The sharp edge of the first match of the finals
The lights at the esports center suddenly focused on the center stage, where the competition seats were located. The cheers from the audience surged in like a tide, making Lin Yu's noise-canceling headphones slightly warm. His fingertips swiped across the screen of his phone, confirming the button layout before his gaze fell on the hero select screen. He held the first-floor selection for the SG team. The coach's pre-match strategy was clear: pick the early-game rhythm heroes to seize the initiative.
"First floor, lock Lan." Lin Yu's voice reached his teammates through the microphone, without a moment's hesitation. On the screen, blue waves surrounded Lan, wielding a double-edged blade. This hero, a hero he had recently practiced for nearly two hundred games in Ranked, had a steady 91% win rate. Even in the professional player community, there was a rumor that "Lin Yu's Lan could chase the opposing jungler around the jungle."
Almost at the moment when SG locked onto Lan, the second floor of AY team immediately responded - Su Ran's finger fell on Wang Zhaojun's avatar, a light blue ice crystal special effect flashed on the screen, and the prompt sound confirming the selection followed.
"Su Ran picked Wang Zhaojun?" SG's mid laner, Chen Yang, was stunned for a moment before reflexively saying, "Doesn't he rarely play utility mid laners?"
Lin Yu's fingertips paused, his eyes darkening. He knew Su Ran all too well—when they used to play together, Su Ran always said Wang Zhaojun had "no burst, no fun to play." Yet, now, picking her in the first game of the finals was clearly a targeted playstyle. Wang Zhaojun's wave clearing speed was fast, and her second skill's freezing effect was a perfect counter to junglers like Lan, who relied on close-range damage. Once frozen, they could easily be instantly killed by focused fire.
"That's normal," Lin Yu suppressed the turmoil in his heart and spoke steadily, "He just wants to delay the late game. Let's stick to the original plan. We'll take Di Renjie and Lu Bu first, and then add Mai Shiranui for a mid-game burst."
The lineups for both teams were quickly determined. SG's lineup consisted of Lan, Di Renjie, Lü Bu, Mai Shiranui, and Sun Bin, a lineup that maximized its early and mid-game capabilities. Sun Bin's acceleration and health boost allowed Lan to more flexibly penetrate the enemy lines. AY's lineup consisted of Jing, Wang Zhaojun, Xiang Yu, Gongsun Li, and Taiyi Zhenren. Jing's jungler abilities were strong, while Wang Zhaojun and Xiang Yu's control chains could limit advances. The combination of Gongsun Li and Taiyi Zhenren delivered explosive late-game damage, clearly aiming to win the game through teamfights.
The game loading screen popped up, and Lin Yu's eyes fell on Su Ran's ID, "Ran." This ID, who had once practiced with him under the small desk lamp in the rental house until the early morning, now appeared in the opposite camp. He remembered last summer, the two of them squeezed on the sofa to watch the KPL game. Su Ran said while eating instant noodles, "If we play in the finals in the future, I will play Wang Zhaojun and control you, and you can play Lan and rush in to kill. We will definitely win." The laughter at that time was still in his ears, but now, Su Ran's Wang Zhaojun was about to release a freezing attack on his Lan.
"Loading, adjusting your status." The coach's voice came from the headset, interrupting Lin Yu's thoughts. He took a deep breath, tapped his fingertips lightly on the edge of the screen, and his heartbeat gradually accelerated with the countdown.
"The game begins!" The referee's voice fell, and the game screen officially started.
Lin Yu controlled Lan to go straight to his own blue zone, and at the same time gave orders in the voice: "Sun Bin, follow me and defend the blue zone. The opponent's Jing is strong in the early stage and will most likely counter the red zone." His judgment was very accurate - in the last training match with AY, Jing countered the red zone at level 1 many times to disrupt his rhythm, and Su Ran's mid laner would clear the line in advance to provide support. This time, he chose Wang Zhaojun, who would clear the line faster and the support would definitely be more timely.
Sun Bin followed behind Lan obediently, using his first skill, "Time and Space Bomb," to target the blue buff, speeding up his jungle clearing. Lan's jungle clearing technique was very delicate, utilizing the passive of his second skill, "Severing the Sky," to accurately land each strike on the blue buff. In less than ten seconds, the blue buff was taken away, successfully reaching level two.
At this moment, Jing's figure appeared on the minimap. As expected, the opponent did not go to their own blue zone, but instead led Taiyi Zhenren straight to SG's red zone. Taiyi Zhenren's first skill "Accident" was fully charged, and it was obvious that he wanted to use the explosive damage to grab the red buff.
