Sweetest in the Universe Chapter 20
Because of Ye Bo’s last minute substitution, during the Bp stage, YYg had no choice but to change their strategy, starting off by banning two Junglers that he played expertly, which coincidentally happened to be strong heroes in this game version.
tSD did the same thing as before, so all together the two sides banned 5 Junglers in the first phase.
Zhou Tian: “...Can I even still play?”
Coach thought for a bit and said that in this situation, as the red team we need to snatch a Jungler, between Rek’Sai* and the Blind Monk*, which one do you think is better?
*Both names of LoL champions. The Blind Monk is also known as Lee Sin.
“Blink Monk strains the hands, and recently I’ve been using Rek’Sai more in practice matches, let’s use Rek’Sai.” Zhou Tian didn’t need to think much before deciding. “Let’s not fool around with monks in Ye sect.”
Hearing this answer, the entire team laughed out loud.
“Fool around with monks in Ye sect” was a widespread joke in the circle. It originated from a LoL spring season finals match three years ago. In order to restrain Ye Bo, the young Jungler of the cg team chose to snatch the Blind Monk in place of a Ban. As a result, he was taken on a walk by Ye Bo all along the rift, unable to use his skills from beginning to end.
After the game, Ye Bo’s fans couldn’t help but mock, he was simply embarrassing himself in front of the league’s best player of the Blind Monk. In short, fooling around with monks in Ye sect.
“Then let’s choose an early stage lineup.” After confirming the Jungler, Coach immediately devised the definitive plan for the round. “Bottom lane Lucian?”
But tSD seemed to have guessed their intent -- just as Coach’s words dropped, their side had locked down in advance the Bottom Laner and the Support as their first two picks.
“Cat* and Lucian are both taken.” Zhou Tian widened her eyes and clicked her tongue.
*Cat is a nickname for the champion Yuumi, also known as the Magical Cat.
At this moment, the continually silent Xie Yi stated out loud: “Cop Girl.”*
*Cop Girl is another nickname for a champion – Caitlyn, the Sheriff of Piltover.
Ying Yuanxia reacted immediately: “But Lux has already been banned, what should I pick to complement Cop Girl?”
Coach thought for a bit, said then how about you just take Titan*?
*Referring to Nautilus, alias the Titan of the Depths.
“Fuck, that pair is a bit difficult to play yea?”
“Reasonably speaking, Lucian and Cat are originally fierce, no matter what you choose it won’t be easy.”
“So Jungler needs to go to the bot lane more.”
Zhou Tian, hearing her cue: “Don’t worry don’t worry, I know what to do.”
As she said this, the opponent had chosen their third pick, and both sides entered the second hero ban phase.
Seeing that no one had chosen Mid, Top position heroes yet, during the second phase everyone banned Mid and Top Laners. The coaches on both sides continued to fight, forcibly kicking out the few heroes that best complemented each side’s lineups.
“Jayce, Blade Sister* and Tsar** are all gone, fuck,” Wang Ren cursed. “Am I also being targeted?”
*Blade Sister is apparently the champion Irelia, who is also known as the Blade Dancer.
**沙皇 - transliteration of tsar, but the two characters literally translate to sand emperor. Refers to the LoL champion Azir, also known as the Emperor of the Sands.
“You’re thinking too much, two of those we banned ourselves.” Han Ziliang ridiculed, “The target is the opponent.”
“Then what should I pick?”
“How about Happy Windman?”
“....”
Happy Windman’s official name was Yasuo, the wind swordsman. He could be played in both the mid and top lanes, but was a little more suited to the mid lane.
As for why he was called Happy Windman, it was not only because his skill was connected to the wind, but also because when operating him it was very easy to be beaten up by the enemy -- in short, happy to the death.
“Actually I think it’s quite fitting, haven’t you recently played him to rank. Releasing the Wind Wall* well, it’s quite an advantage,” Coach said to Wang Ren.
*One of Yasuo's skills is called Wind Wall.
“....When ranking I’m just trying to have some fun, how can it be the same?”
Even though he said this, in the end YYg still locked down Yasuo. He took a deep breath and said to his teammates: “Aight, then let me bring you along to be happy for a bit.”
Zhou Tian’s focus was no longer on this topic. She stared at the screen, wanting to see what tSD would choose for the Jungler they had left for the end.
Breath held until almost the last minute, the other side’s fifth pick lit up.
“....Damn, the Jungler is Deathsinger.”*
*This champion's official name is Karthus. Technically the Chinese nickname is Deathsong, but I decided to use Deathsinger since apparently that's an official alias.
“Fuck.”
“When did he practice the Deathsinger!”
The spectators in the audience also did not expect that Ye Bo would choose Deathsinger as the Jungler. After a momentary silence, enthusiastic cheers broke out in an instant.
Zhou Tian was the first to calm down: “Looks like tSD is still more popular than us.”
Ying Yuanxia: “Nothing to be done. They have Ye Bo, you don’t know how long it’s been since those people below saw Ye Bo take the stage. And when he finally does he picks a hero that he’s never chosen before, how can they not be excited?”
It’s been a very long time, Zhou Tian thought, so as a fan herself she was also very excited. But as a competitor, she needed to concentrate completely on playing well in this match that was about to begin.
Moreover, the fans and the audience didn’t understand, but she knew very well how great an impact Ye Bo’s choice of the Deathsinger would have on her Jungler’s path.
Her smooth sailing so far was due mainly not to her operating skills, but because she’d been able in the past year to directly observe and research every one of the league’s Junglers while they remained totally unaware that she was going to be their future rival.
What did Junglers fear? Being thoroughly studied.
Ye Bo being the former world number one Jungler, his strongest point was that up to now he still hadn’t been completely seen through.
But Zhou Tian was his fan at her core. She’d researched him the most. If in this round he had chosen a frequently used Jungler, then she would’ve had the utmost confidence to assess the choices he would make as a Jungler based on situation and experience. As long as she could get a grasp on him in advance, Rek’Sai versus Deathsinger, along with the difference in their operating skills now, she was confident that she could kill him at least once or twice before level six.
But right now she couldn’t rely on previous experience, and could only make choices based on the current circumstances.
Jungler was a position that almost never stopped gambling. And this situation at present was a complete gamble.
Zhou Tian hoped that she could win the bet.
T/L Note: So many names of champions I didn't know... The endnotes are mainly there for me to keep track. Hope you enjoy this chapter, which is the last one for this round of NovelWars.