"Welcome back to Shanghai Zhengda Square!"
Ze Yuan's voice was as loud as ever. "This is the live broadcast of the 2018 League of Legends Summer League!"
Rita added, "In the Chengdu home game that just ended, WE barely beat OMG 2: 1, maintaining their win rate at around 50%."
"That's right, the ancient powerhouse WE is currently ranked fifth in the Western Division. This year, only the top four teams in the Eastern and Western Divisions can participate in the playoffs," Ze Yuan said loudly. "Due to their low points in the Spring League, if they want to qualify for the Bubble League, they have to make it to the playoffs!"
This year, WE was in deep trouble. Fist had made frequent changes to the game to target YM. So far, they hadn't managed to drag this Double Champion down with them, but they had already drowned WE.
The aging of the players made it difficult for WE's players to adapt to the rapidly changing game environment. 957 was the first to bear the brunt.
At 25 years old, he seemed to have used up his last bit of strength last year. This season, his exhaustion was evident. Even though his training was meticulous, his performance in the competition was significantly worse than last year.
His brother-in-law was also repeatedly jumping between the yellow hairs and the black hairs. The whole team was extremely unstable.
The public opinion was that it would be difficult for WE to enter the international competition. There were only three spots in the LPL. YM, RNG, and IG were the most likely teams to participate. Behind them were RW, TOP, and EDG.
If WE wanted to enter S8, they had to defeat several strong opponents in a row.
Other than the hardcore 60E fans, no one was optimistic about their chances.
"It's worth mentioning that if YM wins this match, WE will temporarily surpass BLG and move into fourth place in the Western Division!"
Ze Yuan's words immediately turned a group of WE fans into YM supporters.
Even though it was only a temporary fourth place, no one knew if this small point would be enough to stop WE in the final points battle at the end of the season.
Shark-fighting Platform, Room 16101.
A man with a level three helmet with an elegant and easy-going face muttered, "YM must win, you must win!"
The viewers in the live broadcast room laughed when they saw the streamer's face. The dense bullet screen was enough to prove his popularity.
Unlucky.
A man who added a C to AD.
Now, in order to attract viewers, Teng Jing had distributed permits to many big streamers to broadcast the competition. Smile was one of them.
As a true member of WE, he naturally supported his old team. He hoped that YM could defeat BLG so that WE could enter the playoffs first.
…
The two commentators chatted about WE for a bit before bringing the topic back to the match.
"The match between YM and BLG is about to begin." Ze Yuan adjusted his headset and listened to the director's prompt. "Let's take a look at the footage from the lounge before the match!"
This was also a new segment that had been added this year. Originally, the cameramen had entered the backstage lounge to take a few sets of photos and keep them as supplementary photos. However, Teng Jing had discovered a new business opportunity as more and more advertisers joined.
Recording the preparation of the contestants before the game could not only please the fans, but also advertise for the sponsors who put their products in the lounge. Wouldn't it be the best of both worlds?
It could only be said that Teng Jing was really good at making money.
The live broadcast switched to the backstage and the audience could see the entirety of BLG's lounge.
Jinjiao sat cross-legged on a chair. He really did look like the king of Golden Horn. He held a piece of chicken in his hand and wolfed it down like he was eating Tang Seng's meat.
Little Dongbei was still looking at his phone. The KFC grandfather on the bag next to him smiled kindly.
There were very few comments. Even though BLG's predecessor, EDE, had entered the LPL at the same time as YM, the two teams were worlds apart in terms of results and popularity.
After all, BLG's playstyle was too Shakespearean. In a 40-minute match, there were only two or three rounds of team battles. At the end of the match, there were less than 10 people. Most importantly, their results were average.
BLG's current fan base was only slightly larger than SN and FPX. It couldn't even compare to Planet's OMG, which had been silent for four years, let alone YM.
For example, right now, when the camera switched to YM's lounge, there was a sudden uproar in the audience. Even the number of comments flying through the live broadcast instantly increased.
However, after a while, the bullet screen was filled with question marks.
The fans originally wanted to see the interaction between YM's players. It would be best if there were scenes that couldn't be seen on the field.
