Chapter 242: Faker 2nd! SKT's Experience and Ancestral Teachings? Secret Weapon!

The already sweltering atmosphere inside the Copper Box Arena was instantly ignited, and the cheers rose like a tidal wave, sweeping across the entire venue.

Countless spectators on-site couldn't believe their eyes even as the Nexus exploded, staring at the giant screen overhead in utter disbelief.

The local London-accented commentators acted as their mouthpiece: "Unbelievable! What was that magical play at the end!?"

"The magical Mr. from the East is putting on a crazy show!!"

"The legendary new star of the LPL, Ye, has completely crushed the GOAT of the League world in this match! His performance was just too good!"

Compared to the local commentators, the LPL commentary desk was even more fervent.

"What a genius idea! It directly killed off all of T1's chances, taking the win!" Jide shouted on the commentary desk with unusual excitement, his voice even turning a bit hoarse.

"Two-nil!" Even Rita, whose game understanding was average, kept blinking, feeling the most direct shock: "Master Ye is just too amazing!"

Guan Zeyuan tugged at his bowtie and shouted loudly: "This match was truly spectacular! The confrontation between the two sides was a full-blown chess match from the very start, with wave after wave of reversals, mutual outplays, but in the end, V5 still took down this battle of the titans!"

"As expected of our LPL first seed! And as expected of last year's World Championship FMVP! Master Ye's Lee Sin is simply masterful!"

【WTF, you might not believe me when I say this, but a mid-laner is about to be written into the competitive history of the hero Lee Sin!】

【Master Ye is a god among gods!!!】

【Where is the battle of the titans?】

【Although T1 at MSI doesn't really deserve to be called a battle of the titans, it's just so satisfying to crush T1! I wouldn't get tired of it even a hundred times!】

【Where is the director? Save us! I really didn't see that last wave clearly!】

Usually, once the base exploded, it was the "bathroom break" moment for the live audience and the stream, with a large group of people who had been holding it in for a long time leaving their seats immediately.

But at this moment, almost no one in the entire venue left their seats.

Because the director's replay rules followed the principle of not affecting the live broadcast flow, the last wave didn't have time to be replayed.

Everyone only saw the five T1 members flying in the air suddenly erupt in a sky full of blood!

LeBlanc died instantly, and the other four were also left critically wounded—and then the team fight ended in a clean sweep!

Soon, the director showed the highest efficiency ever; just as the post-match summary at the commentary desk had barely begun, the screen cut to the highlight replay of this match.

From the first wave of jungle maneuvering and mutual planning, T1's bot lane counter-ambush and Thresh throwing a scare lantern for the mid-jungle to get first blood, to the three-man car ride of Thresh and Sion in the top lane, the extreme tug-of-war between the two mid-laners, and finally the second lightning-fast solo kill by Lee Sin.

It reached the final two highlight replays.

Everyone couldn't help but lean their upper bodies forward!

The second-stage knock-up delivered by the Blast Cone could still be called a clever use of a "niche mechanic," after all, when seeing a teammate who was clearly already harmless flying over, a normal person's reaction wouldn't be to dodge.

But that final space-time-traveling Insec kick had absolutely nothing to do with niche mechanics!

Everyone knew that Lee Sin's R could knock back opponents.

Everyone also knew that LeBlanc's passive clone would flash back if it exceeded a certain distance.

It was just like: "This is attack, this is defense, this is Genichiro Ashina."

"He really understands LeBlanc too well!" Jide kept clicking his tongue and shaking his head in admiration.

"I can only say that true technique often only requires the most simple and unadorned mechanics! This is what you call the perfect utilization of hero understanding!"

Guan Zeyuan suddenly recalled something: "This move suddenly reminds me of the duel between the two sides at last year's World Championship. Master Ye's LeBlanc shadow-swap in that match also utilized LeBlanc's clone mechanism to outplay Faker's Akali and complete a solo kill."

"Looking at it this way, the duel between the two sides really has some history to it!"

"Faker and Master Ye are facing each other again after half a year, and the scene from back then has been reproduced in a different way!"

Once these words were spoken, the memories in everyone's minds were instantly awakened; it was clear that it had left a deep impression on everyone.

After all, even among Ye Bo's many highlights at the World Championship, that play could rank near the top.

