honest, he really did not want to go to the top lane. In this version of the finals, unless the top lane picked up a hero like Rambo who needed to be caught, or a character who needed a lot of money to develop, no jungler would take the initiative to go to the top lane.
In the game between Naer and Ike, if the jungler went to the top lane to grab it, it would most likely be because he lost the control of the bottom lane and was forced to do so.
Nevertheless, Dumb Chicken had no choice. If he wandered around the bottom lane and was caught by Blind Monk, his teammates' support speed would be very slow, and they would not be able to help him at all.
Dumb Chicken went to YM's top lane to steal a group of Gargoyles and was satisfied.
However, Xiao Tian went to the middle lane again and forcefully used Time on the minions. Then, he walked down in front of Faker and swaggered to control the little dragon.
Dumb Chicken knew that he could not rush down now, so he simply showed his head to catch Jin Gong.
The agile Ike was not in any life-threatening danger when he faced the combination of Naer and Panther Lady who did not have a hard control. After his status was depleted, Jin Gong retreated to the bottom of the tower.
Xiao Tian successfully took down the first Earthen Dragon under the protection of the middle and bottom lanes.
"It's only been a little over five minutes, and YM has already controlled the first little dragon of this match!"
PDD looked at the slight advantage in the situation and happily pounded the table. "In this version of the game, as long as we can gain an advantage in the jungle, the whole game will be much easier!"
Seeing that Xiao Tian had controlled the little dragon, Lin Yan finally had no more worries. He cleared the minions and returned to the city to make the Devil's Codex. The cooldown time and magic power provided by it were very important to Karma.
Faker was still lazing around in the middle lane. He had to replenish his lunchbox in the first wave when he returned to the city. Otherwise, his mana and health would not be able to withstand Karma's frequent attacks.
"Now, the situation is a little stagnant. Both sides are playing more cautiously in the deciding game. So far, they haven't lost any blood, and the ten people on both sides are still in good condition."
"Ice's Eagle Soars the Sky has been shot again …" The caster's perspective followed the movement of the Ice's surveillance drone. Doll, who was initially calmer, could not help but cry out.
"Is Jack serious about his surveillance vision?
How could he guess that? "
The drone flew past SKT's Sharp-Beaked Bird Camp and reflected Panther Lady's body. Then, it continued to fly into the distance!
A detected mark appeared on top of Nidley's head. Jack had clearly grasped the location of this jungle cheetah!
Xiao Tian pressed the tab button to see the number of Panther Lady's kills.
In this version, the jungler could roughly guess how many groups of junglers the opponent had farmed based on the number of last hits.
Demonic Swamp Frog was 1, Gargoyle was 2, Double Buff, Triple Wolf was 3, Sharp-Beaked Bird was 4 …
Although it was a little troublesome to calculate, it was a necessary basic skill for a top professional jungler.
This was because professional junglers usually cleared half of the map in units. Very few people would travel long distances just for a single group of monsters.
Previously, Dumb Chicken had stolen a group of Gargoyles and appeared once in the top lane. At that time, it had already been recorded by Phyllostachys Pubescens. After subtracting the number of last hits from Panther Lady's exposed location, Xiao Tian was sure that Dumb Chicken did not farm Gargoyles.
He quickly called for his teammates in the bottom lane to rush over.
The moment his location was exposed, Dumb Chicken knew that his farming route must have been seen through. He quickened his pace and headed toward the Gargoyles. Then, he placed his eye outside the wall of Gargoyles to prevent YM's sneak attack.
"I have Teleport. Call me if there's a fight," Lin Yan said.
He saw that Faker had reached level 6 and was returning to the city to resupply. He knew that this person would definitely want to replenish his health and teleport to support. He quickly pushed the creeps forward, wanting Faker to lose more creeps.
However, before the creeps could enter the tower, the two sides had already started fighting.
"Are both sides really going to take this wave?
Just for a group of Gargoyles? "
Doll watched as the mid laners of both sides sacrificed two Teleports in order to help their teammates snatch a group of monsters. She really could not understand.
However, this group of monsters was very important in the eyes of both junglers. YM did not want Panther Lady to level up, while SKT wanted to protect their jungler.
As YM was holding the line in the bottom lane, the duo of both sides arrived almost at the same time. A wave of group battle was ready to begin.
"YM will focus fire on Panther Lady first. Dumb Chicken's health is dropping rapidly. However, Bang will heal him and Dumb Chicken will heal himself. He can still hold on!"
"Currently, the six people on both sides don't have any big skills. They're relying on their small skills to deal damage …" Mille suddenly raised his voice. "Wolf Angela's E skill is very accurate. It's controlling the two people on YM's bottom lane!"
The six people on both sides were fighting in a mess. The two top laners had no intention of coming down.
Duke was in a good mood now. He could expand at any time and interrupt Jin Gong's Teleport. On the other hand, Jin Gong had W [Time Stagger]. The 4.5 seconds of Teleport's channeling time was just a decoration in front of Acker. He could rush in and interrupt him even if he was at the bottom of the tower.
Lin Yan and Faker were faced with this terrible situation when they came down.
