In the first game, both sides' lineups were quickly finalized.
Tianhuan: Top [Vampire Duke] (Warrior), Jungle [Fighter King], Mid [Holy Spirit Mage] (Utility), Support [Holy Paladin] (Ultra-tanky), Marksman [Blood Kin Princess] (Needs farm, but ult has lifesteal).
Yueying: Top [Kung Fu Master] (Xu Zhuo's signature hero, strong split push and backline dive), Jungle [Fighter] (Utility), Mid [World-Ending Mage] (Artillery), Support [Shield of Glory], Marksman [Wind Elf].
The two commentators analyzed: "Tianhuan's damage points are Top, Jungle, and Bot. Yueying's damage points are Top, Bot, and Mid. Both supports are very tanky and capable of initiating. Looking at the team compositions, both sides have balanced and stable lineups. The outcome of team fights will depend on the players' grasp of timing."
"Correct. Lieyang's choice of [Holy Spirit Mage] can forcefully seal opponents, which counters the highly mobile [Wind Elf]. That's why Xiao Yu took Flash this game, because Purify can't cleanse the seal."
"Yueying's support [Shield of Glory] can raise a shield to block key damage, so Xiao Yu's survival environment is actually decent. On Xiao Xing's side, the support [Holy Paladin] can link damage and take hits for him. His [Blood Kin Princess] ultimate also provides lifesteal, giving him good survivability as well."
"Let's enter the first match between the two sides!"
As the first game began, Chi Shuo did not choose to invade, and Yueying didn't harass their jungle either. Both sides farmed steadily.
Yueying's utility jungler gave the first Red Buff to Xie Weiyu. During the laning phase in the bot lane, Xie Weiyu utilized rapid positioning and the Red Buff to stick to Cheng Xing. Cheng Xing couldn't win the early trade and had to turtle under his tower to clear minions.
In the mid lane, Ye Shaoyang dodged several skills from the enemy mid laner through positioning, focusing only on clearing minions and assisting Chi Shuo in securing the first river crab.
In the top lane, as a top-tier laner in the league, Xu Zhuo's playstyle was "aggressive within stability." He was excellent at finding opportunities to whittle down opponents, suddenly launching a combo to cripple them when they stepped too far forward.
Without his ultimate, Old Qin's Vampire Duke couldn't beat the Kung Fu Master. After two exchanges of skills, he was left with critical health and had to retreat under his tower to eat a health pack.
"Tianhuan is having a tough time in the laning phase!"
"Yes. If Old Qin had picked a meat tank, it would be a bit better; warrior attacks wouldn't hurt him as much. But this game, Old Qin picked a warrior side lane, and warrior defense is far worse than a tank's. Captain Xu's mechanical skill is very strong, and [Kung Fu Master] has frequent dashes, making him much more mobile than [Vampire Duke]. Being beaten back to the tower is a very normal result."
"In the bot lane, because Xiao Yu got the Red Buff, the marksman laning is more aggressive. Plus, [Wind Elf] also has mobility and is more agile than [Blood Kin Princess], so Xiao Xing has also been pressed back under his tower."
"Both Tianhuan's top and bot lanes are suppressed. Will the Mid-Jungle duo find an opportunity to help?"
"Captain Chi started Blue this game; he should help bot lane at Level 6!"
The commentators speculated that while Tianhuan's top and bot lanes couldn't beat Yueying, once the Mid-Jungle duo came to help, the result would be different. Everyone knew Tianhuan's Mid-Jungle was awesome!
Yueying had the advantage in a 2v2 bot lane, but in a 4v4, Tianhuan could win as long as they deleted the marksman.
The audience on-site and netizens in the livestream watched the big screen expectantly. Finally, Chi Shuo hit Level 6. Yueying's jungler hadn't reached Level 6 yet because he gave up the buff at the start. This was an excellent ganking opportunity.
However…
Chi Shuo didn't go gank? He actually ran to the mid lane to leech minion exp?!
The two commentators looked at each other in dismay. "Level 6 and not helping bot lane, but showing up in mid instead?"
"Maybe he wants to wait for Lieyang to hit Level 6 too for a coordinated play? After all, [Fighter King]'s CC can't lock down the enemy marksman; only the mid laner's seal can guarantee locking down the Wind Elf."
