An hour after the game ended, Lin Yan and the others followed Guo Hao to a Japanese restaurant and sat down at a round table in a private room. Liu Qingsong and Lin Weixiang closed their eyes and rested their heads on their backs as they entered sage mode.
Lin Yan wanted to bow to them three times.
"Let's order first." He opened the menu on the table.
Jack was the only one present who couldn't eat seafood. The others didn't mind meat and vegetables, so it wasn't difficult for them to order. Lin Ran picked out the specialty dishes and ordered two plates of seafood. Then, he added braised pork and vegetables for Jack.
He was familiar with the process.
The three coaching staff members were still looking at the computer together. The video of the previous game had been uploaded. They wanted to take a closer look at the Spicy Hotpot's jungling route and try to find some loopholes to prepare for the possibility of meeting again in the playoffs.
"Can't we look at it when we go back?" Jack couldn't help but say, "Let's eat now. You guys are making me nervous."
The post-game dinner, which was originally regarded as a relaxing activity, was suddenly made nervous by the coaches.
What if it affected his appetite?
The Shiba Inu patted its belly, which was gradually approaching the size of a beer man, dissatisfied.
Before the food was served, Lin Yan opened the competition forums on the major software.
Su Cheng and Phyllostachys Pubescens, one on the left and one on the right, rested their heads on Lin Yan's shoulder and stared intently at his phone screen.
The competition forum software on their phones had been completely deleted by Lin Yan last time. If they wanted to know the public opinion, they had to look at his phone.
[How do you evaluate the soft incense burner system used by YM against RNG in the summer game?]
The following answers were mixed with gags like "laxative, just got off the plane in the United States." Most of them were praising YM's research on the new strategy, but there were also many serious answers.
After all, this was the most watched match of the regular season. The number of viewers had already broken the million mark. After the match, other than the players' mechanics and Jack's pentakill, there was also the incense burner system that YM had displayed today.
As for RNG's big gift, the Mala Saucepan's Hunger Strike, it had yet to be discovered by the public. Everyone only felt that his gank was even more ferocious today. His presence in the early game was stronger, and he ate less than before.
This would not trigger a large-scale discussion, not to mention that the YM Censer strategy in the regular season was undoubtedly more eye-catching. The discussion about the hunger strike was covered up, and now the eSports section was dominated by the support equipment, the Censer.
"Hurry up, I want to see this!" Xiao Tian ordered as he pointed his slender finger at the most popular answer.
Lin Yan's fingers paused. He felt that Phyllostachys Pubescens had become a little too arrogant recently. He even dared to use the word 'grandpa' in his tone.
He did not intend to spoil Xiao Tian. Just as he was about to scroll past the most popular answer, another slender white finger accurately tapped on the phone screen and opened the answer.
Lin Yan tilted his head and heard a cry of pain. He and Su Cheng's forehead collided.
"Hahahaha …" Phyllostachys Pubescens laughed out loud proudly, but when he saw Lin Yan gently rub Su Cheng's forehead and blow on it, he could not laugh no matter how hard he tried.
The three of them looked at the answer honestly. The main answer tag said "Excellent Answer Under Esports Topics." It looked like a commentator.
Without thanking him, he went straight to the point.
[The first item from the soft support is the Censer. To be honest, I've seen it before in ranked matches. The most typical example is playing LuLu with Big Mouth. This is not something rare.
The key is the system.
Professional matches rely heavily on lineups and coordination. Unlike ranked matches, the Censer is just a piece of equipment. It is not easy to match it with a suitable lineups. YM has shown their strong ability to build lineups. The coaching team built the Censer system from scratch …]
Su Cheng saw that someone was praising her. She immediately felt happy, and the pain on her forehead lessened a lot.
At this time, the waiter pushed open the door to the private room. In front of him was a small cart filled with all kinds of dishes.
Jack quickly put down his phone. Between the two choices of praising himself and eating, he chose the latter without hesitation.
If you don't work hard, you're destined to be an idiot.
Lin Yan and the other two continued to read. The answer was very long. The author was probably a reincarnated coder.
[… Speaking of which, let's talk about the Censer system. I can't guarantee that it's correct, but it's just for fun.
Since the bottom lane has to be a combination of archer and soft support, the offense isn't very strong. Moreover, the early game support has to rely on saving money to get the Censer. Therefore, the early game tempo can only be controlled by the jungler.
YM's thinking in the second game is very correct. They got the combination of Princes + Spider + Galio. Their early game offensive ability is not bad, and they have the ability to protect the backline in team fights. They can even break up the enemy's formation.