As a result, the famous players in the YM lounge all had stern faces. They all frowned, bent their knees, and stared at the smooth floor in front of them with their right hand under their chin.
It looked like Rodin's sculpture, "The Thinker".
On the commentary platform, Ze Yuan didn't expect YM's lounge to be so different. He was stunned for two seconds. His outstanding professional skills made him think quickly and he quickly came up with the wording:
"I can see that YM's players are a little sleepy today. They're not very energetic!"
He felt that the reason he found for YM was perfect. He continued happily, "It looks like BLG has a chance. If they can grasp this opportunity, it'll increase their chances of winning today's match!"
Rita gave her partner a thumbs up.
The camera didn't stop. It panned and recorded all the places that weren't included in the scene.
Soon, the cameraman found the highlight.
In the corner, there was a charmingly naive looking stranger who had been gnawing on an egg tart. His cheeks were bulging, and with his short buzz cut and round head, he looked like a combination of a hamster and a braised egg.
The camera focused on him. He looked up in confusion and met the camera's eyes. Then he chewed twice and swallowed the entire egg tart. The corner of his mouth was still stained with egg tart crust.
As soon as he swallowed the food, he burped.
He quickly poked the straw into the cup and took a big gulp of Pepsi.
The live audience roared with laughter.
After a few seconds of question marks flooding the screen, the bullet screen finally returned to normal.
[Who the f * ck is this?]
[There's someone like this in YM?
He doesn't look like a staff member.]
[Let's be honest. His table manners make me laugh.]
[I remember this is YMA's top laner. Guo Hao likes him. He often brings him to Zhengda Square to watch games this season.]
[Watch games?
Food delivery!]
[Sob sob sob sob. Jack has nothing to eat. Look at how hungry Shiba Inu is … His face is swollen!]
These scenes were recorded an hour ago. After the makeup was done and the pre-game meeting was over, all that was left was to wait for the cameraman to come in.
Now, the five players of YM were standing at the exit of the tunnel, waiting for instructions to go on stage.
"How was the performance?" Jack whispered in Lin Yan's ear.
Lin Yan pondered. "I don't think it was good."
"The acting was superficial, and the facial expression was unnatural … It looked a bit fake," he said. "If you hadn't lowered your head, I would have thought you were about to laugh out loud."
"Huh?"
Shiba Inu worked hard to act as the Thinker for a quarter of an hour, but got a bad evaluation from their mid laner. Naturally, he was unhappy. "What should we do?"
Lin Yan looked around and finally found Liu Qingsong behind the chubby Shiba Inu. It couldn't be helped. Although Tear Wound wasn't as thin as Mongoose, he was still smaller than Liu Qingsong.
Moreover, the two bottom laners were about the same height, about 1.72 meters. Liu Qingsong could totally hide behind Jack without leaving a trace.
Fortunately, Lin Yan was half a head taller than them, so he successfully found Tear Wound.
"Did you see that?"
Lin Yan said to Jack, "If you don't know how to act, just imitate Liu Qingsong's appearance in front of the camera."
Liu Qingsong: "Are you polite?"
"Oh …" Jack understood immediately. "Facial paralysis, right?"
He rubbed his chubby face to relax his muscles, and then perfectly imitated Tear Wound's expression.
With a straight face, he looked at everyone with an expression that said, "You owe me 50 yuan."
"That's right!" Mentor Lin Yan was finally satisfied.
Lin Yan's way of tolerance was to love what you do.
To be an actor, you had to have self-cultivation.
Phyllostachys Pubescens and Jin Gong were trying to hold back their laughter. They didn't forget to play the whole show in this situation, but when they couldn't hold it in anymore, they could only turn their faces to a hidden corner. Even if they laughed, no one would notice.
YM had always played the whole show. They had to play the role of victims in front of the public. After being punched and slashed several times, it would be weird if they were still laughing and fooling around.
"YM is ready to go on stage!" The girl with dyed pink hair reminded them and signaled the players to follow the marks on the ground and step onto the stage.
Lin Yan didn't forget to remind his teammates to control their facial expressions.