"Mm, he didn't rush the first small dragon either. After leeching a wave of experience in mid, Captain Chi went back to the top jungle. Does he want to continue farming?"
Typically, junglers gank a lane at Level 6 and only return to farm if no opportunity arises. But Chi Shuo didn't go ganking at all this game, heading straight back to the jungle. This playstyle was common in online games—farm silently first, and only gank after building key items to ensure a high success rate.
Ye Shaoyang soon hit Level 6 too, and he left the mid lane.
Yueying's mid laner immediately warned: "Mid MIA!"
Top and bot lanes quickly retreated to prevent Ye Shaoyang from flashing in to initiate.
But viewers with the God's Eye perspective saw that Ye Shaoyang didn't support top or bot either. Instead, he was squatting in a river bush in the jungle, observing the enemy jungler's movements. Sure enough, he saw the jungler passing through the top jungle and immediately signaled Old Qin: "Top lane retreat!"
Qin Yizhu was also Level 6 by now. Just as Ye Shaoyang finished speaking, the enemy jungler popped out of the grass and dove the tower to engage him. Xu Zhuo immediately followed up with damage. It was a 2v1, clearly intending to forcefully kill him under the tower.
Qin Yizhu activated his lifesteal ultimate, stubbornly tanking the hits to clear the last wave of minions, then Flashed to retreat!
"Escaped with a sliver of health!" the commentator shouted excitedly. "That Flash was too timely; he only had a sliver of health left." "The opponents can't continue chasing because the minions are cleared, and the tower damage is extremely high."
Indeed, the defense tower continuously attacked enemy players within range. Yueying's top and jungle were crippled by the tower and didn't chase hard. Old Qin recalled after reaching the safety of the inner tower.
Old Qin's voice, still shaken, came through the voice channel: "Good thing I ran in time!"
Ye Shaoyang glanced at the top lane and laughed. "Nice. They wasted that gank."
They didn't get the kill, nor did they chip the tower. The jungler made a wasted trip to top lane.
This allowed Cheng Xing in the bot lane to seize the time to farm. In a 2v2, as long as he didn't get stunned by the enemy support, Xie Weiyu couldn't quickly burst him down. After all, his ultimate could lifesteal. Even if Xie Weiyu crippled him, Xiao Xing could ult a minion wave and heal back to full.
A moment later, Yueying's jungler visited the bot lane.
The Fighter could jump from a distance and cleave to stun enemies in an area. Having received Ye Shaoyang's warning signal, Cheng Xing and Qu Jiang had already retreated under the tower, but the opponents dove 3v2 to kill them!
The Fighter jumped in and stunned Cheng Xing. Xie Weiyu fired frantically from a distance, and in the blink of an eye, Cheng Xing was at critical health. Qu Jiang timely activated the Paladin's substitution skill to take the subsequent damage for Xiao Xing.
When the 2-second stun ended, Cheng Xing immediately Flashed to escape!
Qu Jiang's economy was low at this point; he only had support items and hadn't finished defense items, so he was focused down and killed by the opponents.
—First blood!
Xie Weiyu took first blood.
Tianhuan's bot lane sacrificed the support, but the marksman escaped with a sliver of health.
The two commentators: "Tianhuan's top and bot lanes have top-tier escape abilities. They got away even from that?"
"Indeed harder to gank than before. I remember back in Group A, also against Yueying, Old Qin and Xiao Xing were caught and killed quite a few times."
A moment later, after clearing jungle resources, Yueying's jungler ran top again. Jungle and Top 2v1, trying to force a kill on Qin Yizhu. However, Old Qin had a keen sense of smell. Realizing they were coming for him, he once again used his ult to clear minions and escaped with critical health.
The commentators didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "Ran away very timely!"
"Feels like they must have practiced pressure games, right? Their escapes are very practiced!"
"Exactly. Old Qin Flashed with a sliver of health, and Xiao Xing also ran away on low health. Moreover, before running, they cleared the minion waves. Without minions, the opponents can't push the tower, so the loss isn't actually big."
Seeing this, Xu Zhuo felt very puzzled deep down. "Where is their jungler?"
The bot lane support said, "Hasn't shown his face at all. Farming in the jungle, no vision on him."
Xu Zhuo immediately said, "Find the jungler's position. Don't get flanked."
Tianhuan was acting weird today.
