In the spacious stadium, the cheers of YM's fans reverberated throughout the stadium!
Even though they were outnumbered, their voices could still fill the entire stadium!
Many people were still spouting nonsense in the LPL's official live stream.
[I want to shout!]
[GG, this Nanqiang, is he as good as my bro 13?]
[He's like a cricket, but he doesn't have the same level of brilliance!]
"Congratulations to YM for their first victory in the MSI semifinals!"
Ze Yuan said loudly, "It took 26 minutes. FNC was suppressed the entire time, and Mongoose got the first pentakill in this season's mid-season championship!"
"This is also his first pentakill in his career!" Zhuo Ding knew his friend's data like the back of his hand. "I didn't expect him to get it with a Nanqiang!"
"But Xiao Tian's pentakill …" After a slight hesitation, he said what was on his mind, "It was a bit easy!"
This coincided with Ze Yuan's feelings. "I think so too. Xiao Tian didn't need to do anything fancy. He just needed to deal normal damage in the team battle."
The visual impact of this pentakill was not high. It was not on the same level as Ouze's pentakill in IG.
"Because it's not the same," Zhuo Ding explained for Mongoose, "Nanqiang's pentakill is strong in the timing of the entry and the control of the damage output environment. YM first sent Jack and Brother Ran out. The two of them tricked FNC into using most of their skills. They even dealt decent damage before they died, creating an environment for Mongoose to harvest."
YM's two C's were still sitting in the player's seat, doing an in-depth review of the match.
"Did I do a great job with this bowl?"
Shiba Inu waved his paw and moved the mouse to look at the damage output panel. He realized that he was the third highest damage output in the team. He was extremely disappointed and wanted to find another angle to make up for it. He did not want his teammates to look down on him. "How's my selling, hmm?"
"Very good," Lin Yan responded. "How's my bowl QR?"
"Of course it's very important …"
Mongoose finished the lemonade in the paper cup and interrupted the two C's celebration. "Don't be so arrogant. Am I not the one carrying this round?"
He turned to look for Jin Gong. "Xiba player, is your father strong in this round?
I've already said I'll nanqiang! "
Jimu Gong showed a disdainful expression. "If it wasn't for my Flash Bind in the last wave, would you have gotten 5 kills?"
While everyone was arguing, the FNC players on the other side of the stage rushed to the waiting room with paper cups in their hands. They took off their headphones, and the applause and encouragement from the home audience were no longer obstructed. It rushed straight into their ears.
The European commentator, Deficio, also adjusted his emotions. "This is a best-of-five. A momentary loss can't prove anything. FNC, continue to work hard. Behind you is the entire LCSEU!"
The head coach, Youngbuck, felt extremely guilty when he saw his team members enter in a single file.
"I didn't expect YM Nakano to bring out Nanqiang + Dragon King …"
Caps shook his head. "What does it have to do with you?
Who would have expected YM to choose these two heroes? "
Xiao Tian hadn't used Nanqiang in the entire mid-season competition, and Starcaster Dragon King, who had been away from the mainstream for only a year and a half. The combination of YM Nakano surprised everyone.
The coaching staff really couldn't do anything about this kind of non-version choice. They couldn't prepare for all the heroes in every position. That was simply unrealistic.
"The main thing is that the early stages are a bit of a disadvantage." Caps poured himself a cup of iced coffee. "If he could smoothly transition to level 6, Rock Sparrow wouldn't be so passive."
After all, Talia was a version hero. In terms of overall ability, she was definitely stronger than Dragon King.
However, Lin Yan had perfectly used his hero's strong period in the last round. He did the right thing at the right time and took the lead to open up the situation and help Nanqiang dominate the jungle.
"Let's give it a try in the next round …" Youngbuck decided to play some tricks.
…
Ten minutes later, the two teams went on the stage again. YM's side was filled with cheers and laughter.
In the last round, they had crushed their opponents with a lineup that didn't conform to the version. This made YM's competition department feel extremely confident.
If they had played normally, wouldn't they have won easily?
