Sister, Choose Me, I'm Super Sweet [Esports] - Chapter 24

Chapter 24: We Won Again!

“Do you want to use your assassin mage?” Li Qinghan asked.

Tong Yi answered without hesitation, “Of course.” Hearing her confident reply, Li Qinghan smiled. No matter whether she used her assassin mage in the practice match, Tong Yi’s assassin mage would definitely be used in the Summer Split. But now, she suddenly had a different idea. She wanted to see if Song Jin-yuan’s hero pool was comprehensive enough.

“Xiao Yi, you can use an assassin mage this game. Don’t pick Yu Heng yet. I have a better combination for that hero, and we can play a mid-jungle synergy,” Li Qinghan said to Tong Yi.

Tong Yi nodded in agreement. “Okay.” Then Li Qinghan asked Song Jin-yuan, “How are you with utility junglers? Can you play one?” Since most of Song Jin-yuan’s top-ranked heroes were jungle-core and tempo junglers, she wasn’t sure if Song Jin-yuan was good with utility junglers.

“I can,” Song Jin-yuan answered confidently. “I’m an all-rounder.”

Li Qinghan chuckled. “You’re very confident. Alright, you can use a utility jungler this game. It’s okay if you lose.” After the crushing victory in the first game, Li Qinghan no longer had any expectations for winning or losing. In fact, what she had hoped for before was just not to lose too badly, since the current New Fire team was essentially a complete rebuild, with no synergy at all. The current result was already more than satisfactory to her.

When the Silver Wing players saw New Fire’s first pick was the tank hero, [Mu Tong], they were all stunned. “Has Xia Yun practiced her tanky side-laner?” Can Can asked subconsciously.

“Maybe,” Meng Shu said. “She’s probably not very good at it yet and is just testing it out on us… We’ll pick our jungler and support first.” This game, Silver Wing chose a tempo jungle-core hero, which was strong in the early game to prevent another jungle invasion. After all, New Fire’s jungler hadn’t been picked yet, and it was safer to choose a hero with a higher margin for error. They had lost the last game because they weren’t strong enough in the early game.

After they picked two heroes, it was New Fire’s turn for the second and third picks. New Fire’s second pick was the mid-lane assassin mage, [Yue Hu], which was one of Tong Yi’s signature heroes.

“Xiao Yi is actually picking an assassin mage. She hasn’t played with her assassin mage in so long. Does she still have the skills?” Bai Bai couldn’t help but ask.

Meng Shu was silent for two seconds. “Remember to target Xiao Yi this game. Don’t let her get ahead.”

Bai Bai looked at Meng Shu when she heard this, said nothing, and just nodded. Meng Shu’s words meant that she still acknowledged the strength of Tong Yi’s assassin mage. If that was the case, they really should be more cautious.

In reality, Bai Bai didn’t think that Tong Yi’s assassin mage still had its old deterrent power. After all, it wasn’t the mid-laner’s meta anymore. After a series of nerfs, assassin mages had long become outdated. You could tell just by looking at how all the mid-laners in the league were playing utility heroes.

Although that was what Bai Bai was thinking, she would still appropriately target Tong Yi’s assassin mages in the ban phase when facing the New Fire team because Tong Yi hadn’t stopped using them entirely. She just used them less often. She could even use an assassin mage to play like a utility hero. So, to be precise, Tong Yi had given up the assassin-core playstyle for about a year and a half.

The reason why Tong Yi’s signature hero was unbanned this game was purely so they could use the ban slots to target the jungler. They now felt that the opposing jungler was more of a threat.

“Why haven’t they picked a jungler on the third floor yet? Is it that hard to choose a jungler?” Bai Bai looked at the screen and couldn’t help but ask with confusion. They had already assumed that New Fire would pick a jungler on the third floor.

However, a few seconds later, New Fire locked in a marksman on the third floor. They chose a high-damage marksman, a hero that also required a lot of gold. Now, everyone on Silver Wing, including Meng Shu, was confused.

“What does this mean? Are they going to play a triple-core lineup this game?” Bai Bai asked, a little lost. New Fire’s second pick, the assassin mage, was already a core hero. Now they were picking a marksman-core, which also needed a lot of protection. If they added another jungle-core, wouldn’t that be a triple-core lineup?

“Maybe Xiao Yi will still play a utility hero with her assassin mage this game,” Can Can guessed.

Bai Bai frowned and nodded. “That’s probably it…”

“Isn’t it a bit strange that they haven’t picked a jungler in the first three picks?” Meng Shu couldn’t help but ask. “We can still target them in the second round of bans, and then they’ll have no junglers left to choose from.” She was starting to wonder if she even knew how to BP anymore.

“I think Li Qinghan is still asleep. This is an insane BP,” Bai Bai said mockingly.

Meng Shu ran her hand through her hair. “Whatever, let’s just pick our heroes first.” Silver Wing’s third pick was a mid-laner, which was also a utility hero that could give up gold. For the rest of the bans, Meng Shu hesitated for a moment, then chose to use one to target the jungler and another for the support.

