Chapter 81: Take The First City! Then Show Your True Colors!
Both coaches came to the center of the stage to shake hands, and the deafening cheers from fans on both sides echoed throughout the venue.
“EDG! Go for it! EDG! Go for it!”
“WE! Go for it! WE! Go for it!”
The cheers rose and fell like waves, as if they were about to lift the roof off the arena, after all, both teams were powerhouse teams, and EDG’s fan count didn’t overwhelm WE…
This was also a rare case where the support rate didn’t exceed by much.
56% to 44%.
However, in the EDG fan area, there was a small group that stood out, and after the cheers ended, they shouted Unreal go for it!
Yu Luo’s face was full of anticipation, and since he was standing in the middle position holding a huge sign, the director noticed him first and immediately cut the camera to him!
“Hater speaks!”
Although everyone couldn’t hear his voice, they could roughly tell from his lip movements.
“Hahaha…”
Everyone who saw this scene couldn’t hold back.
You guys are really ruthless.
Not missing any chance to taunt the haters.
The game officially loaded, and both sides entered Summoner’s Rift.
Almost simultaneously, they bought equipment and rushed out from the spring.
They spread out in serpentine formation, holding the key river position.
“Both sides are playing very cautiously at level 1, focusing on defense without any intention of invading.” Miller said, looking at both sides’ positioning.
“Yes, Clearlove’s Kha’Zix started with red, Kang Di’s Excavator also started red from the upper half, both junglers mirroring.” Wa Wa added.
Li Fan controlled Taliyah to mid lane, already seeing Xi Ye’s Syndra.
The Arbitrator skin was shining with golden light.
Although Taliyah was a support-type mage, Syndra was known as the traditional lane bully.
But Taliyah’s Q skill Stone Shower could throw five rocks in a row, and if all hit, a set could deal 150 health!
In the early game, there was basically no one who could match her, and she wasn’t afraid of other mainstream heroes in burst trades either.
Mainly because the EWQ combo dealt full damage, and with Thunder, it was half health; later on, against squishies, it could instantly cripple or empty the health bar.
However, Taliyah required extremely high proficiency; if played poorly, it was just playing a construction site simulator.
Xi Ye originally wanted to bait Li Fan’s Q skill.
Because Taliyah’s Quarry had a cooldown of 180 seconds, which was a key limitation for Taliyah.
As long as he dodged it and baited the Quarry, the line push advantage later would be significant.
But Li Fan chose to close the distance, crossing the mid line before using Q skill, and the angle was diagonal.
The hit rate was extremely high, three out of five rocks hit, with Thunder directly taking 150 health from Syndra, while he only lost 50 health…
Xi Ye took a big loss directly.
Damn it!
The opponent’s Taliyah was played very skillfully, something felt off.
He couldn’t help but feel some pressure.
But with the minion wave coming, he still had to lane… observe first.
After all, this was just early handling without minions; many professional players knew how to play it, but with the minion wave, it was completely different.
Otherwise, why have laning? How to lane without minions?
As the minion wave arrived, Xi Ye played very aggressively.
Trying to poke with Q skill, but Li Fan’s small movements were very delicate, dodging the Dark Orb and countering with a Stone Shower, five rocks fired in succession, two of which hit the Syndra trying to last hit.
“Oh? Unreal’s Q skill angle is very tricky, grazing Xi Ye.” Rita said.
“You can tell Unreal’s Taliyah proficiency isn’t low!”
Xi Ye frowned; he had dodged behind the minions first but still got hit, toning down his slight underestimate and focusing more on the lane.
What was said online couldn’t be trusted at all, Unreal was strong… if not careful, he might really flip over.
Taliyah’s push power was slightly better than Syndra.
Li Fan used Q skill to quickly clear melee minions, trying to hit level 2 first for initiative.
Xi Ye naturally didn’t want to give up line rights easily, constantly using Q skill to interfere and clear minions.
Both sides traded blows, with Li Fan slightly ahead in trading health.
After Clearlove cleared red buff and F6, he glanced at mid lane: “Can I gank? I can come over.”
“Not for now, he’s positioning very carefully, focus on your own farming first.” Li Fan said calmly.
Picking Kha’Zix meant focusing on farming, for kills, top lane’s Maokai was very good to cooperate with.
Clearlove understood what Li Fan meant, nodded, and controlled Kha’Zix toward the upper half.
So, what everyone thought would be a powder keg match was unusually calm in the early game, with no kill bursts.
Time slowly reached three and a half minutes.
Kang Di’s Excavator cleared the river crab and sneaked into the bush below mid lane.
At the same time, Clearlove’s Kha’Zix finished the upper half and was heading toward mid lane.
“Both junglers seem to have ideas on mid lane, this wave is about to clash!” Miller’s voice rose eight degrees.
