In the S6 finals, Factory Director's Blind Monk kicked 13's piglets.
It could be said that after YM won the championship and RNG formed a team to gain a large number of fans, those who stayed to support EDG were all hardcore fans.
The deeper their love for the team, the more they scolded the team when they lost the game.
Especially after EDG's match against YM was played, they were even more agitated.
[What are you guys fighting for?
Getting lost in the middle of the game?
Sneaking into Dragon's Defense Tower?]
['Anything', 'Anything', Meiko, you call this a commander?
Even Grandma Jin Gong is better than you!]
[Although I think Meiko's commanding is stupid, what does this have to do with Grandma Jin Gong?]
[Without Spicy Dance, EDG's decision-making is a pile of sh * t.]
[Let's be honest, we still have to rely on Brother Saiwen!]
EDG's team command system was obviously in a mess.
In the early and middle stages of the game, EDG could rely on the tactical arrangements of the coaching team to open up the game. However, in the middle and late stages, the coaching team's role was very small. They relied heavily on the players' performance on the field and the decision-making ability of the commander.
As the current commander, Meiko was very hesitant when making decisions. Most of the time, he could not make up his mind.
As a result, the other players did not know what to do. They were like a sheet of loose sand in the middle stages of the game. No matter how much advantage they had in the early stages, they would lose it all.
Getting lost in one or two games was acceptable. However, so far, EDG had played nine BO3 games and only won four out of the nine.
They had not even played against WE. The Red Army, who had been silent for many years, had become one of the top LPL players in last year's Broken Halberd Bubble Competition. How could EDG win?
If they continued to play like this, they should consider whether they could enter the playoffs first!
After YM won nine consecutive games, the only opponents left in the group round robin were LGD and VG.
The results of these two teams were not ideal this year. If there were no accidents, YM would be able to take them down easily.
The pressure of the competition was not great, so YM decisively took two days off.
Su Cheng did not have time to accompany Lin Yan because she had to hand in her thesis. He could only stay in the base and hang out with his otaku teammates.
On the other hand, Lin Weixiang and Liu Qingsong began their journey to the premiere.
The two of them were now very focused on their live streaming careers. The reason was simple — they were short of money.
The two of them had a contract of 400,000 yuan per year, which was equivalent to 200,000 yuan per person per year. The club also provided food, accommodation, insurance, and housing. It was a good treatment in Shanghai in 2017, but it was not enough for esports players.
The reason was simple. The lifespan of people in this field was too short.
It was said that Fu Bao's programmers could work until they were 35 years old, but most esports players retired at 25 years old.
It was true that the top e-sports players made a lot of money. It wasn't difficult for them to make eight figures a year. However, most people couldn't even reach the threshold of the top leagues in their entire lives.
They struggled in the secondary league and even the City Hero Tournament. They were unknown until they were twenty-two or twenty-three years old. Because they could not keep up with the pace, their strength had declined a little. They were kicked out of the team by the management for various reasons and replaced with players who were younger, faster, and better.
These people had no education. Most of them were internet addicts. They couldn't make a name for themselves in esports. They went back to their hometown to be network managers or used their savings to open a milk tea shop.
Lin Yan, Jack, and the others, who had stood at the top of this esports competition since their debut, naturally didn't know about these things. Even if they heard a word or two, they didn't really understand this feeling.
However, Lin Weixiang and Liu Qingsong, who had played in the secondary league and the City Hero Tournament for a year, knew this feeling. They didn't want to live that kind of life.
YM's name was still worth mentioning. Liu Qingsong, The Prophet, and Lin Weixiang's live streaming contracts were under the team's banner. As long as they broadcast enough time, they would be paid. The two of them naturally worked very hard.
Lazy Dog Jack was half-lying there playing with his phone. He would definitely not broadcast if he could. It was a stark contrast to the hardworking substitute duo.
Lin Yan had said he wanted to broadcast during the last interview. However, under Jack's subtle influence, he had also become a lazy dog.
Lin Yan comforted himself by accumulating the broadcast time until the day the champion's skin was released.