I think that if the fist isn't nerfed, every team will build their lineups around the Censer and soft support. The jungler will choose a control hero that can drive the early game tempo. The bottom lane will choose a speed-based AD with soft support, giving up on the early game vision and getting the Censer as soon as possible …]
The Censer system was only born in two hours. To be able to write such an answer was already considered a good commentator.
The reaction speed of professional teams was much faster. That night, Lin Yan heard that WE and IG were practicing Censer lineups.
The two ancient powerhouses of League of Legends were at loggerheads. 140 PING and Nongfu Spring were still popular among the spectators.
However, all the grudges disappeared with the retirement of the older generation of esports players. Su Xiaoluo even picked The Shy from WE's youth training last year. The relationship between the two teams was not bad.
YM had a good start. The next day, the LPL regular season was in full bloom. The coaches of all the teams were showing off their understanding of the game.
Princes and Galio were the most classic combination. WE even used Emerald God as a jungler. This invincible long-legged jungler could get both the Censer and Redemption. Other than having a weak body, he had no other shortcomings.
The old dean of JD mid laner, doinb, started to use Lulu as a mid laner. Although he used to be Victor's ultimate brother, he had been using the DPS type due to the poor performance of his teammates. However, Lulu was actually quite good at it. She was not inferior to Pixar's Jinchuriki at all.
SKT tasted the sweetness of Censer in their training match against YM. Kkoma was the first to set off a whirlwind of Censer in LCK.
In a short period of time, the systems of all the teams in the five regions faced a huge change. Hammer Stone and the other hard supports were directly removed from the league stage. Wind Maiden, Lulu, and Luo were in charge of the top three supports in the bottom lane.
What was even more tragic was the original protagonist of the league, Yellow Hair Izreal.
He did not do anything. Fist Daddy did not nerf his own son. However, due to the popularity of Censer, a skill-based ADC like him became a sewer, facing a predicament where no one cared about him.
The designers in North America could no longer sit still.
Previously, they had nerfed the base healing value of Redemption and increased the healing effect. They did not want those hard supports to get this OP equipment.
Before the base healing value was cut, Hammer Stone, Boulogne, and the other supports all had Redemption in their hands. It was a little too overpowered.
The designers originally wanted to use this change to differentiate the hard supports from the soft supports. The soft supports would get Redemption, while the hard supports would just buy Zeke's Pioneer.
More importantly, this change could weaken YM's Nakano support coordination. This was also their important task after the mid-season competition.
The value of the hard supports' Redemption was weakened, and their influence on the map would be reduced. There would no longer be a situation where the support used Redemption to help a teammate across half the map at the ten-minute mark.
Through the change of equipment, they had indirectly weakened the strong position of the hard supports, leaving a way for the soft supports to survive. This way, they could reduce the frequency and efficiency of YM's four-to-two.
However, the designers did not expect the situation to be reversed.
Now, they had to beg the soft supports to leave a way out for the heavy hard supports.
In just a week, the ranking data of the major servers had undergone earth-shattering changes. Bull's Head, Boulogne, and Tam, these support heroes who were originally at the top of the rankings in terms of selection and win rate, were now at the bottom of the rankings.
The selection rate of the Ten Thousand Year Evergreen Hammer Stone had also fallen to the middle of the rankings.
The soft supports dominated the leaderboard!
Moreover, the target they wanted to weaken, team YM, was the first to use the Incense Burner system.
Demon God Li Zaigan?
I'm going to cut you, brother. Why did you take out another version of the answer?
"Do you want to do it again?"
A designer tentatively proposed a simple and crude solution. "There is still some time before the finals version."
According to convention, the finals would use the season's 1819th version. For example, last year's global finals used version 6.18.
At present, the version update was 7.13. There were still five minor versions in between for the designers to adjust.
The villain designer's small leader, Chun Li, stared at the data collected in front of her from the professional competitions in the major regions and the ranking competitions in the various servers.
As the real officials, they had no problem collecting this data. The level of information was much more accurate than Su Cheng and the other coaching staff members.
With more data, these designers felt even more troubled.
Because every minor adjustment could cause drastic changes in the version situation, a slight change could affect the whole situation.
For example, previously they gave the stone beetle the splitting attribute and added two small beaked birds. It didn't seem to be a big deal.
However, RNG used these two changes to combine with the Spicy Saucepan's own attributes and playstyle to develop a hunger strike.
Chun Li slowly breathed a sigh of relief and carefully considered the current version situation.
The hard supports were all weak, the soft supports dominated the server …
Jumping out and taking a look, didn't this achieve their goal of weakening YM?
Although it seemed like YM was the first to build the Incense Burner system, it wasn't necessarily the best.
If they carelessly changed the version, YM might take advantage of it again. Chun Li still remembered the S5 version that allowed the two monsters, Captain and Steel Dude, to appear out of nowhere.
