Chapter 47: Is Picking a “Shrinking Turtle” Useful? No.
For the second game, the official broadcast immediately changed the poster.
They put Beyond on the poster and changed the text to: “Penta-Kill Marksman: Can he create another miracle? WIN is down by one point; how will they turn the tide?”
Before it started, this match had the lowest level of attention.
Most esports viewers love to watch a feast of giants clashing or a “state banquet” of rookies pecking at each other. A strong team versus a weak team usually lacks suspense and isn’t fun to watch.
However, once the poster came out, the number of online viewers in the broadcast room skyrocketed within minutes. The organizers were grinning from ear to ear. The opening match of the knockout stage needed a gimmick, and what could be more eye-catching than a rookie carrying and a veteran failing?
#First Penta-kill of the Spring Split#
#VEX Biggest Dark Horse#
#0-4-0, Pine’s State#
The hot searches were hung high on the Weibo front page.
“What everyone is seeing now is the second game of VEX vs. WIN in the Arena Spring Split Knockout Stage. Currently, the score between the two teams is 1:0, with VEX temporarily leading.”
“Entering the BP, WIN picks first. It seems they’ve learned their lesson from the first game and picked a high-survival, pressure-soaking marksman for Pine.”
Zuo Chi frowned. Since WIN didn’t choose to strengthen their bottom lane, they likely still wanted to play for the top-jungle rhythm. In that case, the lineup he had prepared needed to change as well.
When Pine’s hero was picked, Fu Gui let out a “tsk”: “Why did he pick a ‘shrinking turtle’ marksman? Coach Zuo, what are we picking?”
This marksman didn’t have high burst damage, but he had displacement and CC immunity, making him very hard to catch.
“Let’s pick for Land and Wu Yang first. Their heroes will follow what we discussed earlier.”
Although Pine was now harder to catch, his late-game output would also be noticeably insufficient. Therefore, WIN would definitely pick strong early-to-mid-game dive heroes for their top and jungle to try and end the game early.
“Beyond, the Masked Spirit I had you practice—can you take it today?”
The Masked Spirit was usually played in the top lane or as a support, and its pick rate in professional matches was very low. This was mainly because the hero relied heavily on skill accuracy, and its stats were mediocre across the board.
However, if this hero built marksman items, it could both deal damage and soak it.
“I can take it!” Beyond nodded. “Do I pick it now?”
“You’ll pick last, then swap lanes with Fu Gui at the start. Fu Gui, you won’t have to sit in ‘jail’ this game.”
[VEX only has the marksman left to pick. WIN used all four bans on marksmen. It feels like no matter what is picked… it won’t be easy for Beyond to survive.]
[Masked Spirit?! What the heck is that? Isn’t that a warrior for the top lane?]
[Beyond instant-locked Masked Spirit. Did VEX pick wrong?]
[Is it possible VEX wants to play double side lanes… Double side lanes haven’t been seen in our domestic region, but they were popular in Korean server high-elo games.]
[You don’t say, but as for the Masked Spirit hero—first of all, its base attributes are those of a warrior, so its physical defense, magic defense, and health are much higher than a normal marksman. It’s hard to kill, and it has ranged attacks, so building marksman items is fine.]
[However, the two heroes picked by Beyond and Pine can’t possibly kill each other in a solo duel early on. Won’t the bottom lane be completely devoid of rhythm? The top lane hero Million picked only scales in the late game. Before level 12, he’s just a nobody. WIN’s top and jungle are essentially invincible early on. Million is definitely going to be bullied by WIN!]
[Does VEX’s coach know how to draft? Did he get cocky after winning one game? Picking such a trash lineup wastes Beyond’s great form today. I’m not finished with you!]
As the game started, WIN headed to the lanes as usual. WIN’s top-laner habitually stepped forward to contest the wave.
Just as he used his skills on the two backline minions, the ID “Beyond” suddenly appeared in front of him, followed by the support, Wall.
VEX swapped lanes! The marksman and support came to the top lane to fight him, while the top-laner went to the bottom lane to grind away with Pine.
Commentator A: “VEX’s opening arrangement also has a lot to say! Although WIN’s top-lane hero is strong early, he has short range. Beyond and Wall can hit him from across the minion wave. WIN’s top-laner will lose health very quickly in a 1v2!”
“And in the bottom lane, Million knows he can’t contest the wave with the marksman, so he chooses to help the jungler clear for a bit first. He only goes to take the wave once it enters the turret. This is very safe, and Million’s last-hitting fundamentals are very solid; he hasn’t missed any gold.”
“In this way, VEX has cushioned the early-game weakness of their top-jungle,” Commentator B analyzed. “If WIN wants an advantage in lane, they must swap back.”
“But that wastes a lot of time, and VEX can just swap with them.”
“In any case, VEX’s lineup leans toward the late game. The longer it drags on, the stronger their combat power becomes. They aren’t in a hurry. But WIN’s top and jungle must get a sufficient lead before fifteen minutes, or else in the late game… in a duel with Beyond, they might not necessarily be able to beat a Masked Spirit building semi-tank marksman items.”
[I’m sorry, Coach Zuo. I was too loud just now. Your lineup is drafted excellently! You’ve taught the players very well too!]
