Chapter 144: Even if Ten Thousand Mountains Block the Way, Watch as the Long Wind Breaks the Clouds and Sails!

On the 23rd, as the setting sun gilded Madison Square Garden, the third day of the quarterfinals officially began.

A burly, bearded Western man walked to the center of the stage.

"First, let us welcome! The 2020 World Championship winners, the 2021 World Championship runners-up—DWGKIA!"

"Top laner Nuguri, jungler Canyon, mid laner ShowMaker, bot laner Deokdam, support Kellin, and head coach Daeny!"

The five members of DK walked onto the stage from the player tunnel one by one, waving to the audience, looking full of energy.

The host then changed the subject, pointing to the other side: "Next, the 2021 World Championship winners! Returning to this stage once again this year—Edward Gaming!"

"Top laner Flandre!"

"Jungler Jiejie!"

Two names were called in succession, yet no one walked out.

The host ignored this and continued shouting the next name.

"Mid laner! Ye!"

As the host's voice faded, the cheers from the audience erupted again, reaching a volume that far exceeded what had come before!

Aside from the many fans from back home, there were also many local Western spectators spontaneously shouting to support Ye Bo.

After the baptism of six group stage matches, Ye Bo had already conquered and accumulated a considerable number of supporters!

His fierce playstyle, flashy mechanics, and the fact that defeating T1 and solo-killing Faker was a major news story in itself, all caused his popularity to swell rapidly.

"Win, win, we've already won half the battle at the start."

Ye Bo subconsciously wanted to joke with the person beside him, only to remember he was all alone.

And as Ye Bo walked out of the tunnel alone, his figure seemed somewhat thin compared to the full-roster DK.

The bearded host finished the last two air-announcements and finally shouted: "And head coach, Clearlove!"

As Clearlove smiled and waved while walking onto the stage.

A chorus of "Clearlove! Clearlove! Clearlove!" immediately erupted from the audience below.

In terms of fame, even though Ming Kai had retired, he still stood alone at the top abroad.

"A notification for everyone: due to epidemic prevention regulations, EDG's top laner Flandre, jungler Jiejie, bot laner Viper, and support Meiko need to 'compete online'."

"The pinnacle of the finals, the quarterfinals reunited!"

"A clash between two world champions, let us wait and see!"

The rules for this World Championship stated that if anyone on a team tested positive, they could only enter a designated official single-person isolation room to compete online.

Of course, to avoid gossip, the officials almost equipped them with one-on-one proctors; there was absolutely no room for suspicion, and it was even stricter.

This was not the first time there had been an online match.

Including RNG and the opposing DK, similar situations had occurred before.

But a scene like today, where only one person from the entire team showed up, really looked a bit eerie.

The sound of discussion in the theater was incessant.

Just as many voices predicting defeat began to emerge in the livestream chat.

The director cut the camera to the player seats—the comical scene immediately made people unable to hold back a laugh!

It turned out that the EDG player seats were not left empty like other teams; instead, four teddy bears wearing EDG jerseys were placed there, waiting for Ye Bo in advance.

The scene looked a bit strange, yet also somewhat heartwarming.

Clearly, this was something EDG had actively requested and arranged.

Since it didn't violate competition rules, the organizers naturally had no objections.

However, when Ye Bo walked into the player area, he didn't sit down immediately.

He carefully took out four small items from the peripheral bag he was holding and placed them in order in front of the four bears.

They were the Q-version skin figurines of EDG.

They were the sharp-eyed Graves, the Ruined King Viego with his sword pointed at the sky, Aphelios holding dual pistols, and Yuumi standing in the flowing light of the Book of Thresholds.