"Forget it." Chun Li shook her head. "Let's leave it at that for now."
After giving up on the big change plan, she planned to make a minor adjustment to the version. The overall strategy was very clear — let the Incense Burner system continue to develop, and make some changes to other positions on this basis.
Although she gave up on the general direction of the revision, Chun Li still had some anger in her heart that she hadn't vented. She looked at Knife Girl on the table, and her gaze gradually became fierce.
…
YM's challenging journey in Group B continued. Their schedule was very packed these two weeks. Due to the intercontinental competition, they had to make up for the few matches they missed in the second half of the season.
After defeating TOP and RNG, they welcomed their old rival, IM.
Last year, IM was still able to compete for a spot in the S6 World Finals, and only stopped after a fierce battle in the bubble game.
However, their performance this year had dropped very badly, and they had already slipped into the relegation zone.
The entire team relied on AJ and Athena to hold on. The Korean jungler's strength was average, but he was diligent in setting up his vision. Just like in the Spring Competition, he maintained a luxurious data of 1.11 vision per minute, which was close behind SOFM in the league.
Speaking of the average vision, Xiao Tian's was 0.95, which was in the middle of the league. Ning's was 0.9, which was at the bottom of the league. Although the arrival of Hanyi made IG start to pay attention to vision, the results were minimal.
The jungler, who only knew how to set up his vision, was defeated by Xiao Tian in the match against YM. Just the solo kill of Phyllostachys Pubescens was done four times in two matches, which was really good data.
Without shedding a drop of blood, YM continued to lead the league.
On July 25th, YM faced off against Snakes.
The star player on the opposing team was Saint Gun Bro, who was ranked third in the world after Fujian's Crooked Mouth Dragon.
He had a bad habit that he couldn't change — he didn't like to set up vision. His average vision per minute was 0.42 vision, which was the last in the league.
However, it was worth mentioning that the world's best top laner, The Shy, was not at a disadvantage in this data. His average vision per minute was 0.53 vision. Although it was very little compared to the jungler, he was still a top laner, and this data ranked him sixth out of the 19 top laners in the league.
(See this chapter.)
His data was not bad, and with Ning Wang's help, his vision in the top lane was basically guaranteed.
The Shy dared to set up his vision mainly because his playstyle was too aggressive. At the moment, his vision did not seem to be a problem.
In this match, Lin Yan took full advantage of Saint Gun Bro's weakness of not setting up his vision. His Rock Sparrow kept catching up, and Talia, who was on her skateboard, looked like a girl who was eager to meet her idol.
Saint Gun Bro, who was a true fan of girls' groups, complained incessantly.
In 21 minutes, his Rambo successfully achieved a record of 1 kill and 8 deaths.
The only kill was because the opposing team, Jack Tower, gave him one.
Vietnam's Wild King SOFM tried his best to play in C, but unfortunately, this was destined to be a herbivore version. It was difficult for him to play as aggressively as before.
Once again, YM easily won their opponent with a 2: 0 victory. YM reproduced their strong dominance from last year's Summer League.
Their second to last opponent was Group B's second place team, WE.
July 27th, 7 pm, Shanghai Zhengda Square.
"Welcome to the live broadcast of the 2017 LPL Summer League. Hello everyone, I'm Zeyuan!"
The familiar opening speech sounded again, and the very energetic Zeyuan appeared in the live broadcast.
Today's commentary partners were him and Su Xiaoyan. One of them was too excited, while the other was too cold. The combination was not bad.
"Today is the first day of the new version 7.14 in the LPL. The two teams are YM and WE." Su Xiaoyan habitually used her fingers to tuck her loose hair. "The two teams are in opposite situations."
Zeyuan continued, "That's right. YM struggled in the first half of the Summer League, but recently their condition has been improving, and they have maintained a winning streak in small matches. On the other hand, WE suffered two losses in a row, and only won against JD after the Intercontinental Cup."
After returning from the Intercontinental Cup, WE's current condition was quite unstable. It could be said that they had ups and downs. They could fight RNG for 50 minutes, and then they could fight LGD's fish pond.
They did not seem to be very used to this version.
Especially the jungler, Kandy, who was struggling. Lin Yan had seen his videos before the game, but he did not know what the problem was.
Maybe it was because he was busy with his daily work.
Following the referee's order, the BP segment officially began!
"WE chose the blue side and banned Rock Sparrow first!"
White Crescent, who was on the red side, sent Zach to the ban position.
Red Rice immediately banned Lucian, while YM banned Callista.
After Jack's pentakill, Skateboard Shoes' potential was immediately discovered.