[WIN is pathetically starting to swap lanes, and VEX is chasing them to swap too. This is hilarious. I haven’t seen such a busy opening in a long time.]
[What’s with WIN? From the lineup to the opening arrangement, you can tell VEX spent the holiday pondering things. Look at WIN—they’re still playing that same old set. Even I, a viewer, knew you’d pick a strong top-jungle lineup. There’s nothing new.]
[As an old fan of WIN, I’ve already started flaming. You guys must have had a great time traveling and playing during the Spring Festival, right? After drawing VEX, you immediately popped champagne to celebrate securing a top-eight spot. As a result, you became the background for Beyond’s Penta-kill in the first game today, and in the second game, it looks like you’re being played like monkeys.]
[Mainly, the gap between Pine and Beyond is too large… whether Pine plays a ‘shrinking turtle’ hero or an aggressive marksman, he has zero presence. In the last round, he even became a weakness that let the other side kill to their heart’s content. Rolling eyes emoji]
After swapping lanes three times, WIN was clearly becoming anxious.
Originally, they should have had the advantage in the early-to-mid game, but after all that hustle, a look at the gold showed VEX actually leading by five hundred.
If they couldn’t get an advantage in lane, they could only look for opportunities in team fights.
“WIN is trying to find a way to break the deadlock! They’ve gathered five people to invade Land’s jungle to see if they can steal resources or force VEX to defend and fight them!”
“Although VEX has a slight gold lead now, hero strength is a factor. WIN still has a great advantage in a team fight at this point in time!”
WIN rushed into the Blue Zone aggressively, only to find that not a single VEX member was there to defend the Blue Buff.
Taking another look at the mini-map, all five members of VEX had gone to the mid lane, directly taking a wave of minions to push down their first mid turret.
“WIN got a Blue Buff from this jungle invasion, but they lost their first mid turret and missed a wave of minions. This is a huge loss!”
“I’m actually more curious about who the shot-caller for VEX is. The decision to give up the Blue Zone and group to push the mid tower was very clever. It was a resource trade, and they came out on top!”
[Enough, WIN. You dare to play me. I waited an entire Spring Festival for you, and this is what you show me!?]
[Watching VEX’s match on-site, the ticket is only 188 yuan, and I get to see a game like this. Who understands? My throat is almost hoarse from shouting. Smirking emoji]
[WIN, just force a fight. Stop stalling with the other side. Look at Beyond’s gold; he’s already three hundred ahead of Pine. Plus, there’s Million. If VEX’s two side lanes keep developing, there will be no hope in the late game!]
[VEX won’t even take the fight, how can you fight? Force it?]
[Wait for the fifteen-minute Dragon spawn. VEX can’t possibly not want the Dragon, right?]
VEX didn’t want it.
WIN had set up vision around the Dragon pit. The top and jungle hid their vision to look for flank positions, camping for over ten seconds until the Dragon spawned, but they didn’t see anyone from VEX coming to check vision.
They could only finish the Dragon quickly. When they returned to organize the minion waves and jungle, they found half their own jungle had been cleared out and the second-tier top turret was gone.
“VEX must feel their lineup still doesn’t have the advantage for a team fight, so they chose to continue trading resources. WIN didn’t manage the minion waves well early on, nor did they time the jungle respawns correctly, so they had to accept this trade.”
“Fortunately, WIN still has the Dragon Buff, which lasts for 2 minutes. After pushing the waves, they can try to push towers, ideally reaching VEX’s high ground.”
“If VEX is conservative, they can stall a bit longer. In about ten more minutes, this lineup of theirs will reach its peak strength and be very easy to play. Hey—Beyond and Land are leaving the high ground?”
“The marksman is following the jungler into the jungle to flank?!”
WIN was pushing the minion waves forward with a 4-1 split formation (four people grouped, one person solo-pushing). VEX’s jungle had long been clean; not even half a small monster was left for them.
When the wave reached the tower, WIN’s support and top-laner squeezed forward while the marksman in the back tried to poke the tower.
[Hasn’t WIN noticed that Land and Beyond aren’t on the high ground?]
[Take down a high ground tower first. The Dragon Buff still has dozens of seconds left. Does VEX really dare to start a fight?]
the health of the high ground tower dropped rapidly. When it was down to a sliver, Wu Yang suddenly Flashed forward into the crowd and released his ultimate.
the ultimate immediately slowed five people. Wu Yang was also quickly killed by the combined efforts of the five WIN members.
The kill announcement had just popped up when Wall and Fu Gui’s skills followed in succession. Pine used his CC immunity when Wu Yang’s ultimate landed and displaced to dodge the dive from Wall and Fu Gui. As he was looking for a suitable output position, a chain suddenly appeared on him.
In the next instant, he was controlled by the chain’s effect and swapped positions with the Masked Spirit, landing right in front of Land in the back.
No matter how high-survival a marksman was, there was no way to live after burning all skills and ending up face-to-face with an assassin.
Land shredded Pine to low health in one combo, and Beyond followed up with two basic attacks to take Pine’s head. The two then continued rushing toward their own high ground.
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Omg so glad Pine is getting what’s coming to him!!! Thanks for the updates!