It was the last week of June, Sunday night at 7 PM.
This match between Tianhuan and Beimu would be the final game of the S10 regular season.
The matches in Group A had already concluded on Saturday afternoon.
Yaoguang was penalized for match-fixing and switched to a new marksman, causing their performance to plummet in the third round of Group A matches. Ultimately, Team Luoshendian and Team MID entered the playoffs' loser's bracket as the top two teams from Group A.
Only one match remained in Group S. The current standings were as follows:
Tianhuan: 4 consecutive wins (two 2:1, two 2:0), net score of 6, ranking first in Group S.
Beimu: 4 consecutive wins (two 2:1, two 2:0), net score of 6, tied for first in Group S with Tianhuan.
Jingzhe: Won 2:1 against Huowen, Yueying, and Binghun; lost 1:2 to Tianhuan and Beimu. With three wins and two losses, they ranked third.
Yueying: Won 2:1 against Huowen, lost the remaining four matches 1:2. Net score of -3, ranking fourth.
Binghun ranked fifth, and Team Huowen, with continuous losses, was at the bottom.
Regardless of the outcome of this final match, it would not affect the list of teams advancing to the playoffs, but it would impact the playoff matchups. Since Tianhuan and Beimu had identical records, this match became a battle for the top spot in Group S.
At 6:30 PM, the audience arrived at the venue early.
Fans of Tianhuan and Beimu were in high spirits, holding up support posters one after another. The Tianhuan fan club had even made a set of fluorescent headbands shaped like water, fire, sun, moon, and stars. Many girls wore them on their heads, and from a distance, countless shapes of suns, moons, stars, water, and fire twinkled in the crowd, converging into a fluorescent ocean.
Backstage was also very lively, with all the Group S teams present to watch the match.
Ye Shaoyang met the members of Team Beimu in the hallway.
Zhao Xin'an stepped forward and said, "Xiao Bai, I've been looking forward to the day I could play against you! After all, I was the first one to notice you. I was a member of your livestream room back when you were still a newbie."
Ye Shaoyang smiled. "Thanks for the attention, Reporter Zhao?"
Chi Shuo followed up, "Really, thank you. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have gotten to know him so quickly and pulled him into Team Tianhuan."
Zhao Xin'an was depressed. "So I became your matchmaker? Shouldn't you give me a red envelope?"
Chi Shuo thought, I'll definitely give you a big red envelope at the wedding later.
As for today, let's beat you in the arena first.
The coaches of both sides shook hands politely and led their team members into their respective lounges.
Tonight was the last match of Group S, the closing battle of the regular season.
The guest commentators were Mu Mu and Brother Dong. The two briefly introduced the situation of both teams at the commentary desk.
Mu Mu smiled and said, "This duel between Tianhuan and Beimu is a battle for first place in the Group S regular season. Regardless of who wins or loses, both teams are guaranteed a spot in the winner's bracket of the playoffs, and as the top two, they will have priority side selection."
Brother Dong said, "Both Tianhuan and Beimu are very strong, so today's match will definitely be exciting. The official pre-match prediction channel is open. Viewers at the venue and friends on major livestreaming platforms are welcome to participate in the prize prediction. We will draw some lucky viewers from those who predicted correctly to distribute official limited edition merchandise!"
Mu Mu said, "The match is about to begin. Let's welcome the players from both sides."
Amidst exciting music, the players from Tianhuan and Beimu walked onto the big stage together.
The two commentators spoke rapidly, introducing each player in turn.
Inside the soundproof booth, Tianhuan was making final adjustments. Coach Lin looked relaxed. He patted the players on the shoulder one by one and said, "Remember what I said. Win or lose, play freely! It's the last regular season game; don't have any psychological pressure, understand?"
Everyone responded in unison: "Understood!"
With equipment debugging complete, the referee signaled the start of the match.
"The first game is about to begin. Let's enter the first game BP for Tianhuan vs. Beimu!"
Tianhuan was randomly assigned to the Blue side.
Coach Lin didn't hesitate to ban the utility jungler [Fighter]. Beimu banned the marksman [Wind Elf]. Coach Lin followed up by banning the utility jungler [Swordsman]. Beimu continued by banning the marksman [Sharpshooter].
