In Phase 1 of Game 1, ATB's coach consecutively banned Ye Shaoyang's signature heroes [Abyssal Lord] and [Goddess of Destiny], directly targeting the mid-laner to prevent Ye Shaoyang from using agile mage assassins to drive the rhythm.
Since ATB was on the Blue Side, they first-picked [Sharpshooter], meaning Ye Shaoyang couldn't pick a marksman to play mid either.
On Tianhuan's side, they picked the [Holy Archer] and [Forest Envoy combination in slots 1 and 2.
An ultra-long-range archer with a healing support, a classic bot lane duo with strong sustain, though the marksman needed to farm until the late game to deal damage.
ATB took Mid-laner [Illusionist] and Jungler [Stealth Rogue] in slots 2 and 3. Tianhuan took Top-laner [Black Dragon Knight] in slot 3, leaving the Mid and Jungle picks for the P2 phase.
After Phase 1 ended, Tianhuan had locked in Top, Marksman, and Support.
ATB had locked in Marksman, Mid, and Jungle.
ATB's coach laughed. "They are very confident in their Mid and Jungle hero pools, not picking a Mid even after two bans! In P2, we ban Junglers. I want to see what heroes Tianhuan can still pick."
In Phase 2, ATB consecutively banned two wild cores, [Ninja] and [King of Fighters].
This way, Chi Shu's wild cores were almost all banned, and Ye Shaoyang's mage assassins were few and far between. More crucially, these bans by ATB were very deliberate, breaking most of Tianhuan's Mid-Jungle synergy systems.
If Chi Shu picked a hero like [Sword Immortal] who was very squishy early on, Ye Shaoyang would have to pick a protective Mid. With Tianhuan's marksman also needing to farm, they would have almost no damage in the early game and could easily collapse.
If Ye Shaoyang picked a burst mage and Chi Shu picked a utility jungler, they would face the same awkward situation of insufficient early game damage.
Tianhuan picked [Sword Immortal] in Phase 2, and Ye Shaoyang took [Holy Spirit Mage] for protection.
ATB followed by picking the warrior top-laner [Blade's Will], and for support, they took [White Bear], who could engage and summon a pet to tank damage.
Both sides finished picking heroes.
Yao Mu looked at the lineup and analyzed, "Tianhuan's lineup: [Black Dragon Knight] is Old Qin's favorite tank top-laner; bot lane is [Holy Archer] paired with [Forest Envoy, a classic marksman with healer combo; Mid is a utility mage who can shield and seal; Jungle is a wild core. However, the [Sword Immortal] wild core is relatively weak early on and easily targeted."
Brother Dong frowned. "This lineup is very conventional? No strong meta heroes were picked."
Yao Mu said, "ATB's coaching staff obviously studied Tianhuan. Today's BP was done very well, breaking several of Tianhuan's Mid-Jungle synergy systems. They snatched [Sharpshooter], so Yangyang can't play marksman mid; then they took the wild core [Stealth Rogue], so Captain Chi can't get it either."
Brother Dong nodded. "Yes, ATB is on the Blue Side with first ban/pick priority. Tianhuan's BP in the first game is a bit passive. But actually, could they use the Twin Flyers or Black and White Mid-Jungle synergy systems?"
Yao Mu guessed, "Twin Flyers Mid-Jungle and Black and White synergy are both unstable systems prone to crashing. Better to be stable in the World Tournament? I guess that's what the coaching staff thought?"
She paused, taking a deep breath. "Comparatively, ATB's lineup is fiercer and has higher mobility. Tianhuan's lineup is squishy and lacks damage early on, but stronger later. It depends on who can control the rhythm."
No wonder Yao Mu was worried. Although the hero [Sword Immortal] was graceful and agile, dashing quickly with three displacements to kill invisibly and retreat unscathed, looking very cool visually, his shortcomings were also obvious—too squishy early on, no ultimate before Level 6, and pitifully low damage.
Such a wild core needed protection from teammates and a three-item set to have killing potential. The transition period was somewhat long, making it easy for opponents to target early.
Comparatively, ATB's choice of [Stealth Rogue] + [Illusionist] was a fiercer Mid-Jungle combo early on. Before Level 6, the rogue could stealth attack; after Level 6, the illusionist could ambush and burst. They could assist each other to smoothly pass the farming period.
The match began, and Chi Shu's Blue Buff was indeed invaded.
ATB's Top, Mid, Jungle, and Support came to the jungle together to snatch the Blue. Chi Shu immediately changed strategy, going to steal the opponent's Blue. Both junglers got double buffs, making for a relatively peaceful start.