Red Rice wanted to directly study their opponents in the MSI finals.
However, when it came to the stage, he still urged his team members to be serious.
"Let's try to take down the opponent in three rounds," Jiang Chenglu translated with a northeastern accent. "Don't drag it out for too long."
In this kind of knockout competition, every additional round meant that more tactics had to be exposed.
Tactics weren't necessarily the choice of lineup. Many times, it was closely related to vision, movement hotspots, and jungling routes.
If the opponents in the second half of the bracket were to figure out YM's tactical thinking, they were likely to suffer in the finals.
When they entered the players' seats, the LPL live broadcast was connected to the commentator's channel.
"Welcome back to the live broadcast of the 2018 mid-season championship semifinals …" Zeyuan quickly finished reading the sponsor's advertisement before the BP started. He then cut to the main topic. "Knight, what do you think of the performance of both sides in the last round?"
During the break just now, he had communicated with Zhuo Ding and told him the question he was going to ask in advance.
Therefore, Golden Left Hand was already prepared. "YM is as strong as ever. The scariest thing about them is that they don't have any shortcomings. Everyone has the ability to carry the game. This is something that many LPL playoff teams don't have. Even the teams that made it to the semifinals of the Spring Season still have this flaw."
Xiao Tian's performance in the last round was quite eye-catching. He stood up and led the team to win the game when Jack was unable to open up the situation in the bottom lane. This changed many people's impression of him.
However, the audience's attention was diverted to other content.
[Everyone has the ability to carry?
Who are you hinting at?]
[I'll help you RNG eSports Club. Someone is hinting that you guys can't top laner.]
[Good God, you ran directly to Letme's face and said this.]
[It's obviously Ouze who can't do it. Why can't you lead your teammates to victory?]
[Why would I think of RNG?
I'm thinking, don't EDG and IG have their shortcomings too?]
Zhuo Ding, who was still on the commentary platform, obviously did not know that his words had turned the screen upside down. He spoke clearly, "Of course, FNC isn't that bad either."
"Even though they only lasted for 26 minutes in the last round, looking at the matchup alone, they weren't suppressed in all three lanes. They even had a certain advantage in the top and bottom lanes." Zhuo Ding expressed his understanding. "If Brother Ran hadn't caught Blind Monk's movement in time and lured out Broxah's punishment, they wouldn't have been able to open up the jungle so easily."
He concluded. "In my opinion, FNC is very strong. Even in the LPL, they would be at the level of the top four. At the very least, there aren't many LPL teams that can withstand YM's pressure in all three lanes."
This was true. Even though YM had played with this lineup for two years, there were very few teams in the division that could withstand their matchup strength. EDG, IG, and RNG more or less had their shortcomings.
Remember laughed. "I didn't expect Knight to have such a high opinion of FNC … The BP of the second game has begun!"
"FNC has chosen the red side for this game!"
Ze Yuan was very surprised. "In the current version, it's generally known that the blue side has the advantage. It's very rare to see a team actively choose the red side."
Zhuo Ding nodded in agreement. "That's right. The main thing is that the red side not only has to assume a fixed ban position, but the lineup system is also not easy to build. In most cases, they can only respond passively. FNC's choice of sides is really strange …"
"They should be making a surprise move in the last counter position." He could only guess. "Otherwise, there's no need to choose the red side."
It could only be said that Youngbuck stood on the barren floor this time.
In this version, the pressure of the red side's BP was mainly on the ADC. The hero Azreal was simply the biggest bug in the current version. His strength was ridiculously high.
This was also the difficulty of the red side in this version. Whether it was released or banned, the red side would be at a disadvantage.
However, Youngbuck made a surprise move and still chose the red side for this game.
First, it was like what Zhuo Ding said, they wanted to do something.
Second, it was because the red side's original archer problem had to be solved by YM.
The reason was very simple. Jack didn't know EZ.
After Youngbuck came to Paris, he had been looking for Jack's ranking records. He found that this person's EZ was still the same after practicing for so long. Although there was a slight improvement, the essence of his sudden death in the middle stage could be seen through the OB perspective video.
