"Today's match will be the highlight of the match." Ze Yuan stood on the commentary platform and prepared for the audience. "It's a battle between YM, who just returned from the Intercontinental Championship, and the new team, TOP, who has been performing well recently."
Su Xiaoyan flipped her hair and said, "That's right. Other than the two teams, we're more interested in the battle between the two midlaners."
"Ran will accept the challenge of Knight, who is also from YM!"
The audience below the stage waved the support banners in their hands. Ninety-five percent of the audience supported YM. Only a few audience members held up Zhuo Ding's cartoon avatar.
YM's current popularity was one of the reasons.
On the other hand, although TOP had attracted a wave of foreign fans with the help of ppgod, their domestic fan base still came from Golden Left Hand, and half of Golden Left Hand's supporters were also fans of YM.
When the two teams competed on the same stage, most of Zhuo Ding's casual fans decisively changed sides and turned to cheer for Lin Yan and the others.
[Hello, big brothers.] TOP's jungler sadly typed a greeting in the custom room.
[Brother Gongzi, go easy on me today. Don't call anyone.] The one who sent the message was Zoom. He had a fair complexion, a thick waist, and a muscular body. He looked like a big white bear.
Zoom's words were exactly what Jin Gong wanted. He typed quickly, his typing speed faster than normal Chinese people. [No problem. Top lane development. Whoever calls jungler is a bastard.]
Xiao Tian glared at Jin Gong.
However, he didn't dare to retaliate.
It couldn't be helped. Their martial prowess was simply not on the same level. The garlic bastard still wanted to protect his neck.
Lin Yan took the initiative to type to communicate with Zhuo Ding. [I won't go easy on you. Don't try to test me. Otherwise, I'll beat you up badly.]
Zhuo Ding's left hand holding the mouse paused. His eyes were full of fighting spirit.
The last time he fought against Lin Yan was last year's German Cup.
After a spring of dormancy, coupled with Lin Yan's previous teachings, Zhuo Ding vowed to make Lin Yan look at him in a different light!
With a crisp sound, the BP segment of the first round officially began!
Ze Yuan's expression brightened. "The blue team's TOP banned Callista first, while the red team's YM banned Zach!"
The second ban spot was given to Law and Lucian respectively.
Both sides were left with only one last ban position. TOP chose to ban the Excavator, while White Crescent took an unconventional approach and banned Piggy.
"Now, only Spider and Wine Barrel are left outside, and Sindra is still outside. I don't know what choice Top will make …" Just as Su Xiaoyan finished speaking, Top had already locked onto his hero.
Sindra!
Zhuo Ding leaned back in his chair and pinched his fingers, his eyes brimming with vigor.
This was one of the heroes he was most confident in. Coupled with the fact that Sindra was favored in this version, Zhuo Ding was confident that he could gain an advantage in the lane.
"Spider and Hammer Stone. YM should take the jungler first." Ze Yuan nodded, not surprised by YM's choice. "That way, Top will definitely take Wine Barrel, and the remaining spot will be given to Policewoman …"
Sure enough, Wine Barrel and Policewoman both appeared!
"Lin Yan, who do you want to use?" White Crescent held a notebook and asked for the opinion of her team members. "Ike or Fishman?"
Both heroes were easier to deal with Sindra. White Crescent wanted to ban Lin Yan's hero in the first round to avoid being banned by the opponent later.
"Ike," Lin Yan replied after thinking for a moment. Unless it was a special situation, he did not want to use Fishman as a mid laner.
Although Fishman had a 7: 3 or even 8: 2 chance against Sindra, it had a greater advantage than Ike. However, the disadvantage was also obvious. It was easy to be silent in a disadvantageous situation, and even the minions could not be taken.
In contrast, Ike was a more balanced choice, and was more suitable for the rhythm of the game than Fishman.
In the second round of BP, White Crescent stared at the top unit and banned Clay and Jax.
This was clearly a sign that he was going to take the prince.
TOP understood this very well. Not only did he ban Prince, he also blocked Ice.
There were not many ADC heroes left for Jack, so he could only ban Verus.
"Top got Crocodile and Karma. With this support, it seems like they don't plan to play the jungler combo." Ze Yuan rubbed his chin and analyzed.
"That's right." Su Xiaoyan agreed with Ze Yuan. "In the early stage, it will depend on whether Sorrow can help his teammates build an advantage. However, the good news is that Top has brought out a lineup with all three lanes. He has a lot of room to play."
Top Crocodile, mid laner Sindra, bottom laner Policewoman + Karma. They were all strong characters in lane.
Junglers loved it when their teammates had heroes with high lane strength. This way, they could invade the enemy's jungle without fear.
"Jin Gong, what do you plan to use? Rambo is not very good, and Kenan has been nerfed. How about Shen?" White Crescent suggested.