【Tearing up, family T. , why is it a bit tragic? If they actually win this, it will definitely be a legendary moment for the history books!】

【Good! This doesn't count as 1v5 anymore!】

【Don't be salty, there's still Clearlove in the back, this is 1v6!】

【Brother Kai, I've clicked in, did you initiate this?】

【A duel of the uninfected vs. the infected!】

【This organizer is truly shameless, it's like this and they still won't let the players wear masks to compete, they just have to make sure the last person gets infected too, right?】

【Anyway, I've prepared myself mentally today, sigh, there's really no other way.】

After placing the figurines, Ye Bo sat back in his seat in the middle.

He silently glanced at his teammates on the left and right, put on his headset, and connected to the team voice chat with the other members in their hotel isolation rooms.

The commentators on site were also deeply moved by this scene.

"This World Championship has truly been a bumpy road, first TES was upset and eliminated, then both RNG and JDG, in whom we placed high hopes, fell in the quarterfinals," Guan Zeyuan said with some regret.

"But now, we can only believe in the last remaining seedling of our region, looking forward to the miracle of Iceland reappearing once again. Please, all LPL viewers, cheer for them!"

Rita nodded forcefully: "Believe in our first seed EDG, and also believe in player Ye, who has brought us countless miraculous performances! Today, he also carries the strength of his teammates!"

Wang Duo felt a surge of poetic inspiration at this sight.

"That's right, even if ten thousand mountains block the way, watch as the long wind breaks the clouds and sails!"

"Let's cheer for EDG! Let's enter this match together!"

As the final shout rang out, the atmosphere on site and in the livestream was pushed to the limit.

A clanging sound rang out, and the draft screen was pulled up.

The first round of bans from both sides was swift—

EDG: Graves, Viego, Fiora

DK: Akali, Sylas, Caitlyn

"The intent of both sides in the first round of the draft seems very clear; they are both targeting the other's core players!" Guan Zeyuan returned to his state and saw the clues.

Clearly, the members of DK, who had just recovered, all knew how great the impact was after being infected.

So their tactical goal for the first game was very simple and direct—target the mid lane!

The reason they didn't choose to ban LeBlanc was that if Ye Bo first-picked LeBlanc, they could counter-pick with Lissandra for a mid-jungle confrontation, which would play right into their hands.

As for being on the red side, they had to choose between letting Yuumi or Caitlyn through.

This was the result of DK's careful consideration.

EDG's Caitlyn system in the first game against T1 was too successful; even though everyone knew it was because of the huge advantage from LeBlanc, the rhythm of almost pushing to victory in 23 minutes relying on the Caitlyn system in the mid-game was still very intimidating.

On the contrary, Yuumi, who everyone originally thought absolutely could not be let through, had currently suffered three consecutive losses!

And the three losses were verified by T1 and DRX, two strong teams that had already entered the semifinals.

Looking at it this way, anyone would think Yuumi didn't seem as strong as imagined.

It even had a bit of a "patch trap" flavor.

As for the team DK, whether from the DWG era or the present, they were still built with the jungler as the absolute core.

So EDG's draft targeting was also a very reasonable choice.

However.

Ye Bo's preparations over these days were naturally not that simple.

"EDG first-picks Maokai! They didn't pick Yuumi!"

"Looking at it this way, perhaps EDG wants to pick the jungler instead of banning it, and at the same time, maybe even they feel there is a problem with the strength of the hero Yuumi, which might have a not-so-small impact on the subsequent games."

DK's championship coach Daeny looked at this Maokai pick, his expression a bit off.

Why pick Maokai?

In his draft expectations, EDG first-picking Yuumi, Aatrox, or LeBlanc were all very reasonable.

Even if EDG also felt Yuumi was a trap, and guessed that LeBlanc was a choice they intentionally let through.

But Aatrox...

A ripple of panic suddenly rose in Daeny's heart.

"Could it be that they discovered it..."

"Let's pick according to our plan first."

DK turned and picked Sejuani + LeBlanc.

By comparison, they weren't worried that Ye Bo would pick Lissandra to catch ShowMaker's LeBlanc.

One could even say they were happy to see it.

If Ye Bo picked Lissandra, it would be equivalent to actively pulling the battle line into a mid-jungle confrontation, and this was the matchup DK very much wanted to catch.

