Chapter 128.1 - PandaTL

Tianhuan finally finished picking their heroes while Jingzhe still had yet to pick their last Counter.

The two commentators continued, “The White Wolf King is a summoner mage, whereas the Frost Goddess and Flame Goddess, which are heroes with AoE ults, are the bane of the White Wolf King’s existence. Once their ults are released, the White Wolf King’s summons can forget about making an appearance!”

“That’s right. Tianhuan isn’t targeting specific heroes but targeting Jingzhe’s lineup instead!”¹

There were so many choices that could be made during the bans and picks phase. They could either ban heroes the opposing team was skilled in playing, or ban those that would disrupt the opposing team’s comp. They could even choose to protect their heroes and ban their counters.

This round of bans and picks left everyone completely puzzled but after hearing the commentators’ analysis, they were enlightened——it turned out that Ye Shaoyang had planned to pick the White Wolf King early on and thus, he had banned the White Wolf King’s counter!

Jingzhe had the advantage of the final counter-pick. If Ye Shaoyang didn’t ban the White Wolf King’s counter, Fang Zhengqing could retaliate with the Frost Goddess. Once he unleashes a snowstorm during the team fight, they could forget about the little wolf cubs dealing damage. Ye Shaoyang would be instakilled if he was caught in the range of the attack, which would render his hero ineffective.

Coach Chen deeply admired Tianhuan for their foresight. However, Jingzhe wouldn’t be so easily defeated.

Furthermore, Fang Zhengqing was adept at playing the White Wolf King. Coach Chen thought about it, then said, “Take the Destruction Mage. Bypass the wolf cubs’ protection and kill the White Wolf King!”

Fang Zhengqing squinted, “That’s what I had in mind too.”

Jingzhe finally locked in their last hero, the Destruction Mage.

The game officially began after both of the teams had finalized their lineup.

It was obvious that Tianhuan was bringing out the mid/jungler comp into play by choosing the Black Wolf which was a hero suited for being the jungler carry.

Fang Zhengqing pondered for a moment, then said, “Chi Shuo should be going to counter red? The Black Wolf is more reliant on the red buff so we can just stick close to him and fight.”

Li Yunmo replied calmly, “Then I no longer have to defend the red buff.”

Reverse elimination could also be used during the match. Since Fang Zhengqing guessed that Chi Shuo would open with red, Chi Shuo naturally wouldn’t appear there.

And so, a group of people went to guard the blue buff.

On Tianhuan’s side, Ye Shaoyang grinned and asked, “Captain Chi, try guessing what they’ll open with.”

Chi Shuo thought for a little bit, “Blue?”

Ye Shaoyang nodded, “Let’s go to red then.”

And hence, you predicted my prediction while I predicted your prediction…

After a round of guessing, Jingzhe opened with blue and Tianhuan countered with red. Both teams completely missed each other.

Both sides fought the buff silently. As the support, Li Yunmo had to establish visibility at the start of the match and observe their opponents’ movements. While his teammates were fighting the blue buff, he ran to where the red buff was——holy crap, there were three!

Li Yunmo couldn’t help it, “What happened to the reverse elimination! They’re at the red buff!”

Fang Zhengqing raised an eyebrow, “That only works on Chi Shuo. How am I supposed to reverse eliminate if Ye Shaoyang’s the one commanding?”

The spectators: “…”

It made sense!

It’s useless to simply guess what Chi Shuo would do since Ye Shaoyang could also command Tianhuan. They slipped up!

Were they going to defend or let it go? Everyone was waiting for their captain’s instructions.

“Let it go and counter red later.” Fang Zhengqing said calmly.

Hence, the battle for the buffs at the start of the match resulted in Chi Shuo countering the red buff and grabbing Tianhuan’s blue; Jingzhe’s first blue was given to Fang Zhengqing, and the red to Xie Yuan. The jungler conscientiously turned into a support.

Both teams managed to grab two buffs without breaking out into a team fight, which could be considered a peaceful start.

The commentators laughed, “Both teams played the game of guessing each other’s predictions and missed each other. Next up would probably be the fight for the crab monster and the face-off between the two teams.”

The top laner, mid laner, and marksman had all arrived at their respective lanes.

The mid lane’s crab monster was an important resource for junglers in the early-game. Jingzhe’s jungler, [A Knife], hid in the bushes sneakily, intending to match his timing with Captain Fang’s Q skill which would release black mist. He would then smite the crab monster when its health was low.

Just as Fang Zhengqing released his Q skill, he saw Ye Shaoyang suddenly summon two white wolf cubs who proceeded to attack the crab monster from both sides. As Fang Zhengqing’s black mist struck the crab monster, the wolf cubs sank their teeth into it simultaneously.

The crab monster was left with one-third of its health and smite could be used to instakill it. Jingzhe’s jungler eagerly charged forward to attack it, only to see a black wolf emerging from the bushes. Shortly after that, Chi Shuo’s hero radiated with the unmistakable glow of a level-up——Chi Shuo used smite too!

When two players unleashed their skills at the same time, the difference in their skill activation timing might only be a fraction of a second. He had already tried his best to synchronize with Fang Zhengqing but he still didn’t manage to get the kill. How did that even make sense?