"Support bottom lane!" Lin Yu's voice quickened instantly, his finger sliding across the screen, controlling Lan to abandon the attack on the River Spirit and instead quickly circling the river. He had calculated Jing's jungle clearing time precisely—without a support, Jing would be slower to attack the red buff. As long as he could reach it before the red buff reached low health, he could hold it.
Sure enough, when Lan rushed to the red zone, Jing was entangled with the red buff, and the red buff's health was already at the bottom. Taiyi Zhenren saw Lan coming and immediately released his first skill towards the red buff, hoping to take the red buff before Lan.
"Now!" Lin Yu's eyes flashed as he controlled Lan to activate his first skill, "Breaking Waves." He transformed into a blue wave, suddenly bursting out from the brush and accurately pushing Jing and Taiyi Zhenren against the red zone wall. The wall blocked their movement, and Lan immediately unleashed his second skill, "Severing the Sky." His twin blades slashed with two sharp streaks of light, hitting Jing and Taiyi Zhenren simultaneously, triggering their passive and lowering their health even further.
At this time, SG's bottom laner Lu Bu also arrived in time, and used his first skill "Fang Tian Hua Ji" to chop at Taiyi Zhenren. Combined with Lan's output, Taiyi Zhenren's health was instantly reduced to a low point. Taiyi Zhenren panicked and wanted to use flash to escape, but Lan was well prepared. He used a basic attack to follow up with punishment, taking the red buff first, and at the same time triggering his passive true damage. Then he made another move and took away Taiyi Zhenren's first blood directly.
"First Blood!" The system prompt sounded, and cheers instantly broke out in the SG team's voice chat.
"Great job, Brother Yu! This flanking move is so crucial!" Chen Yang shouted excitedly.
Lin Yu simply hummed a faint "hmm" and immediately turned his gaze to the middle lane. Su Ran's Wang Zhaojun had already cleared the first wave of soldiers and was standing at the edge of the river's brush. She seemingly casually used her first skill, "Withered Ice Crystal," to detect vision, but Lin Yu knew it was Su Ran's habit—every time he wanted to provide support, he would use it to probe and mark the enemy's position.
"Pay attention to your positioning in the middle lane, Su Ran may need support." Lin Yu reminded.
As soon as he finished speaking, Jing's figure appeared on the minimap. After losing the first blood, Jing did not return to the fountain, but moved towards the middle lane, obviously wanting to cooperate with Su Ran to catch SG's mid laner Mai Shiranui.
Mai Shiranui quickly retreated, but Su Ran's Wang Zhaojun suddenly stepped forward and released her second skill "Imprison Frost" in the direction of Mai Shiranui. Mai Shiranui reacted quickly and immediately used flash to dodge, but Wang Zhaojun's freezing skill seemed to have predicted the location and landed exactly where Mai Shiranui flashed, freezing her in place.
"Not good!" Lin Yu's heart tightened. Just as he was about to control Lan to go to support, he saw Jing suddenly activate his ultimate move "Wan Xiang Tian Gong", trapping Mai Shiranui in the mirror space, and also encircling Lan who came to support. The restrictions of the mirror space made it impossible for Lan to escape. Wang Zhaojun then unleashed his ultimate move "Winter is Coming", and a sky full of icicles fell, instantly reducing Lan and Mai Shiranui's health to a low point.
"Retreat!" Lin Yu decisively used Flash, controlling Lan to escape from the mirror space and fled back to the tower in a panic. However, Mai Shiranui was not so lucky. She was caught up by Jing's mirror clone and was eventually killed.
Lin Yu looked at Lan's low health on the screen, his fingers tightening slightly. He was still a step too slow—Su Ran's Wang Zhaojun seemed to be clearing the lane, but in reality, she was waiting for Jing's support. The two of them still worked together perfectly, but this tacit understanding had now become a weapon against him.
In this wave of confrontation, although SG got the first blood, Mai Shiranui was killed and the soldiers in the middle lane were suppressed. The AY team took advantage of the middle lane and took the first tyrant, narrowing the economic gap to almost the same.
"Don't rush, be steady." The coach's voice rang out in the headset. "Our lineup is stronger in the mid-game. Once Lu Bu builds his armor, we'll be able to withstand the opponent's damage."
Lin Yu nodded, and controlled Lan to return to the jungle to clear the jungle and adjust the rhythm. He knew he couldn't rush now - his impatience had caused him to make mistakes in the last league match, so he had to keep his composure in this final.
At the 8th minute mark, the gold gap between the two teams was only 500, and the game was at a stalemate. Lin Yu, controlling Lan, patiently waited in the jungle, his eyes fixed on Team AY's movements on the minimap. He noticed that Team AY's Gongsun Li was becoming increasingly aggressive in his positioning. Leveraging Taiyi Zhenren's resurrection, he would often cross the minion line to suppress Team SG's Di Renjie, even repeatedly charging into the tower's damage point.
