Published at 19th of March 2019 08:00:06 PM Chapter 1452
The atmosphere in the stadium livened up .
The previous rounds had reflected Blue Rain's reasons for their map choice . There was layer upon layer of hidden intent . In the last round, Fang Rui and Lu Hanwen had fought face to face . However, everyone was wary of Fang Rui, afraid he would suddenly slip away . And when Fang Rui fought, he still played dirty . The greatest strength of playing dirty was that it not only struck at your character, but at your heart too . Lu Hanwen had won quite handily, but Blue Rain's fans had been worried the entire time .
It was fine now .
A matchup that everyone could enjoy had finally arrived .
Spear vs sword .
The two weapons clashed and collided, immensely satisfying . Even so, Blue Rain's fans couldn't be entirely happy because their Lu Hanwen's Flowing Cloud only had 23% health left! It wasn't suitable for him to fight head on . Blue Rain's fans were conflicted . They wanted to watch this sort of battle, but they were worried about how it was disadvantageous for their team .
23% . Let's hope for a miracle!
Their hearts were gripped with anxiety . They didn't dare to look down on Tang Rou .
Her reputation had hit rock bottom as soon as her pro career began, but the Alliance still gave her the title of Best Rookie despite the controversy . It could be seen just how convincing her performance in the regular season was .
A player who won Best Rookie could not be treated like a normal rookie .
Could he do it with 23% health?
Blue Rain's fans were so worried that they were too scared to look at Flowing Cloud's health .
But whether they looked at it or not, his health would still fall in this unyielding battle .
47 seconds!
After Lu Hanwen's Flowing Cloud rushed out from behind a tree and launched a sneak attack, the battle had lasted for 47 seconds . In the end, Flowing Cloud fell .
Lu Hanwen had done his best .
He knew that with Flowing Cloud's health, he could not trade hitpoint for hitpoint . He had done his best to avoid forced trades with Tang Rou and played more flexibly .
Nonetheless, the fight only lasted 47 seconds .
Flowing Cloud had no more health left .
Soft Mist had lost 31% of her health .
From the numbers, Soft Mist had lost more health than Flowing Cloud in this battle . It appeared as if Tang Rou hadn't played as well as Lu Hanwen .
But wins couldn't be looked at from statistics alone . After all, a player played differently depending on their circumstances . Lu Hanwen needed to play flexibly and focus on defending . Tang Rou could be more aggressive and forceful . It was only by utilizing an advantage that it could be called an advantage .
Lu Hanwen came down from the stage .
23% for 31% . It wasn't an impressive trade . Blue Rain's fans had higher expectations .
It wasn't a bad trade though . When Lu Hanwen came down from the stage, the crowd applauded fervently .
As for Lu Hanwen himself? He was somewhat unhappy with the result . He had performed to the best of his ability though . Though he was disappointed, there weren't any moments which he had felt upset about . It simply meant that he wasn't good enough!
I need to continue working harder!
Lu Hanwen returned to his team with this resolution . Their last player in the group arena appeared on the big screen . To no one's surprise, Blue Rain's anchor was their number one player: Huang Shaotian .
The cheers from the crowd reached a peak .
He was Blue Rain's last hope for the group arena and their ace player .
Last round . . .
Blue Rain's fans didn't want to think about what happened in the last group arena . They just hoped that Huang Shaotian could hold on to Blue Rain's last point at this crucial moment .
Huang Shaotian went onto the stage and entered the player booth . The crowd instantly quieted down .
Everyone stared at the big screen, at the loading screen, at Troubling Rain's spawn point shown by the holographic projection technology .
The match began .
"Where are we meeting," Tang Rou said bluntly .
"Wait for my ambush!" Huang Shaotian replied quickly . Troubling Rain moved swiftly, taking the right road, the roundabout path on the west side . Huang Shaotian's opening was the same as Lu Hanwen's .
Tang Rou didn't make any changes . Her Soft Mist went straight for the center .
Soft Mist arrived first .
As for Troubling Rain?
Huang Shaotian seemed to have copied Lu Hanwen's pathing . He chose the same direction, the same route, and even the same ambush spot as Flowing Cloud . Then, he began observing Soft Mist .
"This . . . is he planning on teaching Lu Hanwen?" Pan Lin said .
