EDG's post-match lounge.
The place was shrouded in a low pressure, and all the players sat in their chairs without saying a word.
The big screen in the lounge, which had been turned to silent mode, was still playing the live broadcast of the competition.
Lin Yan, who had just scored a pentakill, was unquestionably the MVP of the previous game with a + 6934 matchup economy, a 52.1% team damage ratio, and a 220.0% damage conversion rate.
On the screen, he was staring at the EDG players together with Magnum's cannon player, Tristana.
"Scout, don't be so fierce and always think of suppressing the opponent. What you have to do is not to kill the opponent alone, but to restrict him to the middle lane!"
The sharp voice sounded as the iboy retracted his gaze from Lin Ran's body on the screen.
Abu, who was no longer the head coach, did not care about his status. He pinched his throat and emphasized to the players the details to pay attention to in the game. Nofe stood aside and added a few words from time to time.
"Pay attention to the minions. Do you dare to go up the minions?" Abu's voice became sharper, and it seemed like he was really anxious.
After a season of ups and downs, EDG finally made it to the playoffs. The management naturally did not want to fall here.
Based on the current situation, even if EDG lost the semi-finals, they would still be able to retain their spot in the bubble tournament. However, everyone knew how difficult it was to qualify for the bubble tournament. If EDG did not qualify for the Summer Finals, they would have to win three consecutive BO5 matches in order to qualify for S7.
Unless they had no choice, no one wanted to gamble on that unknown possibility.
Scout took off his black-rimmed glasses, closed his eyes, and rubbed the bridge of his nose with his slender fingers.
He remembered the finals of last year's summer tournament. At that time, he was also the starter and lost two games in a row.
At that time, Fat General, who was injured, was there to clean up his mess. Although they lost the finals, it also helped him to attract some pressure from public opinion.
But now, Fat General had returned to the motherland, and he was the only midlaner left in EDG.
"Don't put too much pressure on yourselves." As the well-deserved leader of the team, the factory director stood up. "It's not like we don't have a way out. With our current strength, we can enter the international tournament even if we just play in the bubble tournament!"
Factory Director said this with confidence. This was his fourth year in EDG, and he had never missed an international tournament in the previous three years.
He believed that this year would be no exception.
Iboy glanced at the clock on the wall. He was eager and optimistic. "It's our turn to perform at 7 pm!"
The rookie's joke eased the tense atmosphere in the lounge. Ghostfoot Seven glanced sideways at his ADC who resembled a flatfish.
However, he wasn't a party pooper at times like this. If playing his own jokes could help his teammates adjust their state of mind, the Factory Director didn't mind doing so.
He called for the other four teammates to stack their palms together.
"EDG, do your best!"
On the commentary platform, Doll Mille had just finished broadcasting a sponsor's advertisement when he saw the members of the two teams appear in the player area.
"This is a life-and-death situation for EDG," Doll said, bringing the topic back to the game. "They're just one step away from the cliff. If they lose this round, they'll have to face WE and IG in a bubble match."
"It's a very serious situation for them," Mille nodded in agreement. "However, the EDG players have adjusted their mentality well. They don't seem to be affected by the previous loss."
On the big screen in the stadium, the optimistic Ah Guang smiled brightly as if he had heard some good news. His facial expression was unusually rich. He stuck out his long tongue and licked the corner of his mouth as if he was cosplaying Tam.
[That smile is so classic.]
[Laughing hammer?
I just clicked in and saw Ah Guang smiling so happily. I thought it was EDG 2: 0 YM. How can they still smile when they're about to be wiped out?]
[Do I have to keep crying?
I'm sorry, I can't do that.]
On the other hand, the YM players looked much more serious than EDG. However, it was only on the surface.
"What are we going to eat after work?" Jack asked while shaking his leg.
Liu Qingsong gave his own opinion. "How about noodles with oil?
I know a noodle shop in the business district around here … "
"No, I want meat," Jack rejected quickly. "The big ones."
"Then why are you asking us?" Liu Qingsong almost scolded Jack when he heard what he said.
"That's not right. There are many ways to prepare meat. For example, steamed lamb, steamed bear's paw, steamed deer tail, roasted duck …" Jack shook his head and went with the flow.
