Chapter 118.1

Chapter 118.1: Guidance MatchThere was a 10-minute break after the first game had ended. Both teams' coaches immediately made their way to the soundproofed room. On Tianhuan's side, Coach Lin was full of smiles. It was obvious that he was very satisfied with their earlier performance. On the other hand, everyone in Yaoguang had tense expressions, especially Yu'mao. He looked as though he had eaten something bad and couldn't shit it out even when he wanted to. He felt extremely humiliated. In the backstage spectating area, Xie Weiyu looked at the live stream and commented, "Yu'mao's mental state should've been completely crushed by Yangyang, right?" Xu Zhuo laughed, "Not only did Chi Shuo and Ye Shaoyang kill Yu'mao six times consecutively, but they also even turned on the kill sound effects to mock him——did you think you could escape? This is destiny, don't try to resist!" Xie Weiyu: "..." All professional players would turn on the in-game sound effects when competing. Yu'mao has continuously listened to 'this is destiny' six times. He might form a psychological trauma towards the Destiny Goddess. Xie Weiyu looked at the coach who was inside the soundproofed room. After leaving the team, Yaoguang had also changed their coach and their style was completely different from the previous season. Yaoguang's play in S9 was steady and attached great importance on the team’s cooperation. They won matches by focusing on the little details. This season, Yaoguang's playing style was extremely fierce and they frequently initiated team fights. Their style was very hot-blooded. Although the visual effect looked good from a fan's perspective, in reality, it was easy for them to collapse if their opponents were a strong team. This was also the key reason behind Yaoguang's four losses and one win, causing them to be eliminated from Group S. Xu Zhuo, noticing Xie Weiyu's complicated look, patted him on the shoulder and said lowly, "Don't think too much. Yaoguang's future has nothing to do with you since you have left them." Xie Weiyu nodded, "Don't worry, Captain Xu. I'll give my all for the match against Yaoguang tomorrow." In the soundproofed room, Yaoguang's coach quickly calmed the moods of the players and said, "It's fine even if we lost the first game, we could aim to win the next two! Yu'mao, you can take a nimble marksman. Aren’t they specifically invading the bottom lane? Let them invade!" In Tianhuan's soundproofed room, Chi Shuo looked at Ye Shaoyang. "Will you be taking command in the second game?" He asked, his gaze gentle. Ye Shaoyang smiled, "Mn, I'll take Yaoguang as my training dummies." Coach Lin knew long ago that Ye Shaoyang had great commanding ability. After pondering about it, Coach Lin agreed to Chi Shuo's suggestion of letting Ye Shaoyang command the team for the second round against Yaoguang. After all, the teams in Group S were all difficult to deal with and they were all familiar with Chi Shuo's style too. Maybe, they might be caught off guard if Ye Shaoyang was the one commanding. For them to just let him command in Group S matches right away was risky for them. Thus, they'll use Yaoguang as practice today. The picks and bans stage for the second round quickly began. Tianhuan was on the blue side this time and could choose their bans first. Coach Lin banned the support heroes as usual, while Yaoguang had a change of mind and banned two mid-lane heroes instead. As the rank-deciding matches were following the 'cumulative picks and bans' mode, the Destiny Goddess that Ye Shaoyang had used in the first round couldn't be used again, so there was no need to ban that hero. Instead, Yaoguang's coach banned the Abyssal Lord and the Illusionist. When Yao Mu saw this, she couldn't help but comment, "Are they trying to ban all the mid lane heroes with great burst potential?" What the Destiny Goddess, the Abyssal Lord, and the Illusionist all have in common was that they were all extremely quick in assisting their teammates. They could also eliminate their opponents with a single burst combo, posing a huge threat to the marksman in the back line. Seeing this, the corners of Ye Shaoyang's lips tilted upwards slightly. On the side, Cheng Xing boasted, "My Yang-ge's hero pool is so deep. Can they ban all?" Ye Shaoyang said, "I'll let them ban another two more. Let's choose the top and bottom lane heroes first." Tianhuan secured the Machine Gun Huntsman for Cheng Xing first. Yaoguang immediately snatched the Master Machinist, a hero whom the Machine Gun Huntsman worked best with. They took the Wind Nymph while doing so. The Wind Nymph was one of the most nimble marksman heroes and was difficult to gank. Tianhuan's second and third picks locked in the Space-Time Traveler for the support and the Berserker in for the top lane. Yao Mu said, "Tianhuan still hasn't chosen their mid lane hero, is this because they were confident in their mid laner's hero pool?" Dong-ge continued, "In this case, Yaoguang can continue banning mid lane heroes in the second phase of bans." Yaoguang's third pick locked in the Frost Goddess, an all-rounder hero that had crowd control skills and could clear minions quickly. In the second phase, Tianhuan banned two top laners who had the ability to cut into their back line, the Vampiric Duke and the Willful Sword. Yao Mu commented, "Four of Lieyang's heroes had already been banned, this is really an exclusive VIP treatment." Dong-ge sighed, "There's nothing wrong with Yaoguang's thoughts. The mid laner posed too much threat to the outer lanes as he moves around frequently. The Abyssal Lord, Illusionist, and Destruction Mage are all heroes that could instakill the marksman with a single burst combo. It's easy for a team to collapse during a team fight if the marksman is slain before he could deal damage." Yao Mu nodded in agreement, "Yes. If they banned burst-type and control-type mid lane heroes, their marksman would be free to flash whenever they like and would have an easier time surviving." "However, Tianhuan can still run their jungler core and cut into the back line, forcefully killing the marksman." In the end, Tianhuan's fourth pick locked in the support jungler, the Brawler. The Wind Nymph was originally a nimble and quick hero. Not only did you not choose a