"Because the jungle position has been blocked too much, DK picks Sejuani to avoid the jungle position being targeted further in the second round!" Guan Zeyuan expressed his understanding.

"And DK's respect is maxed out! ShowMaker's LeBlanc is also a pick-instead-of-ban; they are fully targeting player Ye's hero pool, and at the same time, LeBlanc is also ShowMaker's specialty!"

Wang Duo noticed Ye Bo rubbing his chin and thinking in the player seat, and said with a smile: "'Coach Ye' seems to be thinking about something."

Clearlove was still standing behind him, his lips barely moving as usual.

And Ye Bo looked at his notebook, finally deciding decisively: "Their Sejuani is 80% top lane, let's just take Yuumi and Ornn."

When EDG's first round of picks ended, the commentary desk was also quite surprised.

"EDG actually didn't pick Aatrox! Are they worried about Flandre's condition?"

"But in this way, isn't this handing Aatrox to DK on a silver platter... Aatrox does counter Ornn a bit!"

No one noticed.

Upon seeing that Ornn, Danny couldn't help but run a hand through his curly hair, his expression turning visibly ugly.

He knew it—they had definitely been exposed.

But that shouldn't be possible!

DK had never exposed this in any scrims; how could EDG have discovered it!?

In reality.

This DK team had a very fatal flaw in this patch, on the same level as LPL teams not knowing how to play Caitlyn——————

Nuguri's Aatrox had a major problem!

Nuguri's career win rate on Aatrox was as high as 35. %, or more accurately, he hadn't won a single game since Season 9, and hadn't even managed a single game with a positive KDA!

But if it were just that, clearly, Ye Bo wasn't the only one who could do data analysis.

That would be too easily debunked.

One had to know, Aatrox was a hot-pick champion in the current World Championship patch; once it was discovered they couldn't play it, the draft would become extremely difficult to manage!

And this really couldn't be solved temporarily.

After all, some players just couldn't play certain champions; for instance, some couldn't play Xayah, some couldn't play Draven, and some couldn't play Gnar.

So, Danny played a trick.

To avoid exposing this problem, they deliberately used a high-priority ban order during the group stage to snatch an Aatrox for Nuguri—punching down against a wildcard top laner from CFO.

And it didn't stop there.

To cover up this flaw to the end, they even deliberately continued this draft strategy when facing RNG, leading subsequent enemies to believe that Aatrox was a champion with high tactical status for them, keeping it in a "must-ban or must-pick" position.

In fact, a small part of the reason DK lost the second tiebreaker to RNG was also due to this.

Danny considered his work seamless; at the very least, he had successfully deceived all the other opponents in the group stage!

But he absolutely did not expect.

It was precisely because of that one deceptive game where he forced Nuguri to pick it that Ye Bo discovered the flaw.

Admittedly, Nuguri's raw skill was absolutely overwhelming compared to his opponents, plus there was Canyon's deliberate assistance.

That Aatrox game accumulated an advantage quickly in the early game, skipped the laning phase early, and managed to pull off a few plays thanks to the item advantage.

If one only looked at the stats, or did a rough review of the match, absolutely no one would suspect anything.

Danny couldn't have imagined that someone could be so "idle" as to take a magnifying glass to the "first-person" laning situations of all five DK members and conduct a "one-on-one" review—just to "tutor" his teammates.

One had to know, they were playing against a wildcard team in that match.

Even if someone really wanted to study DK, they would consider the gap in strength between the two sides and couldn't possibly study it in such detail!

Yet, Ye Bo did exactly that.

Anyway, the teammates needed to rest during these five days, and there wasn't much time for scrims.

He didn't waste a single second.

It just so happened that Ye Bo had often accompanied Flandre to practice laning, especially regarding Aatrox matchups, so he had been influenced by what he saw and heard.

Thus, Ye Bo quickly discovered.

