The first 2v2 Mid-Jungle PK in the mid lane ended with Tianhuan Lieyang getting First Blood.
Korean netizens couldn't believe that Park Won-seok was actually deleted by Lieyang's Flash. The media, which had been bragging about Park Won-seok being the world's number one mid-laner, felt a stinging pain in their faces and had to try their best to find excuses for Park Won-seok.
"God Won hasn't reached Level 6 yet; Lieyang got the first Blue Buff and was already Level 6!"
"That's right, it's normal for a Level 6 to kill a Level 5. If it were me, I could also kill an opponent lower level than me."
"Lieyang picked [Kung Fu Master] this game, which counters mage assassins, and his level was higher than God Won's. Killing him once doesn't mean anything, right? After God Won hits Level 6, he can definitely fight back!"
Domestically, streamer Xiao Wei smiled and said, "Yangyang's play was very handsome! I can guess the reaction of Korean netizens. They will definitely say Park Won-seok was killed because Yangyang's level was higher. But they ignored that Choi Hyuk's level was also higher than Captain Chi's; why couldn't he kill Captain Chi?"
The audience suddenly realized: "That's right! Our Level 6 Mid + Level 5 Jungle vs. their Level 6 Jungle + Level 5 Mid. 2v2, it was actually evenly matched!" "It's normal for Park Won-seok to be killed since his level was lower than Yangyang's. Choi Hyuk's level was higher than Chi Shu's, yet his combo was interrupted by Captain Chi. They really know how to be selectively blind!"
Xiao Wei praised, "This play, no bragging no flaming, was because the Sun-Moon duo's synergy was more awesome, allowing them to seize the initiative. In a 2v2 situation, whoever seizes the opportunity first wins. Everyone saw the slow-motion replay; Shuoyue and Lieyang's skills were completely synchronized, without even a 0.1-second time difference. It can be understood as them sharing one brain and trusting each other absolutely, which allowed them to act simultaneously and kill Park Won-seok first!"
Netizens spammed the bullet comments: "An Alpha and an Omega trusting each other absolutely? Why do I suddenly feel like I've been fed dog food?" "Right, if the person above didn't say it, I almost forgot Lieyang is an Omega?" "Is this the beautiful love of world-class Mid-Jungle synergy?"
Xiao Wei realized his words caused controversy and hurriedly said, "I mean, in terms of cooperation and tactics, their understanding is consistent and their thinking is synchronized. Don't talk nonsense! I've known Xiao Bai for so long and never heard of him dating. Every time I meet him, he's seriously playing ranked training."
On the screen, after getting Blue, Ye Shaoyang roamed to the top lane with Chi Shu.
Xiao Wei immediately changed the topic: "They went to gank top! Han Seung-woo was very alert, sensed something was wrong, and flashed away directly. This wave failed to kill the opposing top laner, but the Tianhuan trio invaded the jungle and stole the opposing Red Buff. Huge profit!"
At the same time, at the official commentary desk, Yao Mu gave the same evaluation: "After ganking mid, turned back to take Blue, then ganked top, forced back the opposing top laner, and invaded the Red Buff jungle. Tianhuan's rhythm this game is very stable!"
Tianhuan had the advantage at the start.
But ATB wasn't a scrub team. The players had experienced the World Tournament, so their mentality wouldn't collapse so easily.
When Park Won-seok revived, he just hit Level 6. He quickly headed bot, joining forces with Choi Hyuk, wanting a 4v2 gank on Tianhuan's bot lane duo. But Qu Jiang was very vigilant and had taken Cheng Xing back to the jungle early, so ATB couldn't find an opportunity.
Park Won-seok had to return to the mid lane.
At this time, Ye Shaoyang also returned to the mid lane, and both sides farmed peacefully for a while.
[Abyssal Lord] wasn't easy to kill after learning his ultimate. Shadow damage improved qualitatively, and wave clearing speed increased. A mage assassin with 3 shadows could swap positions 3 times consecutively; plus [Flash], it was equivalent to 4 displacements, making him very hard to catch.
With the increase in level and equipment, Park Won-seok's [Abyssal Lord] reached the hero's power spike. Meanwhile, Ye Shaoyang was stuck in an awkward phase, building his second core item for [Kung Fu Master] but not finishing it yet.
