She chose the strategy with the most bullet comments.

I can understand Karthus; he's a jungle carry, and at most, he's difficult to play well, not someone that everyone can handle. But I really don't understand Master Yi.

Speaking of which, this should be the first time the Sword Saint has appeared in a professional league, right?

[It's true in LPL, but not in other regions. K69 from LEC tried to outplay Master Yi in the jungle, and lost terribly.]

【So here comes the no-prize guessing game! Although we can't rule out the possibility of Mu using Ornn, I still think Karthus and Master Yi should be the mid and jungle champions. Who do you guys think should play Master Yi?】

It has to be Xiao Wei!

[Fellow Daoist, why do you say that? I don't have such an extreme impression of Xiao Wei's hero pool. It seems like Mu Ge should be the one using them.]

[Young man, you need to learn to think in reverse. Anyone can see that Karthus will most likely be jungler and Master Yi will be mid laner. If it were that simple, would it still be Mu Ge's style?]

That makes so much sense, I can't argue with it...

WLD's mid-jungle pick left not only the viewers and commentators confused, but also the entire ESG team was dumbfounded for quite a while.

It's absolutely outrageous; even "unbelievable" doesn't do justice to WLD's lineup.

Aside from Ornn, who is a common pick in this version, the other four are not even picked by ranked players, making them definitely benchwarmers.

If I had to say, there are many junglers using Master Yi in the Silver rank, and his ban rate is quite high.

The question is, is this a professional league, or is it the incredibly important playoff semifinals that determine qualification for the World Championship?

WLD dared to pull off this big move in the first game of the semifinals; they really know how to play the game.

Who will play Master Yi and who will play Karthus?

Or... something that even carbon-based creatures like Karthus or Master Yi support couldn't do?

Other teams might not be able to, but it's hard to say for WLD...

The genius who can create the suicide Sion build is right there. To avoid being proven wrong, it's wise to question it first and then question it again. Double insurance is the wisest approach.

"I really didn't expect that..."

"So coach, which ADC should I pick...?"

Shushu also fell into confusion and began to doubt whether the bot lane opponent he was supposed to face was actually Kalista.

I'm really having PTSD.

Yan Xuezhen really wanted to say that she didn't know either. The WLD lineup was no longer a question of whether it was abstract or not, but rather that it was just a matter of being explicitly defined. At least that's how most people perceived it, right?

In the commentary booth, the two commentators finally managed to compose themselves.

“ESG is still hesitating, it seems that WLD’s last two choices have given them quite a shock.”

"I can understand. No one would have expected WLD to put together such a lineup."

ESG didn't pick Miss Fortune until the very last second.

"As expected, it seems ESG intends to stick to team fights. WLD's lineup is actually quite clunky and too easy for Diana or Gnar to engage on multiple targets."

"Once you're caught in the control chain, no one can withstand Miss Fortune's ultimate. Combined with Soraka's E silence, you can basically take your hands off your peripherals."

"The ideal team fight situation is like this, but in the end it still depends on performance. Both sides have finished picking, let's see who uses Juggernaut."

After about ten seconds of switching positions, the final lineups for both sides were revealed:

Blue side WLD: Top lane Ornn, Jungle Karthus, Mid lane Master Yi, Bot lane Kalista, Support Taric.

Red team ESG: Top laner Gnar, Jungler Diana, Mid laner Yasuo, Bot lane Miss Fortune, Support Soraka.

Seeing this result, countless viewers breathed a sigh of relief, but also felt a little regretful.

I thought we'd see something even more outrageous, but it turned out to be just the most common guess: the mid-lane Master Yi.

“Speaking of which, Shengxi, didn’t you say at the beginning of the draft that WLD couldn’t possibly pick Juggernaut? I think I understand now…” Lanling suddenly said in a teasing tone.

Sheng Xi choked on her food, coughed awkwardly, and changed the subject, "WLD's teamfight offensive capabilities are average, they face immense pressure in the mid-to-late game, and it's very difficult to play if you don't do well in the early game; there's practically no margin for error..."

250. Seduction Line Killer

In the first game, as long as neither side is stubborn in the early stages, they basically won't be able to make much of a difference.

They started the game in a conventional manner, developed their skills in a conventional way, and maintained a good balance in their pressure on their opponents, never giving them any good opportunities to make a move.

Xique was initially a little scared, wary of Su Mu's mid-lane sword saint.

The reason is simple: I've never played it in a match, a scrim, or a ranked game...

