Chapter 29: You’re Telling Me This Is a Weak Team? No Matter Who You Are, Quick, Get Out of…
“Abyssal Fire,” an assassin-jungler popular in low-tier ranks.
He was easy to pick up, with a fixed combo that even an elementary schooler could use. However, his body was fragile and his health bar was paper-thin. His playstyle centered on one principle: either you burst someone down in one set, or you get burst down by them.
There were some highly skilled technical streamers who played this hero in high-tier ranks, mainly relying on gold leads to create a stomp. In a massive snowball game, he could easily cut down the “C” carries, but in a losing game, he was worse than a minion. This kind of hero, with an extremely low margin for error, hadn’t appeared in the professional league for several years.
When the commentators saw the hero wreathed in ghostly blue flames appear on the selection panel and get locked in immediately, they were stunned for a moment before they began their analysis.
“This ‘Abyssal Fire’ pick is very unexpected. Everyone probably didn’t expect Land to choose this hero, right?”
“With Abyssal Fire’s mechanics, plus VEX’s draft being overall skewed toward the early-to-mid game, if they don’t get a sufficient lead early on, VEX won’t be able to handle the late game at all once LTY’s marksman’s equipment is complete.”
The BP ended, and the coaches from both sides had to leave the match venue to go to the coach’s seats in the first row below to watch the match.
From here on, the in-game performance would depend on the players themselves.
Zuo Chi waved his hand at the cubs: “VEX—”
Land was the first to react, and the other cubs quickly followed: “Good luck!!!”
After leaving the match venue and shaking hands and bowing to the opposing coach, Zuo Chi walked to the coach’s seats and sat down. Manager Li was also sitting there waiting for him. Seeing him come over, he handed him a bottle of mineral water, looking somewhat worried.
“Coach Zuo, is it really okay to give Land Abyssal Fire?”
Zuo Chi gave a slight smile: “Let’s watch the match.”
Commentator A: “The heroes from both sides are heading to their lanes! LTY is doing a standard start, but VEX seems to have made some arrangements. You can see Land and Sea heading directly from the river into the opponent’s Red Buff area!”
“Abyssal Fire and Moon Phase have very high strength at level one. Moreover, LTY’s jungler chose a Blue Buff start. No one from LTY has realized yet that their own Red Buff is already in great danger!”
By the time LTY’s mid-laner realized Sea hadn’t shown up to clear waves in the mid-lane and went to check the Red Buff area, Land was already level 2 with the Red Buff on him. He and Sea were preparing to retreat. Seeing the LTY mid-laner enter his vision, Sea used a Q-Flash combo to land a stun. Land immediately followed up with a dash—a set of combos followed by two basic attacks—
[First Blood!]
Commentator B: “Beautiful! Such tacit cooperation. Land not only stole a Red Buff but also got First Blood! But LTY’s jungler is also rushing over—”
LTY’s jungler had reached level 2 after clearing his own Blue Buff and rushed to the Red Buff area in a panic to stop Land and Sea’s retreat. However, he saw Wall’s silhouette in the mid-lane. After hesitating for a moment, he ultimately chose to return to his own Blue side to farm small jungle monsters.
“LTY wants to stop Land and Sea. Sea is currently at half health; they want to kill Sea to cut their losses,” Commentator B spoke extremely fast. “The problem is, Wall has already moved from the bottom lane toward the mid-lane a step ahead. With Wall there, LTY won’t gain much of an advantage in a forced fight.”
“Yes, although Beyond is under a bit of pressure in a one-on-two in the bottom lane, he can hunker down under the tower and use skills to last-hit minions. It’s impossible for LTY’s marksman and support to dive the tower to kill Beyond at level 2.”
“In this opening wave, VEX is making a huge profit!”
After Land left LTY’s Red Buff area, he went back to clear his own Blue side. Wu Yang froze a wave of minions, and once Land came out of the Blue side, the two of them shared the gold and experience from that mid-wave together.
After the first round of jungle clears, the gold panel for both sides appeared on the match interface.
Abyssal Fire: 1-0-0, 1200 gold.
He had exactly 400 more gold than the opposing jungler.
[I just clicked into the match. I reckon I didn’t misread the team names, right?]
[Be confident. Not only did you not misread the team names, you didn’t misread Land’s ID either.]
[No matter who you are, quick, get out of Land’s body!]
[What’s going on with LTY? They can actually let VEX get an advantage. Did they get stupid from the holiday and not train properly?]
[The game just started, what are you guys in a hurry for? LTY will play their way back soon.]
[Abyssal Fire only needs to die once and the hero is useless. Just wait and see; this little advantage will be worth nothing by the mid-game.]
“After clearing the jungle, Land is crouching in the bottom lane brush.”
“LTY’s marksman and support must have sensed it; they haven’t come out from under the tower. Both have Flash up, so it’s not easy for Land to find an opportunity.”
After sharing a wave of bottom-lane minions with Beyond and pushing the wave to the enemy tower, the group quickly rotated to the mid-lane—there were only twenty-odd seconds left until LTY’s Red Buff respawned.
Once again, multiple people cleared the mid-wave and entered the enemy Red side. By the time LTY organized their personnel to defend the Red Buff, the brushes and river had already been firmly secured by VEX’s vision.
If LTY wanted to squeeze forward, they had to check the brushes for vision first. Once they checked, they were bound to be poked down by a wave of Wu Yang’s skills.
In this state of entanglement, LTY’s second Red Buff was also taken by Land with Smite.
[What is LTY being a coward for? They’re letting others wander their own Red area like it’s their own home!]