Park Won-seok opened the match panel and checked both sides' economy data and equipment status. He roughly calculated the damage of both sides in his mind and felt he could solo kill Lieyang.
Under normal circumstances, after [Abyssal Lord] completed core items around Level 8 and reached his power spike, he could easily delete squishies like marksmen, mages, and assassins. Deleting a warrior had a certain degree of difficulty; all marks must hit, and skills must trigger critical hits.
Remembering the scene of being killed by Lieyang just now, Park Won-seok gritted his teeth and decided to gamble.
Even if he couldn't kill, he could use shadow swap to retreat. Sending the opponent home with low health wasn't a loss either.
Mid lane, minion waves met.
Ye Shaoyang stepped forward to clear minions. Park Won-seok predicted his position and quickly sent out a shadow, letting the shadow hit [Kung Fu Master], knocking off about 15% of his health.
Sure enough, Ye Shaoyang raised his large blade and quickly chopped the shadow dead.
At this time, [Kung Fu Master] had 85% health left. Killable!
Park Won-seok took a deep breath, carefully calculating the shadow cooldown time. After a few short seconds, he accumulated three shadows again. At this moment, Lieyang was right at the edge of his attack range.
Good, now!
Park Won-seok narrowed his eyes and decisively pressed [Flash]. As he flashed to Ye Shaoyang's side, three shadows darted out like the wind, instantly surrounding [Kung Fu Master] and stacking 7 marks on him!
Park Won-seok's hand speed and operational skills were indeed those of a world-class mid-laner. However… did you think I was unguarded against you? I calculated your shadow cooldown time long ago.
The corners of Ye Shaoyang's lips curled up slightly. His right hand flicked the mouse fiercely, and his left fingers tapped rapidly on the keyboard. The mechanical keyboard made crisp "clack-clack" sounds, and the [Kung Fu Master] on the screen vanished from Park Won-seok's vision like a phantom in that instant.
——Ye Shaoyang actually flashed into the bush behind the tower.
Using bushes was an important technique in mid lane laning. Ye Shaoyang had very rich experience in using bushes. As long as he flashed to hide in the bush, Park Won-seok would instantly lose vision of him, and skills wouldn't hit.
Originally, if Park Won-seok pressed his ultimate at this time, Ye Shaoyang would die as soon as the marks exploded. However, the moment Park Won-seok's finger pressed the R key, a line of text popped up on the screen: "Target Lost."
Park Won-seok felt something was wrong and wanted to recall his shadows to retreat immediately.
However, Ye Shaoyang wouldn't give him the chance to retreat. After flashing into the bush, he used the first stage of E-skill's qinggong to fly behind Park Won-seok instantly, followed by a W-skill to stun Park Won-seok, then chained Q-R combos, rapid basic attacks, and ultimate slashes, emptying Park Won-seok's health bar in one breath!
A kill message popped up on the screen. The audience at the scene thought Park Won-seok flashed and killed Lieyang, and started applauding excitedly. However, halfway through clapping, they realized…
It was clearly Park Won-seok who flashed to initiate a surprise attack, but the one who fell was him.
The smiles on the fans' faces froze instantly.
Hands clapping mid-air also froze, not knowing what to do.
[Kung Fu Master] stood beside [Abyssal Lord]'s corpse carrying a large blade, chanting in a rough uncle voice: "Your Kung Fu still needs more practice!"
Park Won-seok: "..."
Hearing this mocking voice line, domestic viewers were about to laugh out loud.
[No matter what hero Yangyang picks, the common point is: Taunt Level Max.]
[Your Kung Fu still needs more practice!]
[Who gave you the courage to show off in front of an expert like my Yang!]
[Playing [Abyssal Lord] in front of Lieyang, Park Won-seok really got carried away! Yangyang definitely predicted you would act and prepared to counter-kill in advance!]
[World's No. 1 Mid-laner? That's it?]
[Korean fans said Lieyang won the individual championship because Park Won-seok didn't participate? I think Park Won-seok saved face by not participating. If he had participated and got crushed by Yangyang 1v1, wouldn't he lose even more face!]
