All-Round Mid Laner

The Trapper was also a hero that had been washed away with the sewage; very few players used this hero in professional games these days. The reason was that the Trapper's skills were very unique—he could lay hidden snares on the ground. Enemies who stepped on his traps would be immobilized for 2.5 seconds, which was the longest duration for any control skill. However, the immobilization effect wasn't triggered instantaneously when the skills was used. The Trapper had to predict where his enemies would move.

Furthermore, it was very difficult for teammates to work well with this hero.

It was very possible that a teammate could want to kill Enemy A, only to have the Trapper ensnare Enemy B.

The Trapper couldn't do any damage in early-game, and even with the proper gear in late-game, his damage output wouldn't be significant. He was purely a 'control-oriented tool'.

Exactly what new tricks did Tianhuan intend to show off with this pick?

All the viewers were filled up with doubt as well as eager anticipation.

Both sides quickly finalized their lineups.

Tianhuan was running, as usual, the Black Dragon Knight in the top lane. They'd taken the Trapper for their jungle, the Destruction Mage for their middle lane, and the duo of the Blazing Angel and the Machine Gun Huntsman for their bottom lane.

Team CYC took a rather well-rounded lineup. In the top lane, they had the powerful Willful Sword. In the jungle, they had the Glacial Drake. In the middle lane, they had the Frost Goddess. And in the bottom lane, they had the very commonly seen duo of the Forest Envoy and the Divine Archer.

The two commentators began to analyze their formations.

"Tianhuan's team comp is quite original. We've never seen this in an official match before. CYC's lineup is easier to understand. This is a very traditional freeze comp. Their jungler, the Glacial Drake, can freeze an enemy, and their mid laner, the Frost Goddess, has an AoE freeze skill as well. If these two heroes can create a seamless control effect, they can immobilize the enemy for four whole seconds!"

"And so, both of Tianhuan's carries—Lieyang and Fanxing—have taken the 'cleanse' skill in this round, in order to nullify those control skills. Let's all turn our eyes to the big screens and see how these two teams will clash!"

The livestream also cut to footage of the game, and the round formally began.

Before the first round of buffs and minions spawned at the 90-second mark, both sides played it fairly safe. No one initiated a Level 1 fight.

When the first buffs spawned, CYC actually dared to invade Tianhuan's jungle to steal their red buff. They had clearly studied up on Tianhuan's old games and realized that Chi Shuo often went after their own red buff first. If CYC tried to steal Tianhuan's red buff now, they had a good chance of running into the Trapper, who was quite weak in early-game. As long as they could kill Chi Shuo, Tianhuan's support jungler wouldn't be able to help his team get into the groove.

But in this game, Tianhuan actually went for the blue first. The two teams coincidentally avoided each other.

Qu Jiang realized that the enemy was invading their territory. He placed a marker on the map and said, "They're stealing the red."

"Let it go," Chi Shuo said decisively. "We'll steal theirs."

He instantly abandoned the blue buff and circled around the river pathway to steal the enemy's red buff. Afterwards, he returned to his own jungle and got the blue buff down to low health before calling out to Ye Shaoyang.

"Shaoyang, come take the blue."

Ye Shaoyang threw out one Q skill and easily took down the blue buff.

A wave of bullet comments flooded across the livestream screen—

[Captain Chi is giving away the blue again? It's par for the course now.]

[All of the blue buffs have gone to Yangyang this season. Captain Chi has basically never taken a blue buff, right?]

[Ai, it looks like Tianhuan is trying to raise up their mid laner. They've already completely given up on their jungler core comps. My heart aches.]

After seeing Chi Shuo play a support jungler in several matches in a row, all netizens were wondering if Tianhuan had really given up on their jungler core comps.

But in truth, Tianhuan was only hiding most of their strongest comps for their Group S games.

After taking the blue buff, Ye Shaoyang could comfortably clear minions in his lane.

Once he finished clearing a wave of minions, he moved up to the top lane to provide some assistance to Old Qin. While there, he picked off a few more minions. All this was, of course, planned out in advance.

The Trapper was too weak in early-game, and the Destruction Mage couldn't instakill any enemy heroes at that time either. So, Tianhuan simply let the first minor dragon go without contesting it. Chi Shuo also hurried up to the top lane, working with his teammates to pressure the enemy top laner back to CYC's tower. They managed to deal a good amount of damage to CYC's defensive tower as well.

