By the time Lin Yan and his girlfriend finished dinner and left the mall, it was already eight o 'clock in the evening. The two of them held hands and slowly walked back.
Lin Yan had just eaten a full meal. His blood circulation was concentrated in his stomach to digest the food, causing his brain to temporarily lack blood and oxygen …
In fact, he just wanted to sleep after eating.
It was almost June in Shanghai, and the warm wind blew on his face. From time to time, there were children laughing and playing on the sidewalk. There were also a few boys wearing the short sleeves of the Fudan Middle and Long Distance Running Team running in a row.
Lin Yan held Su Cheng's slender and soft hand and felt satisfied.
"Do you want to go for a morning run tomorrow?" He looked at the row of long-distance running enthusiasts gradually running away and suddenly asked Su Cheng who was next to him.
Su Cheng refused at first.
After going to university, except for the few weeks before the physical exam, she was too lazy to move.
But Su Cheng thought about it and her eyes lit up.
If she practiced running to strengthen her body, she wouldn't have to be afraid of those hairline monsters who stayed up all night to read the next time she sprinted for a seat before class!
"No problem!" She readily agreed.
The two of them walked into the neighborhood and walked around the garden twice before entering the residential building.
Standing in the elevator, Su Cheng reached out her white finger and pressed the floor button. "Come to my place tonight."
"Huh?" Lin Yan froze for a second.
He thought the wrong way.
Su Cheng's expression was normal. "I custom-made a summoner's whiteboard that's exactly the same as the one in the base training room. It's more convenient to discuss tactics."
Wonderful times were always short. The topic of discussion was brought back to work by Su Cheng.
The whiteboard with the map of Summoner's Canyon was placed in the living room of Su Cheng's rented house.
Su Cheng had previously drawn ten black lines with a marker pen in Summoner's Canyon. These black lines were connected to the various locations of the magnet stones.
Eight of them were lying quietly near the Dragon Pit while the other two Magnet Stones that were labeled as' Top Lane 'were placed at the blue bottom lane's high tower.
Lin Yan changed into the chocolate bear slippers and sat down on the chair in front of Summoner's Canyon.
"Here, this is the information about the changes in the version and the analysis I organized." Su Cheng took out a black notebook from her room. There were a few pages of A4 paper in it.
The A4 paper printed out the specific content of the mid-season version. Su Cheng's beautiful handwriting in the blank space next to it.
The Pig's Clock, Big Tree, and Zach, were the most important changes in the mid-season's Hero.
Now, after a period of time without damage, a layer of pigskin would form on the Pigskin. It had high resistance and was immune to speed reduction.
. Ice's Big Big's ultimate's Big Big and's's's E skill..'s Big's's Clock
The Big Tree's passive [Energy Absorption Secret Technique] was strengthened, and its ultimate skill was no longer [Revenge Vortex], which provided AOE damage reduction. Instead, it was [Nature's Grasp], which provided AOE control and the ability to make the first move. It could create five slow-moving roots that could provide a restraining effect.
The last one to receive a major change was Zach. Now, his Q skill had become a small control skill, and his R skill [Dynamic Pinball] could cause the opposing hero to jump back!
(That is, the Big Tree and Little Piggy have the same skills as the current version; Zach is the one who can bring people back. Apart from the changes to the big moves, there is no difference between the current version and the current version. I will post the picture in this chapter.)
Lin Yan took the notebook and flipped through it, then glanced at the Summoner's Canyon in front of him.
"Which match is this?"
"In this year's MSI, you guys fought against SKT using Camille and cards." Su Cheng took a chair and sat beside Lin Yan with her laptop. "I didn't watch the live stream at that time, so I'll review the match myself in these two days."
"Now that I think about it, SKT's decision to go to the Dragon's pit was a little rash." Su Cheng suddenly became interested and started to play the role of a coach to review the match.
"Their overall strategy was not on point, and it was not only Huni's problem."
"Hmm?" Lin Yan was looking at his notebook when he heard Su Cheng's words.
