The match dragged on for forty minutes before it ended.
After the match, Lin Yan entered the lounge and sat on a chair with a gloomy expression.
No one in the lounge made a sound for the time being.
White Crescent lowered her head to look at her notebook. Guo Hao's face was flushed red, probably due to his loud shouting earlier. He was now drinking water from a paper cup.
Seeing that no one was speaking, Lin Yan spread out his hands and began to express his opinion on the previous match.
"In this match against SKT, Jin Gong didn't dare to carry too deep in the mid lane. In the team battle, we can't cut off the airplane. With both sides switching their frontline, how are we going to replace their top laner Galio with our support Tam?"
"We can't carry the lane out, and we can't win in the team battle. What is this?" His voice echoed in the quiet lounge.
Xiao Tian scratched his head. "I think so too. We can't even deal with the airplane in the team battle. How are we going to play?"
In the early stages of the previous match, YM followed their whirlwind style and kept fighting with SKT in the mid lane. However, Li Xianghe did not even look at Little Peanut and stayed in the mid lane to farm.
In the end, Lin Yan and Mongoose destroyed Little Peanut's jungle but did not put enough pressure on SKT's other lanes.
That was because they had spent some time on Little Peanut's jungle. At eight minutes into the match, Airplane's passive [Hex Technologies Armament] began to generate explosive packs.
These explosive packs had a duration of sixty seconds and could provide a [Special Delivery].
The explosive packs thrown by the Special Delivery would create a path of destruction and death. The exaggerated speed reduction and damage caused the Special Delivery to be comparable to Rambo's [Constant Temperature Burn].
Faker picked up the explosive packs but did not actively look for opportunities. He only used them to make YM hesitate and not attack the rest of SKT.
Lin Yan and Mongoose barely managed to find two opportunities: four packs to kill Bang and Wolf, then went to the top lane to kill Huni.
YM entered the mid lane with a twenty-five thousand economic advantage. That was when the situation changed.
Lin Yan found that they couldn't touch the opposite plane at all.
Li Xianghe immediately added a Mercury Belt to Lin Yan's Ultimate Skill after the first three items. Now, Li Xianghe could only give his R [Grasp of the Underworld] to other people.
Under the protection of Wolf's Karma, Faker was able to operate the plane as if it was a no-man's-land. The five YM players were unable to deal with him. In the middle of the game, they rashly sent Xiao Long and the two outer towers away.
Jin Gong's captain had gotten the upper hand in this round, and he was still performing very well. In 20 minutes, he was ahead of Huni by a total of 40 slashes.
As of now, Jin Gong's mechanics did not show any signs of deteriorating. Whenever his teammates gave him resources, he would receive good feedback. Even if they did not help him, he would rarely collapse.
However, even a well-developed captain would have limited room to play against SKT's two-shooter lineup.
Especially after the aircraft had made rapid fire cannons, the long hand advantage of the two Cs combined with the high attack speed of the explosive barrel was very easy.
On the other hand, it was unrealistic to carry a single player. If Jin Gong's defense against Faker was too deep, Galio could provide support from a distance at any time.
This was in line with Lin Yan's words. If you don't know how to carry a single player, you won't be able to win a team battle.
At the 27th minute, YM lost the team battle in the middle lane, losing the Dragon + middle tower. At the 29th minute, SKT used the Dragon's buff to push down YM's high ground in the middle lane.
After that, SKT fought steadily. They were not in a hurry to win. Instead, they used their rich operational experience to slowly torture YM.
Last year's RNG in the MSI and S Tournament had been tortured to death in this way. SKT would only try to end the match when they were sure to win.
Even though their finances were not too far behind, and the three LPL commentators kept saying that YM still had a chance of winning, the players on the field knew that this was not possible.
After nearly 20 minutes of pulling and tormenting, YM kept holding the high ground. The feeling of being forced to defend, without any suspense, lingered in the hearts of the five YM players.
In reality, the other four players had adjusted very quickly after the match. Their complaints in the break room after the match were purely to vent their emotions.
After all, everyone had experienced the turbulence of the S6 World Championship. Losing a small match in the MSI finals would not affect their mentality much.
Although the MSI was important, it could not be compared to the global finals in terms of scale, attention, or position in the hearts of professional players.
Only the Prophet was very depressed. He was still immersed in the loss of the previous match and had not recovered from it.
His record in the previous match was 073, which was very bleak.
The 20-year-old had only stepped onto the stage of the top league this spring. He had played the role of a tool in YM's quicksilver offense.