Lin Yan used RE's group shield to protect the health of his teammates. On the other hand, Faker used his big skill [Time Reversal] on Panther Lady as soon as he landed.
In the next moment, Dumb Chicken's health bar was burned to nothing by Xiao Ming's Ignite.
"It's a very crucial Time Reversal skill. SKT has protected Panther Lady!"
PDD raised his voice. "But YM still has Karma's shield on them. The wild monsters have been eaten. Are we still going to continue this wave?"
SKT looked at the white shield on their opponents and instantly lost interest. Faker left two bombs to block the entrance and then led his teammates to retreat.
"The Big Gargoyle was eaten by Panther Lady's Punishment. The Small Gargoyle was taken in by Jack's Ten Thousand Arrows!"
"Both sides stopped at a certain point. One of them hasn't exploded yet!"
Although there were no kills, the high level of teamwork and fast support from both sides still made the live audience gasp in admiration.
Xiao Tian was forced to return to the city with low health. Lin Yan got rid of his blue buff and went online again.
Push the line, set up the vision, push the line again …
The Summoner's Canyon was turbulent. However, until 11 minutes had passed, neither side had exploded with the first kill.
"The economic gap between the two teams is only 0.5K. Basically, it's the bottom lane's suppression and the jungle's economic advantage." Doll could not help but ask, "The situation is still in a deadlock. Is no one going to break the deadlock?"
Lin Yan once again ate the minions and returned to the city to replenish his equipment.
After going online, Faker subconsciously pressed the tab button to see what equipment his opponent had dropped.
"Ah Ssi …" He subconsciously said, "What's this?"
He furrowed his eyebrows and clicked on Karma's equipment column frantically.
"What's this?" Doll was the first to react. "What equipment did Ran drop?"
"… The Commanding Flag!"
Mille was quite shocked. He adjusted his glasses and carefully looked at Karma's equipment panel from the OB perspective. "It's really the Commanding Flag!"
Lin Yan looked at the next wave of cannon minions in the middle lane and the corner of his mouth could not stop curling up.
This version of the Commanding Flag cost 3,000 gold coins. It was a combination of the Devil's Code and the Legion's Holy Shield. It provided 200 Health, 60 Spell Power, 20 Magic Resistance, 10% cooldown reduction, and an Legion's Shield effect that "the surrounding allied heroes gain 10 Magic Resistance."
In addition, there was an active skill: Promotion – Increase the combat ability of a nearby minions and make them immune to magic damage (Cooldown: 120 seconds).
Usually, no one would drop this equipment. After all, there were too few heroes who had Spell Power, Health, and Magic Resistance at the same time. It was also relatively expensive. In terms of attribute value, the Commanding Flag was not cost-effective.
If one were to choose Magic Resistance equipment, there was the Abyss Scepter in this version. For Spell Power, there was the Hot Ghost Book, and for Health, there was the Ice Staff, which was very cost-effective.
In addition, in this version, the mages in the middle lane were more inclined towards late-game magic cores (Dragon King was a special case). Why would a late-game DPS hero make such equipment?
Lin Yan did the opposite. You like late-game magic cores, don't you?
I'd like to see how your late-game DPS heroes deal with this enhanced minions!
His inspiration came from the pause in the previous round.
At that time, Lin Ran was planning to buy the Exploding Magic Wand. The interface of the shop stopped at a page of equipment with powerful spells. He had nothing better to do, so he took a look. Two rows below the Exploding Magic Wand, the Command Flag was lying there quietly.
Although the bright red flag had an eye-catching appearance, no one would usually buy it. At that time, it was one of the top five items with the lowest purchase rate in the random shop. No one would be willing to spend a lot of money on it.
Now, however, it was time for it to prove its value!
Lin Yan decisively pressed the Commanding Flag's skill and activated the Promotion effect on the Artillery Soldier that had just reached the center of the group!
The Artillery Soldier, which was already huge compared to the other minions, grew twice as fat. At the same time, it was covered with a layer of Magic Resistance Barrier!
[Promotion] Effect on the Artillery Soldier: Damage + 100, Health + 600, Armor + 100, Magic Resistance + 100, Size increased!
All of these were based on the fact that it was immune to magic damage!
You've been enhanced, go and die!
The Artillery Soldier swerved forward and took out half of the SKT close-combat soldier's health in one shot.
"What is this?" Faker looked at the huge Cannon Troop that was invincible, easily devouring all of his troops.
The minions that were added were from Karma!
Faker quickly used two bombs to clear the rear of the minions and then began to deal with the Artillery Soldier that had entered the turret.
The Artillery Soldier had an additional 100 points of Armor, which was equivalent to 50% Physical Damage Resistance (Physical Damage Resistance Formula: Current Armor + 100).
At Level 9, Time's attack power was 72. The Artillery Soldier's 50% Physical Damage Resistance Effect meant that Faker's normal attack could only take out 36 points of the Artillery Soldier's health.
Li Xianghe watched as he controlled Time to throw out a Clock Component. The Artillery Soldier's health bar did not move at all. His scalp went numb.
He finally panicked.