"YM takes another point!"
Ze Yuan looked at the YM players on the stage and got up to leave. "2: 0, they are one step away from the MSI finals!"
"Although the mid-game rhythm was a bit off, in the Dragon's team battle, Ran's crucial Rock Spike and Qing Gang Yin's control killed G2's core Rat. They won the team battle and ended the game!"
Remember didn't forget to brag about YM.
"Ran's ability to seize opportunities is too strong. YM's overall coordination is a level higher than G2's!"
Because the director's camera was aimed at him, Remember had rolled down his sleeves and his hand movements were much calmer. "They could find the opportunity to cut in under the protection of Shen and Galio. YM has explained to us what it means to have a team battle as beautiful as a painting!"
But in the YM lounge, everyone was not obsessed with their own exciting team battle at the Dragon's Pit.
They were still looking for the problems of the previous game.
"We can't let the opponent get this kind of lineup," Lin Yan leaned back in his chair. "They had such a big advantage at the beginning of this game. They relied on Rat and Shen to keep picking. We can't get the rhythm at all."
"In the mid-game, we can't beat them with this lineup." Lin Yan spread his hands. "We can't rely on this kind of extreme team battle to turn the tables, right?"
He now recalled the scene where he used the Rock Spike to push Rat back and felt a little lucky.
In the chaotic team battle, it was not so simple to block Rat's flash and control when he shook his head.
This was not when the attack speed had not increased in the early game. When the team started, Rat was already using Break + Hurricane + Attack + Speed Shoes. Together with the runes, his attack speed had reached 1.56.
The increase in attack speed allowed the ADC to cut more smoothly. The time it took to raise his hand to stop was reduced a lot. Lin Yan's move of raising his hand to stop and flashing to block the Rock Spike was quite risky.
At that time, his personal hand speed and concentration had reached the peak level. Even in the same situation, Lin Yan could not guarantee success if he replicated the operation again.
Fortunately, Ratty's development wasn't too advanced. If he had an extra Storm Greatsword, the splash damage from his ultimate would've been enough to cripple YM. Even if Lin Yan managed to kill Ratty, the rest of G2 would've taken his head.
Perhaps this kind of team battle was pleasing to the eyes. They were all amazed by YM and Lin Yan's technical skills.
But from Lin Yan's point of view, when the team was forced to use the miracle of the Dragon's Pit and rely on the players' extreme mechanics to win the team battle, it had already announced the team's failure in terms of lineup selection and tactical execution.
You can't always rely on the players' extraordinary performances to win the game, can you?
Then why would he need a coach?
I'll go and play with the flexible ranking system.
White Crescent rubbed its chin in distress.
In the first match of the semifinals, Lin Yan's midlaner, Galio, seemed to have the potential to change the entire MSI midlaner lineup.
In the current version of the game, Galio didn't face much pressure in one-on-one battles against the mainstream players other than Lucian and Sindra. After reaching Level 6, his support abilities were decent, and his teamwork and control were sufficient.
The only downside was his lack of damage.
But G2 gave the answer in the last match.
The jungler chose Nanqiang, and the AD chose a late-stage core similar to Ratty to make up for the damage output that Galio lacked. In the team battle, they just needed the front row to block the opponent's face so that their own position had a good output space.
White Crescent couldn't help but admire the standard of G2's coaching team. They were able to come up with a decent Galio midlaner system in just one game.
"Hmm … I think we should ban either Shen or Ratty." White Crescent pressed down on the pen and discussed with her team members. "The reason they were able to drag it out for 20 minutes is because Ratty and Shen's brainless teamwork to steal people disrupted our rhythm."
"We can ban one of the heroes. This way, we can save a ban slot to target other positions." White Crescent thought of a compromise.
I can't think of any other strategy in a short time. Can I ban you?
Everyone, stop playing.
"Okay." Lin Yan couldn't think of a better idea for the time being.
He got up to get a glass of ice water and poured it into his mouth.
