Chapter 191: 【Easter Egg Challenge: Echoes of Glory】! Double Weirdness

January 14, 2023, the opening match for V5.

Though it's called the opening match, the first battle of the season in the true sense actually started at five o'clock, featuring two fringe teams, LGD and UP.

The main event, however, was placed in the prime time slot of 7: 0 PM.

But one could tell who the protagonists of the day were just by looking at the venue chosen by the officials.

The opening match is usually held at the Shanghai Hongqiao Performing Arts Center, but this time it was moved to V5's home turf in Shenzhen, which could be considered giving them plenty of face.

V5's home venue also featured special decorations today, with particular effort put into the images of the players on this new V5 roster.

"Holy crap, look at Master Ye!"

"Quick, quick, help me take a photo!"

From the main entrance all the way into the spectator aisles, one could clearly see the team's official portraits for the season hanging on the walls, accompanied by eye-catching blurbs.

Clearly, the spot below Ye Bo's photo was where the most people stopped to take pictures and check in.

And his blurb was practically like a crosstalk monologue!

"2022 Summer Split MVP, 2022 Summer Split Champion, 2022 Best Rookie, 2022 Annual MVP, 2022 World Championship Champion, FMVP player."

Even the resumes of the two veterans next to him, Flandre and Deft, weren't as long as his!

By now, the first match had already concluded.

Spectators who hadn't entered yet hurried into the crowded arena; one only needed a shallow glance upward to see that every seat was taken, the atmosphere lively to the extreme!

It was well-deserving of being called the "Esports Spring Festival Gala" today.

Listening to the noisy clamor coming from just a wall away, the impatient Ye Bo was clearly raring to go, his long-suppressed passion ignited; anyone who didn't know better would have thought he was a newbie making his debut.

"Your mentality is really good, Master Ye."

Xun, making his debut for a new team, was clearly a bit nervous—especially since he had to face his two "former" top and mid bosses from his time at IG right off the bat today!

"Don't be nervous~ just play like we practiced, you performed great in scrims!" Ye Bo patted his shoulder broadly to comfort him.

"Haha, that's mainly because you and Beryl are so good."

Xun was clearly very happy to be complimented.

However, as soon as he thought about how Beichuan was lurking in the background, always wanting to improve, he didn't dare to get cocky at all!

Come to think of it, that was the truth.

Ye Bo and Beryl, one in the mid lane and one as support, were both in the positions that most needed synergy with the jungler—so both had many unique understandings of this jungle, which had the biggest changes in S13.

Flandre smiled and comforted him: "It's fine, I heard TheShy hasn't been playing much ranked lately. I should be able to hold my own; I've got your back, alright!"

Once 7 o'clock hit, the lights in the arena vanished instantly.

Host Yu Shuang's voice resonated through the venue, first welcoming the WBG players to the stage.

This rebuilt WBG was absolutely worthy of the nickname "God-tier Team," at least in terms of traffic, they were truly gods.

Almost every time a player's ID was read out as they took the stage, a tsunami-like scream would immediately erupt from below!

"TheShy! World's No. 1 Top! TheShy, I love you!"

"Rookie, fighting! Pizza, play well and don't feed! Liu, stop playing with your bangs! Danny, do good drafts and don't troll, just win!"

"You must make those haters shut up!!"

"You must win! We'll go celebrate with Ning and Baolan later!"

It wasn't hard to tell from the fans' state that they were quite confident in their home team before the match.

Perhaps the expectations from winning the Weibo Cup previously were still in effect.

Everyone seemed to feel that against V5, the advantage was theirs!

"Next, let us use our most enthusiastic applause to welcome Victory 5 to the stage!"

"Top laner Flandre! Jungler Xun! Mid laner Ye—"

When it came to the mid laner, the restlessness of the audience, which had been slightly inferior before, instantly erupted into a terrifyingly powerful wave of vibration!

It immediately overwhelmed the scene from when WBG took the stage earlier!

Yu Shuang, who hadn't paused before, could only smile and wait in the face of this spectacle that even drowned out the speakers.