He opened Lin Weixiang's live streaming channel and was surprised to find that there were many of his own fans.
This group of people in Lin Weixiang's room were clamoring for him to turn his headset to the loudest so that they could hear Lin Yan, the lazy dog who hadn't broadcasted yet.
Then, they would move the camera a little. It would be even better if they could point it at Lin Yan himself.
Lin Yan didn't think that his fans would be so crazy. Even if he didn't broadcast, this group of people would directly run to his teammates' channels and search for traces of him from all sorts of clues.
He yawned and curled up in his chair to look at the ranking time.
22 minutes and 15 seconds. What a magical number.
There was no one in the queue yet.
However, it was understandable.
Lin Yan played a few matches a day and had reached 1415 points. He was only 40 points away from the first place, Little Peanut, and ranked fourth in the Korean server.
The system matched him with very few opponents with high points. It just so happened that it was the day of the LCK competition. With the Korean server's high level matches being dominated by professional players, there was naturally no one in the queue.
"Sigh, experts are always as lonely as snow." Lin Yan sighed.
Lin Weixiang laughed on the other side.
"Brother Ran, look at how smart I am." He opened his career interface and said seriously, "I was originally going to reach 1000 points, but then the queue would be very slow. So I did a wave of 10 consecutive deaths and directly rushed for 700 points. Otherwise, I wouldn't be able to train seriously if I waited too long."
[You're really something. This bowl is definitely top-notch.]
[… Is it really not his problem to get 10 consecutive deaths?]
[Don't embarrass him. If the streamer says he controls his points, then he controls his points!]
In Lin Weixiang's channel, the fans who originally wanted to wait for Lin Yan's movements were amused.
When it was Lin Weixiang's turn to choose a hero, he glanced at the bullet screen.
"Why did I have to give up in the second game of RNG …" Lin Weixiang complained. "I wasn't giving up. The opponent's jungler kept coming to catch me. I was just being caught to death."
He pondered for two seconds and continued, "The opponent's jungler worked so hard to come here. I couldn't just let them catch me, right?"
【？？？】
[That's a weird angle. I'm speechless.]
[That Spicy Saucepan should really thank you, right?]
Lin Yan was amused. He turned to look at his teammates. "Indeed, Lin Weixiang sacrificed himself for others. If he didn't give up a few kills to the opponent's jungler in that game, the MVP award might have been his."
Lin Weixiang pretended to be magnanimous and waved his hand. "Xiang Ge, I'm too generous. I don't care about a small MVP award at all."
"Indeed, it's all thanks to Xiang Ge that we won these few games. Otherwise, we wouldn't have had to turn the tables. We would've started to pick this year's skins a long time ago." Phyllostachys Pubescens began to be sarcastic again.
Liu Qingsong, who was on the side, finally laughed without the camera.
"If you don't give up, I'll give it up. I'll control the rhythm of the game!" Lin Weixiang clenched his fist and cheered himself on. "The world is focused on me!"
The effect of Lin Weixiang's stream was much better than Lin Yan had imagined. There was no awkward silence at all. Even if he wasn't a professional player, he was still a good comedian.
Before they faced LGD, Version 7.5 was officially released on the tournament server.
The first big piece of news was about Ryze.
[We've observed the ranking and competition data of all the major servers and found that this old Mage from Runic Land is too active. The combination of Hourglass Zhonya and Warp Realm is too strong and there's no way to break it. We don't think this is a very good combination. This will make Ryze's opponents have an extremely bad gaming experience …]
The game designer rambled on a lot.
In conclusion, Hourglass Zhonya will now interrupt Ryze's R [Warp Realm].
This slash directly hit Ryze's artery, and the old Mage who guarded Runic Land with all his might fell to the ground.
A group of old Ryze players cried and wailed on the forums. Many Ryze players had used this technique before Lin Yan.
In their eyes, Lin Yan was the main culprit behind Ryze's nerf. If he hadn't used this technique in the S6 finals, these players would've been able to use it for a long time.