As the ice water poured down, a chill flowed from top to bottom throughout his chest, finally temporarily suppressing the itch in his throat.
The weather in Rio was too hot, and there were no cooling measures in the players' seats in the middle of the stage. Spotlights flashed overhead from time to time.
In addition, tens of thousands of people were squeezed together in the stadium. The temperature in the stadium was much higher than the current temperature in Rio. Lin Yan's forehead was sweating when he played the game.
The key was that he was still the commander. He basically didn't stop talking throughout the game. When he got off the stage, he felt that his throat was smoking.
Lin Yan got two glasses of ice water before going on stage and was fully prepared.
He sat on the chair, adjusted his sitting position, and then entered the custom room. He closed his eyes and rested for a moment.
On the commentary platform, Ze Yuan was also excited when he saw the players enter the seats.
"The third match is about to begin." Remember was still gathering his emotions. "YM won the first two matches, but the results were not as overwhelming as they appeared to be. G2 still caused some trouble for YM. In the second match, YM was even forced to take on the Dragon team battle. They relied on the exquisite coordination between the players to create a chain of control to kill Ratty. Otherwise, the outcome would have been uncertain."
Ze Yuan nodded. "That's right. Although G2 didn't achieve good results in last year's MSI and global finals, we often say that we can't underestimate any opponent."
"With Perkz's gradual growth, G2 is undoubtedly a very strong opponent this year." Remember turned to look at his partner. "… I even feel that G2 is now stronger than most LPL teams."
"You have to know that YM won the LPL spring competition with a crushing momentum this year. Other than WE in the regular season finale, the other teams didn't even see YM's high tower."
Remember saw that the game had not yet begun. He cleared his throat and continued, "However, G2's performance today was quite good. In the first game, they took the initiative to drive the pace and were suppressed by YM. However, in the second game, they were already able to threaten YM's victory."
"I'm not saying that YM has any problems today." Remember was still holding the card in his hand. His tone was full of emotion. "I just want to remind the other LPL teams that while facing their opponents, they also have to look at themselves."
"If, I'm saying if, since last year, we didn't have this YM team that came out of nowhere, then how would our LPL performance have been this year?"
Ze Yuan saw that Remember was getting further and further away from the topic. He quickly spoke up to help him. "Of course, an assumption is always an assumption. YM has always been an LPL team.
"However, we have to admit that there is already a gap in the strength of the teams in the LPL league. It is very difficult to rely on one team to make the league flourish. As LPL commentators, we hope to see a group of heroes rise together!
"Only when a pack of wolves compete can we continuously force the teams in the league to improve their own skills and constantly improve. Otherwise, if we dominate the league, it is very likely that it will develop into a pool of stagnant water in the future."
Remember was shocked by G2's good performance in the last game. After not seeing them for half a year, he could feel the improvement of the strength of this European overlord.
His words were to remind the domestic clubs that did not want to improve.
The other divisions were improving, and some people relied on YM to win the championship trophy last year. They really thought that the LPL was the best division, lying there and enjoying the fruits of others' labor without any intention to improve.
As soon as he finished speaking, the big screen in the stadium showed a close-up of the players on both sides. Then, the caster's camera pulled open and the BP screen appeared!
"YM chose the blue side first. They took the initiative to ban the rats!"
White Crescent still felt that Shen was easier to deal with than the rats. Jin Gong's Qing Gang Yin in the first game had already proven this point.
G2, as the defender of the first round of BP, continued to ban Lulu.
In the three games, the Prophet could not get this T1-level protective support in the current version.
No matter how slow White Crescent was, he understood now.
G2 banned both Lulu and Tam in the first two games, forcing the Prophet to choose Karma.
Karma was also quite popular in the current version. It was strong enough, but the drawbacks were also obvious.
Compared to supports like Nami and Tam, Karma's ability to protect the ADC was not enough.
In these two games, Karma gave G2 several opportunities to catch the tower. The Prophet died a total of ten times in the two games. It was quite like the Grim Reaper PYL.