"Damn, Ye is really popular in China."

Backstage corridor.

Beryl, feeling the extent of his mid-laner teammate's offline popularity for the first time, couldn't help but sigh to Deft.

"It's normal," Deft was more used to it, seemingly having seen such scenes before: "Li Xianghe was just as popular after winning in S3."

The Spring Split had only just begun.

At this moment, the "Champion Dividend" and the "Immunity from Criticism Period" hadn't expired yet—at least until the first loss, the hype would remain at its peak!

And due to the split of EDG this year, with Viper returning home, the two remaining players didn't have much expectation for the roster, while Flandre, who came to V5 together, didn't have a playstyle that attracted as many fans.

So much so that Ye Bo had siphoned off more than half of the hype dividend after winning the championship!

Looking out at this moment, his support items alone occupied half of the audience seating!

However, the two bot lane players who took the stage immediately after also received very generous cheers from the live audience, the scene not much lower than Flandre's.

It was clear that both on and off the stage, most Chinese players had a good impression of them.

Both teams took their seats to prepare.

"Welcome back! This is the live broadcast of the 2023 Esports Spring Festival Gala Super Weekend!" Wawa's iconic, resonant voice echoed in the broadcast room: "And also the opening day of our LPL Spring Split!"

"That's right, the first match earlier saw LGD lose 0-2 to UP, which is a bit of a pity," Miller took over to expand the topic: "It's mainly because of the new Global BP format we're using this year; it seems many teams are still adapting."

"Hey, Pyl, for this second match, who are you more optimistic about?"

Miller steered the topic to today's guest, former LGD legend Pyl, Chen Bo.

It wasn't that the officials didn't want to invite relevant players from WBG and V5—the key was that they couldn't get them!

IG, which had the most traffic from WBG, had almost "everyone return" this year.

Ning and Baolan, who had been retired for two years, suddenly announced at the end of the transfer period that they were both joining the UP team.

Perhaps they also wanted to emulate the traffic phenomenon of WBG rebuilding the Incheon roster this year?

And just in the first game, the UP team they were on really did beat LGD!

And Pyl, who was originally related to the opening match, watched his old team get beaten up and had to be asked such a death-trap question—yet he acted like he was unleashing his "Grim Reaper" traits and answered very bluntly.

"For me, I'm relatively more optimistic about V5!"

It wasn't enough for Pyl to just answer; he had to add his own analysis.

"I've also studied this Global BP format. As it stands, the restrictions are actually limited in a Best-of-3, but it will be a completely different game once we get to a Best-of-5!"

"With Ye's champion pool, I feel it won't be that easy to restrict him during the regular season stage."

No need to guess, the chat exploded almost instantly.

Wawa and Miller didn't touch such a dangerous topic at all and quickly changed the subject: "But it's worth mentioning that this opening match patch was only released 4 days ago. It's unfamiliar to everyone, so I think today's match will definitely be full of many variables!"

"In any case, this will definitely be a contest worth looking forward to!"

"Both teams' players and coaches are ready, let's enter the BP phase!"

WBG's coach, Danny, looked very serious, appearing to be deep in thought.

And the coach behind V5 was a completely unfamiliar face; no one had the slightest impression of the ID displayed below!

Surely there was no impression.

Because this was V5's team training department manager, also known as the life nanny and takeout coupon plunderer; the person wasn't even responsible for BP—they didn't even bring a notebook to the stage!

Come to think of it.

It was indeed a bit unlucky to play the opening match today.

The people responsible for setting the rules for the LPL were geniuses; the patch used on opening day was actually the 13. patch that had only just updated on global servers 4 days ago!

This meant.

Including V5, everyone had only explored this patch very briefly; it was definitely impossible to have discovered the so-called "patch answer."

And the biggest change in this patch—was the rework of Jax!

Besides the model and numerical changes to all basic skills, the E skill added {percentage health} damage.

The biggest change was that the R skill 【Grandmaster's Might】 became 【Master-at-Arms】.