"Prepare to gank bottom." Lin Yu suddenly spoke, communicating with his teammates on voice chat, "I'll go around from the red zone, Sun Bin will go to the bottom lane to scout vision, and Lu Bu's ultimate is ready at any time. Wait for my signal to start the fight."
"Got it!" The teammates responded immediately.
Sun Bin slowly approached the bottom lane, using his first skill, "Time and Space Bomb," to stealthily land on a creep near the brush, testing AY's vision. Gongsun Li, oblivious to the danger, continued his advance to attack the tower. Taiyi Zhenren followed behind Gongsun Li, charging his first skill, ready to protect him at any moment.
Lin Yu seized the opportunity, controlling Lan to quickly circumvent the bushes in the red zone, and with the cover of the River Spirit, he quietly approached Gongsun Li. When Gongsun Li approached again, preparing to use her second skill "Frost Leaf Dance" to clear the minions in front of the tower, Lin Yu suddenly activated her ultimate skill "Execution". Lan transformed into a stream of blue light and pushed Gongsun Li under the tower, triggering her passive at the same time, significantly increasing the damage of her double-edged sword.
"Open!" Lin Yu's voice rang out.
Lü Bu immediately activated his ultimate, "Demon God Descends." A massive Fang Tian Hua Ji descended from the sky, trapping Gongsun Li and Taiyi Zhenren within the tower. Di Renjie followed suit, his ultimate, "Dynasty Secret Order," accurately hitting Gongsun Li and reducing her resistance. Simultaneously, he activated his first skill, "Six Orders to Pursue the Evil," unleashing a barrage of arrows towards her.
AY's Gongsun Li panicked and tried to use Flash to escape, but Sun Bin's second skill, "Time Fluctuation," was already activated, boosting his teammates while significantly reducing Lan's cooldown. Lan's second skill, "Severing the Sky," combined with Di Renjie's damage output, instantly killed Gongsun Li. Taiyi Zhenren tried to rescue her, but was struck by Lü Bu's first skill, causing his health to plummet, and he ultimately fell to Lan.
"Double kill!" The system notification sounded, and cheers erupted from the SG team's voice chat again. This teamfight victory not only allowed SG to successfully open up a 1,500 gold gap, but also allowed them to seize the Overlord. With the Overlord's advantage, they pushed down AY Team's bottom lane highland tower.
Lin Yu watched the gradually expanding advantage on the screen, but he didn't relax at all. He controlled Lan to roam around AY's jungle, trying to further suppress the economy, but Su Ran's Wang Zhaojun was nowhere to be seen on the minimap. Su Ran's awareness was still as sharp as ever, knowing not to rush to support when the situation was disadvantageous, but to defend the tower and wait for the later stages.
As expected, as SG pushed forward with their Overlord Vanguard into the mid-lane high ground, Su Ran's Wang Zhaojun suddenly unleashed his ultimate, "Winter Has Arrived," beneath the highland tower. A cloud of icicles instantly blanketed the entire intersection. Xiang Yu then unleashed his ultimate, "Overlord Slash," pushing SG's Lü Bu, Mai Shiranui, and Sun Bin beneath the tower, triggering Wang Zhaojun's ultimate's slowing effect.
Jing seized the opportunity, unleashing his ultimate, "Wan Xiang Tian Gong," to penetrate the backline, aiming directly at Di Renjie. Di Renjie reacted quickly, using Flash to evade the attack, but Jing's mirror image followed closely, collaborating with Gongsun Li's damage output to instantly kill Di Renjie. Sun Bin attempted to recover health, but was frozen by Wang Zhaojun's second skill and ultimately slain.
With this perfect defensive counterattack, the AY team not only defended the middle lane high ground, but also made up for the economic gap and even surpassed 500 economic points.
"Beautiful! AY's defensive counterattack was amazing! Su Ran's Wang Zhaojun's ultimate move was so crucial!" The commentator's voice sounded in the live broadcast, and the AY fans in the audience instantly boiled over, and the cheers drowned out the shouts of SG fans.
Lin Yu looked at the economy on the screen, which had once again reached a tie, and took a deep breath. He knew that the next team battle would be the key to victory or defeat.
At the 20-minute mark, the gold gap between the two teams remained under 1,000. SG, leveraging Lan's impressive play, successfully secured their second Overlord and prepared to use the Overlord Vanguard to force their way into mid. AY, however, was poised in the mid-river. Wang Zhaojun's Ice Wall blocked SG's advance, while Jing roamed the flanks, searching for penetration opportunities. Xiang Yu and Taiyi Zhenren stood in the front row, protecting Gongsun Li in the back.