So he didn't suspect that Jack's frequency of using EZ had decreased in the past two days.
After all, it was now the knockout stage. There wasn't much time left for the pro players to practice. If they were addicted to this untrained EZ, it would affect the proficiency of other heroes.
From Youngbuck's point of view, no matter which side FNC chose, YM would ban Azreal.
That would reduce the red side's disadvantage by a lot.
After Red Rice learned that FNC had taken the initiative to choose the red side, he could naturally guess the other side's intentions.
But he wasn't prepared to give Jack a yellow feather in this game.
FNC wasn't worthy of them revealing their cards.
"YM will ban Azreal for the blue side first!"
The three people on the commentary platform expected this move. After all, YM hadn't released this hero since the second round of the group stage.
Zhuo Ding then said, "FNC will ban Qing Gang Yin as usual …"
The two sides chose Law and Karma for the second ban.
Red Rice paced back and forth behind YM's player bench.
After he first chose to ban Law, FNC's ban of Karma faintly revealed their intention to choose Crow. As long as FNC banned Troll for the third time, the problem would be thrown to YM.
He frowned and thought hard for a long time before deciding to ban Kesha himself.
This way, if FNC didn't ban Crow, they could first get Swein, an extremely strong mid-upper swing position, and also ensure that the opponent couldn't choose Kesha as an exchange.
"FNC didn't make a choice until the last moment. They banned Crow!"
As Red Rice expected, he arranged for Jin Gong to choose Morgana first.
"Eh?
Don't they choose female police officers first? "
Remember was a little puzzled. "In the speed pushing system, Morgana can be replaced, but Policewoman is indispensable!"
Ze Yuan also looked at Zhuo Ding. Although he and Remember had a good understanding of the game among the commentators, it was still not enough in front of a professional player.
"YM should be sure that the opponent won't pick Policewoman." Although Zhuo Ding understood, he didn't have enough information on the game. After all, the coaching staff didn't provide him with specific information on FNC before he went on stage. He could only follow his own train of thought. "After all, if they picked Policewoman, they would ask Broxah to use the bottom lane as the core. This is contrary to FNC's tactical thinking."
Although there wasn't much information, Knight didn't mention Cat Cake.
Overall, FNC's two carries were the absolute core of the team. However, in reality, Ou Cheng was basically invisible in the early stages of the game. In the middle stages of the MSI competition, Ou Cheng had an average of 5.8 last hits in the first 15 minutes of the game. When the range of last hits was expanded to include the entire game, Ou Cheng's average last hit was as high as 11.4.
Ouze, who was like a god descending from the sky this year, only had an average last hit of 11.9 last hits. This was based on his absolute suppression in the early stages of the game, as well as the fact that he made Di give up his creeps.
In this year's MSI competition, Ou Cheng was "one man eating three carries."
The invisible development in the early stages of the game made it impossible for FNC to use the bottom lane as the core to drive the tempo. Ou Cheng was naturally not suitable for a bulldozer hero like Policewoman. In the entire group stage, Youngbuck didn't choose Caitlin for him. He didn't even use the popular Verus.
Even with the invincible push composition of Karma and Chiwil in the last game, Ou Cheng and Hai Sang only controlled the top lane to create an advantage for Broxah in the bottom half of the game. The only time they took the risk of destroying the tower, they were caught off guard by Mongoose.
Therefore, Red Rice decided to pick Morgana first on the blue side. If FNC didn't let YM get the push composition, they would have to steal Policewoman themselves.
However, Youngbuck naturally had a backup plan for this arrangement.
He put Policewoman and Morgana in this game because he wanted YM to shift their tactical focus to the bottom lane again.
This way, FNC would be able to carry out their plan.
"Troll + Ryze. FNC got a pretty good swinging composition!"
YM immediately picked Policewoman and Zooey in the second and third picks. Red Rice felt that since the opponent would leave the red counter spot for Caps, he might as well give Lin Yan a strong mid laner.