Since entering the top league until now, the Prophet had lost a total of two insignificant matches. He had smoothly arrived on the stage of the MSI finals and was finally taught a lesson.
After gaining the upper hand, SKT's suppressive offense was very smooth. Although Little Peanut and Huni had only worked with their teammates for one Spring Season, their offensive prowess was definitely top-notch.
On the other hand, as the defensive side, YM's four players cooperated very well. They divided their lines, controlled their vision, changed their resources in a timely manner to prevent losses, and so on.
Throughout the match, the Prophet was like an outsider.
He had been winning ever since he came to LPL. Even in mock matches, he had not played against the wind for such a long time. The Prophet, who was still using the tactics of playing against the wind in the secondary league, was like an awkward clown on the stage of the MSI finals.
He was caught when he went out to set up his vision. Little Dragon and Little Dragon were killed by the opposing planes when they went to take a look …
After 20 minutes of suffocating against the wind, the Prophet's brain was a mess.
Who am I?
Where am I?
What am I doing?
The Prophet, who had been asked three times by his soul, held ice water in both hands. His eyes were blank and he did not speak.
"Then how do we choose the lineup for the next match?"
White Crescent's voice in the center of the lounge sounded illusory to him. "They definitely won't release the Card + Camille solo lineup again."
"Rock Sparrow probably won't get it either." Lin Yan sat on a chair and pointed at the whiteboard in the center of the lounge. The whiteboard recorded the BP situation of SKT in the previous match. "SKT won't give me any heroes that have a strong radiation effect on the sidelines in the middle lane."
"Can Dragon King do it?" Jack asked.
"The early game damage has been reduced, and the mana consumption has increased quite a bit." Lin Yan shook his head. "The early game is too difficult to play."
Dragon King had been severely weakened after the 6.18 World Championship last year. The mana consumption of the Level 1 W [Star Dome Explosion] had increased by 6 points, and the additional passive damage had been reduced by half (see picture).
For Starcaster Dragon King, who required extreme roaming support in the early game, this was a crippling blow. Now, its power was no longer as unsolvable as it was in the previous year's World Championship.
"Don't tell me we're going to fight SKT in the late game?" Jin Gong interrupted. "Just like when we fought G2 in the semifinals?"
White Crescent frowned.
Dragging SKT into the early game was a strategy that was very different from what he had in mind before the match.
His original plan was to let Lin Yan take the fast support hero to open up the sidelines in the early game and control the map's resources. This would allow the team to gain enough advantages to end the match in the middle of the game.
However, Kkoma would definitely not be given to a mid lane hero like YM, who could drive the tempo in the early game.
"Let's give it a try," Lin Yan said. "I think Huni will lose if it's an even or disadvantageous game."
…
"Welcome back to the live broadcast of the 2017 Mid-Season Championship Finals." Doll was the first to speak. "Both sides are tied at 1: 1. In the next battle on Mount Tianwang, whoever wins this small round will be one step away from the championship trophy!"
"The Prophet's condition was a little unstable in the last match." Mille pointed out YM's problem. "Let's hope he can adjust in time."
"After all, the opponent won't just stand there and wait for you. You have to recover as soon as possible!" Remember added.
The BP panel once again appeared on the big screen in the stadium. The third round of the BP battle had officially begun!
"SKT has chosen the blue side, while YM has chosen the red side!"
"SKT will ban Sindra first, while YM will ban Lucian." Mille was not surprised by the first ban. "These two heroes are set to be banned in the finals. Their strength is extremely high, and both midlaners are very good at it."
For the second ban, SKT made another adjustment. They chose Rock Sparrow directly, while White Crescent chose to ban Kenan again.
For the last ban in the first round, SKT targeted Camille, while YM blocked Nanqiang.
Kkoma stood behind Li Xianghe, flipping through the notebook in his hand.
His BP style in these two rounds had changed drastically.
In the first round of the finals, he had chosen to ban the Prophet.
However, after watching the first round, he changed his strategy.
In the second round, he tried to ban the tempo support hero, and released Tam to the Prophet.
The result was not surprising. Although the Prophet had obtained a convenient hero, YM's upper midlaner was unable to break the stalemate due to the hero being blocked, and their tempo being disrupted.
The Prophet was still unable to keep up with the tempo even when SKT was good at mid to late game operations.
Kkoma recognized the reality of the situation.
He did not need to purposely target the Prophet. He only needed to restrict YM's upper midlaner to prevent their opponents from gaining an advantage in the early game. In the late game, the Prophet would not be able to keep up with the high intensity of the game.
