150. The Rising BRN Team
"How deep is your hero pool?"
Brownie asked as the draft phase began.
"I've taught him about five or six popular heroes, but we haven't practiced any counter-picks yet, so..." Da Bing (Soldier) explained.
"Oh, I heard you only started playing this game a few weeks ago, and you only get to play a few hours on weekends... so the main strategy for the first game is to protect the bot lane, and pick a tanky top laner. Is that okay?"
Brownie laid out the strategy, and Yun Ling indicated he would follow his captain's instructions.
Brownie's move was both a test for Yun Ling and a challenge to their team's standard strategy.
Protecting the bot and letting the top lane dominate—their bot lane's marksman and support are arguably the best in the game right now, bar none.
The other lanes are considerably weaker. First, (Soldier) Da Bing's jungle performance is only average for a professional player.
The mid laner, Moon Cat, struggles to react in team fights, always seeming a beat too slow.
As for the top lane, many players couldn't stand this playstyle, as BRN's strategy inevitably made the top lane their weak point.
Besides the discomfort of playing alone, there was also the pressure of public opinion.
Glory wasn't theirs, but the criticism was constant.
Few top laners could endure BRN's success.
Therefore, their victory in the Third League was almost entirely due to the bot lane's heroics, and they swept all the honors, leaving the top lane position largely ignored.
Later, their luck ran out, and the weaknesses of BRN's fixed playstyle became very apparent.
If the bot lane couldn't snowball, there wouldn't be any major problems.
This is, after all, a multiplayer game; one person's strength is insignificant.
During the draft phase, Brownie directed the banning of some popular heroes, then let Yun Ling, who had no counter picks, choose first.
Since Brownie didn't know which heroes Yunling played, he let him play freely.
Yun Ling glanced at the hero selection screen and locked in a tank hero that everyone had played.
This hero was from the tutorial, the simplest and easiest tank to learn.
"You…Soldier, what's going on?" Brownie's tone clearly carried a hint of surprise.
Wouldn't it be laughable to use this hero in a professional match…?
"Uh, cough, Captain, it's your turn." Soldier coughed lightly, clearly not expecting Yun Ling to choose this hero.
Speaking of withstanding pressure…he certainly does.
Soldier glanced at the inexperienced Yun Ling beside him. It seemed he needed more training; his hero pool was still too shallow.
Recalling their previous training, it seemed most of the heroes he had taught were offensively oriented. This was his fault.
The opposing professional team was also stunned. Was this a disrespectful choice? Was this a humiliating pick?
However, once the game started, the opposing top laner truly felt the pressure.
Precise distance control, near-perfect trade rhythm, and flawless minion wave management.
Amidst Yun Ling's relentless trades, the professional top laner quickly ran out of potions.
However, in the next wave, the professional top laner, seeing Yun Ling suddenly charge forward, was neither alarmed nor pleased but rather relieved, because his teammates had arrived.
Yun Ling still had more than half his health remaining; he had a skill to avoid basic attack damage, and he could jump away at any time.
Yun Ling was pushing so far forward that there was no way he could escape.
Sure enough, as soon as Yun Ling charged in, the enemy jungler surrounded him from behind.
During the first few minutes of the laning phase, the opponents already knew how strong Yun Ling's kiting was. To prevent him from dodging, the professional top laner directly used his damage-avoiding skill plus a jump attack to control Yun Ling.
In their eyes, Yun Ling was already a fish on the chopping block.
The professional jungler quickly followed up with damage, bringing Yun Ling to critical condition. Suddenly, a bright blue light emanated from Yun Ling—he had reached level six!
The professional top laner sensed something was wrong, but he had already used his only mobility skill to approach and control Yun Ling.
With a roar from his character, a massive sword descended from the sky, turning his screen gray.
"Sigh, he got taken down." The professional top laner couldn't help but facepalm.
This was a misjudgment on his part; he hadn't even remembered such a crucial moment as the opponent reaching level six.
"Hey, what the hell are you doing?" the mid laner yelled in the chat.
The top laner looked down and saw that Yun Ling had actually run back to the turret with a sliver of health...
"I don't know either. This guy had a damage reduction spell, blocked a basic attack, and then dodged two of my skills..." the jungler said, feeling extremely frustrated.
That bizarre 90-degree movement was as if he were using a script.
If it weren't for the fact that the opposing team was also professional, and the former champion BRN team at that, he would have said that already.
After securing a kill, Yun Ling became even more aggressive, and given that the opposing top laner was a tempo-oriented player, this tactic led to a quick GG.
They were then humiliatingly tower-dived and killed.
The bot lane was also destroyed thanks to the perfect coordination of Brownie and Little Rabbit.
There was absolutely no chance of a comeback.
In less than half an hour, Yun Ling's team secured the victory.
Fortunately, this was a best-of-five series, so there was still a chance.
In the second game, Yun Ling started again, this time choosing a different hero that once again left the opposing team speechless.
While slightly better than the previous pick, it wasn't much better either.
It was another beginner-friendly hero, perhaps viable in casual games, but in professional matches...
Short range and a lack of crowd control leave them vulnerable in team fights.
Realizing they were being underestimated, the professional team decisively chose one of the strongest laners in the current meta.
Just when they thought it was going to be a fierce battle, BRN changed their tactics. During the comfortable level four laning phase, their professional top laner got caught out...
Then the absurd things started happening.
What's it like to chase down three opponents alone?
With the advantage, Yun Ling became unruly, roaming freely in the enemy jungle.
When the mid, top, and jungle ganked together, he countered by pulling all three back, barely managing to heal on the outer edge, only to be counter-ganked by Moon Cat and Soldier...
What the hell?
This time, they pushed even faster, reaching the enemy base in twenty minutes. Anyone watching would think it was a bot game.
After being repeatedly crushed by two novice heroes, the professional team's morale crumbled, and they lost all fighting spirit.
The third game, ha... he chose the reckless heroes.
And then they were chased down again.
During the post-match review, the coach looked at the players, who were almost completely demoralized, with a hint of helplessness.
"Everyone could see that, right? Besides their strongest players, Brownie and Little Rabbit, even their top laner was completely outmatched."
"It's not your fault; the skill gap was too obvious."
The coach didn't want to discourage them, but that was the reality.
The five professional players and the coach reviewed the game together, finally understanding just how much pressure the professional top laner faced against Yun Ling.
It was like a Challenger player toying with a Diamond player.
The professional top laner admitted that after a few minutes, he no longer knew what he was doing anymore, feeling completely overwhelmed.
But everyone knew that if they were in his shoes, it would be similar.
"Looks like BRN has recruited some incredible talent... It seems their only weakness right now is their jungler."
"But with such a strong top laner and marksman/support, and an impenetrable mid laner... targeting the jungler will be incredibly difficult. BRN is about to rise."
The coach's eyes were filled with melancholy.
...