In the second game, both sides sent God Cutlery and Tam to the ban position.
G2's intentions were too obvious.
White Crescent fell into deep thought.
He could not understand G2's thoughts. They had lost the first two games, and they still wanted to target the bottom lane in the third game?
"YM's last ban position is given to Sindra. G2 is forced to ban Lucian!"
It was now the first round of hero selection.
"Take Boulogne first!" White Crescent said to Jin Gong.
He could not let G2's plan to target the bottom lane succeed again in this game. Although Boulogne's offensive ability was not strong, his ability to protect his teammates and prevent opponents from crossing the tower was top-notch among supports.
"Prophet, try to be careful when you're facing the top lane. Don't be suppressed too much. Just wait for your teammates to command you." White Crescent patted the Prophet's shoulder. "Don't forget to use Redemption first."
Redemption was an extremely cost-effective equipment in the current version. No matter if it was a soft support or a hard support, it would be included in one's shopping cart.
The Prophet took a deep breath and nodded.
Compared to his soft support hero, Boulogne's proficiency was very average.
However, he would block the security door in front of his own ADC. This was enough for Jack and YM.
G2's coach was not surprised by this choice. In fact, he had already thought about the content of the game.
In this game, he wanted to use the two bans of Tam and Lulu to force White Crescent to give the first pick to the support.
"Galio + Big Mouth!" Remember was a little surprised by this choice. "P, are we still using Galio in this game?"
"Take Qing Gang Yin and Blind Monk. We'll still try to fight for the mid-laner," White Crescent said after careful consideration.
G2 got Nanqiang in the end. It was the same jungler choice in the previous game.
In the second round of BP, G2's coach was very decisive. He sent Ice and Verus, two T1 ADCs, to the ban position.
His goal was very obvious. He wanted Jack to have no heroes to use.
Ice, Verus, and Mouse were banned. Big Mouth was also snatched. Among the remaining AD heroes outside, Izreal was one of the heroes that Jack had used the least since his debut. His proficiency was not high.
On the other hand, Ember and Bloom's [Concussive Slam] passive was too slow.
That left only two heroes, Policewoman and Callista.
The styles of these two ADCs were too extreme. They had to have an advantage in the lane. If they could not roll a snowball, it would be very difficult to play.
White Crescent looked at the opponent who had taken down Jess. She was still thinking about which hero to choose for Jack.
"Callista. I can suppress the opponent." Jack was very confident.
White Crescent was still hesitating about which hero to choose. Seeing that Jack had spoken, she directly let him choose a hero that he could use easily.
"What are you going to use to fight Galio?" White Crescent asked Lin Yan.
Lin Yan took a sip of ice water and held it in his mouth. He let the cold liquid swim freely in his mouth.
He used this mouthful of ice water to calm his restless heart due to the hot weather.
There were not many heroes outside who could keep up with Galio's wandering rhythm, and most of them did not have enough damage.
Ryze could not be chosen. With Galio's crowd control and Big Mouth's long-range damage, the short-handed Ryze would be hit to low health before he could even touch the opponent's back row.
Their lineup was Callista + Blind Monk, a lineup that did not have long team fights. Lin Yan was uneasy because of his own Underworld lineup in the last game. He always felt uneasy.
"Is Yellow Rooster okay?" Lin Yan looked up at White Crescent.
Desert Emperor was indeed easy to fight against Galio. It was easy to control the lane in the early game. In the late game, he had the advantage of long hands and was not easy to be controlled by Galio's taunt. The damage output environment was guaranteed.
Along with Clockwork and Victor, he was known as one of the top three magic cores in the game. His damage was also not bad.
However, if Yellow Rooster was chosen, it meant that YM's strong lineup would be delayed. Qing Gang Yin and Yellow Rooster's team fighting ability in the early and middle stages was quite limited.
"What if the opponent uses Galio as the top laner?" White Crescent confirmed first. "It's very difficult for Yellow Rooster to fight Jace."
