Chapter 54

Lion spoke with such confidence that the audience was left in awe.

Some people took the opportunity to join the conversation in the audience area.

“Yeah, VIT isn’t anything special. Just focus on the Mid Lane. Look at the last time RVG played against VIT; as soon as they targeted the Mid Lane, they couldn’t hold out. Easy was completely stalled.”

“Exactly, they keep talking about their undefeated record, but that’s just in the Regular Season. Everyone’s holding back; it’s no big deal.”

In the Arena, the players couldn’t hear the commentators; they were busy discussing the BP phase.

The audience held their breath in anticipation.

During the pre-match draw, first-round BP, VIT had the last pick, following their usual strategy.

RS started by banning Yin, using pick as a ban, swapping the strongest Jungler Di to Lang Bai.

“A standard start. I wonder if it will be a standard conclusion.”

Bing Bing, the popular female commentator with a cute personality and sharp commentary, was partnered with Lin Yi. This time, they followed their usual commentary style.

“Yin-Ge truly deserves the title of the Most Valuable Player for three consecutive years. This Season, Yin from VIT has a ban rate of 73.86% for his signature Champion, which speaks for itself. Being banned is the highest honor for a Player.”

Bing Bing glanced down, “Next is Li, at 71.4%, mainly targeted bans against VIT. Easy has raised the ban rate for Li across the entire League.”

Lion chuckled, “Yes, that’s normal. BP is all about limiting the opponent, so of course, you target their best Champions.”

It seemed like he was responding, but he was subtly shifting the topic, implying there was nothing to be proud of.

The commentators’ tone was subtle, yet it could directly influence the audience’s mood. Whether a moment was worth cheering for or how significant a highlight play was, these were aspects the commentators had to convey to the viewers.

However, the Fans were well aware of the long-standing rivalry between Lion and Rong Yi besides the infamous “retire within three years” comment, there was another reason. Insiders rumored that Lion couldn’t make it in RS’s Youth Training because Rong Yi disapproved.

Lion had once played in a lower-tier League for a while, and during that time, he had an impressive personal highlight reel, including a 100% Win Rate record, something his Fans still brag about. Some even say that Rong Yi failed to recognize his talent back then.

Of course, these are just minor details.

The opponents banned Yin and first-picked Di, bringing the choice to VIT. Grey Cat, following previous strategies, thought of picking Li first for Rong Yi.

Rong Yi said, “Wait a bit longer, let’s see their Lineup.”

So, Hydralisk picked Empress, securing a strong position. Grey Cat chose Earth Mother.

Both Empress and Earth Mother are Tier 0 Champions, so this round of BP didn’t result in any significant loss and even gained a bit.

But the balance of this game lies in the fact that there are too many Tier 0 Champions to ban them all, making BP unable to decide the outcome entirely.

In the second round of picks, RS chose Dreamworker and Polar Explorer, and they banned Li.

Dreamworker, a Support Champion, has an ultimate that forces a large area into a dream state, reducing vision and detection by 70% and slowing opponents. Any Champion hit directly by an area skill will be slowed by 90%.

Dreamworker’s various skills also reduce vision and slow enemies.

Dreamworker is a very aggressive Support, but its pick rate has been low in recent years. The slow and healing reduction effects are considered soft control and negative effects, not as impactful as Earth Mother’s hard crowd control that can make opponents take their hands off the Keyboard.

Its most valuable trait is the vision reduction, but because it’s an active skill, it’s hard to utilize effectively in professional play.

“Picking Dreamworker against Earth Mother and Empress, that’s something,” Netizens discussed. “How do you even play against that? Earth Mother and Empress are unstoppable.”

Polar Explorer is a burst Mage Mid Laner, very fragile but with frost control effects.

VIT picked their final two Champions.

Seeing the opponent’s control-heavy Lineup, Wu Daogu chose Lava Gem, a Champion with strong control immunity. Only Xiao Yin and Rong Yi were left to pick.

Rong Yi rarely picks his Champion this late. Xiao Yin glanced at him momentarily with his phoenix eyes, “I’ll pick first, you go last. Let’s play it safe.”

Rong Yi took a deep breath and nodded.

Xiao Yin picked a standard utility Jungler, and then RS finalized their Lineup.

