Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
There was no need for introductions.
In the last National University E-Sports Competition, Shanghai University had played against Fudan University and their dream of entering the top eight had been completely shattered by them.
The match had been best two out of three, and Shanghai University hadn’t even stood a chance, let alone remain standing for twenty-five minutes.
Yang Ying had felt completely powerless for the first time at that moment, as their opponents were too strong and he had had no idea how to go up against that.
It was like playing against A.I…
The top ten teams in the national universities were absolutely top-notch in the entire LOL field, but in the game, they were like A.I.’s against Fudan, and that was a reality that was hard to swallow…
This time, it was said that Fudan University had invited the top ten teams for friendly matches before the competition, and this was a shock to all the universities.
The first university they invited was also in Shanghai, Shanghai University. Hence, Yang Ying and Xiao Jia had accepted.
Initially they had thought that after a year, their strength would have grown significantly, and they had enough confidence to go against such a strong team. However, just by seeing the team leader, Lin Siyong, and seeing their white crisp uniforms, an inexplicable feeling of panic and frustration overwhelmed them.
They hadn’t even started, and they had already lost.
“We had something going on just now, I’m sorry we’re late. Let’s continue the match, we’ll be going all out,” Siyong said to Yang Ying, smiling politely at him.
Yang Ying could only nod. “Let’s get started.”
It was obvious that their top team would be playing now. Yang Ying as the team leader had to play too, or he couldn’t guarantee if his team would be able to manage.
If they lost before they could even hit the surrender mark, then their morale would be completely crushed. What right would they have to try for the national university E-sports competition?
“Luocheng, I leave it to you.” Yang Ying said solemnly, clapping Luocheng on the shoulder.
“What’s wrong, why so serious?” Luocheng asked.
“The last time we fought, we lost both rounds. They only died twice, and one of them was executed by the turret.” Yang Ying said, his voice heavy.
These were facts that were hard to swallow and tell.
They were both teams from universities, how could they surpass and completely oppress the people who had worked and trained so hard until there wasn’t even space to breathe. They were clearly the same segment, but how come they had to struggle so hard not to claim victory, but to just hit the twenty-minute mark to save a little face?
Yang Ying wanted to win, but he was very clear on the difference in their abilities, and there was no chance in hell they could win.
He only hoped that Luocheng could hold the bot lane, giving some comfort to Shanghai University when they lost.
“I’ll play seriously,” Luocheng said, nodding his head.
You could tell that Fudan University’s top team was the strongest that Luocheng had ever met.
Even the National Cyber Cafe Competition semifinals teams were a far cry from Fudan University’s team. Since it was a team that Team Skycrown needed to beat in the future, he needed to go all out here!
***
“Leader, their Support is not bad. His skills are very high.” Huang Lin said quietly to Siyong once all of their members were seated.
“Really? Well, since I’m at the bot lane, I’ll see for myself.” Siyong said.
“This Support knows how to pace and carry the game, in the last one, his Morgana managed to scatter our second team’s pacing and formation. In my estimation, he could probably pass as a second seed professional player.” Huang Lin further elaborated.
“A Support carrying? Hmm, interesting.” Siyong replied.
On par with a second seed professional player huh?
In Siyong’s view, that was nothing much really, since Fudan University’s top team were all around that standard. Unless all the members of Shanghai University’s team were at the same standard, there was nothing to worry about.
***
Everyone was seated, and not knowing why, with the appearance of Fudan University’s top team, the club room was plunged into a tensed atmosphere. More accurately, Shanghai University’s members were all sobered up.
Fudan University’s members were still brimming with the same confidence, you could even see most of them having expressions of glee on their faces.
From the proud glint in their eyes, you could tell what they were thinking, ‘We’ve let you win and be arrogant for that one round. Now with our top team here, you’re gonna get it.’
***
Entering the ban phase, Yang Ying was the first pick. He immediately banned Ezreal and Varus without any hesitation. These two champions were Siyong’s strongest ADC, especially Varus.
Someone had calculated the statistics before, once Siyong got Varus, he had never lost a single competition. He had a 100% win rate on this champion. Even when LPL teams were playing against them, they definitely banned Varus.
Yang Ying didn’t dare to risk letting the Varus be free, and he also banned Ezreal for which Siyong also had a high win rate with. You could tell that the ban was mainly to counter him.