"Tianhuan's BP is only targeting the jungle position, while Beimu is targeting the marksman position today. In this way, the mid laner and side lanes are all open?"
"Beimu is strong in all three lanes. If everything is left open, will they choose a dual-warrior composition?"
Tianhuan picked the marksman [Blood Princess] first.
When it was Beimu's turn to choose, their 1st and 2nd slots directly picked two warriors—
[Rose's Edge] and [Blade's Will]!
Mu Mu said, "Beimu indeed chose a dual-warrior composition. Both warriors are heroes that require high mechanical skill, have multiple dashes, have a strong ability to cut the backline, and have fast split-pushing speed. They are a huge threat to Tianhuan's backline."
Dong Ge echoed, "Xiao Xing's survival environment in this game is very unfriendly. Two warriors can dive him; one life isn't enough at all. He needs two lives, right?"
A burst of laughter erupted from the audience. One could imagine how hard it would be for Xiao Xing to stay alive in this game.
The camera focused on Tianhuan's soundproof booth. Upon seeing the heroes selected by the opponents, Cheng Xing didn't seem surprised at all. His expression remained relaxed, and he even turned his head to look at Qu Jiang, chatting about something unknown.
It was Tianhuan's turn to choose. Their 2nd and 3rd slots are locked in the top laner [Holy Paladin] and the support [Shield of Glory].
Mu Mu said, "Tianhuan took a top laner and support with strong protection capabilities. One takes damage as a substitute, and the other raises a shield to block damage. Xiao Xing will have two bodyguards during team fights."
Beimu's 3rd slot took the jungler [Fighter King]. This jungler hero didn't need to consume gold and could just provide crowd control as a utility player, or he could take gold and play as a carry jungler. Chi Shuo often used him as a carry jungler. Beimu's move could be considered "picking to ban," dismantling Chi Shuo's Fighter King system.
In the second phase, Beimu consecutively banned two mage assassins, [Abyssal Lord] and [Goddess of Destiny].
Tianhuan didn't ban mid laners but targeted supports, banning [Light of Blessing] and [Time Traveler].
Mu Mu and Brother Dong looked at each other. "Tianhuan's BP today completely ignores Beimu's dual side lanes and mid lane?"
Everyone knew Beimu was strong in all three lanes, yet you left the side lane warriors and mid lane mages completely open?
Beimu's 4th slot picked the support [White Bear], leaving the final counter pick for the mid laner.
Backstage, Jingzhe's Coach Chen suddenly realized, "Tianhuan is preparing for the playoffs, right? Letting Beimu's strong lineup out completely to practice against it in advance." He looked at Fang Zhengqing. "For Tianhuan to beat Beimu, there's only hope with mid-jungle synergy. Which pair do you think Chi Shuo and Ye Shaoyang will choose?"
Fang Zhengqing said, "The Flying Duo? Crossing obstacles makes it more convenient to invade the enemy jungle."
As soon as he finished speaking, Tianhuan's 4th and 5th slots simultaneously selected two heroes.
[Charm Demon] and [Nightmare].
Xie Yuan said meaningfully, "Captain Fang guessed wrong again. They indeed didn't choose the Flying Duo."
Fang Zhengqing raised an eyebrow. "Don't ask me any questions about Chi Shuo in the future."
The combination of Charm Demon and Nightmare had appeared in previous matches. Charm Demon would possess and pull Nightmare over; Nightmare would dash away, and Charm Demon would follow to escape.
You pull me, I pull you—netizens jokingly called them the "Hand-in-Hand Combo."
Together, the two heroes could chain up to 4 dashes, making them very agile and suitable for invasions.
Beimu left their last counter pick for the mid laner. After seeing Tianhuan's lineup, Sean said, "Take a control mage; it's better for team fights."
Beimu selected the mid laner [Forest Lord].
Both lineups were confirmed. Beimu's damage output points were the core players in the top, mid, and bot lanes.
Tianhuan's mid and jungle had agile dashes, and the marksman's ultimate could lifesteal. They also had three damage output points.
The match began.
Tianhuan was indeed very aggressive in invading the Red Buff jungle.
The jungler Charm Demon couldn't trigger the possession effect without his ultimate at the start, but he had a short-distance dash skill to escape. Chi Shuo and Ye Shaoyang teamed up to invade, with Old Qin protecting them nearby.