Memory Key and Jarvan IV.

Jarvan IV, a burst Top Laner Champion, is designed as the brother of the ADC Empress. Both share similar Bloodlust mechanics: Empress gains increased attack damage, while Jarvan IV gains increased speed.

With Memory Key added to the mix, RS’s strategic intent became almost obvious.

A Lineup of high engage, high burst, high slow, and high control.

They were aiming for aggressive picks.

“Interesting,” Rong Yi chuckled into the mic, his voice clear and calm, like soft snowflakes. “Their style has changed.”

Hydralisk said, “The Captain is in danger this game.”

Grey Cat immediately responded, “I’ll protect the Captain!”

Wu Daogu added over the mic, “So, they’ve revealed their intentions?”

The audience was buzzing with discussion.

In the commentator booth, Lion remarked, “It’s a clear Mid Lane targeting strategy. RS has come well-prepared, and their Lineup is noticeably different from the Regular Season. This shows RS has a specific plan.”

“During the Regular Season, RS’s Lineup was fairly predictable, focusing on Jungle core operations with a fixed set of Champions. But today, aside from the Jungler, everyone is using new setups. There’s a lot of flexibility.”

Commentator Bing Bing was also observing closely. “Champions like Dreamworker and Polar Explorer are rarely picked by RS; they haven’t been used at all during this Season’s Regular Season.”

As the countdown ended, Rong Yi locked in Silver Hook.

Silver Hook is Rong Yi’s second most played Champion after Li.

After a previous team fight where Silver Hook performed well, Rong Yi has been specifically practicing Silver Hook in VIT to create more diverse combinations.

“He’s picking Silver Hook against such a strong engage Lineup?”

The commentary team was surprised. “It’s obvious they’re targeting Mid Lane, yet he’s not picking a Champion that’s easy to retreat or switch lanes with, nor a high-defense Champion. This is quite risky.”

Silver Hook is literally known for its pulling ability. This Champion lacks mobility skills and relies entirely on controlling enemies with its silver spear, making it extremely prone to sudden death.

The game began with both teams silently heading to their lanes under their respective perspectives.

For the first three minutes, resources were fiercely contested. RS didn’t immediately camp Mid Lane, as everyone knew their intention to target Mid Lane, and VIT would surely have defenses prepared.

Both sides stayed cautious in their lanes, even at the cost of some resource gains. On the full map view, both teams were scouting for vision. RS, with Memory Key, first spotted Hydralisk and Grey Cat in the Bot Lane.

Upon confirming their positions, almost simultaneously, RS’s Mid Laner, Jungler, Top Laner, and Support swiftly converged on Mid Lane!

The Support created a fake vision toward the top, making it appear as a Bot Lane dive from the Bot Lane perspective.

Meanwhile, Wu Daogu reported, “No one is here.”

Hydralisk, despite being scouted by the Support, remained alert, “The enemy Support is missing.”

“Understood.”

Rong Yi was circling near the Blue Buff Area in Mid Lane. Facing a hidden brush, he fired a Hook, pulling out a silhouette!

Dreamworker activated a large area slow and healing reduction. Simultaneously, Memory Key and Di, the Jungler, dived under the Turret, with Jarvan IV tanking the Turret and confirming vision in the Blue Buff Area.

They aimed for a turret dive!

The commentators’ pace quickened as they narrated everyone’s movements.

VIT remained unaffected. Xiao Yin was clearing vision in the enemy Blue Buff Area, while the Bot Lane rapidly pushed the lane, taking advantage of the enemy’s reduced numbers. Wu Daogu, after clearing the Minion Wave, positioned himself in a hidden spot, ready to counter-gank.

Rong Yi hooked Dreamworker, but instead of fleeing, he swiftly dragged Di under the Turret, resetting the Turret’s aggro.

In less than two seconds of chaos, Rong Yi unleashed a full skill combo on Lang Bai without a single miss.

He was only slowed and had healing reduced, rather than being hard-controlled. He acted faster than Lang Bai, making Lang Bai eat a full set of Silver Hook’s skills. Although Silver Hook’s damage is low, combined with the Turret’s damage, it was enough to kill an underdeveloped Jungler.

