From Pokémon to The International, Dota 2

Chapter 96 Reckless Charge

Our puppies should have enough gear by now, so we can use Smoke of Deceit to look for opportunities to gank and control shields.

At 28 minutes into the game, Gu Ran checked his team's carry's items: Phase Boots, Radiance, Armlet, and Aegis.

With the staff, clone axe, and soul ring, my combat strength is already taking shape. The next pre-ordered equipment will be the assault rifle and the stun hammer.

So the Soul Stone team used Smoke of Deceit to search for Roshan in the Radiant main jungle. At this time, Roshan was in the Roshan pit on the right.

However, Navi's Terrorblade also happened to get Daedalus's Bane, and organized his teammates to use Smoke of Deceit to find people. Both sides broke the smoke in the Radiant's main jungle!

The moment the fog broke, Centaur blindly jumped without vision and stepped on Old Fang's Clockwerk, but Clockwerk activated Energy Gear in time. Shadow Fang placed a Thorn Maze behind Centaur to bind Blue Cat and Terrorblade, and then started charging up a Terror.

After Navi's mid-laner Storm Spirit was bound, he immediately activated Black King Bar and charged forward, attempting to coordinate with Centaur Warrunner to kill Clockwerk. Skywrath Mage also followed up with a Mystic Blade. However, Rangora's Tongue and Lifestealer's ultimate ability allowed him to enter Clockwerk's body, saving his life. Terrorblade was temporarily unable to keep up with the damage output due to fear.

At this moment, Blue Cat's mana was almost depleted, and his Black King Bar was about to expire, so he had no choice but to retreat.

"Charge! Brothers, charge!"

On Huya, in the Shuangqu live stream room, Chao Ge directly transformed into a Soul Stone to command the team. He felt that the opposing mid laner was out of form, which was an excellent opportunity to chase and kill them.

Soulstone thought the same thing, so they charged into the Navi formation. However, they didn't expect that this charge would put Terrorblade in the perfect position to deal damage, and he had just obtained Daedalus's Lament, making his damage output extremely explosive.

Gu Ran's Ember Spirit instantly snapped back to reality after being hit by two critical strikes; they had underestimated the Terrorblade's damage output!

[Don't do this on Taobao, return it!]

Unfortunately, the charging formation was already set, and even though they quickly retreated, they were quickly reduced in number. The enemy Treant Protector used a timely Grove of Life to bind three of them, and under the output of the Cannon Terrorblade, the Soul Stone side fell one after another. In the end, only XS's Lifestealer was left, and he could only activate magic immunity and teleport back home.

"See what I told you? The Navi lineup is great for head-on fights. Who can even understand Terrorblade's damage output? Lifestealer is just terrible. He farms slowly, and even with Radiance, he can barely keep up with Terrorblade's farming speed. He can only scratch the surface of the enemy. Although he's not easy to kill, he's not very useful!"

Binbin showed off his understanding of the game, swaggering around, while Awei could only frown and remain speechless.

In that last wave, the Soul Stone actually saved Clockwerk, and Shadow Fiend used her ultimate to cut off the backline damage dealers, which was a pretty good move. They probably didn't expect Terrorblade to get Daedalus so quickly, thinking they could press their advantage, but instead they became easy prey for the enemy.

The four members of the team were wiped out by the Soul Stone, and Navi took the opportunity to secure the Aegis of Roshan. After this, Navi's economy was 3000 gold ahead.

The main stage began replaying the team fight: "What? That team fight we lost with the Soul Stone was all because I was directing? Ugh, who would have thought Terrorblade's DPS would be so high? Okay, guys, I'll take the blame, I'll take the blame, but this game isn't over yet, don't panic—"

While Chao was calming the audience, the replay showed Navi, with the Aegis, choosing to spread out and farm, only to be caught off guard by the Soul Stone. The Soul Stone used Smoke of Deceit to kill Centaur Warrunner and the Treant Protector lurking nearby. Skywrath Mage tried to come to the rescue but ended up losing a Soul Stone himself.

"See, what did I tell you? They'll deliver it to you, so don't rush."

A smile returned to Chao's face, while Binbin scolded him with exasperation, "What is Navi doing? Without TB, they can't possibly kill anyone. They got caught without TB and still want to fight back? Isn't that just suicide?"

It can only be said that those involved are often blinded while bystanders see things clearly. The audience can clearly sense the main sources of damage output on both sides during team fights, but the players on the field may not be able to perceive it.

This wave of Soul Stones resulted in three kills, bringing the economy of both sides back to even.

Killing three people is enough; now let's just play defensively and wait for the Blue Cat's shield to drop.

Under Gu Ran's command, Zhenhunshi chose to avoid battle and play defensively, preparing to wait for the Immortal Guardian brought by Blue Cat to disappear before fighting the opponent.