It was a 3v3 in the top jungle. Xiao Zhao jumped over fiercely and unleashed a combo, first knocking Ye Shaoyang down to half health, then quickly retreating to wait for an opportunity nearby. Sean poked from a distance in the brush. Beimu's jungler A-Rong wanted to use Smite to steal the Red Buff when its health was low, but…
Chi Shuo pulled the Red Buff away.
Pulling it to the limit distance before it would reset, he used Smite to secure the Red, then retreated swiftly.
Zhao Xin'an shouted, "Damn, stop them!"
Xiao Zhao, waiting for an opportunity nearby, was using the hero [Blade's Will] this game. It had two states: Blade Form and Sword Form. Sword Form was very agile, stacking basic attacks for continuous assassination!
Ye Shaoyang had already been crippled by him. After this combo, he only had a sliver of health left.
As long as Sean threw a skill from a distance, Ye Shaoyang would die.
Seeing Sean's casting animation, Ye Shaoyang decisively Flashed over the wall to escape and returned home to heal.
Tianhuan successfully stole a buff in this invasion.
But Ye Shaoyang had used his Flash, so he would have to be extra careful in the upcoming mid-lane phase.
Chi Shuo took the Red Buff back to his own jungle and quickly cleared the Blue. He let Qu Jiang and Cheng Xing take his own Red. With the Red Buff in the early game, Cheng Xing could relieve the pressure in his lane.
Ye Shaoyang returned to the mid lane, standing under the tower to clear minions quickly.
He played this game very cautiously because Sean's [Forest Lord] could extend vines to a very long range, having a longer attack distance than him. Once his positioning was careless and he got entangled by vines, he would take a full combo of damage. Being whittled down by the opponent was very dangerous.
Sean kept trying to control the opponent with vines.
Lieyang didn't have Flash. If he could control him and land two rounds of hits, he could find an opportunity to solo kill him. However, every time his vines were released, they were dodged by the opponent. Lieyang seemed to even predict the trajectory of his vines?
Sean was surprised deep down. He hadn't played against Lieyang before, only hearing from the media that Lieyang was a "very talented rookie." Playing against him personally today, Sean confirmed—the media wasn't exaggerating; Lieyang was indeed very strong.
Even having used Flash at the start, he was unhurried and very stable during the laning phase. Not missing a single minion, quickly positioning to dodge key skills, and not giving you any chance to solo kill him.
Zhao Xin'an glanced at the situation in the mid lane and said, "Wait for me to hit Level 6 to gank him."
In the top lane, Old Qin struggled a bit in the 1v1 against Zhao Xin'an. Fortunately, he picked a meat tank in this game, so taking a few hits didn't cost too much health. However, the river crab in the top lane was almost completely controlled by Zhao Xin'an; Old Qin didn't snatch a single one.
In the bot lane, Zhao Xinping took the warrior side laner [Rose's Edge]. When the sharp sword swung, there would be a blooming rose effect with a high crit rate. She charged directly into Cheng Xing's face to trade blows, suppressing the squishy Cheng Xing under the tower with two strikes.
Miss Alpha's warrior side laner was more ferocious than any marksman Cheng Xing had encountered this season.
Marksmen could only poke each other from a distance, but warriors could stick to your face and fight.
If Cheng Xing positioned himself slightly forward, she would use her W skill to dash over and unleash a combo. A squishy marksman couldn't beat a warrior in the early game at all and was quickly crippled.
Cheng Xing had to hide under the tower and try his best to clear minions.
A moment later, Chi Shuo was the first on the field to reach Level 6 and decisively went to the bot lane to help.
Zhao Xinping realized something was wrong and retreated quickly. Chi Shuo possessed her from a distance and landed a combo, but couldn't kill her. Zhao Xinping returned home with low health. Chi Shuo decisively said, "Start the Small Dragon."
The three from Tianhuan's bot lane started the Small Dragon.
Just then, Old Qin suddenly said, "Top laner MIA!"
Ye Shaoyang became alert and immediately retreated.
He had already retreated under the tower. However, Zhao Xin'an played aggressively in matches; he Flashed over to tower dive and chop him!