On the basis of the original passive {third hit} and active {dual resistances} remaining unchanged, a new "instant burst" AoE damage with considerable values was added—and the frequency of the passive trigger would become every 2 attacks, instead of every 3!

It was equivalent to having a fully stacked Guinsoo's Rageblade for the duration!

Without a doubt, this was inevitably a huge unilateral buff; the slight reduction in early-game combat power was completely negligible!

"Blue side WBG still banned Akali! Respect for the championship skin, no problem!"

"And red side V5 banned Jax directly. Next, we'll have to see the bans for K'Sante, Ryze, Syndra, Jayce, etc.; these are all quite powerful existences in this patch," Wawa interpreted the BP of both sides.

"WBG, are they choosing to self-ban Rookie's Syndra?" Miller said in surprise.

But Pyl had a good memory: "No, no, no, I remember Master Ye's Syndra is also a killer move. Last year, I think he had a very brilliant performance on Syndra against Scout in the playoffs!"

"Yes, yes, yes, I remember now, but if we're talking about it, Syndra has been reworked, so it's not the same type as before at all..."

Syndra underwent a full skill rework during the World Championship.

Simply put: this hero had changed from an "early-mid game burst/assassination" mage to a "stacking" mid-late game hyper-carry mage.

It was indeed no longer the same type of hero at all; it wouldn't be an exaggeration to call it a new hero.

Besides this.

There was one more item that had to be mentioned, which could be said to have directly changed the current mid-lane landscape: the new season item.

【Rod of Ages】!

In the S13 season, this item, which had existed since ancient times, officially returned at the "Mythic Item" level, and its effect was quite unique.

Besides having more healing and stats than before, it gained an outrageous bonus of 【leveling up】 once it reached 10 stacks!

Many players have no concept of "leveling up."

It takes 10 minutes to fully stack a Rod of Ages; normally, it takes about 20 minutes to fully stack, which is roughly around level 13-14.

And if we look at the experience bar at level 14—assuming one person is soloing the minion wave experience, it takes about 4-5 waves of minions to level up.

That is nearly 3 minutes!

Level 1 might not mean much to other champions.

But for some champions who are extremely level-dependent, especially those who undergo a qualitative change upon reaching level 16, accelerating their development time by 3 minutes is absolutely worth its weight in gold!

More importantly, the Rod of Ages, with its Mythic-tier item stats, makes mages "very tanky."

This means those early-game champions will find it even harder to kill these scaling champions!

At the same time, the Archangel's Staff has also been completely reworked; the full-stack effect has changed from the lackluster bonus ability power to: "A massive shield triggered automatically based on mana."

From stats to effects, the two items fit perfectly; they can be called a match made in heaven!

In League of Legends, ever since Mythic items were introduced in S11, there have been countless examples of a champion skyrocketing in power simply by having a synergistic item.

And one can imagine how satisfyingly rewarding it is for a champion who can build both of these items simultaneously.

The items are cheap, they complete quickly, the cost-effectiveness of stacking them is extremely high, and they are tanky as hell even before they are fully stacked!

This is why—in the Demacia Cup data, the ban/pick rate for Ryze and Kassadin is close to 90%!

Even though neither of these two champions actually received any changes.

First round of bans:

WBG: Akali, Syndra, Ashe

V5: Jax, Jayce, Ryze

"V5 on the red side is banning a few meta champions as usual, while WBG's intention here is very clear; they are obviously aiming to target your mid lane!"

"In that case," Miller clapped his hands in a predictive gesture: "As expected! First-picking Sylas!"

"I must remind the audience again, this Sylas is equivalent to a true 'picking instead of banning.' After WBG selects it this game, it will not need to occupy a ban slot in the next game; it will be considered banned by default!"

Danny certainly knows who the core pillar of this V5 team is.

Although in the current patch, the dominance of Sylas and Akali seems to have fallen off a bit, not as broken as it was during the World Championship.

But Danny still had no intention of letting them through this game!

And the characteristics of the global ban/pick system began to manifest.