Dao Feng was speechless, “F–k, their brain waves are synchronized. They used their skills at the same time!”

Fang Zhengqing’s brows arched, “Xiao Dao, quickly farm first and prepare for the first dragon fight.”

Jingzhe’s account names were actually pretty interesting. The account holder of One Knife went by the surname ‘Dao’, which was uncommon. He was usually referred to as ‘Xiao Dao’.² This player debuted in S8 and had played in the world championships with Jingzhe. Although not considered to be a world-class player, he was an all-rounder and could be considered as Fang Zhengqing’s protege.

Dao Feng quickly adjusted his mentality and ran to farm.

Chi Shuo had received both buffs at the start and had also stolen the crab monster, while Dao Feng gave the buff to his teammate. His level would definitely be lower than Chi Shuo’s by two to three levels and he would be at a disadvantage during the dragon fight. Fortunately, Fang Zhengqing and Xie Yuan would have the upper hand against Ye Shaoyang and Cheng Xing since they had received the buff.

Jingzhe’s double carry was world-class, even if the jungler was low-leveled, they could still beat up their opponents!

Dao Feng had immense confidence in his teammates and went to the jungle to finish off the rest of the monsters with peace of mind.

The top lane didn’t seem very exciting. No matter how much the two tanks fought each other, their health wouldn’t be depleted. In the bottom lane, Cheng Xing + Qu Jiang surely couldn’t defeat Xie Yuan + Li Yunmo, but Cheng Xing was extremely sneaky. He hid under the tower and cleared minions without engaging in a fight. Xie Yuan couldn’t possibly enter the range of the enemy tower to kill him while it was still in early-game. Hence, both sides were still at peace.

The mid lane, the focus of this match!

The duel between the league’s two kitty litter division members!

The director also cleverly cut to the mid lane. The fans in the venue held up the cat posters higher, their postures making it seem as though they were about to have a PK using the celebrity cats.

However…

Fang Zhengqing and Ye Shaoyang were also unexpectedly developing peacefully.

Before getting his ult, the Destruction Mage could use his Q skill which would emanate black mist to clear minions. However, just using one Q skill wasn’t enough and basic attacks were still needed. Otherwise, he could wait for the minions from both teams to beat up one another before clearing them with a Q skill when their health hit below 60%.

It was the same for the White Wolf King. Without any gear, the damage dealt by the summoned little wolf cubs was weak and there wasn’t a need for each of the four wolves to attack four minions separately.

And so, the duel in the mid lane turned into…

Fang Zhengqing and Ye Shaoyang both idling under their towers, watching as the minions fought each other.

Fang Zhengqing waited until the health of the six minions from both teams had decreased to below 60% before eliminating them all with a Q skill; Ye Shaoyang summoned the little wolf cubs to clear the minions, then returned to the tower and continued moving around idly.

The two commentators looked at each other, “Ahem, when the scene cut to the mid lane, I thought the mid-laners would be fighting a little more ferociously and crippling each other in an exchange of skills. In the end, both of them are getting along well and are in full health!”

【Are the mid-laners watching a play?】

【Isn’t Yangyang’s playing style usually quite fierce? When facing Captain Fang, he’s not fierce anymore.】

【Could it be that they’re showing courtesy to each other first, out of consideration for their cats?】

In reality, Fang Zhengqing and Ye Shaoyang already had an exchange of skills before the camera switched over to them. As a result, Ye Shaoyang got away when Fang Zhengqing unleashed his Q skill at him. When Ye Shaoyang released his cubs, Fang Zhengqing also promptly went to hide.

What’s the point? What a waste of skills.

Both of them had the same thought at the time.

In a duel between experts, details were actually the main focus. Sometimes, a person’s strength could be seen in their skills, judgment, and positioning. Therefore, they would not waste valuable skills on unnecessary engagements.

After all, mages have a high mana consumption. Although Fang Zhengqing had the blue buff, the Destruction Mage’s skills required lots of mana. On the other hand, the White Wolf King’s wolf cubs only required a small amount of mana and could survive long after being summoned.

Hence, having a 1v1 with Ye Shaoyang armed with just a single buff wasn’t as advantageous as others thought. Saving up his skills and only using them to clear minions was him waiting for an opportunity.

He was waiting for Ye Shaoyang to make a mistake.

Similarly, Ye Shaoyang was also waiting for Fang Zhengqing to slip up. However, he realized that Fang Zhengqing was indeed a world-class mid-laner. He was very cautious with his positioning, and it was difficult to anticipate where he would appear in the next second. In fact, Fang Zhengqing’s famed hero, the Cobra King, had a similar playstyle to the White Wolf King. He was very familiar with the operational skills of summoning mages.

He had such a profound understanding of them that it was difficult for Ye Shaoyang to accurately hit him with his skills.

After filming the mid lane for a while, the director helplessly switched the camera back to the jungle. Chi Shuo had finished clearing the jungle monsters and had hit Level 6.

That wasn’t good news to Jingzhe. Li Yunmo immediately reminded his team, “The enemy jungler has reached Level 6.”

Who would he gank first?