Top lane, Han Seung-woo played very aggressively against Qin Yizhu.
As the strongest Top-laner in the Korean region, he had been unconvinced after losing to Ye Shaoyang in the World Individual Tournament. Today, relying on outstanding mechanical skills, he showed off against Old Qin with the highly difficult hero [Blade's Will].
Although he couldn't kill Old Qin's tank, several waves of attrition forced Old Qin to recall with low health.
Mid lane, Park Won-seok played very calmly.
Ye Shaoyang had to admit that Park Won-seok's operational level was indeed that of a world-class mid-laner—positioning, last-hitting, dodging skills, everything was methodical.
Ye Shaoyang picked a utility mage this game and couldn't kill Park Won-seok's mage assassin.
Similarly, Park Won-seok's mage assassin couldn't solo-kill Ye Shaoyang's shielded [Holy Spirit Mage].
The two farmed independently, waiting for key rhythm points.
Bot lane, since Qu Jiang's [Forest Envoy could heal, Cheng Xing farmed relatively comfortably. Even if sniped once by the opposing [Sharpshooter], he could quickly recover health.
The match seemed peaceful; neither side made a move before Level 6.
Until the moment both junglers hit Level 6, both supports warned simultaneously: "Jungler Level 6, careful!"
Chi Shu supported Top; ATB's jungler supported Bot.
Top lane, the low-health Old Qin suddenly jumped to stun the opposing Han Seung-woo. Ye Shaoyang added a control from the side. Chi Shu refreshed his ultimate, dashed in quickly with three displacements, and with a combo, killed Han Seung-woo directly under the tower!
Bot lane, ATB's Mid, Jungle, Marksman, and Support fought 4v2. Park Won-seok's [Illusionist] tower-dived with hard control, accurately controlling Xiao Xing with his W-skill [Illusion Stun]. Choi Hyuk's Rogue had long flanked and lay in ambush, appearing from stealth to take Xiao Xing's head with a backstab.
It was too late for Qu Jiang to heal. The opposing support followed up with a control, the marksman exploded with hand speed to reduce him to low health, and [Stealth Rogue] took Qu Jiang's head directly with a Q-W combo.
Deafening screams and applause erupted at the venue.
The Korean female commentator said excitedly, "Top lane, although Han Seung-woo was killed under the tower, in the bot lane, with the help of his teammates, Choi Hyuk took a Double Kill!"
Male commentator: "Our Captain Choi and God Won coordinate so tacitly. Won-seok's control connected perfectly with Choi Hyuk's combo. Tianhuan's marksman disappeared instantly. This is the explosive power of ATB's Mid-Jungle synergy!"
At the match venue, seeing this scene, Old Nie couldn't help roasting, "Isn't it just both junglers ganking different side lanes and getting kills respectively? Chi Shu only got one kill because there was only one person top!"
A-Ning agreed, "Exactly, exactly. If Captain Chi went bot, maybe he would be the one getting a double kill."
Ming Sheng smiled and said, "I know you guys don't like ATB, but we must admit, this team isn't inferior to Tianhuan in terms of player strength or match rhythm. It's hard to say who wins this game; just watch slowly."
Hearing Captain Ming's words, the others stopped roasting and watched the match seriously.
Ming Sheng also sat up straight, casting his gaze at the big screen. He knew today would be a hard fight. It was just the beginning; no need to rush to conclusions.
After getting kills, ATB took the Small Dragon. Tianhuan took the Vanguard Tyrant, wanting to push a wave, but was successfully neutralized by ATB's quick defense.
Chi Shu went back to farming the jungle. ATB continued organizing invasions to disrupt Chi Shu's rhythm.
At this time, Park Won-seok was already Level 6. Choi Hyuk's [Stealth Rogue] hid invisibly in the jungle bush, and Top-laner Han Seung-woo and Mid-laner Park Won-seok followed closely to support.
Ye Shaoyang helped Chi Shu take Blue. Just as Chi Shu appeared, Choi Hyuk, hiding on the flank, suddenly stunned Chi Shu with a Q-skill. Park Won-seok followed with a combo, and Han Seung-woo came over carrying a large blade to block the path. 3v2, Chi Shu was instantly deleted, and Ye Shaoyang flashed to escape.
A 2v3 encounter in the jungle; Tianhuan's jungle rhythm was broken.