Many people couldn't help but open their phones to go to video apps to relive that moment, and the audience was in a state of excited joy, discussing it frantically—except for the LCK supporters and T1 fans.

Human joys and sorrows are not connected.

They only felt that even sitting here now was a form of torture!!

If they had really been crushed from start to finish with no power to fight back, it might be better right now.

At least they could "let their mentality rot."

Having no hope isn't the most painful thing; the most painful thing is being given a little bit of hope, and then having it shattered over and over again!

This match was exactly like that; every wave, T1 felt they had a chance, and several times it even made people feel there was huge hope, only for it to bring even greater despair!

It was simply flipping people over and over, until they were finally grilled to a crisp on both sides!

And on the high platform in the back.

Three people who had nothing better to do were also communicating very excitedly, though the content of their communication was clearly different from others.

"Sooooooo crazy!" Brother KC held his head with an exaggerated expression.

The rigorous Brother Three-Ring analyzed: "Looking at it this way, this extended knock-up mechanism should be because Lee Sin's ultimate code applied {knock-up code} + {continuous state code}, but I think even that guy Corona probably didn't expect it could be used like this."

Brother CT had a unique perspective and joked: "Could it be that Ye is actually a programming genius? That's why he could discover these... then our firewall needs to be strengthened!"

"Yo, speaking of which, that guy Corona actually tweeted!"

He showed his phone screen to his two friends.

Above was a tweet posted 1 minute ago, with excitement revealed between the lines.

【RiotCoronaH: "Oh! My! God! I swear, Ye is my favorite player right now, Faker 2nd!"】

This Corona is one of the most senior designers at Riot Games—among them, heroes like Lee Sin, LeBlanc, Katarina, and Malphite were created by him.

And he is also the "biological father" of Akali, while Brother CT, who took over the rework, is more like a stepfather.

The first Shadow Fist was also created by him!

Riot designers are actually just ordinary players outside of work.

But whether it's seeing the hero they designed shine on stage from a designer's perspective, or seeing such a visually stunning performance from a player's perspective, it's enough to be excited about.

However, the comment section below wasn't so harmonious; it was clear there were quite a few "broken-hearted" people who came to vent.

【Xiba! Unfollowed!!! The designer is such a fence-sitter! It's just one match!】

【Hehe, still don't understand? Riot's internal team has long been hollowed out by CN people! Just look at the championship skins, is the quality the same as what they make for our LCK?】

【I think the high quality of the skins is because Riot's technical level has improved? You could have one too if you won the championship this year, so why didn't you take it? Don't you like it?】

【Anyway, even if Ye wins, he won't get my recognition! Faker is the mountain that cannot be crossed! I can only say that he already did all of this ten years ago!!】

【Ancient champion is making a fuss~~】

【T1 hasn't lost yet, what are you panicking about! Last year at the World Championship, DRX could come back from 0-2 to beat JDG 3-2, T1 can definitely do it too! Believe first, then believe again, and keep believing!】

Compared to the fans who believed in their home team.

At this moment, the morale of the T1 players backstage was clearly a bit low.

This kind of roller-coaster-like ups and downs, who is it torturing besides the audience and fans?

It's the players themselves!

At this moment, even Li Xianghe was silent, shaking his sore wrists, as if thinking about something.

And Oner, who had his jungle invaded the entire game, didn't dare to speak anymore.

Gumayusi, however, was anxious, and he was a hundred percent unconvinced in his heart!

He believed he had played the early laning phase very well, and until the second-stage knock-up team fight, which was the true turning point, Xayah's items were even leading Kalista by nearly half an item!

In that wave, he and Keria had also executed the starting coordination for a near-perfect team fight.

Because Xayah has a very short range, even 25 yards shorter than Vayne, she is a hero that needs an advantage.

Yet, it was precisely after that wave that all his advantages vanished into thin air!

Seeing the team members fall into a slump, and even his old partner seemed to have taken a hit.

The one with the best mentality backstage was actually Bengi.

Perhaps it was because he had just returned from training at the 38th parallel and the military camp; for him, nothing could be worse than that.

"First of all, the same thing: Global BP, every match is a brand new BO1."

Bengi first repeated this point, trying to make everyone forget the experience of the second game.

"Secondly, the reason we lost the last game was still my fault, the BP lineup had some problems... We should still strictly follow the version!"