Therefore, in this round, he decisively placed all his ban chips on the tempo support hero.
Kkoma was the first to choose the ice.
E's Eagle Soars the Sky was very effective against teams like YM, who mainly attacked in the early game.
"YM decisively chose Blind Monk and Lulu. Very good choice!" On the stage, Mille let out a sigh of relief.
He did not know kkoma's strategy. He only thought that the Prophet had obtained the most used hero of the season.
SKT's last two picks in the first round were Spider Queen and Karma.
In the second round, both sides continued to target the two positions that had not been chosen yet. YM banned Galio and Little Fishman, while SKT banned Captain Shen He.
"Lin Yan, I'll ask you one last time. Are you sure you want to take the mid to late game core?" YM was in the red team and had the right to choose first in the second round. White Crescent asked.
"No problem. Take it." Lin Yan nodded. His tone was firm.
Jack had finished searching for the hero. After receiving his coach's permission, he immediately pressed the confirm button.
Ace pilot requested to battle!
Lin Yan heard the exclamations of the audience through his earpiece!
"YM's fourth pick is Airplane!" Mille was very surprised by this pick. "Replicating Faker's hero from the previous round!"
After the initial surprise, the audience whistled and applauded.
They loved watching this kind of plot. In the previous round, Li Xianghe's Airplane had won the MVP award with a score of 6010. How would Ran's Airplane perform in this round?
[It's coming. Let's see whose game this is?]
[The smell of gunpowder is coming. Two consecutive rounds of Airplane. Whoever loses will be embarrassed.]
Kkoma was also surprised.
He had thought that Lin Yan would still choose the support type of hero. He did not expect him to change his style so quickly. He had already started to choose the support type of hero.
"Crocodile and Ryze!"
Doll saw SKT's last two picks and immediately said, "Their lineup is very strong!"
Ryze had the advantage in lane against Airplane. In the mid to late game, he could also push the flanks. W's Rune Imprisonment was also very convenient when paired with Spider in the jungle.
"Desert Spider combo …" Remember nodded. "In this LCK Spring Season, Little Peanut's main task was to coordinate with Huni in the jungle. It looks like SKT's main focus has switched from the bottom lane to the top lane."
Kkoma looked at his own team's lineup and could not help but feel proud. Currently, the only top laners left were Rambo, Wine Barrel, and Titan. They were powerless against the combination of Spider and Crocodile.
"Titan?"
Mille saw the flashing icon of YM's last pick. "If their main goal is to fight in a team, that's fine."
"Locked in!"
Doll's expression brightened. He cleared his throat and was about to analyze the lineup for the audience when YM's substitution surprised him.
"As expected, Titan is the support, and Lulu is the top laner!"
Mille's expression was normal. It was obvious that he had expected this. "Lulu's early game against Crocodile is a good choice. Moreover, this hero's defense tower is good!"
The lineups for the Battle of Mount Tianwang were confirmed!
Blue SKT: top laner Crocodile, jungler Spider, mid laner Ryze, bottom laner Ice + Karma.
Red YM: top laner Lulu, jungler Blind Monk, mid laner Airplane, bottom laner Verus + Titan.
【？？？
I'm impressed. Is this a trump card or a blind gamer?]
[I think it's a joke. I haven't seen Lulu as a top laner this season!]
[This is the MSI finals. Do they really dare to play like this?]
Yamanashi, who was watching the match, was stunned for two seconds when he saw YM's last four or five picks. He frowned and realized that things were not as simple as they seemed.
He glanced at the bullet screen. "Brothers, listen to my advice. Don't play fishballs in this round. YM's hand swings are too weird. Something's not right, something's not right …"
Kkoma's expression froze. He did not expect that after the opponent had unexpectedly selected a developmental Big Core as their mid laner, they would still have a support swinging hand!
He looked at White Crescent opposite him.
Last time, he had interacted with Red Rice, who was also a Korean. He knew that YM's coach was proficient in all kinds of tricks. He could even pull out a Bronze Shadow mid laner.
Today, he saw that his reputation was well-deserved. He even dared to pick Lulu, who had not appeared in a long time. He was able to pick the best pick among a group of Spider + Crocodile top laners!
This was the MSI finals, the crucial Battle of Mount Tianwang!
Kkoma had information about YM's hero pool in his hands. He knew that Lin Yan had never picked Airplane in his professional career. He also knew that Jin Gong had not used Lulu top laner for an entire year.
