Chapter 191

January 14, 2023, V5's opening match.

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

The main event was placed in the prime time slot of 7:00 PM.

But from the venue selected by the officials, one could also see today's protagonists.

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

V5's home court today also had special decorations, especially putting a lot of effort into the images of the players of this new V5.

"Holy crap, look at Master Ye!"

"Hurry, hurry, help me take a photo!"

From the main entrance to the spectator passage, one could clearly see the makeup photos of all the V5 members for this season hanging on the wall, with eye-catching introductions next to them.

Obviously, the area below Ye Bo's photo was the place where the most people stopped to take photos.

And his introduction was simply 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, Brother Shengqiang Ge and Deft, were not as long as his!

Now the first match has ended.

The audience who hadn't entered yet squeezed into the crowded home court; just a shallow glance from above was enough to see that every seat was taken, and the atmosphere was lively to the extreme!

It was worthy of today's match being called the "Esports Spring Festival Gala."

Listening to the noisy sounds coming from just a wall away, the impatient Ye Bo was clearly already eager to try, his long-suppressed passion ignited; anyone who didn't know better would think he was a newbie making his debut.

"Your mentality is really good, Master Ye..."

Xun, who was 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 today!

"Don't be nervous~ just play as we trained; your performance in the training matches was great!" Ye Bo patted his shoulder generously to comfort him.

"Haha, that's mainly because you and Brother Yuanshen are amazing."

Xun was clearly very happy to be praised.

However, as long as he thought about Beichuan in the background, who was eyeing the position and wanting to improve at any time, he didn't dare to get cocky at all!

Speaking of which, it's true.

Ye Bo and Beryl, one in the mid lane and one as support, are both positions that most need to link up with the jungler — so both of them have their own unique understanding of this jungle, which has the biggest changes in S13.

Brother Shengqiang Ge smiled and comforted him: "It's okay, I heard that Brother Jiang hasn't been playing much ranked lately. I should be able to hold on and back you up, okay!"

Once 7 o'clock arrived, the lights in the arena suddenly disappeared.

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

This rebuilt WBG team is definitely worthy of the nickname "God Squad"; at least in terms of traffic, they are truly gods.

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

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

"Rookie, come on! Pizza, play well, don't feed! Liu Shen, stop playing with your bangs! Daeny, draft well, don't troll, just win!"

"You must make those fanboys shut up!!"

"You must win! Let's go celebrate with Ning and Baolan later!"

From the fans' state, it was not hard to see that they were quite confident in their home team before the match.

Perhaps, the expectations from winning the Weibo Cup were still at play.

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

"Next, let us welcome Victory 5 to the stage with the warmest applause!"

"Top-laner Flandre! Jungler Xun! Mid-laner Ye..."

When it came to the mid-laner, the restlessness of the audience, which was originally slightly inferior, instantly erupted into a terrifyingly huge wave of shock!

It directly overwhelmed the scene when WBG appeared earlier!

Yu Shuang, who hadn't waited before, could only smile and pause, waiting in the face of this scene that even drowned out the speakers.

"My god, Ye is really popular in China..."

Backstage passage.

Beryl, who felt the popularity of his mid-lane teammate offline for the first time, couldn't help but sigh to Deft.

"Normal," Deft was more used to it, as if he had seen such a scene before: "Sang-hyeok, who finished playing in S3, was also this popular..."

The Spring Split had just begun.

At this point, the "championship bonus" and "no-heat phase" had not yet expired — at least before the first lost match, the heat would remain at its peak level!

And because of EDG's split this year, Viper returned to his country, and the two remaining players didn't have much expectation because of the roster, while Brother Shengqiang Ge, who came to V5 together, didn't have a playstyle that attracted many fans.

As a result, Ye Bo completely siphoned off most of the heat bonus after winning the championship!

Looking around at this moment, his cheering items alone occupied half of the audience!

But the two bottom-lane players who stepped onto the stage one after another also immediately received very respectful cheers from the audience, and the scene was not much lower than Brother Shengqiang Ge's.

It could be seen that whether off-field or on-field, most Chinese players had a good impression of them.

The players from both sides took their seats and prepared.

