Chapter 65: Semifinals (V) — Solo Killing in a Disadvantageous Matchup
“The mid-match break has ended. Welcome back to the match, both online and offline viewers! We’re entering the BP phase for the second game! Coach Zuo has chosen to ban the marksman and support first this round.”
“On KVG’s side, they’re still choosing to target Million!”
“How will Coach Zuo choose? Will another unexpected solo-lane hero make an appearance? He’s first-picked Skeleton Duke! Million has picked this hero before and performed quite well. But as a first pick, it’s very easy to be countered.”
“KVG immediately locked in Crimson Prince. Crimson Prince is a strong counter to Skeleton Duke, especially before Level 6.”
“How will Coach Zuo respond? He’s continuing to ban marksman-support pairs and has taken the favorite dive-assassins for Sea and Land—Butterfly Dance and Snowfield God. This is VEX’s signature initiation-and-brawl composition. They’re coming off a fresh win in the first game; I wonder what kind of spectacular performance they’ll give us this round!”
“KVG has made their move too, taking a long-range poke composition. They’ll likely still need to help Rain in the top lane, since Crimson Prince has a massive early-game advantage over Skeleton Duke. If KVG can capitalize on this to secure a few kills, they have a great chance of taking a game back.”
“The compositions for both sides are finalized. Let’s enter the game—”
At the coaching bench, Manager Li sat to Zuo Chi’s left, and on his right… President Zhang had suddenly appeared at the venue after the first game.
Zuo Chi’s nervousness was the kind where he looked calm on the outside but his heart was racing. Manager Li and President Zhang’s nervousness was the kind where they grabbed his sleeves on both sides and yanked them back and forth.
“Coach Zuo, Fugui’s Skeleton Duke is being mechanically countered by the Crimson Prince. Is it really okay to let Fugui solo the opponent?” Manager Li asked worriedly.
Zuo Chi looked at his team jacket, which was about to be torn, and comforted them. “It’s fine. Hero counter-mechanics are only relative; a duel still depends on the players’ operations.”
He explained in detail: “For example, between these two heroes, Crimson Prince’s advantage over Skeleton Duke lies in his CC immunity and his passive healing, which makes it hard for Skeleton Duke to whittle him down. But on the flip side, Skeleton Duke is very mobile with four displacement skills. If he can dodge the Crimson Prince’s key skills and build true-damage items, killing a clunky hero like Crimson Prince isn’t that difficult.”
President Zhang nodded. “Coach Zuo is right! Ah, watching the match live feels completely different from watching it on a phone.”
“President Zhang, why are you here?”
“Isn’t this about the ticket to the World Championship? I came as soon as my meeting ended. Tell the players after this game that regardless of the outcome, if they actually get that ticket, not only do they keep all their prize money, but the club will give everyone an extra million yuan each!”
Zuo Chi turned around and sincerely grabbed President Zhang’s sleeve in return.
President Zhang was practically glowing with a golden aura. “Hey, going to the World Championship is about bringing glory to our country. I was trying to think of a unique reward, but after thinking it over, there’s nothing the club can give except more money.”
While they were talking, the audience behind them suddenly erupted into screams.
He looked up at the big screen. Fugui was currently dueling Rain in the top lane. Using a low-health minion as a springboard, he used a displacement to dodge Rain’s ultimate at the last possible frame, then dashed back onto Rain’s face. After two empowered basic attacks, right as Rain’s passive healing was about to kick in, he used a Flash-displacement combo onto a small jungle monster in his own jungle.
Crimson Prince’s passive healing only triggered upon hitting an enemy unit with basic attacks. Since there were no minions in the lane and Fugui was now far away, the passive effect on Crimson Prince expired after three seconds without restoring a single drop of health.
“Good. Once the next minion waves meet, there’s a high chance for a solo kill,” Zuo Chi said with a smile.
Manager Li: “Why? Even though Rain lost his ult and passive, Fugui doesn’t have his skills either…”
“Rain’s ultimate cooldown is currently 30 seconds, and his passive cooldown is 25 seconds. Fugui’s skills only need 13 seconds to fully refresh. The next waves will meet in the top lane in 15 seconds. At that point, all of Rain’s key abilities will be on cooldown. If he still dares to contest the wave, Fugui has a chance for a solo kill.”
There was one more thing: Rain wasn’t building full tank but was going for a semi-tank damage build, so he wasn’t that sturdy. Fugui had “leoched” some of Land’s jungle and was leading by over two hundred gold; with an extra dagger in his inventory, his full combo damage should be enough for the kill.
While the two top-lane heroes refused to back down, Wall was also shadowing Wing like an inescapable ghost.
If Wing went bottom to help the marksman, Wall went to help Beyond.
If Wing went to the jungle, Wall held the vision in the river.
If Wing stayed in mid, Wall stayed by Wu Yang’s side.