"Impossible. If they use Galio as the top laner, Jin Gong's Qing Gang Yin can kill him," Lin Yan looked at the lineup and said. "Once Qing Gang Yin gets the advantage in the early game, G2's lineup will not be able to deal with his solo carry."
White Crescent thought about it. It was like this. She arranged for the prophet to choose the hero.
"Yellow Rooster is really good …" She murmured. "No one in G2's lineup can rush to Yellow Rooster's face. Ran's output space is very good!"
On the other side, G2 only had one player left.
The coach was still discussing with the players.
"Perkz, are you sure you don't want to use Galio?" The bearded coach asked again.
Ah P nodded with a firm look.
"Give me a counter position. I can kill him." He was very confident.
"You're not going to send us directly back to Europe in this game, are you?" G2's AD player, Zven, turned his head and laughed.
"F * ck off." Ah P had a good relationship with him, so he immediately spat back.
"Choose Fox for me. Trust me." Ah P's expression changed quickly.
He had used the tool hero in the first two games. G2 was now on the edge of a cliff. Ah P did not want to rely on his teammates anymore.
He decided to stand up and carry the game himself.
"G2's last pick is Fox!" She was very surprised. "How are they going to split up?
Is Galio going to be the support? "
"It's confirmed. Galio will be the support!"
Zhe Yuan was a little excited. "Ah P is using Fox to fight Yellow Rooster. The mid lane is completely restrained!"
On the surface, Yellow Rooster's Wall of Guards could always block Fox's advance. However, normal Fox players were not stupid. Why would they run straight into Yellow Rooster's wall?
Using three big moves in a roundabout way, it was very easy to play with a slightly clumsy hero like Yellow Rooster.
In this version, Fox had crowd control and burst. In addition to the three big moves, they were all things that Yellow Rooster was most afraid of.
(Tip: Galio's support appeared once in MSI. See this chapter for the data. Fox and Yellow Rooster's positioning data also see this chapter for the data. Note: Yellow Rooster's big move Wall of Guards cannot be passed through in the 2017 MSI version. The Wall of Guards' normal terrain was weakened in version 7.19 on September 27th, 2017. I'll put the picture in this chapter for you.)
Lin Ran did not expect G2 to have such a trick up their sleeves. Now, they had brought out Jess, Fox, and Gunner's top, middle, and jungle combination.
Both solo lanes could eat lane rights in the early game. They could protect Nanqiang in the jungle.
The lineups of both sides were confirmed.
Blue YM: Top Lane Qing Gang Yin, Jungler Blind Monk, Mid Lane Yellow Rooster, Bottom Lane Vengeful Spear + Boulogne.
Red G2: Top Lane Jess, Jungler Nanqiang, Mid Lane Fox, Bottom Lane Big Mouth + Galio.
"Let's play it safe in this game. We'll rely on Jack in the early game and I'll take care of the team battle later on." Lin Yan fanned himself with his hand, trying to drive away all the heat around him.
"I'm under a lot of pressure in this game." Xiao Tian laughed. Nanqiang saw that the top and middle solo lanes were so strong and would definitely invade his jungle. "Brother Ran, you chose Yellow Rooster to mess with my mentality, right?"
Before Lin Yan could answer, Phyllostachys Pubescens continued.
"But we have such a good relationship. Why would I blame you?"
"Treat us to a Brazilian barbecue tonight. Treat it as a favor for being beaten up by Nanqiang."
"I'll treat if we win this game. If we don't, we'll go back to the hotel and drink the northwest wind."
Lin Yan replied. He checked his Talent Rune. Flash + Purification + Thunder. There were no changes.
Xiao Tian was amused when he heard this.
"Brazilian!" He tilted his head to provoke Jin Gong. "Which one is better, Brazilian barbecue or Korean barbecue?"
"If you want me to nag, then it must be Korean barbecue!" Jin Gong stuffed a piece of chocolate into his mouth and said incoherently.
