Chapter 192: The Advantage of the Homeland! Fishing Spiral Ball! The Clockwise Dragon

"Just arriving at the new season, and it's the first match of the new format, too. These two V5 troublemakers have brought us an unexpected surprise right out of the gate."

"I really didn't expect to see this picked in ranked; I'd have to be suspicious if I saw it!" Wawa joked.

Pyl noticed an angle: "Actually, looking at the niche heroes Master Ye has picked before, the Aurelion Sol is a relatively normal choice. I'm actually quite curious about the Jhin support."

"After all, the Heimerdinger support was brought onto the professional stage by Beryl. As the developer, perhaps he has a special way of dealing with it?"

During the World Championship, asking a player to practice a hero they had never touched before on short notice was indeed a significant challenge for many.

However, two or three months have passed since then.

The Heimerdinger support has basically become a required course for support players now; everyone can pull it out.

In the previous Demacia Cup, there were even non-mainstream choices like {Azir support}, {Syndra support}, and {Xerath support} that appeared specifically to dismantle Heimerdinger's turrets!

Once a pioneer appears on the professional stage, those who follow will naturally engage in higher-dimensional exploration and gamesmanship, in addition to quickly mimicking them.

It's just that the performance of those non-mainstream supports was average and didn't produce any real miraculous effects—otherwise, Heimerdinger wouldn't still be a high-priority choice among supports now that the new season has officially begun.

The reason for this, besides the fact that the current bottom lane is still a lane-priority meta.

More importantly, most people's attention is still focused on clearing the turrets, only thinking about limiting Heimerdinger's most obvious strength.

But when Beryl first took a liking to Heimerdinger, he was actually looking at the hero's stable, ultra-long-range engage ability, the zoning capability of the turrets, vision control, and combat utility.

Compared to those non-mainstream heroes, once they leave the laning phase, many problems immediately arise in terms of roaming, functionality, gank efficiency, and team fight performance.

And Jhin.

Strictly speaking, he counts as the "second Heimerdinger" that Beryl has found!

However, just as the casters were still discussing this strange hero selection from both sides, they noticed that the red side's movements seemed odd.

"Huh?" The sharp-eyed Pyl suddenly discovered something, then keenly sensed the anomaly: "Oh no! Could it be a level-one strat!"

"You don't say, if this team didn't have a level-one strat, I think that would be the abnormal part..." Miller joked from the side.

"Netizens all say that this mid-support duo each has their own crazy ideas, and they can upgrade them into a three-star crazy idea on the spot!"

On the other side, WBG is of course very clear about this.

Professional data websites have previously compiled statistics showing that among teams using "unconventional starts" at the S12 World Championship, EDG and DRX were the teams that ranked first and second, respectively.

Among them, those stunning corner-vision plays by EDG and the breathtaking portal through the wall in the finals by DRX left a deep impression on everyone.

And from the various post-match reviews and leaked voice comms, it's not hard to tell who the protagonists were.

Now, the two protagonists from within those teams have met.

Just as Miller said, if you say they will play honestly and by the book, no one would believe it!

When Daeny was coaching T1 in '21, he once pulled the move of benching Faker to conduct a massive 12-man super permutation and combination—he didn't care about who was a god or not; he was very skilled at disciplining people.

Judging by his looks, he probably even dares to pinch a tiger's butt!

Before the match, Daeny gave everyone a strict order: if anyone commits a disciplinary error at level one, don't blame his big hands for being merciless!

Fortunately, looking at the positioning in this game, V5 doesn't seem like they want to fight a level-one skirmish.

"Doesn't look like they're coming. Should I go set up the turrets?"

Liu Song, standing in the tri-bush with the AD, saw that the opposing team members had all appeared on the map and prepared to head to the bottom lane to plant turrets.

Everyone understands Heimerdinger well now and knows that "protecting the turrets at level one" is the most basic operation.

Therefore, as long as there is a Heimerdinger in the match, the opening will basically involve a level-one battle in the bottom lane's second bush, protecting vs. destroying turrets.

However, because WBG is overly wary of their opponent's various early-game designs, they dare not easily reveal any flaws in their positioning, fearing the opponent might pull a "feint to the east, attack in the west."

They didn't go to plant turrets as soon as they left the base; after setting up vision, they cautiously maintained a single-file line formation.

But since all four V5 members have appeared on the map now, there is naturally no reason for Heimerdinger not to go.

"Doesn't look like they're coming... Vi! Came and placed a ward!"

Karsa, who was standing guard alone at the top lane entrance, quickly added: "It's fine, you go ahead. They just came to place an invasion ward; I'm going back to swap for a sweeper."

It is currently 0: 0.

For Heimerdinger, if he doesn't go to plant turrets at this time, he will at most have one turret stored when he reaches the lane, which doesn't have much strategic significance.