Xi Ye saw the Excavator in position and deliberately sold an opening, positioning slightly forward.
Li Fan’s Taliyah instinctively stepped forward to poke with Q, but quickly glanced at the minimap—Clearlove’s Kha’Zix was also approaching mid.
Excavator must be there!
With this mental preparation, he immediately focused his attention highly.
Almost simultaneously, Kang Di’s Excavator burst out from the river bush.
Xi Ye had been holding E skill, and the instant the Excavator appeared, he directly used Weakness Expelled!
As long as the opponent’s attention was drawn to the Excavator, his sneak attack would be easy to land.
After all, normally, Excavator ganks involved Flash knock-up…
If using QE to hold someone, after they flash, come again next wave, opponent dies twice.
Then Taliyah’s mid-early game impact couldn’t be played out.
Playing safe in matches was fine, but the ceiling wouldn’t be high; players had to greed when they should.
“Xi Ye first move! Kang Di tunneled in!” Wa Wa exclaimed.
The WE fans’ cheers in the venue were already on their lips!
Kang Di knew Xi Ye’s plan in voice chat, so he just controlled the Excavator to approach.
If opponent flashed, he could Flash knock-up too.
In this critical moment, Li Fan’s reaction was extremely fast, a small sidestep successfully dodging Syndra’s Dark Orb, and not only that, he stepped onto the Quarry, movement speed surging as he tried to distance from the Excavator.
“Dodged! Unreal’s reaction was too fast! My goodness!” Rita shouted excitedly.
Kang Di panicked and hurriedly flashed to knock up Li Fan, but the instant he flashed over…
Li Fan had already placed Rock Field under his feet, and W skill Unstoppable Force precisely on Syndra’s feet.
Xi Ye rushed up for damage and was predicted, Li Fan’s Unstoppable Force perfectly lifting Syndra, triggering Rock Field’s damage and slow!
“Unstoppable Force hit Syndra! Rock Field damage full, Unreal’s hand speed is too fast.” Miller could hardly believe his eyes.
“Just the Excavator’s damage alone is far from enough…”
Because at this moment, another disruptor appeared.
That was Clearlove coming down from top!
Leap jumped into the fight, AQ hitting Syndra, with Taliyah’s damage, Syndra’s health instantly bottomed out!
Xi Ye hurriedly flashed, but Li Fan, who hadn’t used flash before, flashed after.
A Q skill Stone Shower cleared the last bit of health.
First Blood!
First Blood achieved!
Clearlove turned back and used W skill to slow the Excavator.
The Excavator had flashed… now stuck, running was almost impossible.
Li Fan kept a safe distance; though unlikely to be traded, caution was always good.
Clearlove’s pull and tug showed veteran style.
Kang Di was toyed with crazily but had no way out.
Mainly because he had no flash, he was meat on the board now.
Finally taken by Li Fan’s auto attack.
Double Kill!
Double Kill! Taliyah gets the double kill!
The entire arena instantly boiled over!
Especially the EDG fan area, Yu Luo and the alliance behind him almost jumped from their seats, cheering hoarsely.
After all, they came to support Li Fan; the brighter he shone in today’s match, the more face they had.
Today iUnreal would definitely walk out of the arena proudly!
“Nice!!!” The EDG team voice exploded with excited shouts.
“Holy shit! Fan Ge! Awesome!” meiko shouted.
“Mainly Brother Kai came right on time, if he didn’t, I would’ve run; having a jungler like this in mid is really reassuring.”
“After clearing upper half, thought to check mid, just happened to bump into it.” Clearlove couldn’t control his upturned mouth; he was the synonym for mid reassurance, basic operation.
On WE’s side, the atmosphere was somewhat solidified.
Kang Di: “My fault, my fault, this wave was mine, didn’t expect his reaction to be so fast.”
Xi Ye’s face was a bit ugly: “My mistake was too big.”
Miller shouted loudly: “Xi Ye this wave made a huge huge super super invincible super low-level mistake!!!”
“But Unreal’s handling this wave was truly perfect, positioning to dodge key control, counter EW for full damage and control, cooperating with Clearlove for the counter-kill! This is textbook-level response!” Wa Wa praised.
“Yes, I thought Unreal was dead this wave, WE mid-jungle control chain should hit for sure…”
Rita smiled and said: “Now the offline fans are going to go even crazier, this operation is definitely TOP1 this week!”
Just as Rita said, the fan group in the audience screamed and shouted; though only seventy or eighty people, the energy they burst made the whole arena hear clearly.
EDG backstage lounge.
Abu grabbed Kuaisu Xing’s hand.
“Awesome, you’re really awesome, I was chirping about your coaching level earlier, turns out I was the one with dog eyes underestimating you.”