[You nerfed Swift, you nerfed Lucian, and now it's Ryze's turn. You're really ruthless!]
[Who will be the next victim?]
The second change had an even greater impact.
The Blade of the Broken King was now online.
The original price of this equipment was 3400 gold coins, but now it was 100 gold coins cheaper. It increased Attack by 15 points, increased Lifesteal by 5%, and decreased Attack Speed by 15%.
Active Physical Damage of 10% of maximum HP was now 100 Magic Damage.
(See image for update announcement)
At first glance, it looked like it had been nerfed, but in reality, it wasn't.
"The value of Broken King's 15 Attack is easy to understand. Let's use longswords as a unit. A longsword with 10 Attack is sold for 350 gold coins, so every point of Attack is worth 35 gold coins. 15 points of Attack is worth 525 gold coins. The value of the 5% Lifesteal increase is calculated according to [Vampire's Scepter] …"
Analyst doom projected the panel image directly onto the screen in the middle of the training room during the Version Analysis meeting that afternoon.
This was the concept that most professional data analysts used to calculate the price-performance ratio of equipment. A single attribute that could be bought with price could be directly subtracted to get the price of that attribute.
For example, attack power could be calculated by using a weapon like a longsword that only added attack power as a reference. The price attribute value could be used to calculate the value of the attack power attribute.
As for Lifesteal and Cooldown Reduction, there were no such basic attributes in LoL. Doom introduced a level 2 equipment to calculate the value.
Vampire's Scepter had 15 Attack and 10% Lifesteal and was priced at 900 gold coins.
10 Vampire's Scepters were priced at 9,000 gold coins, providing 150 Attack and 100% Lifesteal.
It was important to note that previously, when calculating the Attack, they used longswords as a reference. Now, when calculating Lifesteal, the value of the Attack was also calculated using longswords as a unit.
Because the price-performance ratio data was different due to different reference points, the numerical results were also different.
Everything had to be done carefully. Only then would it be scientific.
150 Attack was worth 15 longswords, so 350 * 15 = 5250 gold coins.
9,000 gold coins – 5250 gold coins = 3750 gold coins. The latter was the price of 100% Lifesteal.
So, 5% Lifesteal was 3750 * 5% = 187.5 gold coins.
"The price of the 15% Attack Speed reduction is easy to calculate," doom continued. "Using the shortsword that costs 300 gold coins and provides 12% Attack Speed as a reference, the price of the 15% Attack Speed attribute is 375 gold coins."
"Therefore, the price of the new Ruin attribute is higher than the old Ruin attribute by 525 + 187.5 – 375 = 337.5 gold coins."
He finally gave the results of the calculation. "And this version of Ruin is cheaper by 100 gold coins …"
"Then the value of the Ruin attribute is increased by 437.5 gold coins." White Crescent nodded, indicating that she understood.
437 gold coins. The damage of Ruin's active effect was not worth that much money. What was more important to the heroes was the speed reduction effect of the active effect!
"The most important thing is its combination with Black Cutter." Su Cheng frowned as she sat on the chair. The black pen in her hand was spinning rapidly. "If it's' Destruction ', a normal attack will trigger two layers of Black Cutter's special effect.
[Black Cut Passive: When physical damage is dealt to the hero, there will be a layer of 'Cut' armor penetration effect. The percentage of physical damage dealt to the hero can trigger Black Cut. This mechanism will only be changed on June 14, 2017, when version 7.12 is released. See image for the announcement]
"Lucian …" Lin Yan wanted to say something, but he stopped.
"This hero can't be given to you as a mid laner anymore." White Crescent smiled.
As soon as this version was released on the competition server, Lucian would immediately become the child of this version.
Currently, Black Cutter still had a layer of armor penetration of 5%. Stacking six layers would provide 30% armor penetration.
The combination of Ruin and Black Cutter meant that the hero only needed three normal attacks to trigger Black Cutter's armor penetration effect, which originally required six normal attacks to stack.
Lucian, on the other hand, could stack Black Cutter fully by stacking two passive attacks with E Slide Step.