Liu Qingsong finally could not help but bicker with Big Head Shiba Inu. The team voice chat was full of muted content.
It was not until the BP match began that they finally gave up and shook hands. They planned to compete again after this match.
"YM took the initiative to choose the red team in this match," Mille said softly. "That's a bit strange. There are very few teams who take the initiative to choose the red team now."
After playing the Censer version for nearly a month, all the professional teams understood that the red team had to take one of Callista's bans.
Although there was a possibility of getting Charlot at the same time, it still could not make up for the huge disadvantage of having a fixed ban.
However, White Crescent did not consider it purely from the perspective of BP. Instead, it focused on the overall situation.
Although the red team had a disadvantage in BP, YM was very good at dealing with the red team's game. Their jungles were more flexible.
Another key point was that White Crescent wanted to set up a trap on the BP.
As the defender on the BP, the red team could not take the initiative to attack. However, they could set up traps and disrupt the enemy's arrangement in the last position.
"The blue team, EDG, will ban Rock Sparrow first." Mille wanted to talk about his understanding of the red and blue teams' choices, but both teams had already started banning people. "The red team, YM, will ban Callista as usual."
For the second position, EDG and YM chose to ban the Spider Queen and Excavator respectively.
When it came to the last ban in the first round, Nofe hesitated. After thinking for a long time, he finally decided to ban Kenan.
"Huh?" Doll was surprised. "Didn't EDG ban Ran's hot top laner, Little Pao?"
"If Scout still wants to use the mid laner, Lucian, then logically, Little Pao shouldn't be released …" Mille was also puzzled. However, he and Doll were the only two people on the commentary platform. His professional ethics made him have to answer Doll's question. Naturally, he did not have time to think about the reason.
The ball was kicked to White Crescent.
He frowned and understood the opponent's coach's plan.
If they wanted to use the mid laner and Little Pao to deal with Lucian, in the current version of the game, other than the Spider Queen, all of the junglers were frontline tanking. They could only rely on the top laner to make up for the AP damage.
If Kenan was banned, the only AP top laner in the current version of the game was Rambo.
This was the key to the problem. White Crescent did not want to give Jin Gong Rambo.
This was because the top laner did not match YM's thinking.
The reason was very simple. This hero's legs were short and had no displacement. His pushing speed was also very fast. This determined that Rambo needed the protection of his teammates.
Xiao Tian could not abandon the mid and bottom lane to help Jin Gong .He could help the Siberian gank at the right time. However, Rambo needed the jungler to wander around the top lane to help defend. Otherwise, he would be a classic example of daring to catch and daring to die by pushing the lane across the river.
Nofe was sure that White Crescent did not dare to give Jin Gong Rambo. Without an AP hero, Lin Yan could not play as an AD mid laner. Thus, Little Pao could not be chosen.
It was equivalent to using one ban to ban two heroes.
White Crescent was confused after understanding the opponent's coach's general thinking.
He could not understand what was wrong with EDG. Why were they so keen on giving Scout Lu Xian?
They were even willing to let Ah Guang take Rambo?
"If I release Rambo, they will definitely take Lu Xian as a mid laner," White Crescent communicated with the team members. "I plan to let Jin Gong continue to play solo in this game to target the weak point of Rambo. Lin Yan, will you have a problem holding the lane pressure?"
Lin Yan held the ice water to cool down his hot palms. He then immediately put them down. If his palms were too cold and frozen, it would affect his performance.
He nodded, his expression unchanged. "No problem. Let the opponent take it."
"YM's last ban in the first round is given to Princes!"
Doll raised her eyebrows and found a clue. "Both teams released the Charlo combination. EDG can't let the red team take both heroes. They have to take one first!"
Nofe was still considering whether to choose Charlo or Charlo.
"Meiko, can you take Lady Wind as the third player?" He communicated with his support through the translator. "Lady Wind counters Charlo."
The mechanism of Charlo's W [Grand Entrance] was to jump forward to the target location, and after a 0.35-second pause, knock away the enemies within range.
It would be fine if the jump distance was short, but once the distance was a little far, Lady Wind could charge up Q [Hurricane Roar] to interrupt Charlo's W [Grand Entrance].
Moreover, after level 6, Lady Wind's R [Resuscitating Monsoon] could blow away all enemies within 725 yards. In theory, it could counter Charlo's ultimate move.