Kuaisu Xing smiled widely after hearing the translation.
“Li Fan is a top-tier player! Just hidden deep, I studied him for a long time before confirming.”
“Impressive, impressive!”
Kuaisu Xing looked at Li Fan on the screen, you’re really strong! I was the fool…
EDG backstage was so harmonious, no trace of the sharpness from the four consecutive losses.
Scout by the water dispenser looked blankly at the big screen.
Clearlove didn’t play like that back then?
Now why stand mid every game? Aren’t you level 2 gank bottom? Gank bot! Target the Koreans?
Damn it!
Scout felt a fire in his heart but had nowhere to vent.
In the early game, EDG mid-jungle established huge advantage with this double kill.
After Taliyah with two kills went home to update equipment, online dominance was stronger, pushing the line and disappearing from vision, bringing huge pressure to WE’s top and bot lanes.
Xi Ye’s Syndra, due to dying once, had stunted development and couldn’t restrict Taliyah’s roams online anymore.
This led to top lane Camille, who should suppress Maokai, not daring to.
Because 957 was very afraid of Taliyah coming to gank him.
Maokai’s Asian Bind, combined with Taliyah’s Unstoppable Force, left him no operation chance.
But the more you worry about something, the more likely it happens.
Six and a half minutes!
Li Fan’s first official roam with ultimate, straight to top lane Camille.
“Taliyah missing, bot be careful!” Xi Ye hurriedly pinged.
957 quickly retreated, however, Li Fan’s Taliyah didn’t go the usual river path but flanked from jungle with Clearlove.
The intent was clear: direct tower dive and kill.
As long as Camille didn’t leave top, it was certain death.
Maokai here calmly started pushing the line.
957 watched this and waited a while, maybe it’s a feint, actually ganking bot?
Heroes like this with ultimate that can instantly reach a spot love giving psychological pressure without actually coming.
But when the minion wave entered tower, Kha’Zix from behind, and Taliyah’s ultimate in place…
He knew EDG was serious this time.
But he had no good operation chance.
Mainly because Maokai really counters flashy plays.
An Asian Bind followed by Unstoppable Force locked 957 down tight.
Plus Kha’Zix’s burst, the three’s combined damage was plenty!
“957 down! EDG mid-jungle this wave was premeditated, WE really hurt now.”
“Yes, WE exploded! EDG’s rhythm is too good! Since changing mid, EDG team’s change is huge.” Miller exclaimed.
0-3 start, top and mid blooming, WE’s situation turned straight down.
Xi Ye laning more impatiently, trying to solo kill Taliyah to recover disadvantage, but Li Fan’s positioning exceeded imagination, and with equipment gap, Syndra wasn’t Taliyah’s match.
Instead, seizing chance, E into WQ classic combo turned half-health Syndra to crippled, completed solo kill with follow-up auto attacks.
Completely fallen into Taliyah’s rhythm, WE was helpless, because their aggressive system faced EDG’s extremely protective Tahm Kench.
Under Li Fan’s command, advantage-heavy EDG used Taliyah’s mobility and Tahm’s protection to wildly rotate lines and push towers, plundering jungle resources.
An underdeveloped Camille couldn’t carry solo.
From fifteen minutes, three outer towers plus mid lane tower 2 fell, vision pressure already super huge.
WE chose to go all-in at eighteen minutes, as delaying would widen the gap more.
And it worked, successfully catching Varus!
On-field situation seemed to turn sharply.
But Li Fan wouldn’t allow EDG’s 10k economy lead to be comebacked.
Ultimate from behind like divine soldier, W skill lift!
Sending Syndra into the crowd, Xi Ye instantly killed.
When WE focused Li Fan, Tian Ye flashed in to eat it.
When spat out, Li Fan targeted Sivir.
Instant burst crippled her!
Kha’Zix dragonfly touch in, another Q to take Sivir.
WE’s double core that seemed to have a chance directly killed…
One wave 1 for 5, completely shattering WE’s comeback dream.
Finally, match time froze at 23 minutes.
EDG with huge economy advantage and Baron Buff one-shot WE’s base crystal.
“Victory!”
Victory sound effect played, on EDG player bench, members smiled and high-fived.
Below stage, EDG fans, especially that special alliance, plunged into a sea of revelry.
Yu Luo excitedly shouted at the camera: “See that? That’s Unreal! Even the crappiest game he plays can still random kill on stage.”
In the live stream room, those League players seeing Yu Luo’s face were all itching with rage.
This dog thing’s face is so exaggerated!
Want to curse a bit…
But thinking of the in-your-face taunt.
Haters online, fans offline.
Damn it!
You wait, check when EDG’s next match is, then see if there are haters offline!