It was simply ridiculous.
It was ridiculous to the extreme.
(That was why when Ruin and Black Cutter suddenly rose, all the heroes that could be dropped bought this set of equipment. The ranked players did not care if they understood this mechanism and just followed the trend. Today, I will explain this matter to everyone with the cost-performance ratio of the equipment.)
"This mechanism should be changed …" Jin Gong said from the side. "Otherwise, it would be too exaggerated."
"But it hasn't been changed yet." Su Cheng shook her head. "We have to adapt to this version. The Ruin and Black Cutter set will definitely be popular."
The current coaches and analysts were not fools. As soon as the version was updated, this obvious and exaggerated change would definitely attract attention.
"In this way, the special effects shouldn't be a problem." Lin Yan counted the heroes on his fingers. "Other than Lucian, Ice and Crocodile can all use this set."
White Crescent nodded. "We have to include the heroes that can solo Ruin. This set of equipment is also very strong."
"Verus, EZ, Big Mouth, Ratty, Spear of Vengeance …"
"Spring is coming for the ADC." Jack told the truth.
"More importantly, other than Ratty, these heroes you mentioned all have a special characteristic." Su Cheng unloaded the force and stopped the pen in her hand. "Their two-piece sets have extraordinary combat ability."
"Changing Ruin from Fist is forcing people to play mid-laner …" Lin Yan clicked his tongue.
The reason was very simple. In the future, heroes like Lucian and Ice who could use Ruin and Black Cutter would definitely become popular in the version.
As for Verus, Big Mouth, and Spear of Vengeance, these three heroes could all join the team with Ruin + Hurricane + Level 2 Boots. The current time point was about 20 minutes.
Once the version was closer to the mid-laner, the son of Fist, Ezreal, would immediately shine.
Even if the three Magic Cutter sets were completed, the third set of equipment could also make up for the strong Ruin of the version. His mid-laner combat ability would be incomparably strong. Coupled with his extraordinary flexibility, he would also become a version hero.
The players present looked dignified. They knew that the situation was about to change.
"F * ck, can he not change the version?" Xiao Tian shouted to vent his inner dissatisfaction.
So far, they had not lost a single small game. There was no doubt that they had the answer to the version. Every time Fist used a knife, the team with the best results would always be the most disgusted.
They could continue to win without doing anything, but once the version changed, everything had to be studied and adapted!
"Let's work overtime for the next two days. Let's try to understand the version first."
White Crescent was also very helpless. "It's only a month until the playoffs. The next version of Fist should be in the mid-season."
"That means that this version's research will affect our results in the Spring Season playoffs. I'll leave it to you two."
Su Cheng and Doom nodded.
Everyone in YM knew the importance of this version. No one laughed or fooled around anymore. They all stayed in the base and buried their heads in training.
In the game against LGD, Jack returned as the starting AD carry.
However, this time, his support was not Prophet, but Liu Qingsong.
White Crescent wanted to test out a new lineup. Liu Qingsong, who was good at support, was used as a guinea pig.
LGD adhered to a philosophy — a new version naturally needed a new lineup.
The jungler position was changed to Wild King Eimy. LGD's management finally understood this simple truth after half a year: Noh Sei and Wild King were unreliable. However, Wild King would at most get lost and go shopping, while Noh Sei would forcefully send him back.
Fawang, who had just led his team to eight consecutive losses, was also carried off to the water dispenser. His replacement was the new Korean top laner, Jinoo.
(Tip: In reality, on the 16th of March 2017, Sword Immortal Jinoo represented LGD in the first match against WE Seer. Two matches of Fox Slashing 0/90. On the 18th of March 2017, she replaced Fawang in the first match against VG. She defeated VG in one match and Crocodile in the other.)
Jinoo, eimy, godv, imp, pyl. The fans thought that LGD would once again form a Galactic Battleship and prepare to take off.
This was the first time in Lin Yan's professional career that he faced off against godv. Last summer, Gao Dewei was still on the bench and Lin Yan played against Fawang.
