LOL: My talent is top-tier, my professional skills are unparalleled.

Chapter 658 Five Layers of Bleeding Bloodlust Wolf Head! God King Darius Slays the Minotaur!
Rita nodded and said with a smile:
"I feel so too."

"Without further ado, the two teams ahead are fully prepared. Let's turn the camera to EDG and FPX!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the screen above the stage quickly switched to the front.

As it was a match between two top teams, the esports arena was packed with fans and spectators, with cheers and screams filling the air.

After the FPX players all appeared,

EDG's five players and head coach Clearlove also took to the stage one after another.

During the journey, Wang Yao glanced sideways at the audience seats.

The huge crowd held up all sorts of support signs.

Some wrote "Your K God, infinitely arrogant", some wrote "Go, Rookie", and others wrote "Little Phoenix, go go go".

Seeing the enthusiasm of the audience, Wang Yao smiled faintly and then sat down in the top lane position.

In the official live broadcast room,

"Holy crap, holy crap, it's here!!"

"What?! An FPX match?"

"Brother, don't you ever look at the schedule?"

"Brother Yao beats up Niu Guli, who wouldn't want to see that!"

"Ox-Head and Horse-Face, die!"

"..."

While netizens were discussing the matter, both sides on stage had already completed their first round of bans.

As the blue side, FPX strategically banned Rookie's LeBlanc and Syndra, and their last pick was Jiejie's Xin Zhao in the jungle.

Instead of targeting a single player, EDG banned three Tier 1 meta champions for the top lane, mid lane, and AD carry positions: Renekton, Corki, and Senna.

After the bans were completed, FPX, on the blue side, decisively picked Aphelios on the first pick.

Subsequently, the choice fell to EDG.

After discussing with everyone for a while, the factory manager finally decided to seize the Titans and Centaurs.

As both sides gradually formed their lineups, commentator Guan Zeyuan spoke first from the commentary booth.
"Neither side seems to be targeting the top lane too much, but if I remember correctly, in FPX's previous matches, many teams would ban three times to target Nuguri, and EDG is similar."

"What...what's going on today?"

"It's probably because both top laners are quite confident in their abilities and want to go head-to-head in a fight."

"If that's the case, it feels like both sides are about to clash!"

Wang Yao's skill with Irelia is well-known, and Niu Guli's Kennen is equally world-famous.

If these two heroes are selected.

Without a doubt, the top lane will be a bloodbath!
but……

Neither team drafted a top laner in the first round of the ban/pick phase.

FPX's three picks are Aphelios, Lee Sin, and Leona.

EDG's three picks are Nautilus, Hecarim, and Jinx.

The second round of bans was the same, and neither side targeted the top lane.

Until the choice fell to EDG.

"So, which of you two wants to go first?"

"The opposing team hasn't selected anyone yet, so one of you is sure to get the counter position."

On stage, the factory manager spoke into the team's microphone.

Immediately afterwards, Rookie's voice came out.

"I'll pick first, and leave the last pick for Yao Ge. Niu Guli on the other side is still pretty strong."

"Alright then, you..."

Before the factory manager could finish speaking, Wang Yao spoke up.

"Let me choose first. It's safer to give Lao Song the last counter position."

"Ah Shui, help me lock Darius's hand."

Wang Yao didn't give the two of them any time to consider and directly stated the hero he wanted to choose.

Seeing this, Rookie didn't say much. After hesitating for a moment, the factory manager finally agreed to Wang Yao's idea.

And so, EDG's fourth pick was Darius, the Hand of Noxus!
The moment this hero appeared, the crowd erupted in screams!
"what?"

"Holy crap! Darius is here?!"

"This hero... if I remember correctly, has almost never appeared on the field."

"Shy played it once in 19, and quite a few people also played it around S5. It seems like no one else has done it."

"The main problem is that this hero is too stupid; these professional players can easily pull him down."

"I wouldn't say anything if you chose second, but is it really normal to choose first?!"

"What on earth is the factory manager doing? Is he messing up the draft picks? Getting cocky after four consecutive wins?"

"Stop yelling, stop yelling. Winning or losing has nothing to do with us. Don't you want to watch Darius play?"

"Tsk, that's true..."

Although most people are not optimistic about EDG's choice, heroes with extremely low pick rates on the field will cause a lot of discussion once they appear!
At the same time, the director also displayed a prompt on the big screen.

[After 759 days, Darius, the Hand of Noxus, returns to the LPL stage!]

759 days, almost two years!
If a hero hasn't appeared on the field for two years, there's only one explanation.

He is not suited to the competition environment.

This led to sharp comments from the two commentators.