jungler with huge burst potential, but you also even chose a support? You're not planning to kill our marksman at all? Yaoguang's coach was stunned for a moment. He frowned and said, "Take the King of Fighters and Holy Knight." The last hero that Tianhuan had yet to choose was the mid laner. The viewers all looked on at the big screens with great curiosity, wondering which mid lane hero Tianhuan would choose after four of them got banned. Then, a hero that surprised everyone appeared on the screens—— The Earth Mage, Bruno. Yao Mu exclaimed in shock. "Since they chose the Earth Mage, are they planning to run a terrain control comp?" Dong-ge carefully analyzed both teams' comps before saying, "On Yaoguang's side, the Holy Knight is an extremely meaty top laner and can tank damage for his teammates; the Frost Goddess can stun, deal AoE damage, and is equally good in attacking and defending. The King of Fighters is a powerful burst hero, the Wind Nymph is extremely nimble, and the Master Machinist can use his mechanical soldiers to stun enemies while protecting the marksman." "On Tianhuan's side, the Machine Gun Huntsman could clear minions rapidly while the Space-Time Travelers' skill, the Time Reversal, can provide HP regeneration and boost speed; the top lane's Berserker's ability to push is great but he's a slightly more fragile hero; the jungler’s Brawler was a hero with many movement skills and a fast pushing speed. The mid lane's Earth Mage is a hero with great terrain control and could block the pursuit of their opponents. His ult could also trap and encircle their opponents." At this point, the audience finally understood what was going on. "This is a new and original comp that Tianhuan brought out for the first time!" Yao Mu said in excitement. "The Earth Mage and the Space-Time Traveler as a support——I'm looking forward to the kind of surprise this pairing will bring to everyone!" "Both teams had finished their picks and bans stage. Let us begin the second round!" The game began. Yaoguang's playing style was as fierce as always. Three of them took advantage of the fact that Chi Shuo's jungler could only deal little damage in the early game and grouped up to invade the jungle. Ye Shaoyang instantly went to assist and placed a huge rock on the path to the jungle. As that path was narrow, it blocked Yaoguang's players from advancing. The Earth Mage's Q skill could summon rocks to be placed onto the ground, turning into 'obstacles' that the opponents would have no way of crossing over unless they used their movement skill or flashed over. Otherwise, they would be blocked by the rocks for the next three seconds. Yao Mu smiled," The Earth Mage is also known as the 'advise you to retreat' strategy. You want to chase us? I'll just put a rock there to stop you. The sound effect of this skill is pretty taunting." The director broadcasted the sound of the Earth Mage's voiceline just then, "You're coming over?" Yaoguang's three-person party who was invading the jungle: "..." We can't go over! They could only retreat as there were two rocks blocking their path. Chi Shuo took the chance to swiftly take down the blue buff. The fans in the live stream were a little doubtful. 【Is Captain Chi not giving up the blue buff anymore?】 【Yangyang just left and didn't take the blue buff. The Earth Mage doesn't need the blue buff!】 Chi Shuo devoured all the resources in the top half of the jungle. Afterward, everyone saw Chi Shuo and Ye Shaoyang heading to the mid lane together. They cleared the minions and went to fight the river crab together. Yaoguang's jungler wanted to steal the river crab but was stopped by Ye Shaoyang putting two rocks in front of him. His voiceline changed this time, "Can't get over now, can you?" The enemy jungler: "..." Chi Shuo swiftly took down the river crab. Holding back her laughter, Yao Mu said, "Ke, the Earth Mage's terrain control ability is indeed outstanding. Lieyang's rock was also placed very ingeniously. However, it doesn't seem like the Brawler is playing in the style of a support jungler. He didn't give any of the resources in the jungle to the mid laner in early-game and instead, he picked off a wave of minions in the mid lane." Dong-ge said, "The Brawler's damage levels during early-game are low, but after making three pieces of equipment, his damage levels will be more considerable. Furthermore, his E skill allows for several movement skills. Both his assisting and pushing speed is extremely fast." Ye Shaoyang continued having a face-off with the Frost Goddess in the mid lane. Both of them had chosen mages that focused more on skills, so they were evenly matched. None of them could kill one another and decided to level up peacefully instead. In the bottom lane, as the Wind Nymph that Yu'mao had chosen this round was very mobile, it was extremely hard for Cheng Xing to make a successful shot. Both sides leveled up by clearing minions and when it came to taking the river crab, Yu'mao got the advantage and used a strengthened attack, taking down the river crab that was already beaten down to critically low health by Cheng Xing. Both junglers quickly reached Level 6. Chi Shuo went to the bottom lane as usual while Yaoguang's jungler also went down too. In the first bout of 3v3, as Qu Jiang's Space-Time Traveler could cast haste and also heal, he had nursed Cheng Xing back to full health when Yaoguang's jungler had wanted to forcefully kill him. On the other hand, Yu'mao had flashed and escaped when Chi Shuo wanted to kill him. None of them could kill one another and both marksmen went to heal up at their respective bases. A moment later, the first minor dragon spawned. Yaoguang's captain hit the button for his teammates to assemble at the minor dragon's location. Everyone quickly headed over to the dragon pit. However... no one from Tianhuan came at all. Yaoguang's captain, Zi Ye, was momentarily stunned and said, "Are they lying in ambush or are they giving up the minor dragon?" Ling Tong said, "I'll go take a look!" He used his mechanical soldiers to check in the nearby woods and took down one of the wards Qu Jiang had placed, but he still couldn't find where the Tianhuan players had gone. At this moment, Yaoguag's top laner, Qiong Si, suddenly said, "They're in the top lane!"