Nuguri's laning understanding of Aatrox was simply appalling!

It felt like even Flandre, who had only been practicing it for a short time, was better than him!

With this level of Aatrox, how could DK possibly fight so hard to first-pick it?

Combining this with how DK later deliberately raised the draft priority of Aatrox, and putting the two together to form a hypothesis—one would discover the huge contradiction within.

Facts proved that Ye Bo had bet correctly.

The time he invested had also been rewarded.

"DK didn't pick Aatrox either!!"

"They picked Lee Sin to form a strong fighting mid-jungle, which is fine, but Canyon's champion pool should have other heroes, right?"

"And this should have flexed Sejuani to the top lane... it really makes no sense!"

"The opponent's top laner is already out, and Aatrox is a counter to Ornn; no matter how you look at it, they should definitely be taking Aatrox, right?"

Picking Lee Sin was a helpless move, because the jungle position was the focus of the first round of bans; among "aggressive junglers," the champions that could easily handle Maokai had all been banned or picked, and Canyon could only choose between tanky junglers like Trundle or Poppy, or hard-engage heroes like Lee Sin or Vi.

And even if the outside world hadn't understood yet.

It was clear that at least between the two sides playing the game, they already knew it in their hearts.

In this best-of-five, the first tear in the draft battle had already quietly appeared.

Entering the second round of bans————

EDG: Renata Glasc, Lucian

DK: Taliyah, Nunu

Since EDG directly dismantled the two evergreen bot lane combinations, there was no point for Deokdam, whose champion pool was already shallow, to chase bans in the bot lane.

DK simply poured all their ban slots into the mid lane.

"DK banned four mid laners! And they are all signature champions of player Ye!"

"DK counters by picking Aphelios for their AD, which is the champion Deokdam has played the most, though this probably can only be paired with Lulu, who was heavily nerfed by the patch..."

"EDG picks Sivir, and Azir!"

"Player Ye's Azir..."

The three people at the LPL commentary desk paused slightly, trying hard to recall in their minds.

They could clearly recall the "double-wall push-back" during that top lane gank, and the ultra-long displacement of the "soldier-to-soldier dash" in the mid lane, but other than that, there didn't seem to be anything else.

In fact, there seemed to be quite a few "disastrous moments."

By comparison.

This was definitely the champion that left the least impression on everyone among all the heroes Ye Bo had picked.

This was also normal.

After all.

The "true function" of Azir was not easily seen on the surface.

DK had no more options and could only pull out Lulu as their last pick.

Both lineups were confirmed.

《Blue Side: EDG || Red Side: DK》

【Top: Ornn vs Sejuani】

【Jungle: Maokai vs Lee Sin】

【Mid: Azir vs LeBlanc】

【ADC: Sivir vs Aphelios】

【Support: Yuumi vs Lulu】

"The lineups for both sides in the first game lean towards the traditional and conventional; they are indeed the most popular styles in the current patch," Guan Zeyuan commented sharply on the lineups.

"Yeah, it's just that it feels quite rare for EDG to pick this kind of lineup," Rita said after thinking for a moment.

"Haha, maybe it's because of player Ye's Azir; after all, his Azir pick count is indeed lower, and once this champion comes out, the lineup will also become relatively slower," Wang Duo expressed his thoughts.

"Of course, we can't rule out that this is a brand new draft idea from EDG; after all, we have reached the middle of the quarterfinals, everything should change!"

Ye Bo had indeed made changes.

He had plenty of preparations for this best-of-five.

And the most fundamental principle among them was——————to pick "simple and brainless" champions for his teammates as much as possible, to reduce the chance of everyone making mistakes.

So if you look closely, you will find that these champions for EDG all belong to this type.

As for the other key point.

It was Maokai.

This was also the reason why Ye Bo wanted to take a risk in the first game to test the opponent's hidden Aatrox vulnerability and clear the way for the draft.

Because for these past few days.

Ye Bo had been studying Maokai.

(End of chapter)