"If we pick Darius first... then it feels like Nuguri's side has a lot of champions he can pick."

"Weapons, Camille, anything is fine, I even think I could put up a fight against Fiora."

"Yes, I don't quite understand EDG's Darius pick, but it really depends on how Kshine performs."

"..."

While the two were discussing, the choice fell to FPX.

Just as Guan Zeyuan guessed, Niu Guli directly asked Lin Weixiang to help him lock down the Weapon Master.

After receiving the news, Liu Qingsong on the fifth floor also helped Doinb get Ryze.

Soon, the final decision was given to EDG.

Rookie and Clearlove analyzed the lineups of both sides together, and after thinking for a moment, they locked in Orianna.

With that, the lineup is now finalized!
Blue side FPX: Weapon, Lee Sin, Ryze, Aphelios, Leona.

Red side EDG: Darius, Hecarim, Orianna, Jinx, Nautilus.

Seeing the prominent image of Darius, the God-King, on the loading screen, Lin Weixiang couldn't help but turn to look at Wang Yao.

For some reason, he had a bad feeling about it!

Soon, the competition officially began!
"FPX! Go for it!"

"FPX! Go for it!"

"Go EDG! Go EDG!"

"Little Phoenix, go go go!"

A deafening cheer erupted from the audience.

At the same time, all ten players from both sides entered Summoner's Rift.

As soon as the game started, Wang Yao immediately bought a Doran's Blade and then followed his teammates to the lower jungle.

EDG's lineup, with Darius, Hecarim, Jinx, and Nautilus, is very strong at level one.

While FPX is a decent team, they pale in comparison to EDG.

To avoid a fight, Xiaotian chose to start a solo run in the upper jungle, while the others moved to safe positions to wait for the minions to spawn.

After searching around without finding any FPX players, EDG had no choice but to retreat to their lane.

Soon, at 1 minute and 30 seconds, the minions on the top lane converged in the middle of the river and began a fierce battle.

Meanwhile, Niu Guli, controlling the Weapon Master, and Wang Yao, controlling Darius, officially met.

The laning phase has begun!

In the FPX backstage lounge, Coach Steak stood with his arms crossed, staring at Darius with a slight frown.

Wang Yao is indeed very strong, this steakman admits.

But their newly recruited Niu Guli is no slouch either.

Wang Yao can dominate the field, and so can Niu Guli.

Wang Yao has a deep pool of heroes, and Niu Guli is no slouch either.

In short, we'll find out who comes out on top in this match!
"What the hell?!"

Steak, who was deep in thought, was suddenly startled by the scene before him.

The moment they went online, they immediately headed to each other.

Without hesitation, Wang Yao attacked Jax with his axe, which landed squarely on Jax's body.

The next moment, Niu Guli activated [Counterattack Storm] to block the subsequent damage.

The reason he didn't block the first attack was to let the minions focus fire on Darius.

Normally, Darius would pull back to create distance in this situation.

But Wang Yao didn't. Not only did he not leave, he even stood still and continued to auto-attack.

Darius is strong at level 1, that's true, but the way he targets his auto-attacks with Counter Strike is just too over the top!
Niu Guli was also dumbfounded.

With six minions and Darius's basic attack, his Counter Strike will take away at least half of the enemy's health.

This is the best start ever! What can the opposing team possibly do against him?!

On stage, Niu Guli stood confidently and began to face off against Darius.

As for why he stood still instead of moving and attacking, it's because Wang Yao's Darius didn't move at all, as if he had turned on auto-attack and then disconnected.

This scene stunned everyone present, and even the backstage director wondered if Wang Yao had really gone offline.

However, just as Darius landed his second basic attack, [Counter Strike], Wang Yao suddenly activated Sprint and moved in the opposite direction, disappearing into the blue team's minion wave.

"what?"

Niu Guli never expected Darius to sprint and create distance, but as a professional player, his reaction speed was very fast.

Niu Guli quickly pressed the second E button, trying to stun the target.

But Wang Yao's timing was just too perfect!
The second stage of [Counterattack Storm] can be triggered in two ways: one is to wait 2 seconds for it to be released automatically, and the other is to release it manually after 1 second.

He timed that one-second gap perfectly and used the speed boost from sprinting to successfully widen the distance.

[Counterattack Storm] Missed, the minions focused fire on the Niu Guli, who had no choice but to pull to the side into the bushes.

As he entered the bushes, Niu Guli kept searching his mind for this fighting style. But he simply couldn't find it!

Who would use Sprint to dodge a weapon's E skill at level one?!
This [Counterattack Storm] attack does indeed deal a lot of damage, and it can grant a 210-second teleport!
They're just going to throw away three minutes like that?!
However, the next moment, Niu Guli finally realized the seriousness of the problem.