After everything was ready, Jin Gong walked forward.
The audience familiar with YM noticed that the players were in a bad mood the moment they appeared in front of the camera.
Usually, they were laughing and laughing with a relaxed face. The regular season didn't have any pressure for them.
When did they look so serious?
Something was wrong!
[Did they not sleep well or did they have a conflict in the team?]
[How could it be a conflict in the team? They haven't lost any games recently. It can't be because they were fighting over food.]
[It was because they were fighting over food. In the end, there was only a piece of braised pork left. Jack and Brother Ran fought.]
[I can testify at the scene. I was that piece of meat!]
When YM's players appeared on stage, there were many comments. There was no lack of trolls.
When it was BLG's turn to go on stage, there was only scattered applause from the audience.
Currently, only AJ and King of Golden Horn had some popularity in the team. As for the other three positions, the midlaner Little North-east had debuted for less than a year, and he was also involved in a scandal where he changed his ID to Athena after scolding Dopa. Even though there were many opinions on the matter of changing his ID, it was undoubtedly a loss of popularity. The remaining two Korean helpers, Nobu, were also mediocre.
"Today, BLG's starting mid laner is still LittleNorth East. After the Korean jungler Chieftain came on stage, due to the limited number of helpers, the original mid laner Athena can only sit on the bench …"
Ze Yuan spoke eloquently.
Because the Korean support Road was the rhythm engine in BLG's team, he also played the role of team commander. In addition, he had worked with King Golden Horn for many years. Therefore, no matter what, he could not play.
A normal LPL team could only have two helpers. If BLG wanted to go to the Korean jungler, they would have to remove Athena.
On the big screen, the director showed the previous data of the two teams in the summer competition.
"YM's data is as gorgeous as ever …" Rita was the first to speak. "Their economy per game is 8220 points, their first tower rate is 90.5%, their average tower push per game is 8.8 points, their KDA is 7.7 points, and their average kills per game is 17.6 points. They are ranked first in the league in all five categories. The average time per game is 26 minutes and 43 seconds, and they are ranked second in the league.
Although YM's data in the regular season was simply unbelievable, her tone was still flat.
For Rita, she had seen this kind of thing many times. She could only say that she understood what was going on.
"On the other hand, BLG is not as exaggerated as YM." Ze Yuan took over the topic and looked at the other side of the screen. "The battle damage ratio is 2.5, the average time per game is 35 minutes, and their average kills per game … is only 10."
He added, "This is the data of the entire BLG team, not the kill data of a single player."
"Indeed, it's a little too little. They're ranked last in the entire league," Rita agreed. "You should know that LPL is now being led by YM and IG. They're starting to promote frequent fights and kills, but BLG's style is still slow."
"Operations," Ze Yuan said logically. "I think this playstyle has its pros and cons.
"Maybe it's not that good to watch, and their ability to end the game is slightly lacking. However, relatively speaking, their way of winning is very stable!
"Their advantage can be slowly expanded, and they basically don't give the opponent a chance to turn the tables …"
After all, Ze Yuan was a die-hard fan of Samsung's operations. He had a good understanding of Korean operations.
However, the director did not give him the opportunity to continue explaining operations. With a sonorous crisp sound, the BP panel was presented in front of all the audience!
"When BLG gets the blue team, they will ban Sword Magician first!"
Rita pondered for two seconds. "What I have to say is that the current LPL version has been updated to 8.14. The damage of the Blade Magician's Charge E [Shadow Charge] and Q [Shadow Blade] on minions has been reduced."
"I think they are still too afraid of Brother Ran." Ze Yuan laughed. "As long as Sword Demon's resurrection mechanism is not weakened, BLG will not want to release him."
"What's more, Sword Demon is actually the most important tank in the later stages of the game. It is indeed worth targeting."
While the two were discussing, YM sent Yasso to the ban position as usual.
"Then BLG chose to ban Draven." Ze Yuan was not surprised. "Their BP strategy is very clear. They want to ban YM's early game heroes who can roll snowballs. Draven is undoubtedly the strongest archer hero at the moment!"