Whereas Fudan University was more casual, banning the champions that would threaten their line up instead of a specific focus.
***
Surprisingly, Siyong chose Ashe as his champion!
When he locked in the champion, the girls who were watching the display started cheering.
Ashe!
How much confidence must you have to pick Ashe?
Ashe was a champion with no escape mechanism, in a higher elo, she was not really suitable for this kind of battlefield. Even if she was used in official competitions, the probability of losing with her was high.
Siyong choosing this champion was completely unexpected, but you could also feel the madness from this guy!
“So what if you ban my ADC, choosing this half-ass ADC, I can still win.”
That’s right, he said this right after he locked in Ashe!
***
Jinbei could feel the extreme pressure, and he was also unhappy about it. The champion he chose was still Caitlyn, and Luocheng picked Zyra.
Zyra was a Support that Luocheng usually used, and this time, he wasn’t planning on hiding much of his abilities. Only, Luocheng felt that the pick for Caitlyn wasn’t that suitable. During the early game, Caitlyn might not be able to do much against Ashe, and in a direct fight, Caitlyn might not even be able to beat her.
The opponent’s Support was Thresh. For Ashe who didn’t have many movement skills, pairing her with a Thresh was the smartest move as she could maximize her kiting abilities. Also, Thresh could easily throw a lantern to her to pull her back, and with her frost abilities, that would make her even more threatening.
This pairing was seen quite often by Luocheng, and he knew some people could play very smoothly with this combination. He just didn’t know how well Siyong and his Support could sync together.
At mid, Yang Ying had managed to pick Orianna, and the opponent was a Lux.
The probability of picking Lux in a competition wasn’t that high either, and their line up picks of champions didn’t really make sense to them. It was as if they didn’t follow any specific combination at all.
***
Entering the rift, the match had officially started.
They met at the river at level one. Thresh’s hook sparked the fuse and they started a fierce exchange.
Four for three and lacking one kill, but luckily, Shanghai University team still got the kills, and it wasn’t such a big gap.
Pressing the Tab key, Yang Ying realized that Ashe had gotten two kills, his brows furrowed immediately.
“Bot lane, be careful, Siyong has gotten two kills.” Yang Ying said.
“Okay,” Jinbei replied.
From the expression on his face, his heart had felt the pressure once more. Fudan University team was already scary to begin with, now from the get go, he had already gotten two kills, this would be even harder to play against.
***
The first half of the game was intense, both teams Junglers could only get one buff on their own side, then the three lanes continued to farm at their respective lanes to not lose out on experience gain.
Because their opponents were strong, Luocheng wasn’t so casual about his plays. He clearly remembered that Ashe had used her Flash in the first fight, and Thresh’s Exhaust and Flash were also down. This meant that in their hands, they only had a Barrier left.
On his end, he had Exhaust, but the remaining Summoner Skills were all used.
With Exhaust, if you ignored Ashe once you reached level two, you could all in Thresh. Luocheng already had a plan in mind before the laning phase had even started, and counting his experience bar, he knew they would reach level two before their opponents.
Luocheng used only basic attacks on the creeps, trying to get to level two as fast as possible.
“One more wave.”
Just needing one more wave, Luocheng spoke up and reminded Jinbei. Jinbei was startled, and for a moment, he wanted to tell Luocheng not to be aggressive, but Luocheng stepped forward and hemmed Ashe just as she was last hitting a creep.
Hemming in an enemy worked by firing a straight-line skillshot at a slight angle away from the enemy so that if they retreated instinctively, they would intersect with the path of the skillshot, increasing the chances of them getting hit.
Luocheng’s hemming was sudden, and it was also during the time when Ashe was getting the last hit on the creep…
At first, Siyong just smirked and ignored Zyra’s position because he had the confidence that he could escape whatever she was planning. However, when he saw that after Zyra hemmed him, they had hit level two, Siyong was startled for real.
Both sides didn’t have Flash, if they were to engage now, someone would definitely die!
Two level two’s against two level one’s, it was obvious which side would win!
Recalling the last match they had had with Shanghai University, Siyong had been calm mentally from the beginning to the end.
This time, less than four minutes into the match, he already felt the pressure brought on by the opponent’s Support!
This Support…
Was a skilled player!