To choose in this situation, what kind of courage was this!
What kind of rich tactical reserves!
When he shook hands with White Crescent, the angle of his bow was a little wider.
White Crescent had originally planned to bow slightly and go their separate ways. He did not expect Kkoma to be so serious.
He felt that if he did not bow deeply, it would be rude, so he quickly bent down.
However, Kkoma just happened to raise his body.
The two coaches' heads just happened to bump into each other.
The caster's camera happened to be pointed here. Countless viewers in the stadium and in front of the stream witnessed this scene.
The Chinese bullet screen was very realistic.
[Hahahahaha, what a collision!]
[White Crescent worked. If it's one for one with Kkoma, we definitely won't lose out, okay?]
[This collision better be able to knock something out of Kkoma's head. Stop BP. Wuwuwuwuqiu, you're the one who provoked him.]
Kkoma and White Crescent each held the back of their heads while the other held the front of their heads. They looked at each other and smiled before leaving in opposite directions.
"Prophet, you should pay attention to our signals from the mid to late game. If you want to set up a lookout, find Phyllostachys Pubescens and walk together. Don't run out alone," Jack reminded him.
The Prophet agreed. His mouth felt dry, and he hurriedly drank a mouthful of water before wiping the sweat on his forehead.
"Don't panic. What's there to be afraid of?" Lin Yan noticed this. "Can a mere MSI kill you?"
Lin Yan knew that Prophet was afraid of losing the competition and being scolded by the audience when he returned to China. He paused for a moment before quickly comforting him.
"Don't worry. Losing the finals is no big deal. How many people in China are watching the competition in the middle of the night?"
Lin Yan added as he thought of this. His tone was sour. "Our team's Great Analyst Su is still sleeping …"
Xiao Tian also comforted him. "With less attention, the number of trolls who lose will decrease a lot. At worst, you can just uninstall Tieba Pounce and play dead on the spot."
Blood rushed to Prophet's pale cheeks again. He stepped on the chair, adjusted the position of the keyboard and mouse, and stared at the computer screen with full attention.
"Brother Xiba, is your Lulu strong?" Lin Yan asked as he adjusted the runes.
Jin Gong shook his head. "I haven't played it in a long time, but I used it two years ago when Lulu went solo. Don't worry, I won't give it away if it's not C."
Lin Yan was relieved. He brought along the Thunder Lord's Decree and hesitated for a moment between the two summoner skills, Teleport and Purify.
He glanced at the brutal combination of Ryze, Crocodile, and Spider on the opposite side and decided to give up part of the opportunity to patch the line and bring Purify to save his life.
Listening to the cheers from the stands from all directions, Lin Yan loaded the game screen. He clicked on the shop and was still thinking about the equipment to go out.
He thought about the Teleport that he had given up to save his life and felt that it was a pity.
Airplane was a hero that needed to develop. He was at his strongest when he had three to four pieces of equipment.
Due to the equipment grid and the passive physical and magical damage conversion mechanism, Airplane would not drop equipment that could penetrate. Therefore, Airplane's combat power in the later stages of the game was not that strong and could not be compared to heroes like Yellow Rooster.
Lin Yan thought about it. In order to ensure his development, he chose to go out with Extract One Red.
The strength of the first-tier team lineups on both sides was almost the same. They each stood in a long line of defense along the edge of the river.
After Li Xianghe went online, he noticed Lin Yan's equipment.
In fact, it was normal for Airplane to drop Extract. It was not anything fancy.
But he was still very angry.
Because when Faker faced YM in the last game, Airplane went out and chose a Corruption Potion.
He did not know what was wrong with him. The more he looked at Lin Yan's mining knife, the more he felt that it was annoying.
He chose the same hero as him in the last game, and then went out and acted even crazier than him …
Thinking about it carefully, he even felt that Lin Yan had been provoking him from the moment he went out.
Faker's mind filled in with anger. He focused even more and tried to win the game.
Lin Yan felt that Li Xianghe's positioning was slightly more aggressive than in the previous two games, revealing his intention to swap out.
This was exactly what Lin Yan wanted. He did not hold back and fired with E [Gatling Gun], interspersed with normal attacks.
In an instant, the Thunder Lord's Decree was triggered. The damage was dealt and a large chunk of Ryze's health was wiped out.
Li Xianghe also used a set of AWA.
Faker actually lost a little, but because of the Blue Crystal + Reuse Potion, he had two recovery potions. Lin Yan only had one health potion to drink.