Jack laughed out loud in the YM player's seat.
The opponent's BP strategy really amused him. Shiba Inu had never thought of using Draven in this game. This hero was not in line with the team's pre-game strategy.
"Let's ban Law." Red Rice thought for a moment and said, "I'll say this first. BLG's archer Dusk is very good. Even if we ban Law, they may still choose Dusk."
"That's not a problem." Lin Yan opened the paper cup. "As long as we don't ban Law, he's too good at turning the tables in the later stages."
After he said this, the YM players looked at each other and laughed, as if they had remembered something happy.
BLG gave the last ban position in the first round to Troll. Red Rice, on the other hand, chose to ban Raven in order to prevent the opponent from choosing Swain.
"BLG gave the first pick to the jungler Pig Girl. The rookie Chieftain's priority is very high!"
Before Ze Yuan could analyze BLG's choice in detail, YM's first and second picks were already locked.
"Kesha + Bull's Head Chieftain!"
This was also one of the common choices for the current duo team. Excluding the mage's bottom lane, Kesha, as a shooter with perfect mechanics, was still very popular in the professional scene.
After BLG chose Dusk + Morgana, Red Rice added Qing Gang Yin. Her fist and knife cut E's base damage by a lot. Now it was difficult for Camille to play solo and she was forced to stay in the jungler position to shine.
This was not a problem. It was a very common choice.
However, in the second round of BP, YM began to put on a show.
"After BLG banned Olaf, they also banned Galio." Rita could tell at a glance who they were targeting. "Brother Ran's hero pool is very limited!"
"Let's see what YM's fourth pick is going to add."
Ze Yuan was still looking forward to it. "If they have Qing Gang Yin in the jungler, it's not bad to get an DPS hero. What about Captain?"
In version 8.14, Captain had not been attacked yet. He used Indestructible against warriors and Steal Money against tanks. These two talents could give Planck a place in the top lane.
The character's avatar lit up in Jack's hero selection box.
It was not a captain with a flintlock and a scimitar.
It was a blacksmith with a ram's horn!
"Orne?!" Rita was a little surprised. "Brother Gongzi wants to take the ram?"
In her impression, West Eight did not like to play Orne very much.
As soon as she finished speaking, YM locked the choice!
"They really took it!"
BLG did not expect it either.
Jin Gong had only used Blacksmith a few times in his career. They did not even have a backup plan for this hero in their pre-game preparations.
"What do you think will be more comfortable to play Orne with?" BLG's head coach, Jin Taiying, asked after standing in his own lane. "Big Bug?"
AmazingJ furrowed his brows and rummaged through his hero pool.
There was no doubt about Orne's current straightforwardness. He was worthy of being the top hero in the front row. W [Bellows' Flame Breath] also had a layer of shield, which gave him a big advantage in the lane exchange.
To be honest, the strength of the hero was not low. The reason why it was difficult to play now was that the pace was accelerated. Orne's role in the early stage was indeed limited. Coupled with the Conqueror's True Damage Conversion, the Ram's playing rate had plummeted.
The crux of the problem was that it was difficult for AJ to find a suitable warrior hero who could carry the Conqueror.
"… Why don't you give me Nightmare?" he said as the countdown was about to end. "It's just enough to prevent the other side from using the Off the Lights and Herding the Sheep combo."
"Then let's use Nightmare first." Head coach, Jin Taiying decided. "Mole, choose a magic hero that you can use. Look at YM's fifth choice of hero, then you can decide which character to use to take the middle lane."
Little Northeast put his elbows on the table. "Ryze. AJ, can you play?"
His accent was a little heavy, and the way he spoke was similar to Zhuo Ding's.
Fortunately, AJ had been his teammate for half a year and could understand what little Northeast was saying. He immediately agreed.
"Ryze and Nightmare!"
Ze Yuan was very satisfied with this lineup. "BLG's ability to pick up heroes in the middle and late stages is quite strong. If YM is not careful, they may face big trouble!"
"Aiya!"
Jin Gong saw that BLG had gotten Nightmare and was dissatisfied. "I still want to play a Off the Lights and Herding the Sheep game!"