The hero [Blade's Will] could stun in Blade Form and deal crits in Sword Form. Skills are refreshed upon switching forms, making it very agile.
Zhao Xin'an Flashed into the tower in Blade Form and stunned Lieyang with a chop. Sean followed closely with vine entanglement. Two vines shot out quickly from the [Forest Lord]'s hands, binding Ye Shaoyang from left and right.
Seamless chain control.
Beimu's Top and Mid coordination was also very tacit.
Taking advantage of Ye Shaoyang's Flash being on cooldown, Zhao Xin'an and Sean teamed up to forcefully kill Lieyang.
Ye Shaoyang: "…"
How big is the grudge, Reporter Zhao? Running all the way from top lane to gank me?
In a 2v1 without Flash, getting killed was normal. Ye Shaoyang reminded, "Retreat quickly after taking the dragon; Xiao Zhao is flanking." Chi Shuo: "Received."
The three quickly finished the Small Dragon and retreated.
When Zhao Xin'an and Sean rushed over, they only caught a glimpse of their backs.
Trading a mid laner's life for a Small Dragon seemed like a gain for Tianhuan, but in reality, once the mid laner died, Tianhuan's rhythm would break. With the mid and jungle unable to invade together, Beimu would have a period of safe farming.
Chi Shuo said decisively, "Mid lane, kill Sean."
"Received." Ye Shaoyang returned to the mid lane after respawning.
By this time, his Flash had finished cooling down. The minion waves met, and Sean appeared to clear them.
Old Qin issued a warning: "Top laner MIA!"
Ye Shaoyang said, "Xiao Zhao is coming to gank me again."
Chi Shuo said, "Strike first to gain the upper hand."
As soon as he finished speaking, he possessed Ye Shaoyang. Ye Shaoyang tacitly Flashed directly in front of Sean. Sean was a world-class player after all; his reaction was extremely fast, and he subconsciously Flashed to run away.
However, he didn't expect that when Ye Shaoyang Flashed over, he brought a Great Demon King with him—
Charm Demon was hanging on Nightmare's body.
Using Ye Shaoyang's body as a springboard, Chi Shuo used his Q skill to control Sean under the tower, followed immediately by a burst combo. Ye Shaoyang quickly followed up with damage from a distance. After taking Sean's head, Ye Shaoyang used his W skill to dash away. Chi Shuo refreshed his ultimate and possessed Ye Shaoyang to run away together.
The Hand-in-Hand Combo's ability to catch people was indeed strong—kill and run.
Reporter Zhao charged out of the grass. Reporter Zhao, shouldering a blade, looked menacing, seemingly wanting to keep the heads of the Great Demon Kings, but the "Hand-in-Hand Combo" ran too fast, and Reporter Zhao couldn't catch up.
Mu Mu couldn't help laughing. "Beimu's top laner supported and killed Tianhuan's mid laner; Tianhuan's jungler supported and killed Beimu's mid laner. Does that count as revenge?" "The mid lane looks like it'll be very lively today!"
The mid lane was indeed very lively.
Not long after, Ye Shaoyang had just cleared the minions and wanted to go home when a voluptuous female warrior suddenly charged out of the grass, the sharp sword in her hand carrying a blooming rose.
Ye Shaoyang: "…"
Sister, isn't this too far? Running from bot lane to gank me?
Not only Zhao Xinping—Zhao Xin'an, who had originally retreated, hadn't actually left but was hiding nearby waiting to support. The moment his sister made her move, he suddenly switched to Sword Form and charged over simultaneously.
The twin siblings seemed to have a tacit understanding in their genes.
Rose's Edge and Blade's Will, the two warriors with the strongest ability to cut the backline in the entire game. The twin siblings dived the tower directly to forcefully take Ye Shaoyang's head. Ye Shaoyang was killed again.
Ye Shaoyang held his forehead. "Are they farming me like a boss?"
Qu Jiang said, "I'll come to mid to help defend. Just now, Zhao Xinping recalled under the tower. I thought she went home. I didn't expect her to circle through the jungle to kill the mid laner."
Running from the bot lane all the way to kill the mid laner was very rare in matches. After all, the bot lane usually needed to farm slowly in the early game. Unexpectedly, Zhao Xinping played so aggressively, taking a huge detour to ambush the mid laner before even finishing her equipment. Qu Jiang had indeed been careless.