Even though they had never faced him head-on before, those who had experienced S5 were very familiar with Gao Dewei. Lin Yan was no exception.
If it wasn't for that year's Global Finals, he might not have made up his mind to play professionally.
Lin Yan knew that Gao Dewei was a very traditional mid laner who focused on farming. After clearing the minions, he would go into the jungle. It was exactly the same as how Lin Yan played when he got a hero like Yellow Chicken. He didn't treat his jungler as a human.
Once he had enough equipment, he would come out and take over the team to deal explosive damage.
White Crescent had also coached LGD before and knew Gao Dewei's background.
He took out his Titan's Swing and gave it to Lin Ran. Then, he forcefully pushed the line of battle.
Lin Yan roamed and helped Xiao Tian blow up the Wild King. Then, he gave Jack an advantage with a classic 4Back2.
Jack, who had recovered from his injury, was hot in the team battle. Verus took over the game after he finished Ruin + Hurricane. At this time, Gao Dewei had not developed fully because the jungle was rotten and he couldn't get any resources.
Little Dragon Group's Verus, who had activated the passive attack speed effect, became a monster. His lane was as beautiful as a painting and he finished the game with four kills.
The second game forced Gao Dewei into a corner. He took out Brightmoon and wanted to fight Lin Yan head-on.
However, Lin Yan was already prepared for Gao Dewei's signature Brightmoon.
He directly locked onto Crocodile.
In terms of lane, Crocodile fighting Brightmoon was similar to a father fighting his daughter.
It was the first time Gao Dewei personally saw Lin Yan's extremely strange hero pool.
Titan and Crocodile. Are you still a mid laner?
Lin Yan tried out a wave of new Ruin + Black equipment and then discovered the strange damage of Crocodile.
W [Grim Hunt] would trigger the attack effect. Red Rage W could slash three times.
This meant that Black Cut was even faster than Lucian's.
Break + Black Cutter, a Red Rage W would stack 30% of the armor penetration effect, and it could also deal three times of Break passive damage …
Lin Yan tricked Gao Dewei in the grass at F4. He had accumulated a lot of Rage and a Red Rage W bit off more than half of Brightmoon's health!
Gao Dewei had specially taken out the Explorer's Armguard and stacked armor to prevent being solo killed!
"What kind of damage is this?"
Commentator Ze Yuan looked at Crocodile's combo on the screen. EAQEA used the attack speed bonus of Ruin to quickly attack!
Gao Dewei's Brightmoon was directly killed in the stun process!
The audience below the stage covered their mouths and looked at the live screen in disbelief. How could Crocodile's damage be so exaggerated!
Even more exaggerated was yet to come. As soon as Lin Yan's third resurrection armor came out, he used minions to accumulate Red Rage and decisively rolled into the high tower!
Without any fancy moves, he flashed a Red Rage W and directly slashed IMP. At the same time, he used Ruin and then followed it up with a Q [Tyrant's Fury]!
IMP's health bar almost disappeared at this moment!
The combo was very fast. Jack's Verus also shot an arrow to add damage. When PYL reacted, IMP was already dead!
LGD, who had lost their ADC, was defeated and had no choice but to swallow the bitter fruit.
The LGD fans, known as the "optimistic family" with a yellow dog as their avatar, tasted the same situation as the IG fans.
Broken Leg failed to take off.
But after all, the fans had dogs in them, so it was understandable.
The last match of the group round-robin, YM versus VG.
YM members and Dumb Chicken reunited after a long time after the S6 global finals.
At this time, VG had already recognized the reality – they were destined to play in the relegation match.
Dumb Chicken, Master Hou, and Brother Long's chemistry was extremely poor. With the addition of the useless duo at the bottom lane, they had no resistance at all and were completely flattened by YM.
"The group round-robin has ended with 11 consecutive victories!
YM has adapted well to the new version. They still have five tough battles to fight! "Remember said as he watched VG's base crumble.
YM also knew that the other five teams in Group A were not weak teams. The challenge of the new version was coming.