"Welcome back! This is the live broadcast of the 2023 Esports Spring Festival Gala Super Weekend!" Doll's iconic loud voice resounded in the live broadcast room: "It is also the opening day of our LPL Spring Split!"

"That's right, the previous first match LGD lost 0-2 to UP, which is a bit of a pity," Miller took over the topic: "It's mainly because of our brand-new global draft format this year; it seems many teams are still adapting."

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

Miller led the topic to today's guest, former LGD legend PYL, Chen Bo.

It's not that the officials didn't want to invite the relevant players from WBG and V5 — the key is that they couldn't invite them!

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

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

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

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

And PYL, who was originally relevant personnel for the opening match, watched his old team get beaten up, and had to be asked such a death question that was easy to step into a pit — but he seemed to exert his "Grim Reaper" trait and answered very straightforwardly.

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

It wasn't enough for PYL to finish answering; he had to add his own analysis.

"I have also studied this global draft format. Currently, it seems that the restrictions are actually limited in BO3 matches, but it will be two completely different games in a BO5!"

"With Ye's champion pool, I feel it's not that easy to be restricted during the regular season stage..."

The barrage didn't even need to guess; it almost instantly started arguing.

Doll and Miller didn't take such a dangerous topic at all and hurriedly changed the subject: "But it is worth mentioning that this opening match patch was only launched 4 days ago. It is unfamiliar to everyone. I think today's match must also be full of many variables!"

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

"The players and coaches from both sides are ready. Let us enter the draft phase!"

WBG's Daeny looked very serious, appearing to be burdened with worries.

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

Of course there was no impression.

Because this is V5's competition training department manager, also known as the life nanny and takeout coupon predator; he is not responsible for the draft at all — he didn't even bring a notebook when he went on stage!

Speaking of which.

The opening match today is indeed a bit unlucky.

The people responsible for setting the rules for the LPL are simply geniuses; the patch used on the opening day: it was actually the 13.1 patch that was just updated on the global server 4 days ago!

This means.

Including V5, everyone has only conducted a very short exploration of this patch; it is definitely impossible to explore the so-called "patch answer."

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

In addition to the changes in the values of the model and all small skills, the E skill added {percentage health} damage.

The biggest change is that the R skill 【Grandmaster's Might】 has become 【Weapon Master】.

On the basis that the original passive {three rings} and active {dual resistance} remain unchanged, a new "instant burst" AOE damage with considerable values has been added — and the frequency of passive triggering will become 2 attacks, instead of every 3 attacks!

It is equivalent to having a full-stack Guinsoo's Rageblade during the duration!

Undoubtedly, this is bound to be a huge unilateral enhancement; the slight decrease in early combat power can be ignored!

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

"And red side V5 directly banned Jax, and then we have to see the bans of K'Sante, Ryze, Syndra, Jayce, and other champions; these are all quite strong existences in this patch." Doll interpreted the draft of both sides.

"WBG, did they choose 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 fierce move. Last year, it should have been in the playoffs against Scout, he had a Syndra performance that was quite eye-catching!"

"Yes, yes, yes, I remember now, but if you have to say it, Syndra has been reworked, and it's not the same type as before at all..."

During the World Championship, Syndra underwent a full skill rework.

Simply put: this hero has changed from an "early-mid game burst kill type" mage to a "stacking monster mid-late game main carry type" mage.

It is indeed no longer a hero of the same type; it is not an exaggeration to say it is a new hero.

Besides that.

There is one more thing that must be mentioned, which can be called a new season equipment that directly changed the current mid-lane landscape.

【Rod of Ages】!

In the S13 season, this equipment that existed in the ancient era officially returned at the "Mythic Equipment" level, and the effect is quite unique.

In addition to the recovery and attributes that are better than before, after stacking to 10 layers, it directly obtained the outrageous bonus of 【Level Up】!

Many players have no concept of "level up."

Rod of Ages takes 10 minutes to stack, and it usually takes about 20 minutes to stack, which is about level 13-14.

And if it is the experience bar of level 14 — according to the situation of 1 person enjoying the minion experience alone, leveling up takes about 4-5 waves of minion experience.

That is nearly 3 minutes!

1 level may not be anything to other heroes.

But for some heroes who are extremely level-dependent, especially those who will undergo qualitative changes when reaching level 16, accelerating the development time by 3 minutes is definitely worth a thousand gold!