After a round of swapping out in the middle lane, the caster's camera was focused on the two celebrity mid laners.
"Xiao Tian is in red. At level two, he's going straight for the middle lane. Is he trying to catch Faker before the heroes in the middle lane reach level two?" Doll was surprised. "Airplane doesn't have crowd control skills!"
In reality, Lin Yan had used E [Gatling Gun] to deplete Li Xianghe's health. The range of the gun had also hit the enemy's minions. The minions' position was moving towards SKT's first tower.
Logically speaking, the level two Blind Monk at this minions' position was not easy to catch.
However, Xiao Tian still came.
He knew that Li Xianghe also knew that Blind Monk would have a hard time moving at this minions' position. Therefore, he was not very careful with his positioning.
He did the opposite.
Phyllostachys Pubescens played the opposite.
Lin Ran took advantage of the timing and moved backwards, exposing one of his minions with only a sliver of HP left.
He purposely lured Li Xianghe to move forward and finish the job.
Seducing Cheng Kun.
Faker took the bait.
He guessed that Blind Monk was likely to be in red. Therefore, he kept moving forward. However, in order to finish off the minions with low health, he took two steps forward.
It was these two steps that caused trouble.
A golden light flashed in the bushes above him. Then, the bald Blind Monk appeared in front of him!
"Xiao Tian's W is blinking and touching eyes. His speed is very fast!"
Mille sped up his speech. "Hit him with a Heavenly Sonic Wave close to his face. Then use a normal attack with a red buff to slow him down and stick him to Ryze!"
Lin Yan turned around and started his normal attack.
Faker used Sprint and tried to retreat. However, Xiao Tian used his passive attack speed to throw another punch before Ryze left his normal attack range!
Thunderbolt Lord's Decree was activated!
Lin Yan also fired a bullet.
Li Xianghe only realized then how big of an impact the debuff from Sprint had been!
It no longer gave him a full movement speed bonus from the beginning. Instead, it made him take two more normal attacks!
Ryze, who only had 22 points of armor at level one, was already fragile. He was even equipped with a Blue Crystal that did not have any defensive attributes. These two normal attacks took away 100 points of his health!
It was important to note that the level one Ryze only had 575 health points. He had also been shot by Lin Yan's Gatling Gun. At this time, his health was already half gone!
"Faker relied on Sprint to get out of YM's range. However, Ran used Flash to follow up with a normal attack!"
Mille witnessed Xiao Tian's level two grab. He was extremely excited. Even his voice was trembling slightly!
Li Xianghe had been holding on to Flash. He wanted to wait for Blind Monk's second Q to follow up before handing it over. He did not expect Ran to take advantage of this and directly Flash to deal damage!
At this time, it was too late to hand over Flash. Xiao Tian's second Q followed up with an echo attack and took the first hit!
The cheers below the stage became restless. They surrounded the entire stage from the audience!
Faker fell!
In the team's voice chat, Xiao Tian could not help but roar!
The two of them rushed the second wave of minions to SKT's defense tower in the middle lane.
Without the help of the Artillerymen to resist the tower's attack, when Faker revived and ran back to the front line, he had already lost 6 minions' experience!
In the early stages of the game, this was the rhythm of a complete collapse!
Li Xianghe was very angry.
He felt that the blame was all on Lin Yan.
If not for Lin Yan's amazing Sprint in last year's global finals, how would his Fist be weakened?
If the hero was given full movement speed from the start, he would not have to take those two normal attacks. He could have used Flash to increase the distance and escaped!
What an evil person!
"Little Peanut Red, Speed 3, go to the top lane and try to catch people …" He remembered that his tone was low at the start. Looking at Jin Gong pushing the line, he thought that he would also lose a life. However, his tone suddenly became passionate and powerful!
On the screen, Jin Gong realized that something was wrong the moment Huni crossed the minions and moved forward. He quickly handed over W's Fantastic Idea.
Huni had just used Flash. Crocodile W's Grim Hunt glowed with a green light on its weapon. However, before it could swing its weapon, it turned into a sheep on a green grassland!
Little Peanut Red peeked out from the grass. He thought that Crocodile would be able to control Lulu and was ready to spin a Cocoon. He did not expect such a coincidence!
"Crocodile W was unable to bite out. Little Peanut Red's Cocoon was dodged by Flash!"
"Lulu turned around and used Q's Shining Spear to slow down SKT's jungler. She successfully increased the distance and avoided this gank!"
With one attack and one defense, YM successfully gained the early game advantage!