As long as they pick it themselves in the first game, it is equivalent to "burning" that champion—the ban/pick pressure for them when they switch to the red side in the next game will be greatly reduced!

If it were according to the traditional tournament format.

If WBG, having switched to the red side in the next game, still wanted to target them, they would have to default to self-banning Akali + Sylas + Ryze; how would they even play the ban/pick phase then!?

Of course, Danny also attaches great importance to his beloved disciple Beryl.

With the new season just starting, the balance and environment of various champions are still in a state of chaos.

At the very least, the current bot lane landscape has not changed at all since the World Championship.

It is still the case that "lane priority" is the absolute king.

So, in order to prevent the opposing bot lane duo from getting the Ashe + Heimerdinger system that made them famous on the S12 stage, he chose to ban the flex-pick Ashe in the third slot.

"We don't need to overthink this, let's just go with K'Sante and Varus!" Ye Bo said firmly.

Beryl, sitting at the edge of the stage, had no objections either.

Although in name, both the mid laner and support are "head coaches."

But in fact, Beryl has actually always intentionally respected Ye Bo's ideas in many aspects.

If you ask him the reason—after all, he is someone who has been defeated by the other party, and the kind who is convinced of the loss at that.

In his view, this is only natural.

"They didn't take the bot lane, they really do value the top lane."

Danny looked at the opponent's ban/pick choices and felt it didn't exceed his expectations.

In his view, the area where his side is most likely to have an advantage today is the top and jungle, playing against the opponent's rookie jungler + veteran top laner!

And the opponent, as expected, placed extreme importance on the top and jungle during the ban/pick phase, to the point that they didn't even choose their most confident Caitlyn/Varus + Heimerdinger system for their own bot lane.

"Then let's snatch it away!" Danny waved his hand and even gently patted TheShy on the shoulder: "Cheng-lu, it's up to you."

"Mm-hmm." TheShy looked as if he had been prepared for a long time.

Wawa stared at the ban/pick panel: "WBG is snatching up Heimerdinger and Azir?"

"Wait?"

"What the hell is Azir? They already have Sylas... could it be for TheShy!"

Top lane Azir and top lane Sylas are both things TheShy has played before.

Once everyone made the connection, it wasn't hard to guess.

And thinking about it carefully, whether it's Sylas or Azir, they both seem to have some merit when laning against K'Sante!

It's just that.

When Beryl saw the opponent pick Heimerdinger, the corners of his mouth seemed to curl up slightly.

"In that case... WBG is locking down V5's mid lane to the limit!!"

"In the next game, V5's two major signature mid laners will both be burned! WBG's ban/pick pressure when going to the red side will be very small. Coach Danny's understanding of the global ban/pick system is truly something!"

"V5 has selected Vi; these are also the two most aggressive warrior junglers in the current jungle, entering the second round of ban/picks!"

But it was obvious that because WBG focused on targeting the mid and support champions, they were restricted by the opponent's second-round jungle offensive.

Danny actually felt vaguely that something was wrong, but for the time being, he could only stick to his own ideas and continue to maximize the restrictions on the mid lane.

Second round of bans—

V5: Sejuani, Wukong

WBG: LeBlanc, Yone

"WBG is effectively using six bans on mid laners again. Could it be that Master Ye can only play niche champions like Pyke again?"

"But it feels like the opponent's stance is that they aren't afraid of you picking such champions... After all, Pyke can be countered by Sylas's burst, Akshan can be countered by Azir's range. WBG's top-mid flex picks are just waiting for you to pick last!"

"... hat champion is this??"

"Player Ye has locked in Aurelion Sol!!!"

"This is a champion that is about to be reworked in the next patch. Can we actually see it get a chance to appear in a competitive match in this patch?!"

【The Legendary Trickster!!】

【People in North America have always played this thing, but you really need to be a specialist to play it. Plus, I heard the gameplay changes completely next patch; practicing this is a real loss.】

【Is it possible that he practiced it precisely because of the global ban/pick system? This is the benchmark for a diligent player, alright. As long as you practice enough, the global ban/pick system might even be a buff for him!】

【I'm already starting to look forward to what kind of tricks the 'Original God' fan will pull. I feel like when these two get together, they'll have a crazy idea every 3 seconds!】

【Still have to wait for the results. A good result is double the crazy ideas, a bad result is double the trolling...】

Aurelion Sol was clearly a pick that no one expected.

