Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
The other members of Team Sky couldn’t react in time, and without surprise, the turret at the middle lane was demolished by Team Skycrown with ease.
The five hungry beasts of Team Skycrown dispersed instantly as soon as the tower had fallen. The Jungler went back to hunting his monsters while the others went back to their respective lanes or fountain to purchase items. That brutal manslaughter that happened a moment ago almost seemed like a distant memory.
On the giant screen, the Summoner’s Rift had become eerily peaceful.
However, the impact created by Team Skycrown’s swift operation had greatly astounded the 4000 audience on the scene. Everything had happened too fast until the audience was unable to react in time with cheers or applause.
“That was traumatic, the way they gushed in like a giant wave. Nobody could have stopped that!” Coach Huang Kang of Team Daemons lamented.
Now, the players finally understand what Aijing meant by her words a moment ago.
A pleasant surprise indeed. Boosted by Sivir’s ulti and Lulu’s speed buff, in addition to the already lightning-quick Blitzcrank, there was no need for him to use his Q-skill in such a situation. Luocheng could go straight up to the enemy’s face and execute his E-skill without missing, then only move back to drag the enemy along.
More importantly, they had a key champion in their lineup—Pantheon.
Pantheon’s Ultimate could effectively cut off the enemy’s escape route. The enemy would have no way to run even if he/she still had a Flash available.
The LPL players present today were those that had stood out from the millions of players in this country and they owned years of experience in this game.
However, even they, on the grounds of a professional player, couldn’t help but wonder why they had not thought of such a strategy before.
META was the most difficult thing to strategize in each patch. LOL only had a few signature playbooks up to date, for example, the 4-1 split-push, global teleport, poking, farming and pushing, or speed-pushing.
Team Skycrown’s core strategy was derived from these well-known strategies. However, it felt even more powerful when it was being executed by them.
Furthermore, their playstyle was not one to be easily imitated. Without prolonged practice and proper communication between teammates, the copycat would only be making fun of themselves.
***
Zhou Yan’s Pantheon no longer roamed the map. Instead, he was now leading the creep wave at the top lane. This was Team Skycrown’s philosophy—Push, teamfight, and then go back to pushing.
Meanwhile, the other four members of Team Skycrown were holding the middle lane against Team Sky. Out of the blue, they were now adopting the famous 4-1 split-push.
Pantheon’s large-radius Ultimate meant that he could easily come to the middle lane to give aid. Besides, he had forced a Team Sky member to stay in the top lane with him, and without the number advantage, Team Sky dared not carelessly initiate a teamfight. It was unwise when the enemy team had a Lulu that was good at kiting.
“After pushing through, I think Team Skycrown is going to repeat the same trick again, which is to cut off the opponent’s creep line and secure the inner turret before Team Sky can come back to defend,” Aijing predicted with her sharp instincts as a professional analyst.
This was a classic play used frequently by Team Skycrown in this year’s LPL.
First, one member was assigned to force the creeps back at both side-lanes. Then, they would lure the enemy to the middle lane and stall them there. As soon as the creeps at the side-lanes had gone in deep enough, they would quickly cut across the jungle while leaving the top-solo champion at the intersection to barricade the opponents. Team Skycrown would have long brought down the tower when the opponents arrived. Having a fight there without the turret would then be no different than clashing in the jungle, which was a fight Team Skycrown were willing to take on anytime.
“Sh*t! Team Skycrown has a bagful of tricks. It’s truly annoying to play against them!” Hao Yue from Team Revelation said in annoyance.
Now, Pantheon was pushing the top lane and Rengar was there to defend. It was hardly surprising that Team Skycrown would soon rush to the top after finishing this creep wave.
Sure enough, as anticipated, Team Skycrown made their move, and all members changed course almost simultaneously without much delay.
“Gosh! If only our team could also execute such plays so cleanly!” Earth exclaimed.
Only a true professional could understand the excellence of another professional team. Team Skycrown played as though they were under the control of a single player. Not many LPL teams could play this efficiently.
Team Sky reacted quicker this time having predicted Team Skycrown’s intention, and they rushed to the top lane as well after clearing the minion wave. Theoretically, their path to the top lane was shorter so they should be there in time as long as they did not stop to claim any monsters halfway.
Upon entering the jungle, Team Sky saw Da Luo’s Shyvana heading to the top lane as they had expected.
Langjie laughed seeing the image of Shyvana. ‘Wish to block us, eh? It looks like your crawling speed is too slow to catch up this time!’