It could provide lane strength, vision protection, protection support, and so on. Its passive [Martial Arts Stance] provided jumping ability, allowing Callista to find a better DPS environment in the team battle.
It was the perfect hero for Censer.
It was impossible to ban it, the red side had to ban it.
"WE's last ban position in the first round is for Shiloh!"
There were still many strong heroes left outside. Among them, WE's proudest Galio and Blabbermouth were still outside.
No matter what, White Crescent could only ban one hero, so Red Rice could snatch a core position first.
However, he did not want YM to get Shiloh, the T1 bottom lane of Censer, so he decisively banned one.
Releasing Shiloh was easier to deal with.
Ze Yuan looked at the BP panel and said loudly, "YM chose to ban Princes and released all the other strong heroes!"
White Crescent Moon kicked the ball back.
There were a lot of strong heroes outside, but WE, who was in the blue team, could only get one of them, while YM could get two.
Red Rice did not hesitate and directly picked Galio.
He believed that this was the strongest hero in the current version. It was hard to counter in lane, and its ability to protect the backline was also very strong.
"YM also instakilled Spider and Blabbermouth, dismantling the opponent's strong system!"
Red Rice happily accepted the two heroes, Shiloh and Shiloh. Everyone was a strong hero, so they were not afraid of each other.
"In the end, YM chose Lulu. This is the most suitable support for Censer besides Shiloh and Shiloh!"
In the second round, White Crescent rubbed salt on WE's wound. He saw that Kandi was not in a good state recently, so he banned both Excavator and Wine Barrel.
He was left with Pig Girl.
Red Rice tried to block Lin Yan's hero pool, even though he knew that Lin Yan's hero pool was a bit strange, and with his strength, it was difficult to restrict him.
But Red Rice still wanted Xi Ye to play more comfortably, so he banned Airplane and Sindra.
"YM chose to take down Cogas in the fourth round!"
Ze Yuan was not surprised. "This is also a hero that has been strengthened since the new version 7.14!"
When the new version was released, a large number of strong heroes would emerge, but there would also be many heroes that would be eliminated with the patch.
The coaches and players of the professional teams would have to adapt to the new heroes and adjust their tactics accordingly.
The Void Dread Kargas, nicknamed Big Bug, was a Beloved that had been reborn in the patch.
In version 7.4 in February this year, he had been strengthened once. The R [Feast] could be stacked infinitely, and it would not be lost after death. At the same time, the damage increased from 0.7 AP to 0.5 AP and 10% extra HP.
(See the picture in this chapter.)
This big move was undoubtedly a strengthening for the tank Big Bug. The higher the HP, the higher the damage of the big move.
The R [Feast] dealt real damage, the most real damage in the Alliance.
But at that time, the professional players still did not like Big Bug.
The reason was very simple. He was too cumbersome. Other than Q [Rupture], which provided a knockback effect that allowed him to get close, there were no other immobilizing skills.
This kind of hero would be treated like a dog in the professional arena.
The designer had an idea. In the 7.14 version that had just been updated, the big bug was enhanced once again.
The E [Sting of Fear] could now increase the attack range, reset the normal attack, and add a speed reduction effect.
Then the mana consumption of Q [Rupture] was reduced.
(See the picture in this chapter.)
This time, Big Bug instantly became a sewer and became the child of the new version.
YM naturally would not miss out on this kind of hero and locked it down first.
"WE got Big Tree and Pig Girl." Su Xiaoyan frowned. "This lineup is good for control and stability, but the damage output of the team battle will depend on Brother-in-law."
"But this is the current state of the game." Ze Yuan had adapted to the Incense Burner version for a week, so he was not surprised. "Now everyone is competing to see which Incense Burner will die first, and who can tank more in the front row."
"Let's see what hero YM chooses …" Su Xiaoyan did not comment and changed the topic. "There are not many midlaners left outside."
"Karma." Ze Yuan saw the hero in YM's selection box. "YM also wants to play four to one!"
"Do you want Lulu or Karma?" Liu Qingsong tilted his head and asked.
These two heroes could be swung between midlaners. Lin Yan could use whichever hero he wanted.
"Give me Karma." Lin Yan switched heroes with him and took Liu Qingsong's last choice, Karma. "It's better to play with Lulu."
The lineups of both sides were confirmed.
Blue WE: Top Big Tree, Wild Boar Girl, Mid Galio, Bottom Lu Xia, and Wind Lady.
Red YM: Top Big Bug, Jungler Spider, Mid Karma, Bottom Big Mouth + Lulu.
"Both sides seem to have more AP damage," Ze Yuan analyzed. "But it doesn't matter. This game is about whose ADC dies first. The side that dies first will have no damage in the team battle!"
Amidst the deafening cheers of the audience, Summoner's Canyon descended!