"He shouldn't be?" Li Yibo said . This was the playoffs, and Team Blue Rain was on the verge of being eliminated . No matter how important it was to teach a junior, it couldn't be as important as the team's playoffs run, no? Unless Huang Shaotian was truly confident that he could beat Tang Rou with ease .
But those familiar with Huang Shaotian knew that no matter how much smack he talked, he was never careless . If even a tiny opening appeared, it didn't matter if you were a God or a rookie, he would seize it without question .
"He probably just thinks it's a good opening play too!" Li Yibo said .
The audience members were discussing it amongst each other . Everyone thought Huang Shaotian must be trying to tell Lu Hanwen something .
The two teams, Blue Rain and Happy, were also discussing Huang Shaotian's actions .
But before they could discuss it for too long, Huang Shaotian made a move .
Troubling Rain rushed out!
Yes, it was similar to what Lu Hanwen had done . While Tang Rou's line of sight was turned away, he launched a very simple and very crude sneak attack from the back .
But Troubling Rain was faster!
His Silver weapon, Ice Rain, had a much higher attack speed and a much lighter weight than Flowing Cloud's Flame Shadow . All of these factors determined Troubling Rain's faster movements . Among these, attack speed was more important, while weight had less of an impact .
How would Tang Rou respond?
She responded the same way to the same attack . Although she was surprised that Huang Shaotian would actually copy Lu Hanwen's opening, it didn't affect how fast she reacted to it .
Soft Mist rolled . The moment she got up, her spear slashed upwards in a counterattack .
Pu!
A streak of blood flew into the air . Troubling Rain's Silver weapon, Ice Rain, struck the rolling Soft Mist .
The sword didn't pause . Without any extra movements or any wasted inputs, the second slash came . . .
Pu pu pu pu . . .
Sword light danced as sword and body collided . As Soft Mist rolled, four attacks had hit her, a mix of skills and normal attacks .
Tang Rou's counterattack was completely sealed and didn't come out . After the four attacks, Tang Rou saw a slight opening .
Dragon Tooth!
Soft Mist stabbed towards Troubling Rain with her spear .
But Troubling Rain sidestepped it and attacked in retaliation .
Downwind Sword Slash!
His sword slid across Soft Mist's spear . The viewers could even heard the whistle from Ice Rain and Dancing Fire Flowing Flame .
The sword light split into two . This Downwind Sword Slash had stopped Dragon Tooth mid-attack . If Tang Rou continued with the attack, she would miss . Cancelling her attack would require an input which would give her too little time to dodge .
The threat of Downwind Sword Slash was frightening . As the sword light flew her way, Soft Mist rolled backwards .
Everyone was dumbstruck .
It was the same attack, but when Lu Hanwen and Tang Rou fought, it had been even . On the other hand, Huang Shaotian immediately suppressed Tang Rou .
What was Huang Shaotian trying to tell Lu Hanwen?
Can't tell!
It looked as if Huang Shaotian was slapping Lu Hanwen in the face: look, I can do what you can't .
As for how he did it . . .
"He's faster!" This was Pan Lin's understanding of it .
"Openings . It's all about finding openings," Li Yibo emphasized .
"Despite being in a similar situation, Huang Shaotian's timing was far better than Lu Hanwen's . That Downwind Sword Slash was the same . Huang Shaotian could have directly followed with this attack previously, but that would have given Tang Rou some space to dodge it . He intentionally created an opening for Tang Rou to take, but he had been waiting for her to attack . Tang Rou was unable to do anything in response . It was a beautiful play . "
"So he really is different . . . " After Li Yibo's analysis, Pan Lin sighed . Both Lu Hanwen and Huang Shaotian were Blade Masters, but Huang Shaotian was clearly on a higher level .
After Downwind Sword Slash, Huang Shaotian continued his offense . After a few more exchanges, he no longer seemed as dominant .
"Tang Rou is not bad at defending," Li Yibo said .
"That's a huge improvement!" Pan Lin smiled . During the regular season, the two had commented on Tang Rou's view on defending . Tang Rou followed the belief that offense was the best defense . This belief had its justifications, but these were justifications . The saying never indicated that defense was not important .
Tang Rou's defense wasn't bad . Despite Huang Shaotian taking the initiative with his sneak attack, she was defending to limit her opponent's attack options .
As a result, Huang Shaotian was very generous and promptly gave another opening .
An excellent opening for Tang Rou to counterattack .