The benefit of Bengi serving as coach as a team veteran is that he can easily take the blame for the players; anyway, even if the results are poor, he won't be actively executed.

My brother is the boss, it's just great!

And he didn't really agree with the decision-making of the last game to begin with.

Bengi has his own logic as head coach—simply put, he is following the experience and ancestral teachings of the former "SKT," aspiring to build T1 completely into SKT!

And when SKT was able to dominate the arena for two years back then, there was one extremely important ability that they did the best.

Follow the version to the death!

During SKT's era of dominance, Riot clearly couldn't have not taken action to specifically nerf them, which indeed directly led to SKT's transition from a two-time champion dynasty in S7 to being crushed 3-0 in the finals. But during those two years from S5 to S6, SKT was always able to walk at the forefront of the version, mastering all the strong heroes of the version and utilizing every opportunity provided by patches.

This year, T1 is indeed doing the same.

This is also why Zeus started playing tanks after coming to MSI, Oner kept playing jungle carries, Li Xianghe kept playing utility heroes, Gumayusi kept playing hyper-carry ADs, and Keria kept playing enchanter supports...

T1 certainly knows that their Zeus is strong at laning, Li Xianghe is best at hyper-carry mid-laners, Oner is more suitable for a playstyle that supports the mid-laner, Gumayusi prefers playing utility ADs, which also makes it easier to liberate Keria.

But the environmental trend of the current version is just like that!

Back to the point.

Whether to cater to the version or to cater to the players has always been a controversial topic that has never stopped in the arena.

"Listen to me, in the next game we will return to the version, the blue side in the third game still has some advantages!" Bengi stated his thoughts.

"Take the third game, and there are basically no strong heroes left for the fourth game, so it doesn't matter even if we go to the red side for the fourth game!"

The aftereffects of the just-concluded match were significant; although the T1 members weren't at the point of a mental breakdown, they naturally had no objections at this moment.

The short halftime break ended.

The players from both sides returned to the stage, and the LCK commentary desk had clearly just recovered.

"T1 is currently trailing zero to two, but they are now standing on the edge of a cliff; one slight misstep and they will fall into the losers' bracket."

The three words "losers' bracket" felt particularly heavy.

Many people only now suddenly realized just how cruel the landscape of the upper bracket draw for this MSI group stage really was.

No matter who ends up in the losers' bracket, they will face strong opponents, and there will be absolutely no room for error!

Not to mention, T1 is on the blue side today and has already lost two games in a row!

These two matches are actually enough to prove that in terms of understanding the current patch and competitive form, V5 is the better side.

The caster with the most experience, the Roaring Emperor, adjusted the fastest, his tone becoming impassioned once again—after all, the match wasn't over yet, and one couldn't just instill negative thoughts into the supporters of their own region.

"We must believe that T1 can stabilize and bounce back!" the Roaring Emperor said, clenching his fists to cheer them on.

"The outcome is still unknown; even if this match is a loss, it doesn't actually mean the end of this MSI series. Let us all cheer for T1 together!"

"The pick-and-ban phase has already begun here, and both sides are banning very quickly."

First round of bans—

T1: Akali, Annie, Vi

V5: Ahri, Viego, Elise

T1 is returning to their strategy from the first game.

But V5's ban choices have changed significantly.

However, Bengi didn't care at all; seeing these bans, his face was full of surprise.

"Zeri is out!"

"There are no ADCs left outside, so we'll snap up Zeri!"

The reason they didn't take Zeri last game was because they wanted to play an early-game composition, and on top of that, they needed to take Wukong with their first pick.

There was clearly no such concern this game.

AD has always been the position with the fewest options; often there are only a dozen or so playable heroes per patch, and only two or three that are truly strong!

Coming to the third game and still having a version T1 pick like Zeri left open, there was simply no reason to hesitate.

"V5 leaves Zeri for their opponents, and they themselves have taken Jayce and Zhao Xin!" Jike said, pondering the deeper meaning behind the players on stage.

"Doesn't seem like a problem, either?"

Guan Zeyuan nodded and added: "Jayce can flex between mid and top, and as for Zhao Xin, although he isn't considered strong in this patch, he is certainly fine given that there aren't many junglers left to pick!"

