All-Round Mid Laner - Chapter 111-2

Chapter 111.2: Training Match

The comp Tianhuan went with was very conventional. They chose the Black Knight, King of Fighters, Destruction Mage, Forest Envoy, and the Divine Archer. The top laner will hold his own lane as usual, the jungler and mid laner will be used to set the rhythm of the game.

The comp TIP will be running is the Holy Knight for top laner, a hero that can hold his own ground, the Stealthy Rogue for a jungler core, Great Witch of the North Sea for the mid laner, and the bottom lane duo will be the Radiant Shield and Wind Nymph.

Cheng Xing subsequently felt immense pressure.

The Stealthy Rogue can go into stealth and sneak up behind him to kill him, the Great Witch of the North Sea has an ult that can let a monster devour him in a single bite, and the Wind Nymph has nimble movements, making it very difficult for him to face off against him later.

Furthermore, Coach Lin has already said that the jungler and mid laner was not to help the bottom lane. This round is simply a ‘hell mode for bottom lane’.

The game started.

Chi Shuo started off by going after the red buff, clearing all the way from the bottom side of the jungle to the top side. After he finished clearing the first wave of buffs, he went to the top lane with Ye Shaoyang and the bottom lane was left alone to be farmed. On the contrary, the enemy jungler’s Stealthy Rogue was supporting the bottom lane, and their mid laner also went there.

Cheng Xing was about to retreat backwards when a red exclamation mark suddenly appeared on top of his head——

This was a sign that a player from the opposing team was in stealth near him.

Cheng Xing was so frightened that he directly flashed away but it was of no use. It was a 4v2 and they had ferociously charged into the range of the tower, unleashing a skill combo that took him down. Qu Jiang also wasn’t spared.

At the same time, Chi Shuo and Ye Shaoyang teamed up with Old Qin in the top lane and killed the enemy top laner.

After reviving, Cheng Xing continued clearing minions in the bottom lane. Right as he finished clearing a wave, the enemy support suddenly threw out a control skill at him and Cheng Xing was immobilized on the spot. The marksman’s Wind Nymph moved quickly and beat him down to low health while the jungler who was hiding nearby suddenly revealed himself and with an assassination skill combo, he killed him again.

In the top lane, Chi Shuo and Ye Shaoyang also killed the enemy top laner again.

TIP’s top laner: “…”

Tianhuan’s marksman: “…”

The top laner who was supposed to hold his own lane could no longer withstand it and the bottom lane that was meant for development was no more.

Kim Minjun quickly realized that Tianhuan was focusing on the top lane this round while the bottom lane was left alone for farming. Hence, he aggressively assisted the bottom lane and managed to take down the outer tower of the bottom lane at the fastest speed possible. Cheng Xing had almost broken down from being killed by him three times in succession.

The other party who had similarly broken down was none other than TIP’s top laner. Previously, all the top laners were always alone but this time, it was far too lively. The enemy mid laner and jungler would frequently keep an eye on him and he really wanted to say something: Please don’t come here!

TIP’s top outer tower and Tianhuan’s bottom outer tower fell practically at the same time.

Both teams grouped up and started to push down the middle lane. Chi Shuo and Ye Shaoyang cooperated to take down the enemy marksman, but TIP’s marksman flashed away. TIP’s mid laner unleashed his ult which engulfed Cheng Xing, beating him down to low health. Then, the enemy jungler took his head again.

Cheng Xing: “…”

There should be a discussion on how difficult it is for a marksman to survive.

The first game ended in less than 20 minutes. Although Chi Shuo and Ye Shaoyang had destroyed the top lane, Cheng Xing couldn’t deal much damage during the team fight as he had been killed too many times in the early-game which caused a big difference in their gold and levels.

Coach Lin: “I’ll, go, to drink, a sip, of coffee.”

Coach Lin: “Rest, for five minutes, okay?”

Kim Minjun: “Yes!”

Coach Lin took a rest. Upon seeing Cheng Xing hanging his head with a depressed look, he walked over to him and said gently, “Xiao Xing, of all the games you have played until now, the situation you faced just now was probably the most difficult for you to deal with, right?”

“Mn.” Cheng Xing replied with a meek voice.

As their mid laner and jungler deliberately didn’t come over to help, the bottom lane frequently engaged in 2v4s. No matter how great a player is, they wouldn’t be able to play 2v4 either, isn’t that right? So being killed is perfectly normal. It’s just that he got killed too many times so he couldn’t help but feel bitter.

Coach Lin patted his shoulder and said, “In an actual competition, Chi Shuo and Shaoyang wouldn’t stand by and watch you as you get killed. The pressure you feel right now would also definitely be way lesser than what you had felt in the training match just now… however, you can’t always rely on your teammates. You have to find ways to protect yourself.”