After the second round of bans, it was New Fire’s turn to pick heroes again. “I want to see what kind of jungler they’re going to pick,” Can Can said impatiently.

Meng Shu was also curious. She didn’t doubt Li Qinghan’s BP ability, so she wanted to know the reason for her choices. After waiting for about ten seconds, New Fire slowly picked a fighter on the fourth floor.

Silver Wing’s players: “?”

Just as they thought New Fire was just messing with them, New Fire locked in the hero. “What is this supposed to mean?” Bai Bai’s face was filled with confusion and questions.

But Meng Shu had already figured it out. But now that the BP had reached this stage, there was no way to go back. “I made a mistake,” Meng Shu said, raising a hand to her forehead helplessly. “[Mu Tong] on the first floor was the jungler, not Yun Duo’s side-laner. This hero they just picked is probably the top-laner.”

Can Can: “…” They had wasted so many bans on jungle-core heroes for nothing. If that was the case, it made perfect sense for New Fire to pick a marksman-core because Mu Tong, as a jungler, didn’t need much gold.

After that, both sides’ fifth picks were quite normal. Silver Wing still tried to counterpick on the last pick, which was a last-ditch effort to make up for their mistake. After the BP was over, Meng Shu frowned and stepped aside, her face full of worry. Her mind was racing, trying to figure out who New Fire’s new jungler was. She was so versatile. Not only did she have a clear jungle-core strategy, but she could also play a utility jungler. And now that New Fire and Silver Wing were both locked in as Group B teams, they would face each other in the Summer Split. Group B only had four teams. If this jungler made it onto the starting roster for the Summer Split, Silver Wing’s chances of getting into Group A would become even more slim.

The second game started quickly. Tong Yi’s command strategy was still clear this game. At the start of the game, all four players except Xia Yun went to mid-lane to fight for the wave. Silver Wing also sent all four players to mid-lane. It seemed they also wanted to take advantage of their lineup’s early-game strength, get priority on the wave, and maybe even get a few kills.

“Support and marksman, be careful with your positioning. Marksman is very weak at level one, so be careful of being focused,” Tong Yi reminded them. The two of them said okay and constantly adjusted their positioning while moving. They thought there would be a small team fight at the start, but in the end, both sides cautiously and peacefully cleared the wave and went to their respective lanes. In the end, New Fire still had the advantage because Song Jin-yuan had secured the River Spirit.

Silver Wing had initially wanted to invade their jungle, but they didn’t dare to go in after what happened in the last game. The main reason was that New Fire had an assassin mage who could come to help at any time. So, Silver Wing had to give up on the idea of invading.

After clearing the mid-lane wave, New Fire’s marksman and support went straight to the bottom lane’s red area to take the red buff, while Song Jin-yuan went into the blue area to take the blue buff. At the same time, she sent a signal.

—Mage, come get the blue!

Song Jin-yuan gave up both the first blue and red buffs at the start of the game. This game, Tong Yi was playing a mage-core, and her most important task was to quickly farm and reach level six. So, she needed a lot of gold and experience. Although it had been a long time since she had played a mage-core, Tong Yi’s mage-core strategy was still clear. After clearing the early waves, she would immediately go to the side lane to help the marksman and help them take neutral resources.

Because the marksman was also a core player this game, she needed to farm up as quickly as possible. After each gank, Tong Yi wouldn’t linger. She would quickly return to her lane, not wasting any mid-lane gold. And the marksman, who had gotten priority on the wave with Tong Yi’s help, would then go into the jungle to farm. Soon, the mid-laner’s and marksman’s gold began to snowball.

And Song Jin-yuan wasn’t idle this game either. Although she gave up her own resources, she would also help her teammates take priority on the waves. When the enemy jungle monsters respawned, she would immediately take her teammates with her to invade the enemy jungle. [Mu Tong], as a utility jungler, was strong in the early game and would be weaker in the late game. So, it was the perfect time to invade.

Song Jin-yuan’s ability to initiate team fights was also very good. With her help, Tong Yi had already secured several kills. Perhaps because Silver Wing’s morale was already broken from the first game, they were still not in good form this game. They were constantly making mistakes from the start. After a few consecutive mistakes, Tong Yi had become a soulless killing machine. By the mid-game, Tong Yi was basically invincible.

And New Fire’s lineup was also very well-chosen. Even if Silver Wing dragged the game into the late-game, they had a strong late-game marksman. They had enough tankiness and damage, making it a perfect lineup.

Silver Wing continued to make mistakes, and this game also didn’t last long. It was over quickly. New Fire won again.

“Yay!! We won again!!!”

Excited cheers echoed through the New Fire training room. Li Qinghan looked at the several players in front of her, who were so happy they were almost dancing, and she couldn’t help but smile. They had only defeated a weak team, but it was still enough to make her feel passionate.