It was easy to defend against Team Skycrown once their next move was known. Team Sky would pass the intersection first before Da Luo even reached there.
“Zhou Yan, jump now!”
Luocheng glanced at the fog and ordered Zhou Yan decisively.
Zhou Yan, without another word, instantly cast his ulti over the jungle zone.
A force accumulated under Pantheon’s feet and dented the ground underneath. The Unbreakable Spear launched into the air and projected a giant mark above Team Sky who was on their way to defend their tower.
At the same time, Lin Dong also activated his champion’s ulti.
On the Hunt! The entire team was given a 60% increase in base-speed.
Boom!
Their speed was going off the charts! Team Skycrown had once again turned into a moving castle, crashing straight into the jungle where Team Sky was at.
Among the troops, one champion dashed forward with sparks crackling around his fists.
A base-speed induction of 60% followed by a 40% increase in movement speed. The stacks of the speed buffs straight out turned Blitzcrank into a flying machine, not to mention the aid of his Boots of Mobility and W-skill, Overdrive!
That was still not the end of it. After all, one must not forget about Lulu’s speed boost!
The boost was given by Wu Sen to Luocheng after the latter had activated all his skills. He was already moving about 1000 units per second in that state, and now, coupled with Lulu’s skill, it pushed that speed even further by another 30%!
As a result, all the audience practically saw was a grey figure flashing from the left corner of the screen to the right corner within seconds. Pantheon had not even landed by then!
Such speed was comparable to or even beyond Homeguard. The entire team that followed behind Blitzcrank was also charging in imposingly at a great speed, sending a shiver down their opponents’ spine!
***
The crowd was stunned.
Team Sky was faring no better. Jupiter clumsily threw a skill near the intersection but tragically, Blitzcrank ran past his Leona’s Solar Flare just as she raised her arm.
That was too much!
Luocheng’s Blitzcrank was unstoppable! Gragas rolled out his ulti intending to separate Blitzcrank from the rest of the troop, but…
Blitzcrank halted intelligently in the nick of time to evade the cask!
Xie Yi was not to be blamed. The Explosive Cask was a projectile skill that was difficult to bulls-eye the enemy to begin with. What’s more, he was now trying to throw the cask at a champion who was running faster than having the Homeguard buff!
***
“My god! Using Flash and a skill to dodge an ulti is lame-sh*t as compared to this!” The professional players’ zone in the auditorium erupted!
When was the last time you saw someone avoid incoming skills by simply moving around? None at all!
Luocheng had used his sick maneuvers to evade two successive Ultimates!
After the enemy surrendered the two ultis for nothing, Team Skycrown’s moving castle became even more impenetrable, and in this situation, Team Sky’s members were akin to four hapless chicks waiting to be grabbed by Luocheng.
Luocheng scanned but couldn’t locate his number one target—Zhao Tinghua.
It couldn’t be helped. He was moving too fast and did not have time to plant a ward. He had used his body to open up the vision, and through this, he had ensured that his teammates could catch up to him safely.
It didn’t matter if Team Sky scattered and fled, because with Pantheon’s ulti, someone was going to be caught eventually.
“Target Lucian!” After a brief consideration, Luocheng decided to kill their ADC.
Now, nobody in Team Skycrown cared whether Lucian had his Flash or not.
Luocheng went right past Leona. That’s correct. Right. Past. Her.
Jupiter had tried everything to slow Blitzcrank down, but in the end, all of his skills missed the target entirely. He watched grimly as Langjie was knocked up by Pantheon and Blitzcrank in quick succession, subsequently being forcefully dragged back by a robotic arm like a lifeless toy.
Wu Sen’s Lulu also strolled past Leona as if she was merely thin air. A Q-skill cast by the Sorceress easily ended Langjie’s miserable fate.
***
A moving castle!
Team Skycrown was just like a moving castle. Rengar from Team Sky was coming in from afar with his ulti activated in hopes of catching Team Skycrown’s backline. Unfortunately, he soon realized that he couldn’t even touch the tail of anybody from Team Skycrown, and before long, his ulti had expired!
More thrilling to see, Team Skycrown had directly cut through between the mid lane’s turrets and had made their way to the bottom lane inner turret.
With Shyvana tanking the tower, Team Skycrown forcefully demolished it with little resistance.
Team Sky was left behind at the middle lane high-ground, losing all their desire to defend after seeing how quick Team Skycrown was in dismantling their tower. They couldn’t have caught up anyway!