It's not that no one plays Master Yi in high-level games, but I've never encountered anyone using Master Yi as a mid-laner.

Out of caution and apprehension, Xique maintained the most conservative playstyle, neither overly pressuring nor simply giving in, and his last-hitting count fell behind Su Mu's.

“I want to catch him.” Mengnan lay in ambush in the river grass.

"We're three melee soldiers short of leveling up. It's best not to capture them; something's fishy. We don't know what Su Mu is up to."

"...I don't think a Master Yi with a Doran's Ring as a starting item is a reason for you to be cautious. Even if Karthus is nearby, Master Yi with this build can't beat us in a mid-jungle matchup."

Damn it, the Sword Saint has already pushed past the river line. If he gets knocked up, he'll die even with his ultimate and Flash. Why can't we gank him?

Could it be that the teammates are using caution as an excuse to openly stage a performance?

“No, we should wait until you reach level 6 before we talk about it. My intuition is usually right,” Xique insisted.

"..." Mengnan couldn't help but roll his eyes. "Our real-time communication during the competition can be heard in the background. Don't tell me you've lost your mind."

After saying that, he returned to the jungle to continue farming. Just as he emerged from the bush, he perfectly missed the expired ward inside.

The game was almost six minutes in and there hadn't been any kills yet. Everyone was basically farming and the rest of the players weren't really focused. They even chatted a bit when they had some free time.

"Hey, I think he's just having a problem with his thinking."

Reiter, playing Gnar top lane against Ornn, felt no pressure at all and said leisurely, "Didn't I eat one of Magpie's leek dumplings? Maybe he's lacking that bit of nutrition, and his brain isn't functioning properly."

Uh…

Upon hearing this, the others couldn't help but recall the joking remarks that Xique had made that morning.

"I was supposed to eat two leek dumplings today and feel full, but now I only have one. So who will make up for the nutritional deficiency I'm missing?"

"Indeed, it's your fault. Why did you steal someone else's leek dumplings?"

"Isn't that all because... Holy crap! What's Karthus doing here?"

Before he could finish speaking, Reiter, who was about to farm minions under the tower, suddenly twitched his eye and looked at Karthus behind him in exasperation.

He just used his E ability to dash over to finish off the siege minion, so he probably can't make any plays with Flash now.

"I'm on my way here! Let's delay it!"

"..."

It sounds simple, but the opponent isn't stupid. Seeing Ornn charging straight at the turret, Reiter didn't even think before using Flash to escape the range where he would be knocked up.

Seeing that Gnar had dodged and knocked them away, the two WLD players, Ueno and Naruto, didn't get carried away and quickly retreated.

Seeing this, Mengnan breathed a sigh of relief, thankful that the opponent hadn't completely decided to kill him, but he couldn't help wondering from which position Karthus had circled into the jungle.

Many viewers were also curious why none of the ESG members reacted when Karthus clearly walked through the ward's vision range. (Sigh)

It wasn't until the director showed the replay that everyone realized Karthus's movement along the wall was precisely outside the ward's maximum field of vision; what appeared to be detectable was actually not.

As the replay ended and countless eyes were still savoring the moment, a kill notification suddenly appeared on the live stream. V

First blood! I

WLD-Sumu has killed ESG-Xique!

"what?"

"The first blood broke out as soon as the camera switched back, and it was a solo kill. Both Su Mu and Xique had already used their Flash abilities, so I don't know the specifics."

[Guide? Another]

[Pay attention to the timing of your arrival at the factory; if you don't know how to guide it, quickly go and tighten the screws. q]

[Master Yi solo-killed Yasuo in mid lane, and it was such a short lane! Is Xique having an episode?]

The director, feeling frustrated, switched to the replay again. (Liu)

This time he was more careful, monitoring the live feed to see if a fight broke out.

Replays are very rare first-person perspective replays; they are mostly shown only when a player makes an exceptionally good play.

Nothing particularly special happened at first, except for Master Yi suddenly using his Q to jump into the tower and interrupt Yasuo's recall, which was downright irrational...

It wasn't until Yasuo chased after Master Yi, who had taken two hits from the turret, and even dove under Master Yi's turret that the commentators and viewers' eyes widened in disbelief.

What kind of bizarre healing ability does the Sword Saint have?

Yasuo anticipated the attack, using Q3 to knock up Master Yi, followed by his ultimate, and then a quick Whirlwind Slash followed by another Q to bring Master Yi to a sliver of health. One more auto-attack would finish him off.