Although Charlo was strong without Charlo, he was only at the level of a support T1 goalkeeper. Lady Wind was undoubtedly the strongest support in the current version of the game.
"No problem." Meiko was very confident.
"EDG took Charlo first and gave Charlo to YM!" Mille said loudly. "Let's see what other hero YM will take?"
White Crescent asked Jin Gong to lock onto Charlo first. After two seconds of pondering, he asked Xiao Tian to take Piggy.
He planned to beat them at their own game and take a lineup that could disgust EDG.
EDG decisively chose Lady Wind + Wine Barrel, while White Crescent took Verus for Jack at the end of the first round.
"YM's first three moves are a little too strong," Mille analyzed. "Although EDG's Charlo is not afraid of strong attacks, can she really defend against so many offensive skills?"
"EDG has to take a defensive hero in the end." Doll also expressed his own understanding. "Or they can use the same tactic to force the formation, and both sides will rush to the back."
When the second round of BP began, White Crescent actually already knew that EDG's last two picks were most likely Rambo + Lucian. He also planned to let EDG take this lineup, and he had also thought of a strategy to deal with it.
However, the remaining two ban slots could not be wasted. He banned the T1 mid laner Galio and another strong top laner in the version of Big Bug, who could still be swayed to the top lane.
EDG, on the other hand, banned the mid laners Sindra and Jin Gong, who were equally strong in the early and mid stages of the game.
"YM's fourth pick has decided to take a jack of all trades, Clockwork Spring!"
Doll frowned and felt that something was not right. "I remember that Ran's Clockwork Spring's win rate is not high, right?"
"It's mainly because he has lost a lot of games," Mille said as he received the data of Lin Yan's Clockwork Spring's win rate from the director. "Sure enough, a 77% win rate is very low among the heroes that Ran has used more than ten times."
"Clockwork Spring's early fighting ability is limited. Although it seems to be fast, it can't get the lane control. The lane control is very important to Ran. Whether it's to push the lane and wander, control the lane to call the jungler for help, or to get a solo kill, they all need the help of the lane control. However, it's difficult for Clockwork Spring to support him." Mille explained clearly.
Minions were very important in the professional arena.
Because the professional players were not fools, their diligent training not only made them familiar with the strong and weak attributes of the heroes, but they also figured out the gap between themselves and the players in the training matches day after day.
Except for extreme characters like Team Polar, who was the world's number one player who was good at catching top laners, most of the professional players played the game steadily.
They knew how to admit defeat against the laners. If they could not win, they would not play. After all, once they were killed by a solo, they would inevitably be scolded by the coach. Some strict clubs would even deduct their salary.
Everyone played the professional game for nothing more than to fulfill their dreams and make money. Who would say no to money? They only had a few years of youth, so they couldn't work for the club and be a philanthropist, right?
In this case, if they wanted to kill the opponent, they could only use the minions. Minions were the only way for heroes to earn money in addition to participating in kills, demolishing towers, and the system paying wages — except for players who had nothing better to do.
By controlling the minions through various means, they could lure or even force the professional players to come out and farm for more minions. Only then could they have the opportunity to kill solo or gank the jungler.
The importance of the minions gave rise to the concept of priority. It was not simply a matter of pushing the minions quickly, but the control and initiative of the minions. Clockwork was faster than Little Beauty, but she did not dare to clear the minions at will in front of Little Beauty's face-to-face skills. The priority was in Little Beauty's hands, and Little Beauty could push and control the minions as she wished.
In a game where the mid lane did not have priority, the jungler always had a hard time. It was very difficult to fight alone to drive the rhythm of the game, and in the middle of the game, resources had to be given to the mid laner to eat. The entire game was just letting the jungler eat grass and squeeze blood. It was not a game experience at all.
If it were other teams that relied on farming mid laners, it would not matter if the mid laner was a hero like Clockwork. After all, the team's system was to let these mid laners stand out and dominate the battlefield in the late game. A typical example was Gao Dewei. In the early game, Gao Dewei's godfather relied on Taobao alone to carry the rhythm of the game, allowing Gao Dewei to go out and farm the minions.
But this tactical system was not very effective for YM, because they relied on the coordination of the mid laners. Liberating the mid lane and then spreading out to lead the other teammates was YM's specialty.