More importantly, the Rod of Ages with Mythic-level attributes will make mages become "very tanky."

This means that those early-game heroes will become even more difficult to kill these scaling heroes!

At the same time, 【Archangel's Staff】 also underwent a complete rework, and the full-stack effect changed from the chicken-rib-like AP increase to: "High shield triggered automatically based on mana."

The two pieces of equipment, from attributes to effects, fit perfectly and can be called a match made in heaven!

League of Legends, since S11 had Mythic equipment, there have been countless examples of a piece of equipment directly ascending to heaven.

And heroes who can produce these two pieces of equipment at the same time, one can imagine how cool the bonus is.

The equipment is cheap, forms quickly, the cost-effectiveness of stacking is extremely high, and it is tanky as hell before stacking!

This is why — in the Demacia Cup data, the draft rate of Ryze and Kassadin is close to 90%!

Even though these two heroes actually have no changes at all.

First round ban:

WBG: Seeing Akali, Syndra, Ashe

V5: Jax, Jayce, Ryze

"V5 red side bans several patch heroes as usual, and WBG's intention here is very clear; it is obvious that they want to target your mid lane!"

"In that case," Miller clapped his hands in a predictive way: "Sure enough! First pick Sylas!"

"Must remind the audience again, this Sylas is equivalent to a real 'pick instead of ban.' After WBG selects it in this game, there will be no need to occupy a ban slot in the next game, it will be banned by default!"

Daeny, of course, knows who the core main force of this V5 is.

Although the current patch looks like the dominance of Sylas and Seeing Akali has fallen a bit, not as perverted as it was during the World Championship.

But Daeny still didn't prepare to release it in this game!

And the characteristics of the global draft began to appear.

As long as they select it in the first game themselves, it is equivalent to "burning" this hero — for their draft pressure when switching to the red side in the next game, it will be greatly reduced!

If it were according to the traditional tournament format.

If WBG, who switched to the red side in the next game, still wanted to target, then they would have to default to self-ban Seeing Akali + Sylas + Ryze; how can this draft be played!?

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

The new season has just begun, and the balance and environment of various heroes are still in a chaotic state.

At the very least, the current bottom-lane landscape has not changed at all from the World Championship.

It is still based on "lane priority" as the kingly way.

So in order not to let the opponent's bottom-lane duo get the Ashe + Heimerdinger system that they were famous for on the S12 stage, he chose to ban the swappable Ashe in the third hand.

"We don't need to struggle with this, just K'Sante and Varus!" Ye Bo said affirmatively.

Beryl, sitting on the edge of the stage, had no objection.

Although nominally, both the mid and support are "head coaches."

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

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

In his view, this is natural.

"They didn't take the bottom lane; they really value the top lane."

Daeny looked at the opponent's draft choice and felt it didn't exceed his expectations.

In his view, the most advantageous part of his side today is the top and jungle, playing against the opponent's rookie jungler + old top-laner!

And the opponent, as expected, attached great importance to the top and jungle in the draft phase, and even because of this, did not choose their most confident bottom-lane Caitlyn Varus + Heimerdinger system.

"Then cut them off!" Daeny waved his hand and gently pressed TheShy's shoulder: "Cheng-lu, it's up to you."

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

Doll stared at the draft panel: "WBG is grabbing Heimerdinger and Azir?"

"Wait?"

"What the hell is Azir? There is already Sylas... could it be TheShy!"

Top-lane Azir, top-lane Sylas, are things TheShy has played long ago.

Once everyone associates it, it is not hard to guess.

And thinking about it carefully, whether it is Sylas or Azir, it seems that there is a certain way to play against K'Sante in the lane!

It's just that.

Beryl seemed to raise the lower half of his face slightly when he saw the opponent select Heimerdinger.

"In this case... WBG is limiting V5's mid lane to the limit!!"

"In the next game, V5's two major signature mid-lane champions will all be burned! WBG's draft pressure when going to the red side will be very small. Coach Daeny's understanding of the global draft is really something!"

"V5 selects Vi, this is also one of the two strongest warrior junglers in the current jungle, entering the second round of the draft!"

But it is obvious that because WBG focuses on the mid-support hero targeting, they have eaten the opponent's second-round jungle offensive restrictions.