One commentator couldn't help but say, "Tianhuan is playing a bit passively in this round! They've let the first minor dragon go. It looks like they also know that the Trapper is too weak in team fights. There's no way for them to beat the enemy."

"CYC is focusing on the bottom lane, and Tianhuan is focusing on the top lane. Are they trying to avoid getting into a big team fight in early-game?"

"Avoiding a fight definitely isn't what CYC wants, because CYC's freeze comp is very powerful in team fights. They would love to lure Tianhuan into an early-game team fight, where they can kill anyone they freeze!"

"They're aggressively pushing towards the tower… oh, beautiful! Tianhuan's marksman has been frozen!"

"And the marksman instantly uses his cleanse! Fanxing's reaction speed here was extremely fast. He instantly cleansed that freeze status and ran! However, the enemy charged into the range of their tower and killed their support."

"CYC's marksman has taken the first kill!"

The two commentators' voices were full of excitement, and their words were accompanied by the sounds of applause from inside the stadium.

As a long-established team, CYC had quite a few fans of their own. They had just taken down a minor dragon with four players, then gone to push on the bottom lane. Their tactics and performance were quite good. Not only did they take the minor dragon, they managed to kill Qu Jiang in a 4v2.

Originally, they'd wanted to kill Cheng Xing as well, but Cheng Xing's reaction speed really was very fast. He instantly cleansed himself after being frozen and ran away. Qu Jiang had willingly stayed behind to help protect Cheng Xing, only to be killed by CYC's assault in the end.

Tianhuan continued to avoid fights, until Chi Shuo finally reached Level 6 and learned the Trapper's ult. By then, Ye Shaoyang had also gotten his first piece of equipment.

Tianhuan grouped up and started to push down the middle lane.

CYC couldn't wait to confront them in a proper team fight. The five CYC players eagerly flocked to the middle lane to take their challenge.

At that moment, CYC had a 2,000 gold advantage over Tianhuan. It could be said that they were at a small advantage in the game.

However, in terms of individual resources, Ye Shaoyang had the most gold of any player on the map. He'd taken quite a lot of resources from the jungle, and Old Qin had also left some minions to him. CYC's marksman was in second place—he'd taken one kill, and he'd developed steadily, so he wasn't too far behind Ye Shaoyang in terms of his equipment.

But in the early stages of a game, a mage was bound to be more powerful than a marksman. When a marksman had yet to get their attack speed up, they could only fire away slowly at their enemies with their normal attacks. Meanwhile, a mage could use their skills to do a huge burst of damage that instantly decimated the enemy.

Seeing that a team fight was finally about to break out, the two commentators grew even more excited.

"It's the moment we've all been waiting for! Let's check out this team fight! CYC has struck first, and their one and only target is—Tianhuan-Lieyang!"

CYC's commander had issued a very clear order—

Kill that mid laner first!

Tianhuan's mid laner was just far too troublesome. All coaches in Group B agreed on that point.

CYC's jungler flung out a freeze skill, and the Frost Goddess immediately followed up with her own freezing W skill—

But Ye Shaoyang instantly used his cleanse!

Cleanse was a skill which could get rid of all immobilization status effects. Furthermore, it would make a player immune to being controlled for the next 1.5 seconds.

If you used this skill at the wrong time, you could very easily find yourself in a situation where the enemy froze you after your immunity wore off. Or you could find yourself in the awkward position of not using your cleanse quickly enough, after being frozen.

Ye Shaoyang's reaction speed was, however, very fast.

Nearly as soon as the enemy jungler attacked, Ye Shaoyang used his own cleanse—almost like he'd seen that move coming. So, the enemy jungler failed to immobilize him. The Frost Goddess followed up with her own skills, but Ye Shaoyang deftly dodged her attack with a serpentine movement pattern.

One commentator exclaimed, "Beautiful! Lieyang shows off some impressive agility and manages to dodge the enemy's key control skills!"

Both of CYC's freezing skills missed. Tianhuan instantly counterattacked!

Old Qin's Black Dragon Knight leapt into the fray with a taunt, reeling in all of the enemy team's front line heroes. Immediately afterwards, Qu Jiang's Blazing Angel flew in.