"At nineteen and a half minutes, SKT helped Huni push away a wave of normal creeps, and then went straight to the Dragon's pit." Su Cheng opened the recording of the final match on her laptop and showed it to Lin Yan. "At this time, the next wave of creeps arrived."
"This is the first wave of creeps." She used a marker to draw a black line in the canyon, straight to SKT's bottom lane. "Huni's Shen couldn't defend it."
"However, he didn't want to give up the bottom lane's high ground, so he stayed under the tower and didn't return to the city. Then, Jin Gong jumped over the tower and killed him."
Su Cheng concluded. "Huni did make a serious mistake. He could have abandoned the tower and moved to the high ground, but SKT's decision maker had to take the blame for Huni's mistake."
Lin Yan understood. At that time, they were busy celebrating their victory, and YM did not review the MSI final, so he did not know these details.
"And this place …" Su Cheng combined the recording of the match and then used a whiteboard to write and draw, pointing out the mistakes made by SKT and YM.
Lin Yan nodded as he listened.
After all, players were not machines, and they could only try to minimize their mistakes.
YM, who had won the finals, was no exception. They made very few big mistakes that could affect the outcome of the match, but there were still flaws in the small details.
These details might be difficult for the audience to see through the live broadcast, but they could not be hidden from the coaches' review.
"Not bad, Teacher Su. You're very hardworking." Lin Yan praised her sincerely.
YM's coaches did not give Su Cheng the task of reviewing the game. She was able to take time out of her busy schedule to study the recording. It was considered overtime.
Su Cheng used the whiteboard eraser to erase the black line on the Summoner's Canyon. "Either don't do it, or do it to the best of your ability."
"I don't want to waste my time." Su Cheng's tone was serious.
Lin Yan patted her head. After nearly half an hour of reviewing, they finally got to the main topic.
The mid-season edition discussion.
It was 9 o 'clock at night, the time agreed upon with the other analyst, Doom.
Su Cheng made a video call, and Doom immediately picked it up.
As soon as the image popped up, he saw Lin Yan and Su Cheng sitting together.
The three of them stared at each other, speechless.
When he saw that Lin Yan had purposely moved his chair towards Su Cheng, he finally spoke.
"… Let's talk through voice?"
The two in the camera were very close to each other, and there was an involuntary smile on their faces.
No matter how you looked at it, they were a perfect match.
As a single noble, Doom felt like he was taking a wedding photo for Lin Su and Lin Sanjiu.
Who could tolerate this?
"That's fine." Su Cheng did not have any objections.
"Tank's three heroes." Su Cheng tapped on the recording function, then opened a document on her laptop to type. "What do you think of their strength?"
"In the Korean server, Piggy has already dominated the entire jungle. She is ranked fourth in terms of pick rate and first in terms of win rate."
Doom had already prepared the information, and now he was talking tirelessly. "In the Korean server, Piggy's pick rate and win rate are both first in terms of win rate."
"Zach and Big Tree, the two tank heroes, are also considered evergreen trees in their respective positions. Their pick rate and win rate are steadily increasing."
Lin Yan looked at the document in his hand. "The main thing is that the changes to their skill mechanics are too strong. Each of them has the advantage of being the first to attack, and the percentage of damage output. There is also a certain degree of improvement in their accuracy. They are simply the perfect template for tanks."
Su Cheng quickly recorded it down, then grabbed another piece of A4 paper. "The other big change in the mid-season edition is the equipment. The two resistance equipment, Adaptive Helmet and Gargoyle Plate Armor, have once again increased the tankiness of the tank heroes. It is now very difficult for them to die."
"More importantly, the designer has nerfed the armor armor, and the armor penetration effect has been reduced by 10%. He really is a genius. His fists have picked up a treasure." Lin Yan was so angry that he laughed.
Doom's voice came through the receiver, and there was still a hint of helplessness in his voice. "It is now completely the Tank Alliance. You just have to use tanks in the jungle, and then brainlessly produce meat."