Cheng Xing nodded. “I know, Yang-ge had told me before. He said that as a marksman, we have to find ways to survive.”

Coach Lin: “In the next game, try playing the Wind Nymph. This hero is the most nimble marksman and the hardest to operate well. Try your best to stay alive and drag the game out to the later stages. Can you do it?”

Cheng Xing took a deep breath and quickly adjusted his state of mind. He vigorously nodded, “Yes!”

Coach Lin turned on the microphone and spoke into it, “Let’s start.”

Kim Minjun; “Start! We take, blue?”

Coach Lin: “Okay.”

In the second game, as TIP was the blue side, they chose their comp first. They took the classic tower-pushing comp of bottom lane + jungler core; On Tianhuan’s side, the marksman changed his hero to Wind Nymph and the support took the Radiant Shield, a hero who had a stronger protection ability.

Both teams started to gank the bottom lane in a frenzy. This time, Cheng Xing learned from his mistakes and when the enemy jungler charged into the range of the tower to kill him, he swiftly cleansed himself and used a Q skill to leap to the woods on the side, managing to escape with low health.

In the second fight, Cheng Xing’s ‘cleanse’ skill was on cooldown when Kim Minjun came to gank him. It was easy to die a sudden death if he was stunned, so Qu Jiang hurriedly raised his shield and helped block the key damages. Cheng Xing took advantage of the state of the terrain and directly activated ‘storm’ mode. He flipped over a wall and jumped right into the red buff area, managing to escape once more!。

He was very flexible and agile, like a rabbit frolicking about.

Kim Minjun realized this marksman wasn’t easy to deal with. Hence, he changed his strategy and went to gank the top lane. He, however, happened to bump into Ye Shaoyang and Chi Shuo who were lying in ambush in the woods. The two swiftly killed him.

Both sides dragged on the second game until late-game, 25 minutes later.

During the team fight, Cheng Xing unleashed his ult and quickly moved and dealt damage. Although he was still opportunely killed off by Kim Minjun, he managed to deal a lot of damage before he died and beat down the front line to low health!

Ye Shaoyang and Chi Shuo worked together to finish off and took down three kills in one go, finally ending the game.

When they returned to the room, Kim Minjun asked, “Your, mid laner, is amazing. Is he, a newcomer?”

Coach Lin replied, “Yes. Your, newcomer, is amazing too.”

Kim Minjun: “If, there’s a chance, let’s play, a training match again.”

Coach Lin: “Alright, goodbye.”

After both sides had courteously praised each other, they went offline.

They didn’t put in too much effort into today’s training match. It was just a simple training and comparing of notes and was meant for them to adjust their states too.

In both games, Ye Shaoyang’s play was indeed impeccable. It was no wonder he got called out and praised by Kim Minjun. Cheng Xing died very miserably in the first game, getting killed five times in succession. He had immediately adjusted his state of mind in the second game.

What made Coach Lin pleasantly surprised was that the Wind Nymph was a hero that required good movement skills but when Cheng Xing played it, the effect was pretty good, and he persisted to the late-game.

Was he thinking too lightly of Cheng Xing’s potential?

Previously, he had always let Chi Shuo and Ye Shaoyang set the rhythm which caused Cheng Xing’s brilliance to be covered. In the subsequent games, maybe he can let Tianhuan’s marksman play a greater role?

Just relying on the jungler and mid laner isn’t enough if Tianhuan wants to enter the world championship. Their marksman cannot be a weakness.

Thinking of this, Lin Feng clapped his hands, signaling everyone to take off their headsets.

“Everyone performed well in the training match today. The upcoming Group A matches don’t pose much of a problem for us, and the pressure isn’t great. Cheng Xing can choose some comps centering around the marksman and try dealing as much damage as he can. Before we enter Group S, I hope that Tianhuan’s overall strength can be improved and not just the mid laner and jungler!”

Ye Shaoyang’s heart was full of admiration——Coach Lin’s thoughts were actually right.

How much water a barrel can hold depends not on the tallest stave, but the shortest one. Similarly, how far a team can go depends not on the strongest player, but on the weakest one.

There were three lanes and once there was a gap, it’ll be very easy for the opponents to snowball.

Tianhuan’s mid laner and jungler were indeed strong. However, it isn’t enough to fight against the strong world-class level teams by simply relying on them. Once Cheng Xing was killed in a team fight, Ye Shaoyang and Chi Shuo’s damage output would simply not be enough and hence, taking this chance to train Cheng Xing was the right choice.

When the time comes that they got into Group S and their bottom lane was ganked, it would be too late for them to train again.