Qu Jiang quickly went to defend mid and help Ye Shaoyang place vision.
It seemed Beimu would focus their offense on the mid lane today. Chi Shuo quickly adjusted: "Yang Yang hold mid; Qu Jiang watch the vision; I'll go check the enemy jungle."
The enemy Blue Buff happened to respawn. Beimu's utility jungler would whittle down the Blue Buff and give it to the mid laner. Sean hid nearby, just about to use his Q skill to take the Blue Buff, when Chi Shuo suddenly used Smite to steal the Blue and strode away.
Sean: "…"
Worked for nothing.
Next, Chi Shuo continuously harassed the jungle, not only stealing the Blue Buff but also clearing several monsters in the Red Buff area, scavenging a swath of resources from the enemy jungle. Zhao Xin'an was forced to return to defend the jungle, and the pressure on mid lane was indeed relieved. Ye Shaoyang took the opportunity to farm for a while and completed key damage items.
In the bot lane, no one came to gank Cheng Xing this game, as Beimu was all ganking the mid laner. Suppressed under the tower by Sister Zhao, his gold difference wasn't too big; the difference was all from the river crab money he really couldn't snatch.
The Small Dragon respawned again, and the Vanguard Dragon in the top jungle also respawned.
Chi Shuo looked at the gold and tower health of both sides and said, "Take the Vanguard Dragon, push a wave."
Beimu chose to take the Small Dragon. Each side took one dragon.
The match had proceeded to 15 minutes. With the Vanguard Captain, Chi Shuo and Ye Shaoyang roamed to bot lane simultaneously, teaming up with Qu Jiang and Cheng Xing to forcefully push down the bot tower; but Sean roamed to top lane and pushed down the top tower with Zhao Xin'an.
Towers were traded, followed by a lane swap, and they pushed down each other's side lane outer towers.
The anxious situation made the audience on site very nervous.
The two commentators said, "So far, the two sides are evenly matched. The kill count is the same, and the team gold is about the same. On Beimu's side, the economy of both sides lanes has risen. For Tianhuan, the highest economy is the jungler, as Captain Chi snatched a lot of buffs and jungle resources, but the mid laner and marksman have relatively poor economy."
Ye Shaoyang had a poor economy in this game, firstly because he didn't get jungle resources while Sean took several Blue Buffs; secondly, Beimu focused on him heavily. The top and bottom warriors ganked him frantically, causing him to be killed early and miss some minion waves.
It was useless for Chi Shuo alone to have a high economy. The enemy had only one squishy mid laner this game, while top and bot were warriors who were hard to kill. Chi Shuo couldn't harvest and needed Ye Shaoyang and Cheng Xing to coordinate damage output.
Beimu also realized their equipment advantage at this stage and immediately attacked mid to force a team fight.
This team's playstyle was very aggressive. When forcing a fight, the support charged up with White Bear to bait, the jungler dashed in to control, Sean controlled the field from afar, and the Zhao siblings moved simultaneously—dual warriors cutting the backline!
Although Cheng Xing Flashed to escape, he only had one Flash, while the enemy had two warriors.
The speed at which the twins cut the backline was lightning fast. Qu Jiang and Old Qin didn't have time to use protection skills before Cheng Xing was stunned by Zhao Xin'an's blade. Zhao Xinping immediately burst damage, and Cheng Xing was down in less than 2 seconds. He didn't even have time to see where Zhao Xinping popped out from.
World-class warrior side laners—the coordination of Big and Little Zhao was indeed terrifying!
Cheng Xing looked at the mid lane with lingering fear. At the same time the Zhao siblings Flashed to cut the backline, and Chi Shuo and Ye Shaoyang teleported over again to cut down the opposing Sean.
—[Beimu Reporter Zhao (Killed) Tianhuan Fanxing (Blood Princess)]
—[Tianhuan Shuoyue (Charm Demon) Killed Beimu Sean (Forest Lord)]
At the start of the team fight, Tianhuan and Beimu each lost a squishy carry.
However, the problem of Tianhuan's insufficient damage output was also exposed.