Previously, by this point in the match, Tianhuan's Mid-Jungle synergy would have already started snowballing. But today, even though Chi Shuo and Ye Shaoyang were both Level 6, neither went to gank bot or top.
Ye Shaoyang went MIA frequently but didn't appear in lanes, presumably hiding in bushes for vision.
Chi Shuo…
Simply didn't show his face, as if he vanished from the map?
Xie Weiyu reacted quickly too. "Tianhuan's top and bot are just bait to attract our ganks; the jungler is the core! Their jungler is power-farming. Once he gets fat, late-game team fights will be hard."
Xu Zhuo said, "Enter the jungle, force Chi Shuo out for me!"
Any other team might have been fooled by Tianhuan's smokescreen of pressured side lanes.
But Xu Zhuo knew Chi Shuo well after all, and Xie Weiyu played often with Ye Shaoyang recently, so he knew Shaoyang's style. These two Demon Kings, who roamed frantically to drive the rhythm in previous matches, suddenly stopped ganking today and restrained their edge to watch from the sidelines. Something was very wrong!
If the opponent fell for it and frequently ganked top and bot without securing kills, they were effectively giving Tianhuan's jungler free rein to farm peacefully!
Once a peacefully farmed Chi Shuo came out of the mountains, his damage would be earth-shattering.
Fortunately, Xu Zhuo and Xie Weiyu realized this immediately.
Xie Weiyu took his support and jungler to the bottom jungle to find Chi Shuo. They didn't find him. Xie Weiyu stole a small jungle camp in passing and warned, "He's in the top jungle. Brother Xu, be careful."
Xu Zhuo said, "The Blue buff in top jungle is long gone. What's he doing there?"
Just as he finished speaking, Xu Zhuo suddenly realized something. He ran to the dragon pit to take a look, only to see a figure swaggering away.
A notification popped up on the screen—
Vanguard Tyrant has been slain by [Fighter King].
Xu Zhuo fought the urge to roll his eyes. "He was stealing the dragon here!"
Chi Shuo had soloed the [Vanguard Tyrant].
In the top-side dragon pit, the first spawn was called [Vanguard Tyrant], which a jungler could solo kill. After killing it, the minions in all three lanes would turn into "Vanguard Captains," pushing towers faster. However, the killing side didn't get any buff bonuses.
In the mid-to-late game, this [Vanguard Tyrant] would turn into the golden-marked [Elder Tyrant], aka the Big Dragon (Baron). Killing it then would not only upgrade minions in all three lanes to extremely high-attack Tyrant Captains, but the killing side would also gain attack and defense buffs, making team fights easier to win.
Therefore, the Big Dragon was a resource both sides had to contest in the late game.
But in the early game, stealing a Vanguard Dragon didn't have that huge of an impact.
Xu Zhuo said, "Prepare to defend. Clear the three dragon waves, then brute force push bot lane."
Vanguard Dragons were fast to clear. Yueying cleared the waves in all three lanes quickly, then followed the captain's instructions: Mid, Jungle, Marksman, and Support—four people grouped to push bot. Cheng Xing retreated in advance, giving up the outer tower directly.
Due to the disadvantage in early laning, the economy of Cheng Xing and Old Qin was several hundred gold behind the enemy top and marksman. Xu Zhuo glanced at the in-game stats panel and saw that Xie Weiyu had finished his key damage item. He said decisively, "Group mid for a fight, push down the mid tower ASAP!"
Team fight in mid lane. Xu Zhuo Flashed directly to cut the backline—specifically to delete the marksman!
Yueying's jungler followed up immediately, wanting to cut Tianhuan's damage dealer as fast as possible.
Cheng Xing didn't run this time because his Flash was on cooldown. Without a displacement skill, he couldn't escape.
So, Cheng Xing activated his lifesteal ultimate directly, stubbornly face-tanking Captain Xu while dealing damage. A squishy marksman face-tanking a warrior—wasn't this seeking death?
Even if the ultimate had lifesteal, the health gained definitely wouldn't be as much as the damage taken.
In the blink of an eye, Cheng Xing was crippled. Qu Jiang cast a substitution skill on Xiao Xing. Cheng Xing fought while retreating, running all the way back near the second tower. At this point, his health bar was flashing red with a pitiful 100 HP left. Any basic attack from the enemy could kill him.
