She chose the strategy with the most bullet comments.

Even the BO5 match on the second day couldn't suppress the buzz it generated.

After a whole day of fermentation, the number of views has reached nearly five million.

It's safe to say that anyone who plays League of Legends and has a social circle has heard of the Kleptomancy Soraka strategy to some extent.

Even players from the three major international regions quickly adopted this gameplay, causing chaos in ranked matches.

Some people got scammed, some were tortured to the point of having high blood pressure, and some were so happy they couldn't breathe.

For most players, besides the process of reproduction, what could be more enjoyable than watching their opponent get carried away, yet being unable to do anything about it?

Most people don't care where the strategy originated, but a few people followed the online news to the LPL and learned that the mid-lane Soraka strategy was developed by a player from a team in the LPL University League.

……

While players were enthusiastically discussing the tournament and anticipating Step by Step's performance in the semifinals, at Riot Games headquarters in the Far Ocean, someone was scratching their head repeatedly, looking completely frustrated.

"God! If that player keeps doing this, I'll be fired by my boss sooner or later!"

Upon hearing this, the rest of the people in the independent ten-person office couldn't help but look at the mature red-haired woman with disheveled hair that looked like a doghouse and a bitter expression on her face.

She is a hero designer, responsible for assisting in the overall development of heroes and providing feedback.

Since the start of the National College League, the number of heroes who have stepped out of the support role has been collected, making people's brains tremble, tremble explosively.

Oh my god, the way her boss looked at her not long ago was terrifying, as if if she didn't handle this matter properly, she wouldn't be coming to work for the next version update...

"This is really weird. I painstakingly designed so many support heroes, and yet some players always use them to wreak havoc in other lanes. How am I supposed to change Soraka now? Fuck..."

Damn it, healers are already not popular in the bottom lane meta, and I thought their strength was just average. I was even considering whether they would receive some support in future patches.

Unexpectedly, after going to the top or mid lane, he used Kleptomancy to completely disrupt the general trend of the game.

"I'll go find the leader right now and get her permission to remove the 'Omen of Theft' rune that's disrupting the balance! Yes! It must be the 'Omen of Theft's' fault!"

The red-haired designer suddenly stood up from his workstation, raised his right hand above his head, and the whole posture looked exactly like a single character.

乆

Just then, suppressed laughter came from nearby, immediately catching the designer's attention.

"What are you laughing at?" The red-haired designer squinted at a Chinese male colleague with whom he had a fairly good relationship.

The development of some heroes with an Eastern style was handled by this Chinese designer, and the initial idea for Theft was also proposed by this guy. The subsequent design drafts underwent numerous revisions and balances before finally being approved.

Who knew that its strength would be so overpowered after it went live?

The Chinese designer straightened the corners of his mouth and said in a serious tone, "I remembered something happy."

"What's the good news?"

My wife gave birth…

"Pfft..." The bald designer watching the show couldn't hold back and burst out laughing. He covered his face with his hands and tried his best to suppress his joy.

The red-haired designer pursed his lips, spread his hands, and asked with a sidelong glance, "What are you laughing at now?"

"Uh... my wife also had a baby." The bald designer waved his hand and nodded.

Upon hearing his words, the Chinese designer immediately lowered his head, his lips trembling uncontrollably.

To their surprise, the red-haired designer's next words completely forced them to smile.

"Are your wives the same person?"

"Yes, yes, yes..."

"Ugh... Heh..."

At first, the two nodded in agreement, but after realizing what was happening, they both covered their eyes and foreheads with their hands, trying to suppress their laughter and forcefully explain.

"Oh, no, they gave birth on the same day..."

Enraged by this, the red-haired designer put his hands on his hips and shouted, "I'm telling you, and I'll say it again, I'm not joking!"

"Yes, yes, you're not kidding..."

As the Chinese designer finished speaking, the bald designer couldn't hold back any longer. He stuck two fingers into his mouth, widened his lips, and let out an extremely cheerful laugh.

"You've all been laughing at me, and it hasn't stopped!"