[You’re telling me this is VEX? The one with the advantage is VEX? That team that went out in the first round of the Autumn Split?]
[VEX snatched another Red. They can probably retreat to farm their own jungle now, right? As long as it drags on a bit longer, LTY’s winning chances will get bigger and bigger.]
Sitting in the coach’s seat, Zuo Chi looked at the steadily rising gold of his team on the big screen, his dark eyes sparkling under the bright lights of the venue.
A “Four-Protect-One” hyper-carry comp has a great chance of winning if it drags to the late game? Then he just wouldn’t let them have a late game.
He picked this early-to-mid-game draft specifically for the team to end the match while they held the advantage!
The moment the Red Buff was Smited, a skeleton projection suddenly appeared over the LTY marksman’s head. That was the skill effect of “Skeleton Duke’s” ultimate.
“Look at Million’s position!” The commentator’s voice almost cracked. “Million has been hiding his vision and flanking to find a position. He went through the gap between LTY’s first and second towers! He directly used his Ult-Flash combo to initiate on LTY’s core marksman!”
“LTY’s marksman reacted quickly and immediately used Flash! But he’s already been hit by the slow effect from Skeleton Duke’s ultimate!”
“Wall and Sea used their dashes simultaneously to pursue! LTY’s formation can only shrink back, using skills to protect the marksman! Luckily, with shields and heals, the marksman didn’t die for now—but their mid-laner is now exposed to Abyssal Fire’s flames!”
“Land burst down LTY’s mage! He dashed through the wall and charged directly under LTY’s defense tower. Q-W followed by a basic attack! Critical hit! LTY’s marksman can’t escape! Land takes a double kill!”
“VEX just pulled off a zero-for-two in the opponent’s Red area! And the ones killed were LTY’s mid and marksman carries! Land got the Red and the kills. Now, once he goes back to buy equipment, he can directly finish a major item!”
“Although Abyssal Fire has always been criticized for being fragile, don’t forget that when he has a massive gold lead, this hero’s burst is incomparable to any other assassin-jungler. As long as he touches the marksman, the marksman is dead for sure!”
The bullet chat went silent for two seconds before a massive wave of [Land!] swept across the screen.
Most of the audience watching esports matches were like this: even if they weren’t a fan of the team, seeing a carry play or a brilliant team fight, they wouldn’t be stingy with their praise.
If a game was played well, it was played well. Esports is in the present tense. The esports circle never lacks players who reverse their reputation through strength, nor does it lack rookies who use their mechanics to pin veteran players covered in glory to the sub bench.
[I originally thought VEX would just quit while they were ahead after taking the Red. I didn’t expect Million to directly flank and initiate. VEX’s mid-support coordination is so good; they used skills almost simultaneously to force LTY to blow all their protective spells to save the marksman, only for Land to harvest at the end…]
[I reckon LTY didn’t expect VEX to take this fight either. Actually, from the perspective of LTY’s marksman, it was quite terrifying. A Skeleton Duke suddenly pops up from behind, and that damage from the Abyssal Fire chasing after him is truly insane!]
Land took LTY’s Red Buff, and Beyond naturally took over his own team’s Red side. On the big screen, the five members of VEX were seen busy as bees. Sometimes three people appeared in the top lane to soak a wave, sometimes the marksman and jungler farmed the jungle together, sometimes all five shared the mid-wave…
It was as if the fierce offensive in the Red area just now was but a hallucination.
Zuo Chi focused on the big screen—not watching his own team’s movements, but watching LTY’s handling of a losing game.
After all, how to survive and supplement gold in a losing game so that the marksman can drag the game until his equipment is complete also required skill.
The five cubs at home were very fierce with this early-to-mid-game fighting comp, but they played late-game comps nowhere near as well. He also needed to absorb some useful things from LTY.
“LTY has started to group as five, trying their best not to fight VEX, buying time for the marksman to develop.”
“VEX doesn’t seem to be in a hurry to find an opportunity for a team fight either; they’ve been actively pushing waves. Eh? This gold panel—”
At fourteen minutes, VEX led by three kills, yet they had pulled ahead by a gold lead of over three thousand, almost four thousand.
Moreover, this gold advantage was entirely concentrated on the three main damage dealers: mid, jungle, and marksman.
This meant that each of VEX’s mid, jungle, and marksman had half a major item more than their counterparts.
[Did VEX rob a bank? Is there a problem with the match data? How can there be such a big difference in money between the two teams?]
[Land got three kills; I can understand him having high gold. But Beyond has just been continuously farming minions; how is he so rich too?]
At fourteen minutes and thirty seconds, four members of VEX rushed toward the dragon pit. Wall carefully checked the surrounding brushes. Beyond hid his vision in his own jungle. Land occupied the dragon pit, ready to start the dragon the moment it respawned. Wu Yang held the river, and Fugui was looking for a flanking position.
At fifteen minutes, the first small dragon respawned.
“Will LTY contest this dragon with VEX?”
“To be honest, it’s very difficult.” Commentator B analyzed the positioning of VEX’s five members in detail. “LTY currently has zero vision of the dragon pit. If they want to contest the dragon, it’s very likely they will repeat the mistake of the previous team fight in the Red area.”
Commentator A: “But if they don’t contest, VEX will easily get this dragon! One dragon is five hundred gold, plus the movement speed and attack buffs. The gap between the two sides will grow larger—the dragon is already at half health!”
LTY hesitated in the jungle for a while, but ultimately chose to slowly head toward the dragon pit.
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