Danny's expression also showed a visible frown.

And the reason Ye Bo can play it is mainly due to two reasons.

The first is what was mentioned earlier—any champion that can build these two items, Rod of Ages + Archangel's Staff, can reap the benefits of this patch.

It is very clear that Aurelion Sol is a champion that needs to build these two items!

It's just that this thing is extremely niche to the point of extremity; even if other professional players discovered this, it's unlikely they would go and practice it.

Especially after hearing the news that this champion is about to undergo a major rework in the next patch, there is even less reason to favor it.

It is also because of this.

In fact, this is not Ye Bo's main reason.

The real reason is an "Easter Egg Challenge" that Ye Bo received on the day the S13 season began.

【Easter Egg Challenge: Echoes of Glory】

【The river of time surges endlessly, and the forgotten gems of the old Rift can hardly escape the baptism of the fire of rebirth in the end—but before that, perhaps they are also waiting for a pair of hands that can carry the embers to ignite the star dome one last time.】

【Challenge Description: Countdown to the hero rework launch, limited-time practice efficiency increased by +500%.】

【Challenge Reward: Proficiency level five and below can permanently retain the increased practice progress; for anything beyond that, one must use the "un-reworked version" of the champion to step onto the competitive stage once, regardless of victory or defeat—all practice progress can then be synchronized to the new version of the hero.】

At first, Ye Bo didn't pay much attention to this task.

Until he saw the official season announcement, predicting that 6-8 champions would undergo mid-scope reworks in 2023.

The first to bear the brunt was Jax, as well as Aurelion Sol in the very next patch.

After actual testing, practicing for half a month is equivalent to three months of progress in the past; the cost-effectiveness is simply outrageous!

Even if it was just for the purpose of "expanding the champion pool," there was no reason to let it go.

As for the initial Jax, due to the version selection issue of the first match, it was confirmed that he couldn't make it in time, so Ye Bo just practiced it to level five and stopped.

But Aurelion Sol.

The more he practiced, the more curious he became, and he increasingly felt that this champion was very interesting!

At the same time, he felt it was a pity that it would be reworked and changed in the next patch...

However.

What no one could have expected was.

The truly shocking thing about V5 was not this Aurelion Sol.

Since WBG had already taken 3 AP champions for top, mid, and support, if the jungler chose a tank jungler like Maokai, the team composition would have a serious attribute imbalance.

In the end, they could only choose between Lee Sin and Viego, choosing Viego for Karsa.

As for the marksman choice, Danny considered that since the opponent didn't have an Ashe support, and his own side had Heimerdinger as a guarantee, they didn't really rely on the AD's lane-pushing ability.

Gala had already proven back in S12 that he couldn't pull out Caitlyn, and he wasn't very good at playing those push-oriented systems either.

In the end, they still secured Aphelios, the champion he was most proficient with.

Danny didn't even intend to contest the lane in the bottom lane; after all, the jungler had to take care of the top lane—as long as they could keep an eye on the opposing bottom lane during the laning phase, it would be enough for the top-side tempo that WBG craved!

"What's left for the V5 support? Karma, Lux? Doesn't BeryL also have a pocket Bard pick?"

"Huh!?"

"Did they pick the wrong one!!!"

The entire arena erupted in an instant uproar.

Because in the fifth-pick slot for V5, the only empty portrait belonging to the support—had actually revealed an extremely bizarre masked figure.

Both sides' lineups confirmed.

《Blue Side: WBG || Red Side: V5》

【Top: Sylas vs K'Sante】

【Jungle: Viego vs Vi】

【Mid: Azir vs Aurelion Sol】

【ADC: Aphelios vs Varus】

【Support: Heimerdinger vs Jhin】

(End of chapter)