"FNC's last hero choice in the first round …" A fat catfish appeared in Caps' hero selection window. "Tam!"
Ze Yuan sighed. "This is clearly telling YM that we're going to mess up the bottom lane. Tam is a bit of a counter to Zooey …"
"With Tam, YM definitely won't target the ADC in the second round. After all, there's an endless supply of archers. It's easier to play with Tam. It's better to ban the mid and top swinging positions." Zhuo Ding also expressed his opinion.
Sure enough, after Youngbuck banned Blind Monk, Red Rice banned Captain.
"FNC picked Nanqiang for the fifth ban!"
Ze Yuan's face lit up with joy. "Little Tian, you've done well. The hero who won the MVP last round has been sent to the ban position this round!"
Tortoise Garlic, who was sitting in the contestants' seats, was stunned. "Do these people have cat biscuits?"
"Hahaha, Mongoose's Nanqiang got banned." Jack laughed. "WDNMD, this is ridiculous!"
Red Rice saw this and could not help but smile. However, he quickly adjusted his expression. "Let's ban Cheyenne. This hero works wonders with Ryze."
When the YM players heard this, they could not help but think of the driving system RW had used against them in the semifinals of the spring competition. If they had not handled it well, they would have been tricked by this move.
"FNC's fourth pick is still Chiwil!" Ze Yuan said loudly. "Ou Cheng won't believe it. He must use this hero to win!"
"However, in terms of clearing and defending towers, Chiwil and Tam are basically the best combination," Knight analyzed. "They are very hard to kill, and their ability to defend towers is not bad."
"Let's see YM's last two picks." Remember was looking forward to it. "Take Orne first. This should be for Jin Gong …"
After the hero selection window with YM Crisp lit up for two seconds, Lulu quickly locked onto another jungler!
The spirit of Executioner, coexisting with Executioner!
"Qian Jue!"
Ze Yuan was shocked by YM's unusual jungler choices. "After taking Nanqiang, take Qian Jue. Mongoose has his eyes on the Best of 5!"
The viewers in the live broadcast room were also very excited.
【？？？】
[You're starting again?]
[What kind of heroes are they playing in the semifinals …]
[Qian Jue is a ten-year veteran player. I feel like I haven't seen this hero in a year.]
"Could it be that YM is changing their train of thought?
Or are they showing their trump card? "
He was dizzy.
Not only him, but the FNC generals sitting on the other side of the stage were also frowning and discussing countermeasures in low voices.
Qian Jue had been in a lukewarm state in S8. In terms of pure junglers, he was just a substitute for Nanqiang and Panther Lady. Compared to the other two heroes, Qian Jue's jungler attack ability was a little worse. The R [Sheep Spirit's Breath] was more functional and provided a survival guarantee for the team's backline.
Youngbuck closed his eyes slightly and let out a long breath.
He had to admit that the characters YM had chosen in the last two rounds were not in his plan at all.
Due to the opponent's unusual lineup, the strategies he had spent so much effort researching before the game were almost useless.
Qian Jue …
Youngbuck patted Caps on the shoulder. "Take it according to our plan before the game."
"No problem." Caps squeezed his fingers confidently. "Leave it to me."
Seeing that his midlaner and coach had a clear attitude, Hai Sang locked in the core characters who had formulated the strategy during the break.
A silver-haired Yodel with bright eyes held a cannon in one hand and saluted the camera with the other!
Magnum Cannon Dristana!
"Midlaner Little Pao?!" Ze Yuan felt like he had entered Hai Lan's house.
On the first day of the semifinals, the lineups of these two teams made his eyes light up every time.
"Brother Ran used the midlaner Little Pao to punish Lucian last year. I didn't expect it to be his turn to face this shameless archer today!"
He remembered that he was worried for Lin Yan. Little Pao's midlaner against Zooey would undoubtedly be one-sided as long as he had Purify. The Twilight Starspirit did not have any ability to fight back at all.