With Lang Bai, the core damage dealer, controlled, the rest of RS couldn’t follow up with enough damage, leaving Rong Yi with low health. The opportunity slipped away.

The four-man dive failed, resulting in the loss of Lang Bai. Mid Laner Neng Li tried to chase, but Xiao Yin had already arrived to cut off his kill route.

At this moment, the audience began to understand why Rong Yi picked the control-centric Silver Hook.

Rong Yi’s quick reactions and the Turret’s advantage allowed him to secure the initial control, precisely eliminating one of the attackers.

He even had the capacity to drag in a few more.

It was reminiscent of the previous miraculous comeback at the Nexus.

Silver Hook slowly lowered his head, wiping his gleaming spear.

This was a silent signal.

If you dare to come, be prepared to lose at least one person.

If you dare to target Rong Yi, first consider — are your reflexes quicker, or are Rong Yi’s?

Outside the game, commentator Lion was still making an effort.

RS’s attempt to gank Mid Lane had actually backfired, but he said, “It’s understandable. RS’s overall Lineup leans towards the late game and is highly dependent on Equipment. Starting with a Mid Lane gank was a gamble; securing First Blood would have set them up for a win. Now that the opportunity is gone, they need to focus on farming.”

The audience began to grumble.

“That was such an amazing escape; not highlighting the main character, Easy, feels wrong! What’s up with this commentator?”

Such comments started appearing on the Bullet Screen.

Commentators can actually see the real-time Bullet Screen, but Lion pretended not to notice.

“We’re now at the five-minute mark — Blue Buff is respawning. Given that Yin already took the enemy’s Blue Buff, he’s very likely to give his own Blue Buff to Mid Laner Easy!”

“But we can see that Top Laner Qing Yan has already paused near the Blue Buff Area! Lang Bai has finished the Red Buff and can come over at any moment! This is a two-man ambush!”

“RS’s playstyle today has indeed changed significantly. The synergy between their Jungler and Top Laner, and their proactive plays, are no longer focused on operations but on seizing opportunities.”

“Yin is giving up the Blue Buff! Now Easy is heading towards the Blue Buff Area —”

Lion was about to say, “Easy is getting surrounded,” but the battlefield changed in an instant, completely beyond his expectation.

Rong Yi made a fake move towards the Blue Buff Area, then looped back to the Turret. Instead, it was Wu Daogu and Xiao Yin who coordinated perfectly, directly intercepting Qing Yan who was planning to ambush in the brush!

“Ambushed and controlled to death.”

In the team chat, Xiao Yin’s voice was calm and cold, “Their Jungler hasn’t arrived yet, play it slow.”

Xiao Yin maintained strict control over the River vision. Lang Bai seemed to sense the danger and hesitated to advance, eventually turning back to farm the Minion Wave in Top Lane.

Xiao Yin then looped around to help Bot Lane, leaving Wu Daogu to solo.

Many people don’t realize that vision is actually the number one strategic resource for VIT, determined through extensive calculations and repeated validation.

The longer vision is exposed, the slimmer the chances for an effective strike, and the less initiative they have.

Therefore, if one person can handle a situation, they never send two; if a battle can be ended in one second, they never drag it to two.

Creating fake vision is a common practice in professional Arena, but how to do it, where to do it, and how to create fake vision without disrupting the pace is the real skill.

Wu Daogu was entangled with Qing Yan, Xiao Yin disappeared from the map, and Rong Yi returned to the Blue Buff Area, helping Wu Daogu secure the kill before comfortably taking the Blue Buff.

Because Xiao Yin only appeared for a brief moment and then vanished, RS didn’t dare to press further and had to retreat.

Xiao Yin casually remarked, “Actually, if they were a bit bolder, they might have been able to fight.”

After all, everyone knew that Rong Yi was at Low Health, boldly taking the Blue Buff.

Rong Yi chuckled, “It might take them a while longer.”

“Switching to a new playstyle is fine,” Rong Yi pocketed the Blue Buff, the hem of Silver Hook’s white robe now tinged with a serene blue glow, “but rushing to learn new things can make them forget their basics.”

“Regardless, I taught them all the fake vision techniques. They shouldn’t have forgotten.”