He thought Wang Yao was sprinting to dodge his E.

Generally speaking, that's correct.

But Wang Yao's real goal was to get a solo kill!

For the ultimate laning phase, Wang Yao did not choose the standard Conqueror rune for Darius, but instead opted for Lethal Tempo.

This version of Lethal Tempo is different from the previous one. In addition to providing a high attack speed, it also provides additional attack range after stacking six times.

Furthermore, the basic attack that hit [Counter-Strike] earlier can also stack Lethal Tempo.

This style of play is unprecedented and unheard of!

Niu Guli couldn't think of a way to fight back for a moment, so he could only try his best to run towards his own defensive tower.

However, Wang Yao's position was already on the side of the enemy's defensive tower, and with the high movement speed provided by Ghost, Darius rushed in and chased after him to deal damage.

A single AW not only cancels the aftercast animation of a basic attack, but also stacks Bloodrage to two layers and Lethal Tempo to four layers.

Niu Guli didn't dare to hesitate. He decisively used Flash to run behind Wang Yao, trying to escape back to the turret.

Logically speaking, this Flash shouldn't have been used.

But the situation was too urgent, and Niu Guli didn't have time to think.

Even if Jax uses Flash, he still can't outrun Darius who has activated Ghost.

In the blink of an eye, Wang Yao caught up with Niu Guli again, clicking the mouse incessantly on Jax, while Darius's giant axe slashed at him again and again.

Seeing his health bar steadily decreasing, Niu Guli knew he was definitely not going to escape this time.

However, it seems there's a chance for a counterattack?!
Early game minions deal very high damage, and Darius is currently fighting against six of his own minions, so there's a chance for him to succeed.

Thinking of this, Niu Guli immediately turned around and started playing against Darius.

suddenly!

"Unrivaled power!"

The sudden appearance of a wolf's head above the Weapon Master's head completely shattered Niu Guli's hopes.

AWAAA, takes about 8 seconds.

With five stacks of Bloodrage and six stacks of Lethal Tempo, Darius gains additional attack range and attack speed.

With the boost from attack power, attack range, and attack speed, the weapon master's health bar drops madly!
Ke Niu Guli knew he had no way out and could only try to reduce Darius's health as much as possible to prepare for the subsequent laning phase.

And so, Wang Yao landed two more axe blows, then turned and headed towards the minion wave.

Behind him, the Weapon Master had only a sliver of health left, and Darius's bleed effect was still burning.

A moment passes.

Ouch!

A wolf howl rang out, and the Weapon Master Jax fell to the ground, dead!

"First Blood!"

EDG's Kshine (the Darius) has killed FPX's Nuguri (the Weapon Master)!

Niu Guli looked bewildered as he stared at the prominent kill notification on the screen.

He never expected there was such a way to kill someone in a one-on-one situation!
The clown is himself!
Logically speaking, Jax shouldn't be able to beat Darius at level 1, as Darius's passive Bloodrage provides too much bleed effect and attack damage.

But Niu Guli never dreamed that he could be solo killed at level one!

Looking at the grayed-out Flash in the skill bar, Niu Guli's face gradually turned ashen.

……

Meanwhile, the official live stream room was also in an uproar.

"What the hell?!"

"A path never before imagined, Yao-ge's thinking is absolutely brilliant!"

"Sprint in the opposite direction to dodge the counterattack storm, then brutally kill the weapon with auto-attacks..."

"To be honest, it sounds pretty simple, but I've never seen anyone play it like that in ranked matches!"

"Mainly, Yao-ge is both bold and meticulous! If he had used his sprint skill even a little later, the weapon counterattack storm could have stunned him."

"That's the attention to detail! And if I'm not mistaken, Darius seems to have landed a full stack of Lethal Tempo with his AWAA combo, which should include those two auto-attacks on Counter Strike earlier."

"Awesome! It feels like we're not playing the same game!"

"It can only be said that even top-tier top laners have differences."

"..."

On stage, the voices of his teammates echoed continuously.

"Holy crap! Awesome! He got solo-killed?!"

"Level 1 solo kill? Yao-ge, how the hell did you do that?"

"I could understand if the opponent was a noob, but he's a 'cowboy'!"

"This is outrageous! Getting first blood every game! Turn off the cheats, Yao Ge, it's no fun!"

No one expected that Wang Yao could achieve a solo kill at level one.

This is a common occurrence in ranked games, and for someone like Wang Yao who enjoys making skillful plays, it's practically a daily occurrence.