If Wing vanished from vision, Wall headed top to prevent Fugui from being ganked.
In low-rank pub matches, people often told their incompetent supports: “If you don’t know what to do, just watch their support and follow them wherever they go.”
Wall was now implementing this perfectly. It didn’t matter if I didn’t make a play; as long as I’m watching you, don’t think about making a play under my nose either.
“F*ck! What is with that Wall? He’s old and washed up; if he can’t start a rhythm himself, he’s just gonna annoy me, huh?” Wing cursed irritably after rotating several times and having Wall find him in every single brush. “Rain, you’re on your own against Million. Wall is following me like a shadow; I can’t help you gank him.”
Rain sneered. “It’s fine. I’m playing Crimson Prince; I completely counter him. As long as VEX’s other members don’t show up, I can solo kill him!”
Another wave met in the top lane. Rain saw Million stepping up boldly to clear the minions. He checked his ultimate cooldown—15 seconds left—but he figured he was just clearing a wave and a low-damage Skeleton Duke couldn’t possibly kill him.
Rain stepped forward. He had just hit two backline minions when the Skeleton Duke flew onto his face, hit him once, and then used a displacement to fly back.
Rain continued clearing, and the opponent continued to use displacements to harass him.
A W-skill here for a slow, a Q plus empowered basic attack there to take a segment of his health bar.
It wasn’t lethal, but it was like standing still and letting the opponent slap your face repeatedly. To make matters worse, Crimson Prince was too clunky; his basic attacks had a wind-up animation, and by the time he tried to swing back, the Skeleton Duke had already dashed away.
“Wing, VEX’s mid and jungle aren’t coming, right?”
“No, no. They’re contesting the mid wave with us.”
With 10 seconds left on his ultimate, the Skeleton Duke flew in once more. Rain used a forward Flash to dodge and countered with an E-W combo.
Right as the skill was about to land, the Skeleton Duke used the brief single frame of invincibility during his displacement to avoid the CC entirely. He then used another dash to leap onto Rain’s face. After a full combo, Rain actually lost half his health!
How was the damage this high?!
Rain quickly glanced at his ult cooldown—7 seconds left. As long as his passive triggered in a few seconds to start the healing again, he could counter-engage as soon as his ult was up.
The thought flashed by in an instant. He didn’t retreat, instead standing his ground and fighting back with basic attacks.
6 seconds, 5 seconds… the passive was ready! A look of joy appeared on Rain’s face.
As long as he hit the Skeleton Duke, his passive would trigger immediately, giving him a massive burst of healing—enough to last until his ultimate came off cooldown, and then—
The Skeleton Duke, who had been right in his face, used another displacement to leave the moment his passive effect lit up.
It was as if he had calculated the passive cooldown long ago. He left with zero hesitation.
The smile froze on Rain’s face. The passive effect glowing on him had suddenly become a death warrant.
The Skeleton Duke stood just a fraction outside his maximum basic attack range, waiting for the passive duration to expire.
Alarm bells rang in Rain’s mind.
But he had neither Flash nor a displacement skill, and his ultimate wasn’t ready. The few seconds of his passive soon passed, and the Skeleton Duke raised his bone-wrought executioner’s blade—
Rain turned pale, the thick layer of foundation failing to hide his sickly complexion.
“A SOLO KILL!!! Million’s Skeleton Duke has solo killed Rain’s Crimson Prince!!!” Commentator A’s voice grew hoarse as his volume rose.
“Million’s calculation of skill cooldowns and his own damage output was too precise! He achieved a solo kill in a disadvantageous matchup!!!”
“Rain was too careless! He shouldn’t have forced a fight with Million before his ultimate was ready!”
“Let’s look at the replay of that solo kill! Million first dodged the crucial E-W combo, then used his multiple displacements to quickly deal damage!”
“He timed Rain’s passive cooldown perfectly, neutralizing Rain’s potential healing, and finally killed Rain when his ultimate still had 2 seconds of cooldown left!”
“With such precise timing and damage calculation, being off by even a fraction of a second would have made this solo kill impossible! Million showed his courage with the backdoor last game; this round, his Skeleton Duke showed us his peak mechanics and awareness!”
“The director has switched the camera back to mid—Wall, who had been following Wing, suddenly attacked! He used an Ult-Flash to CC Wing! Land and Sea, who were hiding their vision behind him, followed up immediately. With an unexpected initiation, VEX has claimed Wing’s life as well!”
“A 2-0 kill lead. VEX has the advantage once again!”
Before the match, Zuo Chi had told Wall to shadow Wing to prevent him from making plays and to disrupt the Korean solo-support coordination.
During the BP phase, he had added: “Once Wing gets annoyed with you and thinks you’re just following him mindlessly, he’ll let his guard down. That’s when you can use your Ult-Flash to engage him.”
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