Chapter 1 What is Going On?

Because the average keyboard warrior, when commenting on a match, at least needs to find the "culprit" in the game, right? Someone has to play poorly, or the entire lineup selection has to be unreasonable, to warrant criticism.

But among the ten people in this final, there simply wasn't a "culprit." The players on FRY's side didn't have any major problems with their performance. Other than criticizing them for being "cowardly," "sleepwalking," or having "zero impact on the entire match," there was nothing specific to criticize.

As for FRY's lineup selection, it did look bad in hindsight, but when the lineup was chosen, it didn't feel unviable, did it?

Especially in the second game, if it wasn't for FV's inspired lane swap, who could have guessed that the script of the game would turn out like that?

Since there was no key issue to be found, there was naturally nothing to correct.

Even the keyboard warriors couldn't imagine how to win; the very fact was absurd enough.

Zhao Xuming sighed silently and closed the page on his phone, but the match hadn't started yet.

This intermission seemed particularly long. After all, it was match point, and the officials also hoped to give the FRY team more time to adjust, whether it was to stabilize their mentality or discuss tactics, at least to make the match a little more suspenseful.

Zhao Xuming looked at Kredian: "Do you think... FRY has a chance?"

Kredian didn't look too good. After a long silence, he said, "Let's hope they have some trump card up their sleeves."

Zhao Xuming didn't speak.

He could tell that Kredian was obviously out of ideas as well. 指头(zhi tou) Company even sent two data balancing specialists to help with tactics, but the tactics were still crushed by the FV team. What could they do?

Both of them knew very well what the result would be if they lost this game 3:0, so they tacitly avoided mentioning it and continued to watch the match silently.

Although they were key figures in the official organization, wielding the power of life and death over the entire game, at this moment, they could only sit offstage and place all their hopes on the FRY team.

Zhao Xuming felt a bit melancholy and perplexed.

How could a perfectly good World Finals turn out like this?

...

Finally, after an intermission that was noticeably longer than the previous one, the match started again.

This time, the FV team proactively chose the blue side, and the red and blue sides for both teams remained unchanged.

FRY's coach couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. Obviously, this was because the FV team realized that FRY couldn't solve the Chaos Doom hero, so they proactively chose the blue side to forcefully occupy one of FRY's ban slots.

However, since FRY had already decided to ban the Chaos Doom and Blade Wings heroes, it didn't matter. Moreover, being on the red side allowed them to observe the opponent's first-pick hero, analyze their lineup, and make adjustments accordingly.

For FRY, who had already decided to play with hard power, their current goal wasn't to choose the best lineup, but to choose the least bad lineup. As long as they didn't let the FV team get the kind of "intellectual crushing" lineup they had in the first two games, FRY could accept it.

"Coach, how should we ban?" a team member asked.

FRY's coach thought for a moment. The ban slots definitely had to be for Chaos Doom and Blade Wings, so they would have to release two of the three signature heroes they had previously banned from the opponent.

After considering for a moment, he decided to release two heroes that no team was playing in the current version.

"Release Storm Swordsman and Phantom Blacksmith. Ban Chaos Doom and Blade Wings."

Storm Swordsman is an assassin-type hero with multiple dashes and excellent AoE damage capabilities. In the IOI game, he can be considered a noob stomper.

But the problem is that this hero's initial stats aren't very high. Whether he goes to the top lane or jungles, he'll get hammered by the opponent. Only when skilled players use him to stomp noobs, accumulate a lot of gold, and get a gear advantage over the opponent, does this hero have a good game experience.

Phantom Blacksmith is a relatively unpopular support who can switch between phantom and physical forms. He can passively add gold and experience to a teammate. His ultimate ability allows a teammate to briefly enter a phantom state, becoming immune to physical damage, reducing the duration of crowd control effects, and increasing movement speed.

But the problem is that this hero is quite clumsy, without any dash or poke skills, and his attack range is also very short. As a support, if he goes to the bottom lane, he will have a very difficult time laning in the early game, and could be completely crushed.

These two heroes are quite common in public matches, but in professional matches, their early-game strength is simply too worrisome. Picking them is equivalent to losing all early-game tempo, so basically no one plays them.

FRY's coach had previously researched the FV team and knew that these two heroes were FV's signature picks, so he had always banned them.

Now, after some consideration, he thought it would be too difficult to play if the meta heroes were released and picked by the opponent. It would be better to release two of the opponent's signature picks.