[Do they still have the face to keep bragging? Our Yangyang never brags about being World No. 1 oh.]
[Yangyang's personality is: less nonsense, just beat the opponent into submission!]
[Solo-killed 1v1, any more excuses?]
Park Won-seok's face was incomparably ugly.
For this play, he could no longer say his level was lower than the opponent's. Because professional players knew clearly that Level 8 was [Abyssal Lord]'s power spike. Theoretically, he could solo-kill a [Kung Fu Master] with 85% health.
But he failed and got counter-killed?
Then there was only one possibility—Lieyang guessed when he would act, deliberately sold a flaw in positioning, and the moment he acted, quickly flashed to hide in the bush and launched a counterattack.
Park Won-seok's palms broke out in a layer of cold sweat.
This feeling was like someone staring at him from behind, making his hair stand on end.
Did Lieyang really have such terrifying prediction ability? As if whatever he wanted to do could be guessed!
Choi Hyuk asked in a deep voice, "What happened?"
At the time, Choi Hyuk was clearing buffs in the jungle and didn't see the situation mid. He was caught off guard hearing the news of his teammate being killed through the headset.
Park Won-seok explained awkwardly, "Small mistake."
Choi Hyuk frowned unhappily and said, "Push mid, don't let Kung Fu Master farm up."
A farmed-up [Kung Fu Master] would deal devastating blows to the backline.
The 5 members quickly gathered mid, wanting to gang up and kill this troublesome mid-laner.
But Tianhuan's support was fast, and teammates also arrived. 5v5, ATB initiated the team fight first!
Top-laner Han Seung-woo's [Black Dragon Knight] jumped into Tianhuan's crowd with a roar, instantly controlling Ye Shaoyang. Choi Hyuk followed up with damage; bright moonlight marks appeared on Ye Shaoyang, and Abyssal Lord's black Gaze mark also appeared on him. Qu Jiang immediately raised his shield to block damage for Ye Shaoyang.
At the same time, Old Qin's [Dark Angel] suddenly flashed to the backline, throwing a Curse Talisman from a super long distance to root ATB's marksman [Holy Archer] with one move. Chi Shu, who had been lying in ambush on the flank, acted simultaneously with a hook. Continuous control left ATB's marksman unable to move at all.
In the blink of an eye, Ye Shaoyang was focused and deleted by ATB.
ATB's marksman Kim Chang-ho was also focused and deleted by Chi Shu and Old Qin.
1-for-1 trade.
The audience was surprised to discover—Tianhuan's marksman was outputting damage with insane hand speed!
[Machine Gun Hunter]'s Q-skill linear attack fired a row of bullets like a rainstorm, dealing full damage!
Following that, Cheng Xing flashed over and activated his ultimate. The submachine gun full of bullets swept frantically into ATB's crowd, instantly crippling the few ATB members rushing over.
Chi Shu turned back, easily taking the heads of ATB's Top and Jungle.
Seeing the situation was bad, Park Won-seok fled immediately.
He had 3 shadows; Chi Shu was too lazy to chase and led the team to push the tower directly.
——Your turret has been destroyed.
ATB intended to group and push mid to break Ye Shaoyang's farming rhythm.
They did indeed focus and kill Lieyang immediately. However, Cheng Xing, positioning very far back, survived wretchedly and dealt tons of damage in this team fight!
ATB lost 3 people and a defensive tower; a huge loss.
Choi Hyuk gradually felt anxious. Ignoring Ye Shaoyang meant he would suppress Park Won-seok mid, preventing Park Won-seok from roaming to support; but focusing on killing Lieyang would leave Cheng Xing unattended.
Although Cheng Xing was only 18, this teenager absolutely could not be underestimated!
Choi Hyuk gritted his teeth and said, "Next team fight, Seung-woo hyung watch Xingxing, I'll kill Lieyang."
The next team fight arrived quickly.
Tianhuan invaded the jungle, and both sides skirmished there. ATB's Top laner wanted to jump over to start a fight, but this time, Tianhuan seized the initiative and started the fight.
Ye Shaoyang unexpectedly flashed plus 1st stage qinggong to flank, slashing [Abyssal Lord] directly with one strike!