"From this point of view, the pace of the new version should be slowed down," Lin Yan said to Su Cheng. "The initial momentum of the tanks will allow everyone to focus on their operations and resources in the later stages of the game."
Su Cheng nodded and obediently noted it down.
…
The three of them discussed all the changes involved in the version, and tried to analyze the impact of each change on the rhythm of the game.
More than half an hour passed in the blink of an eye.
Lin Yan had just finished analyzing the impact of the nerf to Blind Monk in the jungle in version 7.10, which had already been released, when he felt his mouth dry. He took a sip of water and held it in his mouth.
"What about the Canyon Vanguard?"
Su Cheng finished recording and then flipped through the document. "Tell me what you think. I will edit it and send it to Hundred Color Crescent."
Lin Yan said, "In this version, the Vanguard can now crash into towers, and its damage is quite high … Have you done the damage test?"
"Yes."
Su Cheng moved her notebook to the side so that Lin Yan could see the chart on it.
Lin Yan had seen the strength of this big guy in the past two days of ranked matches. It was amazing at destroying towers, but when he saw the specific numbers, he was still a little surprised.
As the average level of the heroes in the game increased, the Canyon Vanguard's HP would gradually increase from 4,000 to 6,400.
The [Charge] effect dealt 150 + 25% of the Tower's current HP.
Based on the initial 4,000 HP, the first Canyon Vanguard would deal 1,150 damage to the tower. If the highest HP was 6,400, the first Canyon Vanguard would deal 1,750 damage!
What kind of concept was that?
The outer tower only had 3,500 HP, and the first Canyon Vanguard could knock out half of it!
Lin Yan thought carefully.
"Now we have to fight for this big guy. If I were to rank the neutral resources 20 minutes ago, I would rank the Canyon Vanguard very high."
"Earth Dragon > Canyon Vanguard > Fire Dragon, and then there are the other two Elemental Wyverns." Lin Yan looked at Su Cheng's hands flying across the keyboard, typing quickly.
He suddenly realized that his girlfriend seemed to have the potential to be a keyboard warrior.
"It looks like it can help us advance the tempo of the game. Could this be a boost to our strength …" Doom suggested.
"I can only say that there are pros and cons. It will have a certain impact on our four-pack." Lin Yan frowned, looking at the Summoner's Canyon map in front of him.
"The Canyon Vanguard spawns in 10 minutes. If we carry out a four-pack before that, we will have an equipment advantage when the Canyon Vanguard respawns. It will be easier for us to control the jungle and get the important resources."
Lin Yan paused and continued, "But if we can't find an opportunity in the first 10 minutes, it won't be so profitable if we carry out a four-pack on the bottom lane because the opponent will use the Canyon Vanguard to push back our defense tower."
"So … at the beginning of the summer tournament, we can try to form a lineup that has enough advantages in the first 10 minutes and then use the Canyon Vanguard to roll a big snowball. Or we can choose a more conservative lineup and not carry out a four-pack. We can defend the Canyon Vanguard and drag out the team battle later."
Su Cheng tapped on the keyboard and recorded all of Lin Yan's suggestions.
"Is there anything else you want to add?" She asked without looking up.
Doom was speechless.
Lin Yan understood everything. What else could he do?
As a data analyst, he was not a professional player. Every year, he was only a Diamond-ranked goalkeeper. He was good at capturing data, but in terms of pure analysis, he was not as good as Lin Yan.
"Not at the moment. I've sent the data I captured to your email. Remember to check it."
Doom said goodnight to the two of them and then hung up.
Their voices suddenly disappeared. In the huge rental house, only the faint sound of their breathing and the sound of typing could be heard.
"How much longer do you need to organize?" Lin Yan asked when he saw that Su Cheng had no intention of stopping.
Su Cheng looked at the time. "About 40 minutes. I'll finish my work tonight. It's not good to keep dragging it out."
She was not used to finishing work on a deadline. The sooner she finished, the better.
Lin Yan did not want to go back either. He took out the TOEFL materials that Su Cheng gave him and tried to learn English.