If they chose the mid laner, it would be difficult for Lin Yan to coordinate with Xiao Tian. There was no doubt that the early game pressure would be handed over to the teammates.
Last year, and at the beginning of this year's summer tournament, Lin Yan had chosen a lot of late laners like Vampire, Yellow Chicken, and Kassadin to let the priority develop in the mid lane.
As a result, the team could easily fall into a disadvantage in the early game and drag it out until the mid and late game, relying on Lin Yan's personal strength to turn the tables.
Even when Lin Ran was playing so well, he wouldn't have said, "YM is all C" — even though some commentators would exaggerate his performance in this kind of turnaround.
Because if they used heroes like Tsar, Vampire, and Kassadin, it would be like a 4v5 in the early game. The opponent's mid laner would go crazy to support the minions after pushing the minions, while their own mid laner would stay in the lane to farm minions. This was sucking the health of their teammates.
In such a situation, if their teammates could drag the game into the mid and late game without collapsing, it would naturally be a great achievement.
In the late game team battle, if the core who took the team's resources stood out to carry the game, how could it be called a C? It was just doing its part. The difference was that the other mid laners did the work in the early game, while Lin Yan himself turned the tables in the late game.
"EDG's last two choices are Rambo and Lucian." Doll's shocked voice echoed in the stadium. "Scout chose Lucian in the best of five. Is he serious?"
The audience in the live broadcast room was frantically commenting and interacting.
[I'm going to vomit. Is Scout poisoned by Lucian?]
[He's really daring. Lucian sending EDG back to their hometown on Spirit Stone Road in three games?]
[If he gets solo again in this game, the program effect will be full!]
[It's 7: 15 now. Believe in Dian Bao. The National Film Academy at 7 o 'clock is invincible!]
"YM's last choice is Qing Gang Yin. They plan to let Jin Gong go solo in this game!"
White Crescent showed his fangs in the last move — top laner Qing Gang Yin.
The best choice to go against Rambo.
Whether it was the early game lane, coordinated jungler gank, or solo in the mid and late game, Qing Gang Yin completely crushed Rambo.
The lineups of both sides were confirmed.
EDG on the blue side: top laner Rambo, jungler Wine Barrel, mid laner Lucian, bottom laner Lu Xia + Wind Lady.
YM on the red side: top laner Qing Gang Yin, jungler Wild Boar Girl, mid laner Clockwork Devil, bottom laner Verus + Law.
The audience below the stage let out deafening cheers. After winning two games in a row, the YM fans holding black and red support sticks dominated the entire stadium. Their momentum completely suppressed the vast number of starchy pigs.
Summoner's Canyon appeared on the big screen!
"Xiao Tian, help Jin Gong in this game. Let Brother Xiba enjoy imperial level service." Lin Yan bought the Doran Ring and left the spring.
"No problem, I promise to complete the mission!" The technician Mongoose looked at Rambo and couldn't help but laugh.
Marin, Smeb, and the rest of Rambo's experts were defeated by YM's crazy targeting tactics. Phyllostachys Pubescens didn't believe that Ah Guang, who was famous for setting fire to a mountain, could escape his punishment.
Neither side's junglers invaded. Lin Yan, who had started the game normally, took a step forward. Taking advantage of the cover of the minions in the middle lane, he wanted to use Q [Command: Attack] to exhaust his junior.
However, Lucian twisted his waist and easily dodged the Magic Puppet.
Lin Yan wasn't in a hurry. Lucian's chances of winning were very low. He didn't even want to fight for the lane control in the early stages. He planned to steadily develop until he had a set of three pieces to take over the game.
The level one Lucian was still considered gentle. Because the range was too short, the junior could only use Q [Transparent Holy Light] to try and exhaust Lin Yan, but it didn't work.
After eating the first minions in the second wave, the junior leveled up to level two and slid to the face to deal damage.
Lin Yan also leveled up by eating minions. He turned around and gave him a set of QW. Although he didn't use Thunder, he didn't lose much health.
The third wave of minions reached the middle lane. Lin Yan continued to hide at the back, planning to wait for the minions to reach his tower before he enjoyed them.
Everything seemed calm and tranquil.
However, there was an undercurrent.