“Ms. Mary, we are professionally trained. No matter how funny it is, we won't laugh unless we can't help it…”

"Hey--"

"Well... how about this?"

Sensing that the red-haired designer was about to explode, the Chinese designer very 'friendly' offered a solution.

"Go to the manager now and tell her that the Stealing Omen has a bug that allows an infinite number of money bags to appear and there's no way to fix it. She'll probably allow you to remove the rune..."

Hmm? Mio

The red-haired designer thought about it and realized it might not be a bad idea...

"Great idea, I'll go right now!"

After saying that, the red-haired designer picked up his coat from the chair and left the office.

"Hee-ya-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha—"

Before the door was even closed, she heard extremely unrestrained laughter coming from inside. She quickly turned around and peeked in, her face contorted with rage.

However, what I saw was the two guys staring intently at the monitor, working diligently.

"Ms. Mary, do you have any questions to add?" the Chinese designer asked with a smile.

Or is it just my imagination?

The red-haired designer didn't say a word, turned and walked away. Just as the door was about to close, he heard laughter again. He turned back and peeked out, but still didn't see anyone laughing loudly.

Shit, is this some kind of ghost?

Without further hesitation, she rushed upstairs to find her boss, only to find herself getting a severe scolding and becoming the subject of gossip among designers.

110. Semifinals

After entering the semifinals, Su Mu and the others can rest for a few days, watch the remaining BO5 matches, and take notes on some of the highlights as research material to prepare for the subsequent matches.

Zhang Xiaoyu didn't just let things slide; she took the initiative to seek out Su Mu and ask her to train her.

It's not about "training" or "training," but rather about expanding the hero pool to see if there are any strategies similar to Viktor that we can practice more.

Quick fixes are unreliable, but they're better than nothing.

Zhang Xiaoyu felt extremely guilty after being overwhelmed in the third game of yesterday's match, realizing that simply trying to survive would easily lead to the team's downfall in the following matches.

This is not a single-player competitive game.

Su Muxin readily agreed and developed a few unconventional strategies for her. Of course, most of them were still the disruptive heroes, and the carry-type heroes were off-limits.

With Su Mu's solution, Zhang Xiaoyu stopped watching the matches and spent all her time training solo.

I get up at 7 a.m., eat breakfast, and practice until noon. After lunch, it's evening again. Then I eat dinner and it's past midnight...

I did nothing else all day but played nearly thirty ranked games.

Su Mu was moved by their perseverance and determination, and couldn't help but teach them more.

But... there really is such a thing as talent in esports. Some things can't be changed by hard work alone. You can make steady progress, but there will always be bottlenecks that are difficult to break through.

For Su Mu, Zhang Xiaoyu's earnest and persistent perseverance was enough.

We are a team, and we share everything, but someone has to shoulder more responsibility. Let me take the heaviest part.

Seeing how hard Zhang Xiaoyu was working, Zhao Lisi and Zhou Xuemin couldn't sit still either, and finally joined in the independent training to play duos on the international server.

Su Mu and Bai Wei were reviewing past matches and organizing various materials, which is something they had been doing all along.

With everyone working hard for the team, the short break passed by quietly, and before we knew it, we were in the semifinals.

……

Shanghai, a larger stage for the competition.

This venue is much larger than the previous ones, with at least twice as many seats, and it's packed with people.

"Welcome to the semifinals of the National College League. The three-day competition will determine the first champion. Today, the summoners gathered here will watch the Guangzhou University Step by Step to Victory team face off against the Fudan University Digital Miracle team!"

"First, let's welcome the Digital Miracles team to the stage—"

"Top lane: San San, Jungle: Wu Wu, Mid lane: Liu Liu, Bot lane: Qi Qi, Support: Jiu Jiu."

"Next up, please welcome the Step-by-Step Victory Team—"

"Top laner: Xiaoyu, jungler: Xiaowei, mid laner: Xiaomu, bot laner: Xiaoli, support: Xiaomin."

"When two armies meet on a narrow path, the brave will prevail. We look forward to a thrilling match between the two sides."