The Blazing Angel was a support whose ult, Heart of an Angel, could sweep up one hero and place them at a spot of the Blazing Angel's choosing. However, after an enemy hero was transported, they wouldn't be immobilized—they could flee right away. So the Blazing Angel was usually played with other heroes who did have control skills.

Netizens watched as a spectacular display unfolded.

Qu Jiang found CYC's marksman, who was hiding out in the distance. With his ult, he picked up the marksman and brought him into the fight. He dropped the marksman right onto a trap that Chi Shuo had set in advance, instantly rendering the marksman immobile.

Immediately afterwards, the Destruction Mage's six black blades of mist carved through the air—his Trial of Destruction was unleashed!

Tianhuan-Lieyang (Destruction Mage) killed CYC-Lulu (Divine Archer)!

CYC's marksman, who had been picked up and dropped onto a trap, was speechless.

The viewers in the livestreaming room were speechless as well.

Those tricks were way too dirty! It was like Tianhuan was saying—

So, your Divine Archer is hiding too far away? Our players can't reach?

Our support will carry you over… straight into our jungler's trap, where you'll be killed in an instant.

[Tianhuan's Tragedy Trio is starting to put on a show again.]

[Hahaha, if I were the opposing marksman, I would be dizzy with rage!]

[Fuck. Even when he's hiding that far away, where they can't reach, they can just carry him in to be killed?!]

[At least I understand how the Trapper is used now. He makes the enemy stand perfectly still, so that it's easier for the mid laner to get a kill. ^_^]

CYC's captain was extremely perplexed.

The team fight had just begun, and their marksman was already dead. How were they supposed to fight now?

He could only helplessly command, "Retreat, retreat, retreat!"

Because their marksman had been dragged in and killed so quickly, CYC had no choice but to hastily retreat from this 5v5.

But did they really think this would be the end?

Tianhuan's show was just beginning!

Immediately after killing the marksman, Chi Shuo and Ye Shaoyang started to invade the enemy jungle.

The Trapper's attack power was low, but his control skills had a very long duration. He was especially outstanding in places like the jungle. In the jungle, there were plenty of obstacles, and the paths were mostly very narrow. If the Trapper simply threw down a few snares in the jungle, he would definitely capture someone.

CYC's jungler had just run into their own jungle to go after their blue buff when suddenly—his footsteps seemed to hit a snag.

Not good!

But by the time he realized something was wrong, it was already too late.

The hidden snare on the ground had already trapped him in place, rendering him immobile.

Immediately afterwards, six black blades of mist flew towards the trapped jungler from a great distance, uniformly slicing through his chest!

Tianhuan-Lieyang (Destruction Mage) killed CYC-Mengmeng (Glacial Drake)!

CYC's jungler was close to spitting blood. "He can even do that?!"

The traps were invisible, so there was no way he could have seen them, and he had no idea when Chi Shuo had managed to lay traps in their jungle anyway. Ye Shaoyang had hidden out nearby a long time ago; as soon as he saw CYC's jungler get caught up in a trap, he instantly attacked and claimed his life.

Who said the Trapper was difficult to work with?

Just take a look at Shuoyue and Lieyang. Their brainwaves were perfectly in sync!

Once CYC's jungler respawned, he instantly said, "Support, hurry over to the red buff and check for traps!"

Since Chi Shuo had laid down traps around CYC's blue buff, there must be traps around their red buff as well, right? Everyone would assume so. As a result, CYC's support ran over to personally check for traps in the red buff area. The support was tanky, after all; even if he stepped on a trap, he wouldn't be killed so easily.

But when the support left to check the jungle, CYC's marksman was left to fend for himself on the bottom lane.

CYC's marksman was very cautious. He stayed under his tower, carefully farming minions. He planned on going straight back to his team base as soon as he finished clearing a wave.

But Qu Jiang actually barged into the attack range of CYC's tower! He used a flash to get close from afar, then used his ult to carry the enemy marksman out from under that defensive tower. He once again placed the marksman on a trap that Chi Shuo had prepared in advance, and Ye Shaoyang once again flung out a casual ult to take the fragile marksman's head.

Tianhuan-Lieyang (Destruction Mage) killed CYC-Lulu (Divine Archer)!

CYC's marksman was about to have a breakdown. "They're too annoying!"

The captain was silent.