Park Won-seok's eyes widened in disbelief.
He was clearly hiding in the bush; Lieyang could guess this too?
Did he turn on a wall-hack?!
What surprised him even more was that [Demon Hunter]'s hook also flew over closely. Tianhuan's Mid-Jungle coordinated tacitly again, and [Abyssal Lord] was brutally murdered by the two in less than 1 second.
Instant death in team fight.
The biggest taboo in team fights was the carry dying without dealing any damage.
Park Won-seok was about to crush his mouse, and Choi Hyuk was also very speechless.
He just wanted to start a fight and flank to kill Lieyang, but Lieyang beat him to it and engaged Park Won-seok in the bush! Who could have imagined this? Park Won-seok's positioning was already cautious enough; why was he discovered by Lieyang?
Ye Shaoyang really wanted to say: When I play [Abyssal Lord], I also like standing there.
Blindly rushing the bush based on experience; just guessed right!
ATB's mid laner died instantly, forced to retreat. Tianhuan invaded the jungle to snowball, harvesting another wave of economy.
By 20 minutes into the match, the economic gap between the two sides had reached 3000.
ATB desperately defended the high ground, but Tianhuan pushed up very decisively. Ye Shaoyang flashed over directly to sell himself, attracting ATB's fire, allowing Cheng Xing to quickly push down the high ground tower.
ATB was powerless to reverse the situation and lost the third game.
The score on the big screen became 1:2. The fans at the Korean venue instantly became anxious: "Not going to lose, right? Don't want that!" "Shouldn't happen. The second and third games were lost because Tianhuan picked weird lineups. ATB definitely can take the fourth and fifth games!" "We have to trust the coach and the players."
At the match venue, waves of cheering came one after another like a surging tide.
Domestic fans were also incomparably nervous. Previously, Tianhuan also reached match point first against FNO, but was dragged into a deciding game by FNO, almost giving everyone a heart attack.
Today, could Tianhuan grasp this match point?!
Yao Mu said excitedly, "Tianhuan leads 2:1! The Mid-Jungle synergy in the third game was wonderful. Shuoyue and Lieyang achieved synchronization every time. Park Won-seok was killed 3 times, which has never happened in the history of the Korean league!"
Brother Dong said, "Cough, the media over in Korea kept saying Lieyang won the S10 individual championship because God Won didn't participate. But today, Lieyang killed Park Won-seok three times, even blindly rushing a bush to delete him in the last team fight. It's enough to prove that Lieyang's individual championship holds no water (is solid/legitimate)!"
Yao Mu said, "Yes, Lieyang's individual strength shouldn't be underestimated. He has always been a player with excellent mechanical skills, macro view, and game sense, plus a very comprehensive hero pool! A well-deserved individual champion!"
[Is Mu-Mu a Lieyang brain-dead fan? Starting to praise Lieyang crazily?]
[No bragging no flaming, I think Sister Mu is right.]
[Yangyang himself is very humble. But facts prove he is the strongest.]
[World Individual Champion, solo-killed Park Won-seok against ATB, and you won't let us praise him? I'm gonna praise him.]
[Yangyang most handsome!]
Anti-fans were rendered speechless.
After this match, Ye Shaoyang's popularity domestically also reached its peak.
Brother Dong turned the topic back: "Currently 3 games have been played, and players have few heroes left. The BP for the fourth game will be very important. Wonder what strategy Tianhuan's coaching staff will adopt? Can they secure the match point?"
Netizens stared anxiously at the big screen.
At the scene, the Korean commentator comforted everyone in Korean: "1:2, Tianhuan reached match point first, but ATB is not without hope!"
"Yes, as long as they stabilize in the fourth game, ATB has a high probability of winning the deciding game."
Inside the soundproof booth, Chi Shu looked at Ye Shaoyang. Ye Shaoyang smiled and extended his hand, gently bumping fists with Chi Shu to encourage each other. This scene happened to be captured by the stadium camera.
Seeing their action, domestic fans spammed the screen to cheer for Tianhuan.
The short break passed quickly, and both sides entered the BP for the most crucial fourth game.