The host led both parties onto the stage, smiling as they waited for the camera to move away, before switching the camera to the commentary booth.

Many viewers were quite surprised to see the two commentators on the commentary stage.

Both are heavyweights, and it's difficult to give a definitive evaluation.

One of them is Luanming, whose full name is Jiang Luanming. He has transitioned to commentating on many popular e-sports games, including MOBA and FPS.

There are many reasons why he is so memorable. One is his reputation as an e-sports dad. A few years ago, he was working with his child, and he was still feeding his child formula right before the competition started.

Secondly, he's incredibly good at jinxing opponents. To give you an example, even a team with a 10,000 gold lead and a near 90/10 win rate can be jinxed and still lose...

However, Luanming's professional skills are impeccable. He has won the title of best commentator for several consecutive years. His "jinxing" (making predictions that are wrong or unreliable) is also very entertaining. He has a considerable number of fans, and matches with his commentary can even gain several times more popularity out of thin air.

The other person is named Jian Yun, a former MOBA professional player whose reputation in China is polarized.

Some say she has contributed a lot to Chinese esports, while others say that she has no world-class titles in her six-year career and therefore has not made many contributions.

However, regardless of the circumstances, the fact that Jian Yun's level of skill is almost unmatched in China is a consensus among many.

Is it possible that even she has the intention to switch to becoming a League of Legends commentator, or was she invited to do so?

Regardless, Jian Yun and Luan Ming's appearance at the National College League semi-finals still caused quite a stir at the scene.

Many people know them as players of competitive games.

"The ten contestants on stage can feel the enthusiasm of the audience. The referee informed both sides that they are ready and to begin the BP (Ban/Pick) phase."

Step by step, I drew the red side and achieved a numerical miracle by first banning Irelia.

Seeing this, Luan Ming couldn't help but smile, "It's quite intriguing that Digital Miracle banned Irelia first instead of Soraka..."

"Many audience members may know that the solo lane healer strategy was pioneered by Xiao Mu, a mid-laner from the 'Step by Step to Victory' player team. It's currently very strong, and its ban/pick rate remains high across all servers."

"The fact that the 'Digital Miracle' team didn't target the healer in their first pick on the blue side undoubtedly signals that they wanted to take it themselves, or perhaps they were deliberately letting it go to the 'Step by Step to Win' pick;"

"Whether it's the case or not, it shows that they are confident and have a sure-fire way to deal with it."

Oh no, shouldn't the Fudan University students at the scene quickly gag the dad and ruin his performance?

Danger! The digital miracle is in danger!

[Luanming the Immortal, shut your mouth!]

Before the match even started in the Rift, the live stream was already filled with cheerful and witty comments, making it quite lively. This truly demonstrates the extent of the "e-sports jinx" reputation.

The camera then focused on Su Mu, whose expression was calm, her pupils slightly rotating half a circle, before the ban was given to Kennen.

No one was surprised; many people knew that Step by Step would prioritize banning top laners, and Kennen was almost a certainty, regardless of whether the opponent actually knew how to play him.

Seeing that they hadn't fallen into the trap yet, the second ban was Viktor, clearly targeting Zhang Xiaoyu.

Seeing this, Zhang Xiaoyu felt fortunate that she hadn't relied on her past achievements, otherwise her opponents would have taken advantage of her again.

Bai Wei then banned Jayce, within two seconds, a clearly pre-planned move that would have prevented Miracle from succeeding.

It's already the semifinals, and they're still using the same banning formula?

"What should we do?" Liu Liu asked the team for their opinions. "Should we ban healers?"

"Let them have it, leave the pressure to the other side. Anyway, their top laner can't put any pressure on me. If they dare to let us have a support, I dare to pick her," San San said.

Now, wet nurses are more likely to walk up than walk down, and the results are better.

Therefore, for the third ban, Miracle chose Syndra to target Su Mu.

"Oh, will Step by Step Winning ban healers?" Jian Yun asked with a hint of anticipation.

The camera focused on Su Mu again. As the audience and commentators all know, she is the backbone of the team, and most of the draft and banning opinions are based on her.