Warrior damage was very high, especially a side laner like [Rose's Edge]. Her sword's basic attacks could continuously stack attack speed, getting stronger the more she fought; [Blade's Will]'s dual form switching also had considerable sustained damage capability. After killing someone in Blade Form, switching to Sword Form allowed for another burst combo.
Meanwhile, Tianhuan's Chi Shuo and Ye Shaoyang would enter a brief skill downtime after using their skills.
In other words, after killing Sean, Chi Shuo and Ye Shaoyang had no skills left and could only temporarily retreat, whereas the Zhao siblings could continue to output damage after killing someone, possessing stronger sustained damage capability.
With one carry down on each side, in a 4v4 situation, Tianhuan was at a skill disadvantage and could only fight while retreating. Although Qu Jiang and Old Qin protected their teammates' retreat and no one else died, the mid outer tower was quickly pushed down by the enemy dual warriors.
Once the mid tower was lost, invading the jungle would become even harder.
The two commentators also noticed this problem. Mu Mu said, "Tianhuan's damage output is a bit insufficient. Charm Demon and Nightmare are both burst assassins, suitable for invading the jungle and setting the rhythm, not suitable for team fights."
"Yes, after unleashing a set of skills in a team fight, follow-up damage will be very weak. But in the jungle, this pair is absolutely king. In this game for Tianhuan, a 3-buff start was actually an advantage, but later the mid laner was ganked, the rhythm of joint invasion was interrupted, and the economy couldn't snowball, making team fights difficult."
Tianhuan gradually fell into a disadvantage.
Once the warriors got their equipment, cutting a squishy took only 1 second.
Even with the protection of support and tank, they could force their way to kill the backline.
Cheng Xing simply couldn't live past 5 seconds in team fights.
Both of Beimu's side lanes were warriors. In team fights, two warriors flanked together, Flashing over to cut him. Cheng Xing really tried his best; he couldn't build all defensive items, could he?
Tianhuan was tenacious in the disadvantageous game, defending the high ground until 25 minutes.
Cheng Xing activated his ultimate to clear minions every wave, ran back to the crystal with low health, healed to full, and continued to clear the line; Chi Shuo and Ye Shaoyang sought opportunities multiple times to insta-kill the enemy's key carry. They held on until the late game.
In a critical high ground team fight at 28 minutes, Sean suddenly Flashed and used his ultimate—
The hero [Forest Lord]'s ultimate field control could summon vines over a large range, binding all enemy targets within the area and stunning them for 1.5 seconds.
In narrow terrain like the high ground, Tianhuan's positioning wouldn't be too spread out if they wanted to clear minions.
Sean's abrupt Flash control directly caught 3 members of Tianhuan!
Beimu's support tanked the tower with White Bear, while the dual side lanes and jungler cut the backline together. Although Tianhuan tried their best to clear the minion wave, they ultimately missed one low-health Tyrant Captain. Beimu took the opportunity to push down the crystal.
The computer screen turned gray. Looking at the settlement panel showing less than 20% damage output this game, Cheng Xing lowered his head in shame and whispered, "I didn't deal any damage at all this game. I'm sorry."
Ye Shaoyang patted his shoulder. "It's okay. Under the butcher knives of Beimu's dual warriors, very few marksmen can survive. You did your best."
Cheng Xing took a deep breath and quickly adjusted his mindset. "I'll play well next game."
Lin Feng walked into the soundproof booth and encouraged, "Don't rush, this is only the first game."
Qu Jiang turned to look at the coach and said, "Even if we choose protective supports and tanks, we still can't save Xiao Xing. The opposing dual warriors are too fierce; they can ignore our protection and forcefully kill the backline."
Old Qin agreed, "That's right. My Holy Paladin activating substitute didn't mean much either. It can only hold for two or three seconds. Once my substitute time is over, the opposing dual sides can still kill Xiao Xing with one chop. They banned the agile Wind Elf and the ultra-long-range Sharpshooter just to target Xiao Xing in team fights."
Beimu's strategy was obvious—target the mid laner in the early game so they can't coordinate with the jungler to set the rhythm; insta-kill the marksman in late-game team fights. As long as the marksman died, Tianhuan's damage output wouldn't be enough.