Originally, he didn't like playing Aun and wasn't good at it. However, during the Intercontinental Tournament, YM stole the Off the Lights and Herding the Sheep system from RNG. After diligent practice, the eight of them successfully added a character to their hero pool.
Although it was a far cry from Letme's Ornben Sheep, the effect was still passable when taken out and used.
"Liu Qingsong spent two seconds to find Lulu. He definitely won't pick …" Ze Yuan stopped mid-sentence. He remembered that YM had chosen a four-player lineup against RNG in Beijing.
He could not guarantee that YM would not use a four-player lineup in this game.
Fortunately, YM really did not plan to pick Lulu.
"Clockwork Devil!"
Ze Yuan was shocked.
"Orne + Clockwork Devil + Kesha, isn't YM dragging this out too much?!"
The live audience was in an uproar!
If this lineup was used by BLG, it would not look out of place.
But this was YM!
They advocated crazy early game attacks!
Then, they actually chose such a sluggish lineup for this round?
Smile's live broadcast room was filled with cries and howls.
"YM, what are you doing?" he shouted. "This is the key. Can you not practice a new system?"
60E Storm in the room cried, thinking that YM's first hero selection was ridiculous!
[YM doesn't want the jungle anymore, right?]
[All three lanes have been pushed. The jungler will go to jail and be done with it.]
[To be honest, this lineup is quite fierce in the late game.]
[You can use the hammer in the late game. Can you drag it out until the late game?]
Little Northeast saw YM's Clockwork Devil and gritted his teeth in anger.
I've already chosen the swing position of Ryze + Nightmare, and you still want to use Clockwork Devil in the middle lane?
Are you looking down on me?
Have you never died before?
"Give me Nightmare." He gritted his teeth. "I must kill him alone in this game!"
Killing Lin Yan alone was one of the few nightmare-level challenges in LPL, and there were very few who succeeded.
Little Northeast's heart surged with desire. He felt that he was very likely to achieve an epic achievement today!
AJ naturally did not have any objections. Anyway, he had the advantage of using Ryze to fight Orne in the top lane. He could develop as he pleased.
If he gave Nightmare to little Northeast, he could also guarantee the advantage of the middle lane. It was a win-win situation.
After little Northeast got Eternal Nightmare, the split between the two sides was finally decided.
Blue side BLG: top lane Ryze, Wild Boar Girl, mid lane Nightmare, bottom lane Lu Xia + Morgana.
Red side YM: top lane Orne, jungler Qing Gang Ying, mid lane Clockwork Devil, bottom lane Kesha + Bull's Head Chieftain.
What was done could not be undone. Unless there was a time reversal, the lineup of both sides could not be changed.
The fans could only suppress the doubts in their hearts and focus on cheering for the home team they supported.
"YM, do your best!"
The leading fan's voice was loud and sharp, and the supporters who followed behind were so loud that the whole stadium trembled.
Summoner's Canyon appeared in front of everyone!
The ten heroes bought their equipment and left the fountain. The director immediately showed the players' rune configurations.
"Brother Ran has the main ability, Phase Rush, and the secondary ability, Stopwatch and Astral Insight … It's a very normal set of talents."
On the other side, little Northeast carried Conqueror instead of Fatal Rhythm.
The main reason was that YM had Orne and Bull's Head in the front row. If there was no real damage in the team, it would be very difficult to deal with.
"The strength of the first-level teams on both sides is very low. One side has Xia and Ryze, and the other side has Orne. I don't think they can fight."
Just as Rita expected, the two teams did not have the intention to invade the jungle. They went to each other's buff camp in the bottom half to set up an eye and then retreated.
Ze Yuan took advantage of this time to judge the lineups of the two teams.
"YM is a typical late game gambler. When the double C three-piece set is completed, the strength of the team battle will be very impressive."
"But …" He frowned slightly. "BLG's mid to late game is not bad either. Ryze and Xia provide a good guarantee for the team's output, and there's also Pig Girl and King of Nightmares."
"Let's be honest. Even if everyone has a three-piece set, BLG is not necessarily afraid of facing YM head-on."