"Prepare for a teamfight. I'll go around and kill Wang Zhaojun." Lin Yu's voice was firm. "Lü Bu will use his ultimate to start the fight and draw fire. I'll find an opportunity to kill Su Ran instantly."
"Got it!" Lu Bu responded.
Lin Yu, controlling Lan, quietly circled from the bushes on the left side of mid-lane. His goal was clear: if he could instantly kill Su Ran's Wang Zhaojun, AY's control chain would break, giving SG the opportunity to push down the crystal. He stared intently at Wang Zhaojun's movement on the screen, waiting for Lü Bu's signal to initiate a fight.
"Open!" Lü Bu shouted, and then a massive Fang Tian Hua Ji descended from the sky, landing in the middle of Team AY's formation, trapping Xiang Yu and Taiyi Zhenren. SG's Mai Shiranui and Di Renjie immediately followed suit, attempting to instantly eliminate the front row.
Now! Lin Yu's eyes flashed, and he controlled Lan to activate his first skill, "Breaking Waves," and rushed towards Wang Zhaojun. He had calculated Wang Zhaojun's skill cooldown—she had already used her second skill during the defense, so it should still be on cooldown. As long as he could get close enough to her, he could use his ultimate to push her against the wall and kill her instantly with his damage output.
But just as Lan was about to approach Wang Zhaojun, Su Ran's Wang Zhaojun suddenly turned and unleashed her second skill, "Imprisoning Frost," towards Lan. Light blue ice crystals condensed beneath Lan's feet, instantly freezing him in place!
Lin Yu's heart sank suddenly - Su Ran actually predicted his movement!
Jing and Xiang Yu immediately seized the opportunity and rushed towards Lan at the same time. Jing's ultimate skill, "Tiangong of All Things," trapped Lan in the mirror space, while Xiang Yu's first skill, "Fearless Charge," pushed Lan against the wall. Combined with Wang Zhaojun's ultimate skill and Gongsun Li's damage output, Lan was instantly killed.
The SG team was instantly defeated after losing their jungler. The AY team took the opportunity to launch a counterattack. Under the cover of the dominant vanguard, they pushed down SG's middle lane highland tower and crystal.
"The game is over! Team AY wins! The score is 1:0!" The referee's voice sounded, and the word "Victory" popped up on the electronic screen. Cheers instantly erupted in the rest area of Team AY.
Lin Yu took off his headphones, his fingers trembling slightly. He stared at the word "Failure" on the screen, his ears filled with the cheers of AY fans in the audience. He felt a mixture of emotions—reluctance, anger, and a hint of disappointment he hadn't even noticed. He turned to look in the direction of Team AY. Su Ran was lowered, talking to his teammates. His profile, under the bright lights, appeared remarkably calm, as if that crucial freeze had just been a routine operation.
"Don't take it too seriously." Chen Yang patted Lin Yu's shoulder. "The first round was just a test. We still have a chance."
Lin Yu nodded without saying anything, then picked up his phone and began replaying the game. He replayed the moment Su Ran had frozen him, carefully observing Wang Zhaojun's positioning and the timing of her abilities. During Lu Bu's teamfight, Su Ran seemed to be staring at the front line, but in reality, she was keeping a peripheral vision of the brush on the flanks, clearly anticipating that he would circling behind.
"Let's adjust our tactics." The coach walked over and pointed at Wang Zhaojun on the screen. "Su Ran's Wang Zhaojun relies mainly on her second skill for control. We can pick Zhuang Zhou next. He has control and damage reduction, which is a perfect counter for him. Lin Yu, you can pick Pei Qinhu next. He's stronger in the early game and can suppress Jing's jungle."
Lin Yu listened carefully, taking his coach's words to heart. He knew that now was not the time to feel down, as the second game would soon begin, and he had to adjust his condition as quickly as possible.
In the AY team's lounge, Su Ran took a sip of water, the touch of his phone still lingering on his fingertips. He recalled the moment he'd frozen Lin Yu, and instead of the joy of victory, he felt a complex mix of emotions. He opened WeChat and found the familiar profile picture—the same one from last year's city championship. But the chat history was stuck on an argument from a year ago, the last message being Lin Yu's words, "Don't contact me again."
Su Ran's fingers hesitated on the screen for a long time before he finally closed WeChat. He picked up the tactical board and discussed the second-game strategy with his teammates. This was the finals, and he couldn't let his personal emotions affect the game; he had to give it his all.
The lights on the stage came on again, and preparations for the second round began. Lin Yu and Su Ran sat in the competition seats again, their eyes meeting across the stage. This time, Lin Yu's eyes were more determined, while Su Ran's remained calm. The finals had just begun, and the next round would only intensify.
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