Unfortunately, the distance was pulled too far; the opponents couldn't catch up!
Qu Jiang's substitution skill blocked massive damage for Cheng Xing, and he fell under the tower himself.
Cheng Xing's chest felt hot. "Thanks, Brother Qu."
Qu Jiang laughed. "No problem. I'm accumulating material for my '100 Ways to Die'."
Cheng Xing: "…"
Ye Shaoyang glanced at the opponents' health bars and said decisively, "Kill the backline!"
As soon as he spoke, Ye Shaoyang, who had been watching the show in mid lane, suddenly Flashed to the backline. With an ultimate Seal, he caught Xie Weiyu who was hiding there! Simultaneously, Ye Shaoyang cast a protective light shield on Chi Shuo. Chi Shuo followed up immediately; shielded, he rampaged through the backline, using a burst combo to delete Xie Weiyu!
At the same time, Old Qin also Flashed to the backline, activated his lifesteal ultimate, and hacked the enemy mid laner to death with two strikes!
The audience was dumbfounded.
Damn, Old Qin has stepped up? Coordinating with Mid-Jungle to cut the enemy dual carries?
Is this still that obscure Old Qin?!
The commentator shouted excitedly, "Tianhuan's coordination in this team fight was beautiful! The opponents flanked to cut the marksman, and the support sacrificed himself to save the marksman! Top, Jungle, and Mid coordinated to instantly delete the enemy dual carries! Tianhuan lost a support but traded for the enemy mid and marksman. Massive profit!"
"That's right. It was really unexpected for Old Qin to flank with Sun and Moon! He Flashed directly onto the enemy mid laner's face and chopped the mid to death with two strikes before the opponent could react! Although his equipment isn't great yet, cutting a squishy mid laner with zero defense is still very easy!"
"The warrior who was suppressed in top lane all game finally stood up in this wave!"
Thunderous applause erupted at the venue.
In the backstage viewing area, Zhao Xin'an couldn't help but complain seeing this: "Yueying is done for this game. Look at Chi Shuo's equipment; he already has three items. Just now when he went to cut Xie Weiyu, he killed him with two punches."
Zhao Xinping said calmly, "Their top and bot lanes were bait used to withstand pressure, specifically attracting the opponent to gank, then finding ways to survive the pressure. This gave the jungler ample time to farm."
Facts proved this to be true. Tianhuan's top and marksman withstood the early game pressure, and the jungler farmed too well. In the late-game team fight, Top, Jungle, and Mid joined forces to cut the backline, making it very hard for Yueying's backline to survive!
Tianhuan dragged the game from an early disadvantage to the late game and actually won with a single team fight.
The marksman was left to Chi Shuo and Ye Shaoyang to cut.
Old Qin Flashed to flank in the team fight and once again cut down the opposing mid laner!
In the backstage viewing area, everyone had mixed feelings.
Tianhuan's rate of improvement truly exceeded expectations. Cheng Xing was becoming harder and harder to kill. Now, top laner Qin Yizhu had also stood up. He was using this match to tell everyone—
He wasn't just a utility top laner who obscurely picked a meat shield to protect teammates.
He could also become an excellent warrior who cleaved open a breach in the enemy lines!
Although he wasn't considered a top-tier laner in the league—he couldn't beat Xu Zhuo in lane, and perhaps couldn't beat Zhao Xin'an—in team fights, he could trade his life for the enemy's core carry, creating space for his teammates to deal damage.
Tianhuan didn't just have Mid-Jungle.
Tianhuan was a team whose overall strength was improving across the board!
During this period, not only was Xiao Xing practicing desperately, but Old Qin was also practicing every day—how to escape, how to cut people. He even had the kids from Team 2 group up in 3 or 4 to gank him top, to withstand maximum pressure.
Old Qin and Qu Jiang joined Tianhuan in Season 7. They hadn't followed Tianhuan to the World Tournament. Instead, they joined during Tianhuan's most chaotic low point, after Ming Sheng retired and 18-year-old Chi Shuo took over as captain.
Ever since they officially debuted, Tianhuan's results had been going downhill.
They had constantly been questioned by netizens.
They hadn't experienced Tianhuan's peak.
But they didn't want to be Tianhuan's weakness either.
This season, they would give everything they had to accompany this beloved team back to the peak!