For the jungler, since they don't start clearing the jungle until 1: 0, there is plenty of time to recall, swap for a sweeper, and head back out.

This move by Vi looks like it's just to scout the jungler's path; placing a ward at the F6 entrance is a very normal level-one invasion ward—but it is also something Karsa cannot accept!

In terms of mechanics, Karsa is now quite ordinary, and his most famous label is the title of "Radar Brother."

What he is best at is analyzing the future movements of the opposing jungler through vision and map information, then making corresponding counter-plays, often enabling many clever counter-ganks.

And this style of play naturally makes him extremely wary of exposing his own whereabouts!

At 0: 0, Viego recalls and heads out again.

But, at this very moment, under the god's-eye view, a dragon that had been soaking in the fountain for a full 50 seconds without moving seems to be stirring!

"It's moving, it's moving! It finally moved!"

At the exact moment 0: 5 arrived.

The outside world almost thought the Aurelion Sol had "disconnected," but it finally started to move!

And the moment it set off.

A rotating "star core" flew out from beneath it.

That is the Q ability, {Starsurge}, from the version that has not yet been reworked.

"Could it be that he waited until now just to push the ball!?"

Pyl saw the Q ability being used and instantly guessed the intention.

"But..." Miller always felt something was weird: "I remember that Aurelion Sol's spiral ball scales with movement speed, right? How far can this even push?"

"And even if it hits, it doesn't feel easy to kill, not to mention the opponent wouldn't give them the position at all."

Pyl is a former professional player, after all; combining it with the previous anomalous information, he already realized something.

"No! It's that ward!"

"Are they fishing??"

This version of Aurelion Sol is too niche, and this is the true reason it was reworked—it is definitely not a problem of strength or rarity on the professional stage; otherwise, the ones that should have been reworked first are the thousand-year niche kings like Master Yi and Teemo.

But no matter how niche, everyone knows some of this hero's characteristics.

The first and foremost is the {Spiral Ball} that can grow infinitely large with "flight distance" via the Q ability!

In various highlight reels, a mid-game Aurelion Sol, by utilizing movement speed and the E ability to traverse terrain, can grow the spiral ball to an absurd range that almost covers two minion waves!

But at level one... actually, it works too!

The key to rubbing the spiral ball is movement speed, because once the Q ability's star core flies outside the radius of the body, it will immediately detonate automatically.

But at level one, with the "birth movement speed" bonus from {Homeguard's Advantage}, the initial movement speed will skyrocket to 700 units!

A piece of trivia—

{Homeguard} grants an additional 188 movement speed for 8 seconds.

But the {Homeguard's Advantage} in the birth state provides 356 movement speed for 15 seconds.

The difference in the boost is more than double!

The most intuitive difference: Homeguard generally only lasts until you walk out of the base, while Homeguard's Advantage can last until you walk into the river!

Furthermore, {Homeguard's Advantage} only triggers once in a match at 0: 0 when entering the game—and as long as you walk out of the fountain gate or use a teleport-type ability, it will immediately expire and change into Homeguard.

In fact.

Rookie had thought about the Aurelion Sol's ball-pushing technique.

At the start, Rookie actually mentioned it in the voice comms, saying: "Don't stand together when leaving the base, watch out for the Aurelion Sol ball push."

Fortunately, after waiting for the opposing team members to show up in their respective lanes at level one and confirming they had no hostile intent, he finally felt relieved.

But he didn't know one small detail.

The {final reset} time for {Homeguard's Advantage} is: 0: 5.

That is to say, if you stand still in the fountain after spawning, you can continuously reset the duration of Homeguard's Advantage until 0: 5, when it will begin to naturally decay and disappear.

Normal people, if they aren't racing to leave the base, or if they disconnected and reconnected, the time would have already passed.

How many people would precisely leave the base at 0: 5 and naturally discover this small detail?

Of course, the most critical part isn't even this.

The real {bait} is that ward from Vi!

The timing of Vi's ward placement is very critical.

If placed too early, Viego's recall time cannot be gauged; the opponent might not recall to swap for a sweeper immediately—which would also cause the Aurelion Sol, having calculated the two-way distance, to be unable to "just happen to collide."

If placed too late, Viego might consider not recalling because he's worried about affecting his jungle clearing efficiency, and Aurelion Sol's birth movement speed effect would also disappear...

More importantly, Karsa's style of play would not allow himself to be at a disadvantage in terms of vision!

The combination of hero characteristics and game mechanics has always been Ye Bo's strength.

And Beryl also handles the psychological games of vision with ease.

The combination of the two.

Is the key to this level-one strat!

"Oh no!! Karsa's pathing really seems to be aimed at that ward!" Wawa saw it clearly from the god's-eye view.

"The spiral ball is coming too!!"

Karsa's goal was clear, his actions naturally had no excess, and after recalling to swap for a sweeper, he headed straight for that ward placed at the river entrance.