"Because Lulu is already implicitly banned, T1 snaps up Yuumi to pair with Zeri, and then takes Faker's Galio!"

Once Yuumi and Galio were out, the structural framework of T1's composition for this game was basically set.

But Ye Bo discovered that the opponent had made a mistake.

Perhaps because they were worried that Zeri would have no enchanter support to pair with, and because Ye Bo can also play Galio, T1 did not take a jungler first.

But clearly, it wasn't just the AD position that had fewer options in the third game.

"V5 picks Poppy on the third rotation? Since they already have Zhao Xin, this must be support or top lane Poppy!"

Entering the second round of bans—

V5: Kennen, Gwen

T1: Taliyah, Sylas

"Both sides are targeting the top and mid lanes respectively—wait, Draven!"

"With very few ADC options remaining, V5 has picked Draven!" Guan Zeyuan exclaimed, though he felt a bit worried.

"But if they do this, won't V5's composition be a bit too early-game focused? Even more so than the last game! This is a bit against the meta, isn't it!"

The blue side has always been the "question setter."

The last game was because T1 on the blue side showed their hand first, and V5 choosing a similarly strong early-game composition to confront them head-on was reasonable; it was as if both sides collectively chose to clash directly.

But the "question" set by the blue side this game clearly points toward a mid-to-late game hyper-carry system.

Yet V5 still chose an early-game composition that is somewhat "against the meta," which seems a bit strange.

However, T1 was the one with the bigger headache at this moment.

Bengi finally realized that there were no particularly good jungle options left.

Wukong, Kha'Zix, Kindred, Nidalee, and Gragas had all been burned.

Vi, Viego, and Elise were banned.

Zhao Xin and Poppy were on the opposing side, and Lee Sin had been used by the mid lane in the previous game.

A full 11 jungle heroes had disappeared!

It wasn't that there were absolutely no jungle heroes left—but only Maokai and Sejuani remained that could still reasonably contest the jungle against Zhao Xin.

"Xuanjun, maybe use that one." Bengi hesitated repeatedly before firmly speaking: "We must, absolutely must, take this game!"

"Youqi, just follow what I said earlier and pick normally."

The margin for error in the losers' bracket is truly too low.

Rather than saving "hidden" things for that time, it is better to give it everything here.

Oner nodded and found an extremely rare avatar in the current patch in the search box.

"Nocturne!?" Jike's eyes widened: "This seems to be his first appearance at MSI! Is this T1's secret weapon?"

"The dual-flying support of Galio and Nocturne in the mid-jungle, this really looks like they are going all-out to protect the bottom lane!"

"Eh? Karma!?"

"They already have Yuumi and Galio, and Zeus is playing top lane Karma? Can Zeus even play this... but T1's 'protect the carry' strategy is so extreme!"

Nocturne had actually always been in Oner's champion pool.

At last year's S12 World Championship, only he and Jiejie had played him—and Jiejie's game was specifically to coordinate with Ye Bo's Fiddlesticks, practiced on the fly.

And this Galio-Nocturne system of T1's was originally a tactic they had prepared to use against Gen. .

But as the saying goes.

Hide, hide, hide; hide until the end, and who knows if what you're hiding is a strategy or a plane ticket home!

Ye Bo and Beryl were also a bit surprised at first; after all, this hero is indeed a bit out of the meta, making it hard to predict.

Their original thought was to force T1's jungle position to pick a utility-based hero, which would turn their mid-jungle into a double-utility setup—in that case, as long as they broke through the hyper-carry in the bottom lane, the match would basically be over!

However, seeing Karma appear, it seemed they hadn't deviated from their thoughts after all.

Ye Bo continued to pick the hero he had envisioned.

And the appearance of this hero caused a startling commotion throughout the venue and the spectator stands, as if no one cared about whether it was against the meta or not.

"Neeko!!!"

"The first new-version Neeko on the competitive stage! Then this must be Master Ye's Neeko! V5 has a secret weapon too!"

Both sides' compositions were confirmed.

《Blue Side: T1 vs Red Side: V5》

【Top: Karma vs Jayce】

【Jungle: Nocturne vs Zhao Xin】

【Mid: Galio vs Neeko】

【ADC: Zeri vs Draven】

【Support: Yuumi vs Poppy】

(End of chapter)