So, exactly where were the traps?

From the eagle-eye perspective, viewers could see that Chi Shuo had actually been setting his traps wherever Ye Shaoyang went. When Ye Shaoyang went down to assist on the bottom lane, Chi Shuo laid his traps near the bottom lane. Because his traps only lasted thirty seconds after they were set, he couldn't simply lay them all over the rift. These traps would benefit the team the most if Chi Shuo put them wherever Ye Shaoyang planned to strike.

The two commentators didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

"This strategy from Team Tianhuan… can we call it the 'Standing Punishment System'?"

"With the Trapper immobilizing the enemy for two seconds, the Destruction Mage is guaranteed to take their lives!"

"So he's saying, 'Stand still. Don't move. Let my mid laner kill you.'"

"Ahem, and if you're standing far away, that's no problem. Their support will carry you over for your standing punishment."

The viewers were thoroughly floored.

[The hardest line I've ever walked is Tianhuan's diabolical line of thinking. Doge.jpg]

[This season's Tianhuan has seriously changed a lot. All their weird comps are hilarious.]

[If I were CYC's marksman, I would be preparing to end myself. Even hiding out in the distance is no good. Tianhuan's support will carry you out for your standing punishment.]

[Tianhuan, stay away~]

Although CYC had made ample preparations for this match…

They never imagined Tianhuan could come out with such a bizarre strategy!

Since Tianhuan's mid lane hero, the Destruction Mage, didn't have any control skills, CYC's marksman had taken 'flash' as his basic skill. But then Qu Jiang, the support, had simply charged in and carried him out from his hiding spots. Before he could even use his flash, CYC's marksman was subjected to a few seconds of standing punishment in Chi Shuo's immobilizing traps. And then, his life was forfeit.

CYC's marksman was seriously doubting his whole reason for living.

The number of times he'd been sentenced to standing punishment for skipping class in school paled in comparison to the number of times he'd had to serve out a standing punishment in Chi Shuo's traps today.

During a key grand dragon fight, CYC's marksman was terrified by the mere sight of Qu Jiang's Blazing Angel. He was so scared that he used his flash and fled right away. However, this time, Qu Jiang wasn't bringing disaster to the marksman—he was targeting the enemy mid laner.

Just as the Frost Goddess was about to unleash a skill, she found herself carried into a trap for a round of sanding punishment.

Six blades of black mist shot forth, and instantly—the Frost Goddess was no more.

With their mage gone,  how was CYC supposed to play a double freeze comp? CYC had no choice but to let the grand dragon go. Ultimately, they held out until the twenty-minute mark before Tianhuan, armed with the grand dragon buff, destroyed their base.

A commentator excitedly announced, "Congratulations to Tianhuan for taking the first game!"

"This kind of 'Standing Punishment System' really makes you open your eyes! This hero, the Trapper, may very well have been underestimated by many major teams. When he's played with a support with displacement skills and a powerful burst mage, he can be a link in a powerful lineup!"

"Once again, the MVP of the round is Tianhuan-Lieyang! With 45% of the damage in team fights and a 100% hit rate with his ult, he took ten kills as the Destruction Mage!"

Ye Shaoyang had a fairly good hit rate with the Destruction Mage to begin with. And in today's game, they'd immobilized the enemy completely. To him, it was like taking aim and firing away at wooden stumps.

If he could miss a wooden stump, then he may as well delete his account and quit the game.

A 100% hit rate sounded very formidable, but it had only been achieved with support from Chi Shuo and Qu Jiang. Chi Shuo's game sense was extremely strong. He could predict the enemy's movements and lay down his traps in advance. Qu Jiang's methods were also sufficiently cold-blooded; every time he used his ult, he would carry over a glass cannon or wounded hero for Ye Shaoyang to finish off.

Ye Shaoyang took off his headset and smiled at his teammates, giving them a thumbs up.

The essence of this comp from Tianhuan could basically be boiled down to—

Stand still, don't move!

Okay. Now you're dead.

The 'Standing Punishment System' used in this game, and the fast and mobile guerrilla warfare tactics Tianhuan had demonstrated with the Illusionist in their previous game, made the reputation of Tianhuan's Tragedy Trio spread far and wide.

All the coaches in Group B felt their headaches intensify.

Playing against Tianhuan was simply a form of psychological torture!