But this is an LPL match, and the opposing team is FPX, who are currently ranked first in the Eastern Conference standings with a 4-0 record. Nuguri was the world's best top laner last year.

They just killed him like that?!

Although the four of them didn't know what had happened in the top lane, they only knew that with Wang Yao there, there was no need to worry about the top lane collapsing.

In the back lounge, the factory manager kept clicking his tongue in amazement.

It's different from simple operations.

The reason Wang Yao's move was so powerful was because of his strategic thinking.

From the moment he chose Lethal Tempo as his rune, he had already figured out how to handle level one.

A weapon master with Counter Strike will not let themselves get away with a basic attack, or they will simply retreat and create distance.

If you go up to A, he will definitely use E to block.

As long as you time your sprint correctly and create distance, a solo kill is inevitable.

Of course, this is only Wang Yao's perspective.

There are still many things that ordinary players need to pay attention to if they want to replicate his setup.

For example, the frequency of moving A, and where to block Jax's retreat route, and a series of other things.

Meanwhile, the match between the two sides continued.

After successfully securing a solo kill, Wang Yao quickly returned to base to replenish his equipment.

Since Darius didn't have Teleport in this game, he had to immediately recall and walk back to lane.

If you're even a little bit late, the minion wave could be pushed right up to your own tower.

Losing the gold from last-hitting minions is manageable, but losing experience is absolutely unacceptable.

On the other side, while Darius was replenishing his supplies, Nuguri teleported back to lane to start farming minions.

The 400 gold from First Blood is very important, and so is Flash.

But losing first blood after using Flash doesn't mean the game is unplayable.

Darius didn't have Teleport, and by the time Wang Yao returned to the lane, he was already around level three.

Having an extra skill will increase your laning strength by one level.

Niu Guli, who hadn't completely turned red, remained relatively calm.

He kept last-hitting minions one by one, slowly pushing the minion wave towards the red side.

At the same time, Xiaotian's voice also came through the microphone.

"So, is there a chance to cross over?"

Upon hearing this, Niu Guli immediately grinned. His plan was to slowly push the minion wave, then use the level difference and minion damage to coordinate with the jungler to tower dive and kill the enemy.

Don't be fooled by Darius's full health when he returns.

But Niu Guli knew that with Wang Yao's playing style, he would definitely buy offensive items when he went back to base.

At level 2, Darius has very low armor and magic resistance, making him unable to withstand damage from champions like Lee Sin and minions.

Even if FPX accidentally loses one of their units, they will still come out ahead.

Without Teleport, Darius could only watch helplessly as more than two waves of minions were devoured by the turret.

When he returns to the top lane, I will be able to create at least a two-level gap between myself and him.

If you're two levels ahead in the top lane and don't have anyone else to help you, your laning phase is really going to be a disaster.

Thinking of this, Niu Guli quickly spoke up.

"You can come!"

"OK, OK, you can push slowly first, I'll finish this set."

A simple exchange seemed to have decided Darius's fate.

On EDG's side, Wang Yao, who bought a longsword and a health potion, is heading to the top lane.

During a break in his journey, he switched screens to check on his teammates' status.

There's not much to say about the mid lane. Rookie's Orianna was perfect for him, and his lane dominance was off the charts, leaving Doinb breathless.

However, Doinb is a veteran mid laner in the Rift, so he didn't fall behind in last-hitting.

The two veterans were having a great time, each throwing a Q and an E.

As for the bottom lane, if I had to describe it in one word, it would be reckless.

Ah Shui, acting like he had no regard for his life, led Meiko in a frenzied attack.

In the early game, Titan's impact is slightly greater than Leona's, and Jinx's strength is also slightly higher than Aphelios'.

Taking advantage of this, Ah Shui became incredibly arrogant.

However, the opposing AD carry is Lin Weixiang.

Wang Yao knew this person very well, so well that they sometimes even felt like they were related by blood.

Back when Lin Weixiang was with EDG, he often called Wang Yao "Daddy Yao" and begged to duo queue with Wang Yao to climb the ranks.

Lin Weixiang's playstyle during the laning phase is relatively conservative, and he rarely gives Ah Shui many opportunities to trade blows.

His true strength lies in mid-to-late game team fights.

While observing the laning phase in the mid and bottom lanes, Wang Yao also took a quick look at the tabs.

Afterwards, he silently prayed for Ah Shui.

While it appears that Ah Shui is relentlessly suppressing Lin Weixiang, in reality, Lin Weixiang's CS (creep score) has surpassed his by nearly 10.

Ah Shui appears to be playing very aggressively and seems to have gained an advantage in the bottom lane, but there are actually significant hidden dangers!
(End of this chapter)