FRY's coach guessed that the opponent probably wouldn't take both of them, because if they did, the bottom lane and jungle would explode in the early game, and the game would basically be unplayable. Even if they were signature picks, they would have to wait until the late game to be effective.

Even if the opponent took one, FRY could at least gain an advantage in one lane. As long as they had an early-game advantage and the lineup wasn't too problematic, then losing would just mean that their skills were inferior, and there would be nothing to be depressed about.

So, after considering everything, he decided to release these two signature picks.

As expected, the FV team didn't pick any of these two signature heroes. Instead, they first picked Lava Treant for the top lane.

This hero had appeared before, with high tankiness and crowd control skills, but it didn't seem worth a first pick. After all, he was just a utility piece, and it was impossible to build a lineup around him.

"They don't want to reveal their tactical intentions, so they picked a versatile top laner first?"

"Or is it because Blade Wings and Chaos Doom have been banned, so there are no heroes worth a first pick?"

FRY's coach didn't quite understand what the point of first-picking a Lava Treant was, because this hero's priority wasn't very high.

The FV team's first pick meant that FRY could now pick two of their desired comfort heroes.

FRY's coach immediately directed his teammates to pick the very confident mid and bot lane heroes. Both heroes were versatile and had good stats, and the team members were very proficient with them. Picking them meant that they basically had no counters.

On the other hand, the FV team picked a more utility-oriented marksman, as well as the previously released signature hero, Phantom Blacksmith.

After the first three heroes were picked, it felt like they were just three utility players, and it was impossible to tell who was supposed to be the carry.

Moreover, this bot lane combination made people feel that it would be very difficult to lane or teamfight. Although signature picks should be respected, to put it bluntly, the stats of Phantom Blacksmith simply didn't deserve to be on the professional stage.

FRY's coach frowned slightly, feeling optimistic but also worried.

"Are they planning to hide their mid and jungle picks until the end?"

"It doesn't matter. With our current lineup, no matter what they pick for mid and jungle, we'll definitely be fine in the early game. As long as both sides farm safely, our win rate in teamfights will be at least fifty-fifty."

"Pick top and jungle first to ensure the completeness of our lineup. Pick Tempest Warlord for the top lane to bully Lava Treant, and he can split push in the late game, making it difficult for them to deal with. Pick a strong jungler who isn't afraid of being targeted by the opponent."

"Leave the last pick for support. Given the opponent's bottom lane strength, we can pick a strong support to dominate the lane, or we can pick a roaming hero to coordinate with the jungler and apply pressure."

"The former can directly crush the lane, and the latter can help the jungler establish an advantage. No matter what we choose, our lineup will be better."

FRY's coach suddenly became confident.

The main reason was that the FV team forcefully picked their signature hero, Phantom Blacksmith, which resulted in too low of a laning strength in the bottom lane. FRY could play comfortably whether they chose to dominate the lane or roam.

Moreover, FV's marksman was a utility player, not the kind that could carry in the late game. Even if Phantom Blacksmith gave him gold and experience, he wouldn't be able to end the game.

After this round of picks, FRY's coach was full of confidence, feeling that he had already won half the battle.

FRY's top laner was instantly energized.

He had absolutely no game experience in the previous game. This time, he had picked a strong hero, and the opponent was a tank, so he had a lot of room to perform!

But the FV team didn't hesitate much and directly locked in a strong support for the bottom lane, as well as Storm Swordsman!

The previous second FRY's coach was still beaming with satisfaction, and the next second his eyes widened as he looked at the screen, thinking he had seen wrong.

The FV team actually picked two support heroes?

Storm Swordsman was definitely going to be the jungler, so one of these two support heroes would definitely have to go to the mid lane, but no matter how you looked at it, it was very absurd for these two support heroes to go to the mid lane!

One was full of crowd control, but not very tanky and didn't have any damage. A support who eats up resources is useless, so going to the mid lane would definitely be inappropriate.

But it would be even more absurd for Phantom Blacksmith to go to the mid lane, because he wasn't good at laning, eating resources was useless, and most importantly, the passive effect of adding gold would be wasted.

FRY's coach paused for five seconds.

On the one hand, he was quite confused, feeling that the script had suddenly broken free of his control, and on the other hand, he was waiting for the opponent to call a timeout.

The FV team's lineup was probably a misclick, right? They locked in too quickly and their hand slipped?