A week after the end of the Intercontinental Championship, the current game server version was updated to 7.13. Kenan's W [Ultimate!
Lightning Blade]'s bonus damage was reduced, and Luana's Hurricane no longer stacked.
(See this chapter.)
For top laner Kenan, who was responsible for solo missions, this was a huge nerf.
If he used AP Kenan, the disadvantages were obvious. Now that YM's magic damage was overflowing, if he forced himself to use AP characters, he would definitely be countered by the opponent.
"What do I think … Captain?" Jin Gong looked at Crocodile and suddenly had a thought.
"Are you sure?" White Crescent sounded hesitant.
Although Captain was good at fighting Crocodile, Ocean's Calamity Planck was not very strong at the moment.
After he showed his brilliance last year, he was heavily damaged. The cooldown of his ultimate skill [Cannon Barrage] was increased by 20 seconds, and after that, very few people asked about him.
More importantly, the current version was more focused on tank heroes. Because of this, top laners suitable for Black Cutter — Princes, Crocodile, and so on — were also frequently on the professional scene.
This made Captain even more embarrassed.
Although he had the true damage from his passive [Fiery Interrogation], the speed at which he fought the front row of tanks was really slow. It was unrealistic to expect Fiery Swordsmanship to appear frequently in the team battles of professional competitions.
Moreover, he could not use Black Cutter.
He was not at all affected by the strong version of the game.
"No problem, take it." Jin Gong was very confident in his captain.
White Crescent heard the Siberian's tone and did not say anything more. After all, this was just a regular season. It was not important for him and YM.
"Captain?"
Ze Yuan was shocked. "I haven't seen Captain in a while. Brother Gongzi, are you sure you want to play?"
"It's locked. It's really Captain!" Su Xiaoyan's calm voice had a rare fluctuation.
After Liu Qingsong locked Captain, the lineups of the two sides were confirmed.
Blue Top: Top Crocodile, Jungler Wine Barrel, Mid Sindra, Bottom Policewoman + Karma.
Red YM: Top Captain, Jungler Spider, Mid Ike, Bottom Verus + Hammer Stone.
Zoom scratched his head. Crocodile fighting Captain was a bit difficult.
He sighed and prepared to go out with the Doran's Shield to tank the pressure. Then, he would go back to the city and buy cloth armor shoes to make himself more comfortable.
"I'll help you catch them. It's okay," Sorrow comforted him. "Save your skills. We can team up and kill them."
"Then don't come in the early game. I'll go back and push the creeps. I'll call you when I enter the tower."
When Zoom learned that his jungler was coming to help him, he immediately tore up the gentleman's agreement he made with Jin Gong before the game.
Who cared about morality on the battlefield?
He could even imagine Jin Gong being driven crazy by him and Sorrow, unable to struggle and only able to enjoy the scene.
Hehehe … Zoom revealed a sinister smile, as if he had succeeded in his scheme.
In his heart, he had already fast-forwarded the plot to become the MVP of the game.
Summoner's Canyon appeared on the stadium's big screen. The ten heroes on both sides were ready, bought their equipment, and rushed out of the fountain!
"Are we going to fight a level one team?" Liu Qingsong asked.
Lin Yan walked towards the river while thinking about the lineups of the two sides.
"Let's guard the bottom lane. They'll definitely come." He marked the bottom lane of his own home.
He controlled Ike to run quickly. The first thing he did when he reached the middle lane was to insert the Eye of the Jewel Wall into the grass below.
Two seconds later, he saw the top players, Sindra and Karma, plunge into the grass.
Because Lin Yan had inserted the Eye of the Jewel Wall into the grass, he saved some distance. Therefore, his action of inserting the Eye of the Jewel Wall was faster than his opponents entering the grass. His opponents didn't notice at all.
"Do you want to fight? Do you want to fight?"
Liu Qingsong also began to repeat. They were now standing together with Lin Yan, looking at the two people below with some envy.
Who wouldn't want to have 300 pieces that could move?
"Wait for me." Lin Yan's voice was very calm. He clicked on W [Time Cross] and placed the Temporal Field under the wall.
"Ran learned Time Cross at level one. This is really betting that the top mid and support won't make any moves," Ze Yuan shouted at the top of his voice. "Isn't this a bit too risky?"
It was a very risky thing for Ike to learn W at level one. After all, W [Time Cross] was almost worthless in a level one matchup.
If he didn't get the advantage, he would be easily suppressed by the opponent when he came online.
However, Lin Yan wasn't worried that Sindra and Karma would run away on the opposite side.
In his opinion, top had no choice but to invade the bottom half of YM.
The bottom lane combination of Policewoman and Karma was bound to push the line and take the tower, and this combination's ability to escape was very poor.