Another burst of deafening screams and applause at the venue. Yao Mu patiently analyzed, "This wave, ATB timed the jungle buff respawn perfectly. Top-laner Han Seung-woo frequently traded health first, forcing Old Qin to recall with low health. Then, the three of them grouped to invade, creating a 3v2 situation with numbers advantage."
Brother Dong said, "Yes, [Stealth Rogue] can turn invisible. Shuoyue and Lieyang were already very careful entering the jungle. They probably didn't expect the opponent to ignore their own Blue Buff and come over to ambush in Tianhuan's Blue Buff area for so long."
Yao Mu said, "ATB has good rhythm this game. Tianhuan needs to find a way to turn the situation around. Otherwise, once the jungler is suppressed and can't farm up, their damage won't be enough."
Domestic viewers stared anxiously at the screen.
Tianhuan had played from behind before, but facing their strongest opponent today, the disadvantaged game was harder than usual. After mastering the jungle rhythm, ATB began frequent invasions, giving Chi Shu no chance to take buffs.
Have to say, teams from the Korean region were very strong at focusing on details and macro play.
Often, a tiny advantage could be constantly snowballed and magnified by them.
As the match progressed, the economic gap between the two sides widened to 2000.
Ye Shaoyang said decisively, "Chi Shu, come take the mid lane wave; I'll go top to help Old Qin."
Chi Shu went mid to eat a wave, and Ye Shaoyang helped Old Qin relieve pressure top.
Just as ATB thought Tianhuan's jungler would join the mid and top laners to hit top after clearing the wave, Chi Shu suddenly took the long way to the bot lane!
Qu Jiang's [Forest Envoy rooted ATB's marksman Kim Chang-ho and support Jung Jae-min in place with vines. Cheng Xing fired frantically from a distance, crippling both. Chi Shu rushed out from the jungle with his ultimate ready, dashing forward quickly. With a wave of his sharp sword, blinding white light completely enveloped the two, instantly taking the heads of ATB's bot lane duo!
Yao Mu said excitedly, "Beautiful! This split strategy of Mid supporting top and Jungle supporting bot caught ATB off guard! ATB's Mid-Jungle intended to block Captain Chi in the river, but the ambush failed!"
Brother Dong said, "Yes. Even in a disadvantageous game, Tianhuan is trying to change their thinking and seek breakthroughs. This double kill in the bot lane temporarily alleviated the situation of the jungle being suppressed."
But ATB shifted their thinking quickly too. Discovering the top lane was a feint and the jungler actually went bot, they immediately gathered Top, Mid, and Jungle, three people storming the top lane, beating the top tower to a sliver of health.
To cover Ye Shaoyang's retreat, Old Qin was tower-dived and killed by ATB's trio.
The kill count was even, but ATB still led by about 2000 gold.
At 20 minutes, ATB started forcing a fight at Baron. Marksman Kim Chang-ho ambushed in the distance, aiming and sniping. Before the team fight even started, he sniped and shattered Ye Shaoyang's shield. Park Won-seok acted immediately, crippling Ye Shaoyang with a combo. Choi Hyuk, hiding in the distance waiting for an opportunity, appeared from stealth and flanked to delete Ye Shaoyang.
ATB's coach had said that Tianhuan's current team fight core wasn't Chi Shu, but Ye Shaoyang.
By focusing fire to kill the mid-laner first, Tianhuan lost their engine for starting fights.
Before dying, Ye Shaoyang released a seal, controlling ATB's forward-positioned Top-laner Han Seung-woo. Chi Shu followed up quickly with damage to kill Han Seung-woo. A 1-for-1 trade in the team fight seemed not to be a loss, but without Ye Shaoyang to flash-seal the marksman, ATB's marksman couldn't be dealt with.
The Sharpshooter's 5 consecutive snipes crippled Tianhuan's entire front line.
Choi Hyuk entered to harvest, forcefully killing Tianhuan's marksman.
ATB took the Baron and pushed to the high ground with the Baron buff.
They thought pushing the high ground would mean an easy win, but Tianhuan's resistance was very tenacious. Cheng Xing moved and dealt damage frantically, Qu Jiang activated his healing ultimate, and the group defended the base to the death. ATB pushed 3 waves consecutively but failed to take it down smoothly.
Choi Hyuk was a bit impatient and frowned. "No rush. Break through top and bot together. They clear minions slowly; as long as we break one lane, it'll be easier to fight."
Wave 4: ATB strictly controlled the minion waves, bringing all three lanes to the high ground towers simultaneously.
Top lane, Choi Hyuk pushed with Park Won-seok; Bot lane, Han Seung-woo, Kim Chang-ho, and Jung Jae-min pushed together. Tianhuan's 5 split up to defend, but because skills were on cooldown, one minion wasn't cleared, leading to the top inhibitor being broken.