Rita nodded and agreed with her partner's opinion. "BLG's lineup also upholds their usual style. It can only be said that after 35 minutes, YM is stronger. This is mainly because Orne can give equipment to his teammates. In the case of all six godly equipment, YM also has a big advantage."
One minute and 27 seconds later, the minions of both sides met in the middle lane.
Lin Yan went online and took two steps forward, trying to trick the opponent into using [Path of Nightmares].
However, little Northeast was also a mischievous player. Naturally, he would not give up the skill so easily. His body moved forward and he waved his sword at the three melee soldiers, using King of Nightmares to reduce their HP at the same time.
As he entered battle mode, the layers of Conqueror were slowly stacking.
Lin Yan took advantage of the gap between his minions and used [Command: Attack] to throw out a Magic Puppet while also adding a normal attack.
However, little Northeast was also stuck at the node of Lin Yan's normal attack and returned the attack with [Path of Nightmares].
The results of the exchange were similar. Lin Yan gained a little more than ten HP.
Although he won the exchange, Lin Yan still frowned slightly.
Because after the exchange, little Northeast stood in the shadow path and used the increased attack power to push the line.
As long as King of Nightmares wanted to push the line, a level one spring would not be able to gain the upper hand.
Lin Yan could only retreat to the back of his own long-range soldiers and completely open up the minions.
"The jungle is also very calm. Xiao Tian is farming from top to bottom, while Chieftain's pig girl is farming from bottom to top. The two of them are staggered to open the jungle, and relying on the eye position of the level one arrangement, they are also very clear about the position of the opponent's jungler!"
After knowing Xiao Tian's jungler route, Jin Jiao and Road put the line in front of their own tower at the beginning of the game, not giving Qing Gang Yin a chance to gank them.
"Morgana's level two black shield is directly upgraded to E skill," Ze Yuan, who had sharp eyes, found the small details of Road's skill upgrade sequence in the lower left corner of the OB system and immediately said, "With the existence of the shield immune to control, YM does not dare to cross the tower at all!"
Xiao Tian farmed three groups of junglers and found that there was no chance, so he had to give up.
There was also no chance in the middle lane. Little Northeast's King of Nightmares also had a shield to avoid control. Before Qing Gang Yin rose to level six, it was difficult to pose a threat to him with Clockwork.
"This is the disadvantage of being too passive in the early stage of the lineup," Ze Yuan said loudly, "YM has no way to catch them in the early stage, and BLG's bottom lane controls the minions very well. Xiao Tian can't find a chance, so he can only go back and continue farming!"
However, when it came to farming, the pig girl was faster than Qing Gang Yin, not to mention that Chieftain was prepared in advance. He farmed from bottom to top, and all six groups of junglers and river crabs were collected. After clearing the jungle, it took less than three minutes and forty seconds.
In order to avoid being caught in the top lane, he also thoughtfully made a defensive eye for AJ and went back to the city to farm the second round of the jungle.
"This pig girl's rhythm is very comfortable, and she is not disturbed at all." Rita looked at the pig girl's lead in the last hit count. "BLG is still too good at this kind of early development style. If they really drag it to level six, the pig girl will usher in a qualitative change!"
Lin Yan in the middle lane was also very worried.
Little Northeast's strength was not weak, but he was probably trained by the coach, and now his play was very stable.
It was similar to the electric baton of his hometown in the northeast.
The opponent had been pushing the line, and the frequency of blood exchange was deliberately suppressed very low. Most of the time, it was just a slight pressure on the last hit.
When it came to fighting King of Nightmares with Clockwork, the opponent must have the initiative in the early stage. As long as Little Northeast did not take the initiative to exchange blood, Lin Yan could not do anything.
"When the opponent F6 refreshes, let's kill him!" Mongoose suggested.
Phyllostachys Pubescens knew the opponent's farming route because he placed an eye in the opponent's jungle at level one. Based on this, he could also infer the approximate respawn time of each group of junglers.
Around five minutes and ten seconds.
Lin Yan calculated the time and prepared to arrange in advance so that the plan could be carried out perfectly.