Navi naturally wanted to take advantage of the shield. At 34 minutes into the game, the shield that Storm Spirit had brought lasted for about a minute. Sensing that the opponent wanted to push their bottom second tower, the Spirit Stone set up a defensive formation near their own triangle high ground. Clockwerk stood alone on the triangle high ground, cosplaying as a high ground ward.

When the illusion of Terrorblade reached the foot of the high platform, it saw Clockwerk. Navi's offlaner Centaur Warrunner used Blink Dagger to jump down to the foot of the high platform to initiate, but Clockwerk used Power Cogs to bounce it off. Seeing this, Storm Spirit immediately used Ball Lightning to roll over and grab Clockwerk. Terrorblade activated Metamorphosis and dealt damage, quickly reducing the full-health Clockwerk to near death in just a few hits.

However, XS's Lifestealer provided timely support, using its ultimate ability to burrow into Clockwerk's body to heal him. Clockwerk himself used a Force Staff to create distance, and Langore also came over to play his piano to heal. The last few projectiles from Terrorblade hit Clockwerk but did not kill the robot.

[TB has activated its demonic transformation, I'm logging out!]

When Gu Ran saw that TB had activated his transformation, he immediately ordered his teammates to retreat. They had just experienced the painful lesson of being wiped out when they charged at TB head-on, so now they naturally had to fight a drawn-out battle.

So the entire Soulstone team retreated. Navi's Terrorblade, having activated his Metamorphosis, naturally didn't want to waste it, so he moved to the enemy's second tower and started attacking it. Meanwhile, Soulstone sent out General Lifestealer to duel with Terrorblade.

TB didn't have the Aegis of the Immortal, and panicked a bit when he saw the little dog approaching. He immediately activated Manta Style, while XS wasn't in a hurry. He first bit the illusion of Terrorblade. He was equipped with a lot of items: Phase Boots, Manta Style, Armlet, Aghanim's Scepter, Assault Cuirass, and Radiance. He was a hero with low damage output but was hard to kill.

So, while enduring the damage output from the main body of TB and the two illusions, the illusions were slowly cleared away.

After the illusions were cleared, Navi's Storm Spirit's Aegis of the Immortal was about to expire, and Terrorblade's Metamorphosis was also about to end. Knowing they couldn't linger under the enemy's second tower any longer, they began to retreat, with Centaur bringing up the rear.

[Save your men! Keep your men alive to start the team fight!]

Under Gu Ran's command, Xie Ying Fang Ling first used Thorn Maze to bind the centaur. The centaur then cast a Lotus Orb on itself to dispel the binding effect. At this point, Gu Ran used Shadowless Fist and Blazing Sun Rope to bind the centaur again. The centaur could only stand still and wait for the control time to end.

However, just as the entanglement was about to end, Clockwerk used his ultimate to hook Hecarim, then walked in front of Hecarim and used Power Cogs to bounce Hecarim back. XS's Lifestealer stepped forward and began to tear apart the tankiest Hecarim. Even a tanky hero couldn't withstand the Lifestealer's feast.

The enemy is very likely to engage us! We should assess the situation, avoid casualties, and fight slowly.

Gu Ran knew that their lineup was all about mutual rescue and kiting, and now that the enemy Terrorblade's Demonic Transformation was about to end, it was the perfect time to initiate a team fight.

Navi's strategy was clear: kill the easiest targets first. Centaur had already activated his ultimate to save himself, while Storm Spirit rolled onto Clockwerk's face and used an Electro Vortex to pull him in. Skywrath Mage followed up with Ancient Seal and Mystic Radiance, and Clockwerk's health plummeted!

However, Xs came over just in time and used his ultimate skill to enter Clockwork's body. Evil Spirit also gave Clockwork a Glimmering Cloak, and Clockwork's health returned to a healthy position like a roller coaster ride.

The Lifestealer stood in front and bit the Storm Spirit first. The Storm Spirit naturally couldn't fight the Lifestealer 1v1 and could only retreat with Ball Lightning. Gu Ran's Ember Spirit used Aghanim's Scepter to fly to the back row and used Solar Chains to bind Terrorblade and Skywrath Mage. After binding them, he didn't give Terrorblade a chance to deal damage and immediately used Ember Spirit to create distance.

Terrorblade's transformation was perfectly timed. Seeing the five opponents chasing after him, he could only activate Black King Bar (BKB) to dispel Sunfire Cape and retreat. Gu Ran saw Terrorblade run away and then use his Soul Flying Back to start attacking Skywrath Mage at close range.

Knowing that they had used up all their skills and would be in trouble if they continued fighting, Navi retreated, leaving only Skywrath Mage alive.

[We played very well this time! We first drew out Terrorblade's Demonic Transformation to make them rush in, then we assessed the situation and attacked accordingly. We didn't force a charge at Terrorblade!]

This wave may not have yielded significant results, but Gu Ran has already seen the formula for victory. They need to engage in these drawn-out team fights to bait out Terrorblade's Demonic Transformation and then let the enemy rush them, so that they can save each other and bring out the advantages of their lineup.