But after waiting for five seconds, the opponent showed no sign of calling a timeout.

FRY's coach was very confused. He thought about it and realized that there was only one last support pick left, and there wasn't much room for creativity.

Either pick a strong support to dominate the lane, or pick a roaming support to set the pace.

After thinking it over, FRY's coach decided that FV's Phantom Blacksmith could only be a support.

He decisively said, "Pick a roaming support. Our mid, bot, and jungle all have advantages in the early game. The support should do more work and try to collapse them in the early game. Marksman, you have to be careful to stay alive. If it's really impossible, just AFK under the tower. Anyway, the opponent is Phantom Blacksmith, so he can't do anything to you."

The heroes of both sides were all selected.

At this time, the barrage in the domestic live broadcast room was full of question marks, because no one could understand what the FV team was trying to do.

This lineup couldn't win in lane, and it was useless in teamfights, standing out in a way that made no sense.

The domestic commentators were still trying hard to explain the FV team's intentions.

"I think this lineup, by putting the support hero in the mid lane to eat resources, can roam more often to set the pace. He has a lot of crowd control skills, and he can have a miraculous effect with Storm Swordsman if he is ahead. And Phantom Blacksmith can let our marksman develop better by laning in the bottom lane, and he is also a good late-game insurance..."

Obviously, the domestic commentators also didn't understand how this lineup was supposed to be played, and could only forcefully explain it based on their game knowledge.

But the next second, the commentators were slapped in the face.

Because the FV team directly swapped Phantom Blacksmith to the mid lane!

Until the game started, the heroes were not exchanged again. FV obviously intended to play with Phantom Blacksmith and Storm Swordsman as their mid-jungle duo!

Now, all the commentators were silenced and couldn't justify it anymore.

Because Phantom Blacksmith was designed as an absolute support hero from the very beginning, and could not go to the mid lane. Even if he forced his way there, he would definitely be crushed by the opponent's mid laner.

This had nothing to do with the players' skills and operation, it was purely because this hero's mechanics didn't allow it.

But since FV had already picked it and didn't call a timeout, they obviously thought it was playable.

The audience who were originally on the side of the FRY team and hoped that they could win back a game unconsciously leaned towards the FV team.

Because everyone was very curious, how would Phantom Blacksmith be played in the mid lane?

...

The game started soon.

After leaving their base, the FV team was very cautious and placed wards in the river to prevent the opponent's invasion.

Although Storm Swordsman is a hero with multiple dashes and is not very strong in 1v1 fights, he is still very powerful if everyone is level 1. In addition, Lava Treant has tankiness and crowd control in the early game, so the FRY team didn't dare to invade rashly, and both sides farmed their own jungle camps.

For the FRY team, they had already been outsmarted in the previous two games, so they naturally didn't dare to take any more risks in this game. Their only wish was to have a stable start and play a normal game.

But FRY's mid laner soon discovered a problem.

"Where is the opponent's Phantom Blacksmith?"

He was originally planning to thoroughly humiliate the opponent's Phantom Blacksmith, but after safely farming a few minions, he suddenly realized that the opponent didn't seem to be in lane at all.

He waited for a while and found that no one was coming, so he became impolite and directly started pushing the wave, pushing the minions to the turret.

But just as the minions entered the turret, he saw Phantom Blacksmith and Storm Swordsman emerge from the jungle. Storm Swordsman used a full combo to clear the wave cleanly, and then turned around and plunged into the jungle again.

FRY's mid laner couldn't help but send out a string of question marks.

???

What's going on?

Obviously, these two people didn't intend to pay attention to him at all. They just used their skills to clear the wave and then left.

Storm Swordsman had multiple dashes, and he moved quickly in the jungle, while Phantom Blacksmith obediently followed behind him, helping him fight jungle monsters and minions, giving all the gold to him, and obediently using his passive to give Storm Swordsman experience and gold.

FRY's mid laner stood in the mid lane, in a state of confusion.

No one was laning against him, so he had nothing to do but farm. But every time he pushed the wave to the turret, FV's Storm Swordsman would emerge from the jungle and safely farm the wave.

FRY's mid laner did want to freeze the wave, but it was useless. As long as Storm Swordsman ate the jungle camps, he would come to the mid lane and chop at the minions regardless, eating them and then running away, never staying for long.

He didn't even care if the mid turret was losing health, as if he only had minions and jungle monsters in his eyes!