Zhuo Ding, who had been silent all this time, saw FNC take out Little Pao in the last round. He had some guesses about the tactics of the two teams because of Qian Jue's appearance, and now he was even more certain of his guess.
YM's choice of Nanqiang and Qian Jue in the last two rounds was not a change of style or a show of cards, as he remembered.
This was a lineup that was specifically used to deal with FNC.
FNC, who had an average of 37 minutes per game, liked to drag it out in the late game to let the two C's take over the team battle.
Nanqiang and Qian Jue, who YM had taken out in the last two rounds, had something in common other than being a jungler.
Archers.
The core damage output of a team battle in the late game basically consisted of three elements: stable damage output, long shooting range, and high damage output.
The perfect combination was a Archer.
This was also why the ADCs were strong in the late game.
After the dodge attribute was removed, normal attacks could not be dodged in most situations. The damage output was stable. The 500-yard shooting range of the Archer allowed them to threaten most opponents in the team battle. They could continuously increase their normal attack damage by relying on their equipment …
Nanqiang and Qian Jue could be used as a Archer in the mid to late game team battle. Choosing them meant that YM had a certain level of late game team battle ability.
This way, even if YM encountered difficulties in the early game, they would not have to rush. The two Archers provided them with protection.
The first round was like this. FNC took out Dragon King and Kesha in the last team battle, but they still fell to Graves's shotgun barrel.
Youngbuck had obviously learned from the previous round's experience. They also took out two Archers in this round to show off their late game ability.
Moreover, using Little Pao in the middle to deal with Zooey was even more effective.
Zhuo Ding remembered his prediction before the game. Whoever took the initiative in the middle would win the game.
He could not help but worry.
Lin Yan, who was sitting in the player's seat, quickly shook the heat pack in his hand. He glanced at the lineup.
Blue YM: Top Lane Aoun, Jungler Qian Jue, Mid Lane Zooey, Bottom Lane Policewoman + Morgana.
Red FNC: Top Lane Ryze, Jungler Troll, Mid Lane Little Pao, Bottom Lane Chiwil + Tam.
FNC's lineup still did not have much control. However, they could rely on Tam and Ryze's dual vehicles to frequently switch lanes and use Little Pao to destroy towers.
There was no doubt that FNC's core was definitely Little Pao.
"Don't let Little Pao get fat," Red Mi reminded him before leaving the stage.
Lin Yan nodded to show that he understood. He took a sip of lemonade and checked the runes while waiting for the game to load.
The live European commentator, Deficio, was still talking non-stop. "Caps used Little Pao to face Ran's Zooey in the middle lane. I have to say, the difference in strength between the two sides is huge …"
He was very optimistic. "If FNC can make Little Pao fly in this game, their chances of winning are still quite high!"
The live FNC fans were so excited by the commentator that they kept banging the support sticks with FNC's orange logo!
They really hoped that the home team they supported could take YM down from their pedestal today!
As the Summoner's Canyon descended, the surrounding stands exploded with cheers that reached the sky!
Even the soundproof headphones could not completely block out the vast momentum. Lin Yan felt that the stage under his feet was shaking!
He tried to calm himself down, bought Doran's Ring, and rushed into the game.
"Brother Ran's rune is very effective against Little Pao!"
While the ten players were moving towards the middle lane, the caster showed the rune choices for all the players. Ze Yuan could see that Lin Yan was different from the others at a glance.
"Main Element Unseal Secrets, Stopwatch, Minions, and Astral Insight …" Ze Yuan played with his fingers. "Secondary Elements Resolve, Chrysalis, and Skeletal Plating."
"Coupled with the Summoner's Weakness and Doran's Ring, this Zooey is very difficult to kill!"
The early stage of Chrysalis provided health points and Skeletal Plating reduced damage, which could effectively resist the high burst of Little Pao's Level 2 face jump.
However, under normal circumstances, no Zooey would have Resolve runes. Lin Yan was an exception.
Zhuo Ding was stunned. He carefully looked at Zooey's rune combination and shook his head. "This is too stable. Brother Ran doesn't want to give Caps any chance!"