The Master Yi immediately activated his W ability to heal upon landing, displaying a series of green numbers, while Yasuo's first auto-attack on the Master Yi dealt less than 20 damage.

After reading the explanation of the version changes, the reason will be clear quickly.

The new version of Master Yi's W reduces damage by 90% for 0.5 seconds after activation and is unaffected by the armor penetration gained after Yasuo's ultimate.

In the subsequent scene, the Master Yi maintained his health regeneration for four seconds. Yasuo, not believing it, attacked twice more, only to be killed by the fully-prepared turret.

The solo kill process is not complicated; even an Iron-ranked player can understand it.

The problem, or rather the point that is unclear, is that the healing amount of Master Yi's W is only a drop in the bucket. Even with the bonus when he is low on health, the amount of healing will not exceed 150 points.

However, the Master Yi who used the turret to kill Yasuo in the match currently has no less than 400 health!

When did Doran's Ring become such a strong recovery boost? Master Yi's W only has an AP ratio of 1.0.

The replay ended, and the status bar displayed from God's perspective showed Su Mu.

Lanling glanced at it, her mouth agape in disbelief, and exclaimed, "Su Mu is actually a W main, a level 3 W!"

"what?"

"...Such a twisted... flexible thought process. Could it be that maxing W and using Q to dive the tower and interrupt recall were all for that last tower dive attempt to lure Xique into diving?"

Shengxi's lips twitched after she finished speaking, and she secretly thought to herself that she was glad she had kept her mouth shut in time and hadn't said the words "defying the heavens" completely.

"I can't say for sure, but it's probably all part of Su Mu's plan?"

"A mid-lane Master Yi who farmed steadily against Yasuo for several minutes, unable to even secure lane priority, was expected to start exerting himself in the mid-to-late game, but...wow..."

"Thinking about it carefully, it really seems like a well-planned scheme. When Su Mu made his move, Xiao Wei was in the top lane preparing to cooperate with Yanhua to tower dive Reiter, giving everyone on ESG the information that WLD's jungler was in the top lane, thus dispelling the vigilance of the others."

"Especially since the Master Yi was low on health after just leaving the tower, and the minion wave was just coming back up, he had the perfect timing and position. If I were Yasuo, I would also choose to counter-attack."

"If that's the case, I can only say that Su Mu knows how to seduce when he's low on health."

251. Hybrid Damage Sword Saint

Xique wasn't stupid. He recovered from being killed by the tower a few seconds later and realized that Su Mu had leveled up his W skill more than once.

Such an outrageous fighting style is something no one would have imagined; only a pig would do something like that.

So how do you explain being defeated by a pig-nose? Doesn't that mean he's even worse than a pig-nose?

In an instant, Xique's entire face gradually turned a dark brown, and his expression was quite comical.

The face-changing moment was captured by the director, which delighted both the audience at the scene and those watching the live stream, filling the air with laughter and lively comments.

When it comes to pranks and scheming, I only admire Brother Mu!

[That's such a harsh way to put it. What do you mean by conspiracy and trickery? That's called having an unconventional way of thinking and crushing others with intelligence.]

[So, Brother Mu went back to town to get a Recurve Bow. Is he thinking of getting Blade of the Ruined King or Siren?]

【…

A first blood was exchanged in the mid lane, which should have been WLD's chance to take the dragon.

However, the bottom lane had just finished a fight, and neither side was in good condition. On the contrary, the healer with stronger recovery ability had stronger follow-up combat ability. Taric had no threat when he was out of mana and could only return to base with Kalista to replenish his mana.

Knowing this perfectly well, Diana, who had just given up supporting the top lane, decisively turned back and timed her attack on the dragon.

Without his ultimate and Flash, Master Yi is of little use, and Karthus won't be able to get there anytime soon, so the resources are a sure thing.

WLD didn't care; he simply gave her a water dragon.

Bai Wei instantly activated her ultimate skill, triggering an attack and stealing a wave of gold. Afterward, she chose to invade the jungle and steal two sets of jungle monsters. After farming two rounds, she returned to base for the first time with a small fortune and took out two small items.

"Ya'er, Uncle is really tough to fight. If it weren't for me sharing the pressure, Lian would probably be dragged around by the opponent using their range advantage."

"There's nothing we can do about it. Some things are all about talent. For example, you can't find a mid laner in the entire LPL who's better than Mu Ge."