Before they could finish talking, Summoner's Canyon had already loaded. Everyone tacitly stopped talking.
Lin Yan bought his equipment and marked along the river while he was still unable to leave the spring.
"Follow the path I marked and set up a vision in their jungle."
"YM's five players are going straight to G2's red zone along the river. They're going to invade the jungle at level one!" Ze Yuan saw everything clearly from God's perspective.
"However, G2 is also going to invade YM's red zone. The two sides are in different positions and are not fighting!"
Many G2 fans heaved a sigh of relief.
Although G2's first-level lineup was strong, YM's first-level lineup was even more terrifying.
As long as Boulogne hit passive and Qing Gang Yin followed up with Hook Rope Control, the enemy would not be able to survive.
Fortunately, they did not meet this time. Otherwise, something would definitely happen.
"The junglers of both sides don't plan to return to the city. They're going to open the jungle on the spot. Just treat it as a change of buff to start the game!"
The two sides changed sides and opened red. Then, they rushed back to farm their own blue.
It seemed that both sides started with a red and a blue buff, but it was still different from farming their own jungle.
Xiao Tian farmed G2 red + YM blue, which meant that his activity path for the first three levels was in the top half.
In this case, Jin Gong's Qing Gang Yin could easily press the line and trade health with Jayce. This was because once a conflict broke out, Mongoose could quickly rush to the top lane to help.
On the other hand, G2's jungler was the opposite. He quickly followed behind to protect his own bottom lane.
Many times, the team's early tactics could be seen from the actions of a jungle invasion.
Xiao Tian was uncharacteristically ready to help Jin Gong, who was empty and lonely in the top lane, and give him some love.
In the first two games of this semi-final, Jin Gong relied on his own solo carry to gain the advantage. The mid-game Qing Gang Yin was unstoppable when he solo carried, and he repeatedly contributed to YM.
Since they could win the first two games, they might as well maintain their previous strategy for this game. The bottom lane would be responsible for passive defense most of the time.
In any case, the prophet chose Boulogne for this game. With the Spear of Vengeance, it would not be easy to overtake the tower.
In the middle lane, Ah P was focused on playing against Lin Yan.
He finally got the counter hero in this game. He planned to torture Lin Yan. He had to kill the yellow chicken at least two or three times to get back all the face he had lost.
The level one yellow chicken was relatively weak. Only W [Sand Soldier Appears] could be used. Under normal circumstances, it could at most poke the opponent once.
However, Lin Yan's position was still very close to the front. He stood beside the minions and took advantage of the gap between Fox's minions to attack.
With the passive attack speed increase from W [Sand Soldier Appears], the yellow chicken's normal attack was very fast. After attacking, he retracted his attack and ran back. He didn't even attract the minions' aggro.
Ah P was anxious.
You think a yellow chicken like you can fight me?
He decisively threw out Q [Orb of Deceit], wanting to exhaust Lin Yan.
Lin Yan moved to the side at a right angle, avoiding the first part of the damage from the Orb of Deceit.
Ah P didn't give up.
The Orb of Deceit also provided an acceleration effect. He used this acceleration to move to the side.
Ah P made sure that Lin Yan was stuck in the path of the Orb of Deceit and used true damage to hit Lin Yan.
He didn't even have time to be happy before he realized that something was wrong.
Lin Yan's previous right-angle movement allowed him to enter the minions. In order to ensure the accuracy of the Orb of Deceit, he also entered the minions!
The second part of the Orb of Deceit hit four minions.
Sh * t.
Ah P was so focused on exhausting his health that he forgot about the minions.
So far, the yellow chicken had only killed one of the minions with low health. The rest of the minions hadn't moved at all. Ah P's Orb of Deceit clearly pushed the minions towards the YM tower.
It wasn't that Fox wasn't good at pushing the minions, but it wasn't good in this game.
Both sides started the game in the jungle to protect their top and bottom lanes. The middle lane didn't care about the early game.