Anyway, he had vision he placed on the outer edge of the river, so he wasn't worried about being camped...

But just as Viego started his auto-attack on the ward.

A silent star core, whose coverage area had already reached almost an entire screen, had already appeared right before his eyes!

The coverage area of this star core was incomparably huge, and the speed at which it flew forward and spread was extremely fast!

Long Wang consumed two Corrupting Potions, utilizing the triple movement speed bonus from {Time Warp Tonic} + {Waterwalking} + {Celerity}.

This allowed him to extend the distance of what was originally his "dribbling limit" at the river entrance.

At this moment, as Long Wang appeared in vision, the sky-covering Star Core revealed in that instant made even the Shadow Isles master, the Ruined King, seem as insignificant as floating dust!

"What the f***!" the usually refined and easygoing Karsa couldn't help but curse.

He flashed backward almost as a reflex.

But, the Flash was useless!

Behind him, Vi pursued forward.

The river movement speed boost from {Waterwalking} helped Long Wang continue the chase; a movement speed approaching 800 units pushed the growth of the Star Core to its limit, and the further it went, the faster it expanded!

The Ruined King didn't take {Nimbus Cloak} in his secondary runes, so the 400-yard gap he had just created was closed again in the blink of an eye.

The Star Core exploded, stunning the Ruined King in place.

The damage wasn't actually that high.

After all, the Star Core only grows in size and has no additional damage.

But just then—a 3000-yard {Deadly Flourish} shot from across the map, coming from the direction of the dragon pit below!

Aiming at the stunned Ruined King, the hit was effortless, successfully chaining the second crowd control effect.

Vi then charged up her Vault Breaker and landed a punch.

Long Wang closed in, starting to output damage with his three passive orbiting planets, forcing his way into melee range with {Phase Rush}.

The output method of the champion Long Wang comes from the three "planets" that orbit him at all times.

Although he didn't level up W at level one, as long as he can maintain constant proximity, the output damage mixed with basic attacks is still quite considerable compared to other champions.

On the bullet screen, the experts from the "Long Wang Bar" had already noticed various details.

Ye Bo's Long Wang movements looked very strange, as if he were "circling" around the Ruined King.

To be precise—he was using the movement speed bonus from Phase Rush to walk in a "clockwise" direction.

The rotation direction of Long Wang's passive planets is counter-clockwise.

By adjusting his positioning, he can maximize the trigger frequency of his passive planets, thereby dealing higher damage.

"WBG can't save him here!" Miller lamented.

"Heimerdinger went off to place turrets, and there's only an Azir in mid who could arrive, but a level one Azir is basically a super minion, there's no fighting!"

WBG's vision control had been incredibly careful.

To create confusion in positioning, V5 actually only had two people outputting damage to the Ruined King right now.

With a normal lineup, as long as the mid laner immediately collapsed and their own bot lane supported from the tri-bush in advance—even if the two of them successfully killed the Ruined King, they would be surrounded by the remaining three!

But for WBG, due to the level one characteristics of Heimerdinger and Azir, it was almost as if they had no one.

They could only watch as their jungler was spun to death by a series of star wheels and punches.

【First Blood!】

【V5 Ye killed WBG Karsa!】

"First blood! Such a familiar feeling!" Wawa was incredibly excited.

"Yes, exactly, this is the V5 we imagined!"

Pyl couldn't help but exclaim: "And after V5 killed the Ruined King, four of them forced their way bot to dismantle the turrets Heimerdinger had planted at level one!"

"This clearly means they guessed Heimerdinger's movements; they know Heimerdinger too well!"

"With a beginning and an end, the setup is truly exquisite!"

Miller added: "The key is that this V5 play had zero risk; they didn't need to commit any cooldowns, and even if it hadn't succeeded, there would have been no loss. This play even got them the jungler's Flash and First Blood for free! They made a killing!"

【The Long Wang Bar is going crazy, Master Ye's clockwise dragon movement is all about the details!】

【Oh no, it's the Big Jade Rasengan!】

【Wow, that Q is so huge, the pressure is real! I suggest that in the next rework, they should keep the orbiting star ring feature, but have it empty at the start; you have to use Q to summon one planet, and change W to throwing the surrounding planets to stun people—wouldn't that be perfect!】

【Good idea, and the name Sol is too Western, I don't like it. How about changing the name to Taiyi? Purely Eastern!】

【What kind of Star-Forging Farmer King is this】

【My main team! Kill them hard! I love this kind of forced destructive invasion that you just can't defend against, hehehe.】

The director cut the camera to Danny in the back room to stir up trouble.

He was pulling at his hair, and although the sound couldn't be heard, everyone could see his refined and easygoing lip-reading.

More importantly.

From the spectator's perspective, Danny noticed a ward Jhin had quietly placed.

(End of chapter)