He had not touched written English for a long time. Fortunately, Lin Yan's high school foundation was not completely lost. He could more or less remember some of the knowledge.
By the time Su Cheng finished organizing the documents and sent them to White Crescent, it was already 10: 30.
Sitting for a long time made her body a little tired. Su Cheng yawned and closed her laptop. She stood up and stretched herself.
Lin Yan looked up. A slim, snow-white waistline appeared in front of his eyes.
It was a little hot.
Lin Yan, who had been in the house with the air conditioner on, suddenly received this message.
He quickly said goodbye and went out to get some fresh air.
"Tomorrow morning run!
I'll wait for you downstairs at 6: 30! "Su Cheng did not forget to remind Lin Yan.
…
Life in the Pentagon was so good. Lin Yan was so happy that he did not want to go home.
He woke up early every morning to run with Su Cheng. They circled around Fudan University, had breakfast in the alley, and slowly walked back to the neighborhood.
After going back to their rooms to wash up, Su Cheng carried her backpack and went to class. Lin Yan turned on his live broadcast. This made the audience and fans overjoyed.
At 11: 20 pm, Lin Ran would order a takeout lunch so that when Su Cheng's class ended, she would be able to eat a hot meal.
After the meal, the two chatted for a while. Su Cheng went upstairs to rest for a while. She needed to replenish her energy for the afternoon classes. If she did not have classes, she would go to the library to study.
Lin Yan would turn off his live broadcast at 5: 00 in the afternoon. He would walk to the school to wait for his girlfriend. They would have dinner in a restaurant and then walk back to the neighborhood.
At night, the two would gather in Lin Yan's rented apartment.
If there was no work to do, Su Cheng would review her lessons and finish her homework first. Lin Yan would continue to play ranked to keep his hands on the game.
At 9: 00 in the evening, the two would meet in the living room to practice English. The two would make fun of each other's accented pronunciation.
At 10: 00 in the evening, Su Cheng would pack her backpack and rush back to her room upstairs to end a busy and fulfilling day.
For three whole days, Lin Yan did not appear in the YM group chat. If it was not for his live broadcast, Guo Hao would have come knocking on his door with a knife.
[Today is the group drawing ceremony. Everyone must be on time to watch @ all members. Your handsome manager will be on stage,] Guo Hao reminded his team members.
In fact, most players would not watch the drawing ceremony.
But Guo Hao had to let them watch it today.
Because he would be the YM manager later on stage to draw lots.
Originally, the LPL draw was to invite a few guests. It was the same as the International Finals. They just needed to pick from the seed pool. The managers did not need to be there.
However, this year's Spring Competition had a death group. The champions and runners-up of the Spring Competition, YM and WE, were all in the same group. There was also IG in the same group. They were obviously much stronger.
In order to prevent this kind of unfair grouping from happening again, Teng Jing came up with a new set of rules.
"According to the Spring Competition ranking, we will be divided into four seed pools. The top teams will have the priority to draw. They will draw teams for each other's teams. They will be allocated according to the seed pool until the allocation is complete." (See this chapter for details.)
This was Bobby's original words.
Guo Hao had just sent the message when a reply came.
Xiang Xiang QAQ, whose WeChat profile picture was Rustic Flower Hand, was the first to make trouble.
[Don't watch, get lost.]
Liu Qingsong supported his good brother and maintained the formation. [Don't watch, get lost.]
"You Cheng 10th Generation" Jack and "Snow Under the Snow" Xiao Tian also repeated.
The prophet pretended to be dead and did not say anything. As long as he did not see it, Guo Hao would not remind him.
[…] This was Jin Gong, who was still in his hometown in Korea.
Guo Hao, who was sitting backstage, looked at the WeChat message. He was about to die from anger.
[You will definitely watch, right? Lin Yan is Mr. Lin.] He placed his last hope on Lin Yan.
Lin Yan, who had not spoken in the group for a long time, finally spoke up.
[How can I not watch when Hao goes on stage?]
[Good brother!
I really didn't misjudge you!]