ATB took minions up the high ground to push the crystal, but Cheng Xing sniped the minions from a distance.
Choi Hyuk said, "One more wave!"
Wave 5 push: ATB's three lanes arrived at the base simultaneously. Han Seung-woo fiercely carried his big blade and dashed to the backline. Park Won-seok followed with chain control. Choi Hyuk stealthed to flank, forcing back Tianhuan's defense.
ATB's marksman and support protected two minions and quickly destroyed the crystal.
Watching the screen turn gray, Ye Shaoyang took his hands off the keyboard and looked back at Chi Shu. "Their rhythm is very steady; playing from behind is too hard." Chi Shu whispered, "Mn, this game is on me. Couldn't find an opportunity in the late game to deal with the opposing marksman."
Ye Shaoyang smiled. "Don't blame yourself; I had problems too. In the Baron fight, they focused me first, so I couldn't engage their backline. Let's learn the lesson for the next game."
Playing a 30-minute endurance game and losing in the end wouldn't feel good for anyone.
But listening to Ye Shaoyang and Chi Shu's conversation, the moods of the other three improved a lot.
Just the first game, it didn't matter. Learn the lesson and win it back next game.
Ye Shaoyang said, "Treat the first game as testing the waters, seeing ATB's rhythm and playstyle. We didn't bring out our strongest system either, so don't rush."
Experts exchanging blows—who would reveal their strongest ultimate move right at the start?
Especially in the Global BP mode where heroes couldn't be reused. Losing with the strongest heroes would be the real injury. In the first game, ATB used many strong heroes, while Tianhuan used a very standard lineup. Even losing didn't impact much.
Coach Lin walked into the soundproof booth and smiled. "Don't panic. Just treat it as an away game, politely letting them have one game first. After all, ATB is quite strong too."
Everyone: "…"
Coach, you really know how to comfort people!
Ye Shaoyang rubbed his hands. "ATB targeted me for several consecutive team fights. Looks like I have to get serious."
Off-stage, Old Nie scratched his ear anxiously, and A-Ning was also restless. Ming Sheng, however, had a smile on his face, saying indifferently, "No rush, signature heroes haven't even been played yet. In a BO5 format, ATB played aggressively at the start, while Tianhuan still held back, probing the opponent's rhythm and state."
But the domestic audience wouldn't be so calm.
Seeing Tianhuan lose a game, worried bullet comments appeared one after another in the livestream room—
[S6 lost one, won one, finally lost the deciding game! Not happening again, right?]
[China region has participated in 3 World Tournament finals so far, and the best result is runner-up. Don't get your hopes up; we just have the fate of being runners-up!]
[This runner-up curse hasn't been broken for 10 years!]
[Tianhuan gets runner-up at most; Toxic Milk blogger's predictions have never been wrong.]
[Congratulate Tianhuan on winning S10 Runner-up, applaud in advance?]
But there were also rational fans speaking up for Tianhuan:
[No need to be so pessimistic so soon. Tianhuan found several opportunities in the first game and defended the high ground until 30 minutes. It shows the players' psychological quality is still very strong; they didn't crumble even when playing from behind.]
[It wasn't a crushing defeat. With such a big economic gap, ATB pushed five waves before taking down Tianhuan's crystal. I think Tianhuan was very resilient. Win it back next game.]
[ATB, do you have the guts to let our Yangyang's [Abyssal Lord] through? You don't dare!]
[ATB won't let Captain Chi's wild core through either; BP targeted them to death!]
The bullet comment section argued into a mess.
At the match venue, the camera showed the audience seats. ATB fans were all smiles; some even held up flags reading "ATB Defending Champion."
Inside the soundproof booth, ATB's players looked relaxed. Although the first game was dragged to 30 minutes by Tianhuan, winning such an endurance game was exceptionally relieving and boosted the team's morale!
Choi Hyuk smiled and said, "No need to drag so long for the second game. Let's try to end the battle in 20 minutes."
On Tianhuan's side, the players didn't look nervous at all.
The break ended quickly, and the second game was about to begin.
Ming Sheng, watching from below the stage, keenly noticed a small action from Ye Shaoyang. Before the match started, he placed both hands on the keyboard and typed rapidly.
Although Yangyang had a relaxed smile on his face, Ming Sheng, who watched matches frequently, knew…
This guy had entered combat mode.
Mid-laner Lieyang in combat mode would definitely bring surprises to the opponent.