Daeny actually felt 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 ban —

V5: Sejuani, Wukong

WBG: LeBlanc, Yone

"WBG is equivalent to banning the mid-laner six times again. Could it be that Master Ye can only play unpopular heroes like Pyke again?"

"But it feels like the opponent's stance is not afraid of you choosing this kind of hero... After all, Pyke can be played with Sylas's burst, Akshan can be played with Azir's range, WBG's top-mid swap is just waiting for your late pick!"

"... What hero is this??"

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

"This is a hero who is about to be reworked in the next patch. Can we actually see a chance to appear in a match in this patch?!"

【Legendary Troll King!!】

【People in North America have always played this thing, but you really need to be a signature player to play it, and I heard the gameplay will change completely in the next patch. Practicing this is a real loss.】

【Is it possible that it was practiced because of the global draft? This is the benchmark for diligent players, okay? As long as you practice enough, the global draft might even be an enhancement for him!】

【I have already started to look forward to what tricks the original god will play. I feel that when these two meet, they will have a ghost idea every 3 seconds!】

【Still have to look at the results. A good result is a double ghost idea, and a bad result is a double troll...】

Aurelion Sol was obviously a pick that no one expected.

Daeny's expression also showed a visible frown.

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

One is what was mentioned earlier — as long as you can produce the two pieces of equipment, Rod of Ages + Archangel's Staff, you can eat the bonus of this patch.

Obviously, Aurelion Sol himself is a hero who needs to produce these two pieces of equipment!

It's just that this thing is really unpopular to the extreme; even if other professional players discover this, it is unlikely that they will practice it.

Especially after hearing the news that this hero is about to be reworked 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 started.

【Easter Egg Challenge: Echo of Glory】

【The river of time rushes forward, and the relics of the old valley can hardly escape the baptism of the fire of rebirth — but before that, they may also be waiting for a pair of hands that can carry the embers to ignite the starry sky one last time.】

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

【Challenge Reward: Practice progress of level 5 proficiency and below can be permanently retained; for the excess part, you need to use the "unreworked version" of the hero to appear on the competitive stage once, regardless of victory or defeat — all practice progress can 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 season announcement released by the official, predicting that 6-8 heroes would undergo mid-term reworks in 2023.

The first to bear the brunt is Jax, and Aurelion Sol, who is in the next patch.

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

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

And the first Jax, due to the patch selection problem of the first match, has been confirmed to be unable to catch up, so Ye Bo stopped practicing after reaching level 5.

But Aurelion Sol.

He became more curious the more he practiced, and he felt more and more that this hero was very interesting!

At the same time, he felt more and more sorry that it would be reworked and changed in the next patch...

However.

What no one could think of is.

The thing that is truly shocking about V5 is not this Aurelion Sol.

Since WBG's top, mid, and support have already obtained 3 AP, if the jungler chooses a tank jungler like Maokai, the lineup will have a serious attribute deviation.

In the end, they could only choose one of two between Lee Sin and Viego, and chose Viego for Karsa.

As for the shooter choice, Daeny considered that the opponent did not have an Ashe support, and his side had Heimerdinger as a guarantee, so he didn't really rely on the AD's pushing ability.

Gala proved in S12 that he couldn't take out Caitlyn, and he wasn't very good at playing that kind of pushing system.

In the end, he was given Aphelios, which he was most proficient in.

Daeny didn't want to grab the lane in the bottom lane at all; after all, the jungler must take care of the top lane — as long as he can watch the opponent's bottom lane during the lane phase, it is enough for the upper-half rhythm that WBG craves!

"What is left for V5's support? Karma, Lux? Does Brother Yuanshen still have a Bard..."

"Eh!?"

"Did they pick the wrong one!!!"

The whole arena instantly erupted in an uproar.

Just because on V5's fifth-floor selection slot, the only empty avatar belonging to the support — actually appeared a weird masked man.

The lineups of both sides are confirmed.

《Blue side: WBG || Red side: V5》

【Top: Sylas vs K'Sante】

【Jungle: Viego vs Vi】

【Mid: Azir vs Aurelion Sol】

【Shooter: Aphelios vs Varus】

【Support: Heimerdinger vs Jhin】

(End of chapter)