Guo Hao was very excited. He even sent a gay sticker.
【？】
Su Cheng, who had the group nickname "I'll Never Go Bald," suddenly appeared.
Guo Hao deleted a message.
"He deleted the sticker. Did you save it?" Su Cheng, who was leaning on the sofa, asked Lin Yan.
Lin Yan flatly denied, "No, my hand speed is very slow."
Su Cheng glanced at him suspiciously.
There was a laptop on the coffee table in front of them. The two of them planned to watch the live broadcast of the lot-drawing ceremony.
"This time's lot-drawing is so exciting. Isn't it too much of a joke to let each other pick their opponents?"
Lin Yan changed the topic. "I can already imagine these old yin managers scheming against each other backstage …"
The host, Undying Grasp, Ren Dong, went on stage. After a short introduction to the group rules, the lot-drawing began!
The seed pool was divided into the following four groups: Champion and runner-up (YM, WE), 3-6 (RNG, IG, EDG, OMG), 7-10 (Snakes, JD.com, IM, LGD, who bought QG), and two newly promoted teams (SNG, TOP).
The Spring Season champion, YM, was assigned to Group A by default. They would first pick their opponent for Group B, WE.
This opponent had to be chosen from the second seed pool. Guo Hao, who was dressed in a suit and combed his hair back, went on stage. He decisively chose RNG without hesitation.
The runner-up, RNG, was the strongest team after the champion and runner-up. Guo Hao naturally would not keep them in his group.
Not to be outdone, WE drew the champion IG, who was famous for his talent and card draw, to YM.
"This is just as I expected." Lin Yan pulled Su Cheng into his arms. "The key is the lot-drawing for the third and fourth positions."
"Why do I feel like EDG will be assigned to us …"
Before Su Cheng could finish her sentence, RNG, who was ranked higher in the second round, was assigned to EDG.
In fact, EDG's ranking in the Spring Season was not considered high. They were slightly worse than OMG.
However, with the mid-season update, the coaches of the major teams knew that herbivorous, carnivorous junglers would return to the stage.
Factory Director was not used to the carnivorous junglers and was kicked around by various junglers.
However, when it came to herbivorous map control and internal battles, Guijiao Seven had never faltered!
Everyone in the circle was sure that Factory Director would be in the starting lineup and dominate the junglers again.
Under such circumstances, EDG was definitely a strong team in the country.
IG's manager, Su Xiaoluo, was unhappy when she saw that EDG was assigned to her team.
She could only assign OMG to Group B.
The lot-drawing for the third seed pool was also very quick.
At this point, the top ten teams were divided into groups. JD and LGD joined YM's Group A, while IM and Snakes joined Group B.
JD and Suning were the same. They wanted to enter the esports industry to advertise their own companies.
They directly bought DOINB's QG Team.
QG's boss was overjoyed. Including the Rainbow Old QG Team that he sold to NB, he had already entered and exited LPL twice. He had made a lot of money.
Unlike TOP, who only wanted Golden Left Hand, JD bought all of their players.
There were still two newly promoted teams that had not been drawn. The manager of LGD, who was ranked lower in the Spring Season, took the lead to designate the last player in Group B.
"TOP!" Ren Dong shouted the club's name.
The remaining SNG were automatically assigned to Group A.
At this point, the results of the 2017 LPL Summer Season were drawn.
Group A: YM, IG, EDG, JDG (JD), LGD, SNG
Group B: WE, RNG, OMG, IM, Snake, TOP
"Sigh …" Lin Yan let out a long sigh. "I thought I could play Golden Left Hand twice in the Summer Season. I didn't expect to be assigned to another group."
He felt that it was a pity.
Su Cheng was already asking Guo Hao about the specific schedule of the Summer Season. As a data analyst, she had to be prepared early.
As the lot-drawing ended, Lin Yan's vacation also came to an end.
He had to leave the Pentagon and return to the base to meet up with his teammates and start high-intensity training again.
After the filming of the promotional video ended, the Summer Season was finally here!