However, now that the minions were pushed towards the YM tower, Fox was forced to move forward.
This kind of position was very easy to gank. Fox didn't have any means of escaping before reaching level 6. Being stuck meant death.
This was a life and death game. Ah P didn't dare to bet that Xiao Tian wouldn't change his plan and go for the middle lane.
He purposely went to the grass above the river to plant an eye, but it didn't have much effect.
Originally, a single Upper River Grass would be able to lock down more than half of the junglers who would normally attack from above. However, because of the jungler changing zone, Ah P had no idea where Little Tian had spawned.
From God's perspective, YM and G2's top half were connected. It was impossible to lock down Blind Monk's gank path with just one eye.
There were many ways to reach the middle lane from these two jungles. It was impossible to guard against.
Ah P looked at Lin Yan who was still in front of the tower happily replenishing the tower. He felt very frustrated.
It wasn't realistic to push the minions into the tower.
Fox relied on the Orb of Deceit to clear the minions. Yellow Chicken relied on the Sand Soldier's AoE damage and passive attack speed to clear the minions faster than Fox.
As long as Fox dared to throw the Orb of Deceit, Lin Yan would set up the Sand Soldier and keep the G2 side's minions slightly stronger than YM side's. This way, he would be able to block the minions. He might even be able to use Q's Sand Storm to whittle down Ah P's health.
In short, the minions in the middle lane were completely under Lin Yan's control. He could push and control them as he pleased.
Ah P's Orb of Deceit was too low-leveled. He couldn't clear the minions quickly.
It was very uncomfortable to be stuck here.
He could only call for the junglers to help in the middle lane. He quickly pushed the minions into the tower and reset the minions in the middle lane.
After Nanqiang ate the River Crab, he wanted to go to the bottom lane to protect Big Mouth. However, Ah P asked for help at level two, so he could only give up on that idea.
The moment Nanqiang appeared in the middle lane.
"Kill Big Mouth! Kill Big Mouth!" Lin Yan shouted, commanding the duo in the bottom lane.
From the moment he deliberately moved into the middle of the minions and tricked Fox's Orb of Deceit to clear the minions, he had been thinking about the bottom lane's minions. Now that he saw Nanqiang appear, he definitely had to give the bottom lane an advantage!
The next second, Jack also reacted. He frantically marked G2's body.
"The Prophet has leveled up to level two. Use W's Stand Up. W's on the minions as a springboard. Flash's normal attack followed by Q's Cold Winter's Bite. Place passive on Big Mouth!"
Ze Yuan looked at the battle in the bottom lane. He was very excited.
"Callista, jump forward and follow up with normal attacks. G2's bottom lane is too close to the front. It's very difficult for Big Mouth to escape!"
Previously, G2's bottom lane had Nanqiang taking care of it. Big Mouth relied on his long hands after activating W to drain YM's bottom lane's health with Galio.
However, this attracted the minions' aggro. Galio's Righteous Wind also hit the minions. This caused the minions to be pushed to the front of YM's tower.
G2's bottom lane did not expect YM to be so decisive. They decided to make a move the moment they saw Nanqiang's trace!
"Galio tried to taunt her, but Callista used [Blink] to increase the distance between her and Galio. Galio's [Blink] was a step too late, and Callista's [Normal Attack] knocked him out of passive!"
Remember to clench his fist. "Boulogne followed up with Ignite. Skateboard Shoes AQE jumped twice to make up for the damage. They directly took down the first blood!"
"The remaining Galio used Flash to escape. This wave of YM's profit!"
In just three minutes of the deciding game, YM had taken down the first blood!
Everything started from the moment Lin Ran twisted his body and entered the line of soldiers!
In the previous two games, many of the tens of thousands of spectators in Rio's Olympic Stadium had been attracted by YM's decisive, daring, and clear thinking.
At this time, they had turned into passer-by fans, cheering for YM!
In an instant, the stadium in a foreign country instantly became YM's home ground. The spectators shouted YM's team name!