If Liu Qingsong's Hammer Stone flashed back, it was very likely that they would all be killed.
In this case, top naturally couldn't let Xiao Tian disrupt their momentum of pushing the tower and suppressing 44.
The best way was to invade and steal YM's blue buff and force Phyllostachys Pubescens to the top half of the map so that he couldn't go to the bottom lane to cause trouble in the early game.
What's more, top's five-man team wasn't weak. Karma, Policewoman, and Sindra all had a long range and could deal a lot of damage.
This was also why Lin Yan made the decision to "defend the bottom half of the map."
The two people on the opposite side definitely wouldn't run because the game had only been going on for 35 seconds. There was still a minute before the monster camp refreshed. Top would definitely try to hide their movements and wouldn't act rashly.
Seeing that the Temporal Field was about to take shape, Lin Yan's lips curled up slightly.
A golden light flashed and the black kid holding the Z-type Joystick appeared in the bushes below the middle lane!
At this moment, W's [Time Stagger] Temporal Field was formed and stunned Sindera and Karma on the spot!
"Ran, flash down and stun the Temporal Field for 2.25 seconds. Top's in danger!" Ze Yuan's voice was deafening.
Jin Gong learned that Lin Yan was going to fight the first team, so he learned E's Powder Barrel and placed one under his feet. Seeing that the opponents below the wall were stunned, the Siberian decisively placed a second Powder Barrel under their feet!
A Fire Blade detonated the Powder Barrel, causing high damage and a slow effect!
Zhuo Dingren was confused.
He didn't understand how YM knew their movements.
He didn't know that Lin Ran had rushed here and used the time difference to plant an eye to see their whereabouts clearly!
"Liu Qingsong's hook hit Sindra without any suspense," Su Xiaoyan shouted as she watched the two people on Top's side being stacked and unable to resist. Their health bars were dropping rapidly. "Their two heads are going to die here!"
"Jin Gong also flashed over the wall and took Sindra's life with his normal passive true damage!"
Now only Karma was left. PGod looked at the five players from YM and obediently gave up resisting.
The other three players on Top who were hiding in the bushes immediately fled.
"Give me their heads!" Jin Gong put on the grumpy face he had in the base.
Lin Yan originally wanted to take the head, but he glanced at Jin Gong's equipment and decisively gave up on the idea of killing the head. He let the Siba players be Los Angeles' blacksmiths for a while.
"Captain got two heads!" Ze Yuan shouted in an exaggerated tone. "700 gold coins in hand!"
"Top was too careless. They didn't expect Ran to set up an eye on the wall." Su Xiaoyan glanced at YM's equipment panel. "Oh my god, this captain …"
"Jin Gong spent all 700 in his bag and used the Blue Crystal to synthesize Flare!" Ze Yuan shouted. "Level 1 Flare. How do we line up this Crocodile?"
When Zoom came online and saw the captain's equipment, he was dumbfounded.
How am I supposed to fight NM?
"Do as you see fit. I can't help you." Sorrow didn't plan to help their top laner anymore.
Originally, the Crocodile was worth helping because of its stable control and decent damage. It was very useful in the early stages of small-scale battles in the jungle. It was easy to get kills if the jungler helped.
But times had changed.
Once the captain brought out the Flare, the environment of the top lane changed drastically.
Jin Gong could easily suppress Zoom, who only had Doran's Shield.
This way, even if the junglers gathered in the top lane for a 2v2, YM wouldn't be at a disadvantage. The damage of the Flare captain was ridiculously high.
The top lane was at a disadvantage. Sorrow, who followed the principle of "helping the strong and not the weak," naturally wouldn't help him. He simply left him to his own devices.
Even though Jin Gong had learned E, Zoom still didn't dare to move forward.
If the captain used Flare on him with a barrel of explosives, his HP would drop by a lot!
Zoom planned to be a coward and stay still.
But Jin Gong finally got two heads from a level one team. How could he just let his opponent go?
After killing the last minion in the first wave of minions, he used the experience gained from the two heads to level up to level 2. His Q [Gunfire Negotiation] and Flare directly reduced the Crocodile's HP by almost 14!
This damage was ridiculously high!
Zoom's expression was extremely sad. He was completely dejected.
He knew that this match was destined to be a kind of torture for him.
If he wanted to gain experience from the minions, he would have to take a shot from the captain. After a minute of the match, Zoom's HP was almost empty. He could only choose to return to the city.
[Doran's Shield hits Flare. Hahahaha …]
[Zoom's face really makes me laugh.]
[You were laughing before the match. Why are you crying now?
Keep laughing.]
[This Crocodile is like wearing a painful mask. It's so uncomfortable!]
[Landry's Torture. Crocodile Limited Edition!]
Zoom was numb.