Beimu's top and bot lanes suddenly attacking to gank the mid laner indeed disrupted Tianhuan's rhythm.
Ye Shaoyang said frankly, "I'll take the blame for this game. Captain Chi and I couldn't link up."
Qu Jiang said, "My vision tracking also had problems. I didn't notice Zhao Xinping suddenly going to mid lane. I thought she went home with low health. I should have signaled you when she disappeared."
Who would have thought that a low-health Zhao Xinping would take a huge detour to sneak-attack the mid laner?
Ye Shaoyang smiled and said, "Let's review it when we get back. Think about the next game first. The Charm Demon and Nightmare combination doesn't seem to work against Beimu. Although Captain Chi and I killed Sean several times, we couldn't deal with Big and Little Zhao, making team fights hard. The Flying Duo is the same logic; although we can fly away after a combo, the damage isn't enough."
Chi Shuo agreed, "Mn, we need a jungler and mid laner with stronger damage output capabilities."
Judging from the first game, relying on burst damage to kill Sean or one of the Zhaos wasn't enough to win if they couldn't deal with the other damage points.
In the current Tianhuan, Cheng Xing's strength was still a bit far from Zhao Xinping's, and Old Qin couldn't limit Zhao Xin'an in a 1v1. Two warriors posed a huge threat to the backline, and Cheng Xing could hardly output damage.
So, they had to consider, how should Tianhuan output damage after Cheng Xing died?
Mid and Jungle needed to take heroes with stronger damage capabilities.
Support and Top couldn't go purely tank either.
Lin Feng thought for a moment and looked at Ye Shaoyang. "Use Plan B for the next game. Don't pick a tank to protect Xiao Xing; let Xiao Xing fend for himself. We'll choose a more aggressive lineup. Mid Carry, strong jungle invasion, and enough damage output in team fights!"
Ye Shaoyang's hero pool hadn't been fully displayed yet. Back on the international server, the heroes he practiced with Chi Shuo were far more than just the Black & White and Flying Duo combinations. They had practiced many; some combinations had win rates too low and were rejected by the coaching staff, while others were unstable and hadn't been brought out in the regular season.
There were two types of Mid Carries: one was the artillery type like World-Ending Mage or Kraken, instantly deleting a person from a distance to create a headcount advantage; the other was the sustained damage mage hero.
Solar Mage Holman, Moonlight Mage Lin.
Both these heroes relied on basic attacks for damage, not relying on skill cooldowns. As long as they were alive, they could output damage.
Solar Mage fought face-to-face with basic attacks, or Moonlight Mage throwing moon blades from a distance?
Ye Shaoyang said, "Let's take Moonlight Mage."
In the BP phase of the second game, Tianhuan actually first-picked Moonlight Mage Lin!
The moment that avatar appeared, the two commentators were stunned. Brother Dong couldn't help but say, "Mid Carry? Tianhuan is really stubborn! In the last game, the mid laner was targeted frantically, yet they dare to choose this kind of grand mage?"
Mu Mu had mixed feelings and joked, "Lieyang has this kind of fearless personality. You killed me last game, right? Continue. I'll pick a grand mage this game. If you don't gank me to death, I lose?"
The fans at the venue burst into laughter.
Lieyang's stubbornness was already famous. Moonlight Mage was also common in online ranked games. As a main carry mid laner requiring equipment support, as long as he was alive, he could keep auto-attacking to deal damage.
But the premise was: staying alive.
In the backstage viewing area, Fang Zhengqing couldn't help holding his forehead. "He really isn't afraid of death! Snatching Moonlight Mage in the first slot is almost like writing a line on his face: Come kill me."
Xie Yuan smiled at the big screen. "Don't you think his personality is quite interesting? First game, frantically ganked by side lanes. Second game, picks a 'if you don't catch me, you're done for' main carry mid laner. Taunt value maxed out instantly."
Fang Zhengqing was helpless. "With him picking Moonlight Mage, Sean will definitely take a mage assassin to target him."
Beimu's coach paused for a moment, then quickly selected a mid laner: Illusionist.
Insta-kill you in one combo, no need for politeness.
Inside the soundproof booth, Ye Shaoyang rubbed his hands with a beaming smile.
Insta-kill me? Come on, I'll be waiting for you to gank in the mid lane.