From Pokémon to The International, Dota 2

"I've noticed something. VS is only level 19.5 right now. He hasn't even unlocked his most crucial level 20 Steal Attack talent yet, but Radiant feels like they're about to win."

YUNO discovered a key point.

"In this game, XS's Vengeful Spirit just needed to stick with the team. In the early game, Axe and Ember Spirit had a good rhythm and kept pressuring the opponent. We were almost winning without Vengeful Spirit having to put in any effort."

"It can be said that Radiant won in the stage of simply flexing their muscles, without needing to manage their resources or wait for the opponent's power spike."

Radiant continued to pressure Dire, and after destroying the Cube at 30 minutes, Vengeful Spirit, with Aghanim's Scepter, attempted to push Dire's bottom lane high ground. Although the high ground was destroyed, Dire wiped out four members with a buyback, leaving only Ember Spirit alive. After this, the gold difference between the two teams returned to 12K, but Dire lost two lanes, and the pressure on the creep waves increased.

At 37 minutes, Radiant capitalized on their creep wave advantage to catch a Tiny pushing a lane from Dire, and then successfully secured the Roshan's Aegis. With the Aegis, Vengeful Spirit stood on the last lane of high ground.

In the final moments of the match, VS was equipped with Aghanim's Scepter, Manta Style, Serpent Sting, Power Treads, and Aegis of the Immortal, giving him 245+126 attack damage. When a team fight broke out, he unleashed a Terror Wave that hit Tiny and Puck, instantly boosting his attack damage to a terrifying 421+170. With the help of his teammates' crowd control and support, he delivered explosive damage, successfully ending the game.

【Soul Stone Team Victory!】

Gu Ran took off his headphones and walked out of the battle room, where he was greeted by enthusiastic applause from the audience, followed by a very rhythmic chorus:

"Soul-revitalizing stone! Soul-revitalizing stone! Soul-revitalizing stone!"

They politely waved to the audience, then went backstage to rest for a while and prepare for the next match.

After encouraging each other in the lounge, the Soul Stone team members were very confident about the next game, because they were preparing to use a move they had been hiding for a long time—hoping to give the opposing team a surprise.

Ten minutes later, both sides were ready, and the second game of the BO3 officially began.

In this match, Team Soulstone played Dire, with Tiny as position 1, Invoker as position 2, Lycan as position 3, Batrider as position 4, and Jester (also known as the King of Variety) as position 5.

The Super Saiyan Pikachu team is Radiant, with Dark Ranger as position 1, Prophet as position 2, Dark Seer as position 3, Spirit Breaker as position 4, and Witch Doctor as position 5.

The audience erupted the moment the werewolf was revealed—the werewolf Tiny reappeared, and some players started shouting:

"Our Little Werewolf has never lost!"

Coincidentally, right after the draft phase ended, the host invited Su Xiaoman, the captain of Zhenhunshi, to the main stage for an interview:

[Hello, Captain Sora, we saw many surprises in this game's draft, including XS's signature Tiny, Firefly's signature Invoker, and the opposing team also showed Yang's signature Dark Seer. We also saw Chao's Prophet and your team's Lycan appear for the first time. Is this Lycan your secret weapon?]

Su Xiaoman was wearing the same Soul Stone team uniform as her teammates. The shoulder line of the men's uniform was a little wide for her, and the cuffs just covered her wrists, only revealing her ten fingers.

I'd say that. We got our ideal lineup this time, and we hope to bring you a great game.

The audience responded with enthusiastic cheers upon hearing the captain's confidence.

We noticed you mentioned the Werewolf/Tiny combo. Is there anything special about this combo? Have you specifically practiced this combo?

The host deliberately steered the conversation in a direction that would interest the audience the most.

[Well, actually, the main reason we picked him was because the enemy's carry was Drow Ranger. Lycan can build a lot of secondary armor items and isn't afraid of Drow Ranger's marksman talent, and he also fits our lineup well. Tiny is XS's signature hero, so he was picked first, not to complete the Lycan-Tiny combo.]

Su Xiaoman answered very seriously, and the host, Chi Xiaotu, nodded with a smile.

Thank you so much for our captain Sora's interview. Finally, is there anything you'd like to say to your team's fans?

Su Xiaoman gave a playful smile, raised her hand high above her head, and then shouted into the microphone:

"Our Little Werewolf has never lost!"

The audience erupted in cheers and boos as soon as these words were spoken, with both black pieces and white pieces celebrating wildly.

The camera returned to the main stage, and commentator YUNO noticed the audience's reaction, continuing the previous topic:

"Captain Sora is actually right, because they have never used Lycan Tiny in this Immortal Cup, and they have indeed never lost."

The narrator, Feng Zhuiyi, managed a slight smile, but still tried to remain calm as he spoke:

"Indeed, both sides had some innovative lineups in this game. They were not our traditional team fight lineups but were more focused on small-scale pace and split pushing, which is similar to the lineups that some strong teams in the European region like to pick."

freeagain chimed in:

"Yes, many strong European teams love to use summoned units to push lanes in this version, gather information, and then catch the enemy team out of position. Let's see if Team Vibrating Stone can play that kind of rhythm. In contrast, Team Super Saiyan Pikachu's lineup is a bit more muscular, with Prophet and Spirit Breaker, two heroes who can fly across the entire map in the early game, focusing on establishing an advantage and snowballing."

Game start.

"We can see that the laning situation is similar to what we expected. In the mid lane, Kael definitely can't beat Prophet. This version of Treant is too overpowered. In the top lane, Tiny is suppressing Dark Seer. Spirit Breaker can only hook creeps. In the bottom lane, Drow Ranger is also suppressing Lycan. The combination of Drow Ranger and Witch Doctor is still too domineering in the lane."

Six minutes have passed, and YUNO opens the economy panel:

"We see that the economic rankings are similar to the laning situation, but this werewolf's economy seems to be okay. Although he was getting a lot of damage in lane, he seems to have made up for some of his economy by jungling. Having 2000 gold in six minutes is not bad."

Just as freeagain was about to continue analyzing the economic panel, Feng Zhuiyi suddenly saw a kill count about to erupt on the match screen:

"Look at mid lane! Prophet's been flanked by Batrider! Firefly landed an Ice Wall just in time, followed by a Quick Cooldown, perfectly slowing Prophet down. Then, the King of Games came over and lashed out with a Whip, followed by a predicted Skyfire! The skill combos were perfect!"

First blood!

Firefly kills Maybe and receives 361 gold + 159 gold, split among 3 heroes.

"This Karl's Ice Wall was pretty good. We have a saying that you can tell if a Karl is a pro by how well he can cast Ice Wall, and Firefly is clearly one."

freeagain commented.

"Side ice wall, apply extreme cold, then anticipate the skyfire, this Karl is indeed not bad."

Feng Zhuiyi savored the moment when Karl had just used his skill. Before he could fully appreciate it, another conflict erupted at the bottom lane's experience shrine. With the help of his teammates, Xiao Hei stole the Dire's experience shrine, but Dire's reinforcements arrived quickly, ultimately saving Prophet's life. It was as if Prophet had been traded for a shrine.

At 8 minutes and 40 seconds, the Prophet tried to defend the middle tower but didn't expect the two enemy support heroes to come over. Gu Ran used a Wind Blast followed by a Meteor, and with the combined output of Bat and Hundred Plays King, the Prophet was killed again.

"Although Radiant is currently ahead in economy, they have been ganked in the mid lane a few times, and Prophet's economy is not good. I wonder if this will affect Radiant's subsequent ganking and map clearing rhythm."