novelODS 058 Ambition, covered in sweat
058 Ambition, covered in sweat
With countless spectators witnessing it, the CJ base exploded, turning into countless fragments.
At this moment, the audience seats were completely silent, with only a very small number of spectators cheering.
The camera quickly pans to the RISE players' seating area.
The R1SE members, who had just won, seemed to show no joy on their faces, as if victory was something they should have taken for granted.
The group high-fived each other and then headed backstage.
But before they left, CJ and his group had already left.
Ambition's face was terribly gloomy, and his steps were frighteningly fast.
On both sides, the four CJ team members also looked somewhat embarrassed and hurriedly left the field.
At this moment, a barrage of comments flooded in.
[Your face looks scary! What happened?]
"Is that even a question? They had a fight!"
Do professional gamers argue too?
[Pro players are human too. Who wouldn't be anxious after losing such a bad game?]
[The main reason was that they lost to RISE. Ambition even said on his livestream before the match that he was going to teach RISE a lesson!]
That would be incredibly embarrassing...
Even now in Seoul, some people are gloating.
In Cheongdam-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, the bases of MVP and SKT are located on the same street.
Inside the SKT base, Kkoma was greatly relieved at that moment.
Seeing that CJ lost in the same way, Kkoma was completely relieved.
It's not that they're bad, it's just that Rise is too insane.
Compared to CJ, SKT played relatively well, at least they lasted a little longer.
The MVP team has a similar idea.
Coach Edgar was greatly relieved to see CJ suffer such a setback.
Because in the previous winter playoffs, it was CJ who eliminated MVP's team.
It can only be said that Ambition was a bit too overconfident. He thought he was the champion and didn't bother to study his opponents. It was only a matter of time before he suffered.
Winning the OGN championship is nothing compared to winning this year's NLB championship!
Now you've met a real master and gotten a lesson!
......
The atmosphere in the CJ lounge was somewhat strange at that moment.
Logically, after each loss, it should be the time for veterans like Ambition and CloudTemplar to be furious and start looking for problems.
But this time, the two of them simply couldn't bring themselves to say it.
Because the biggest gap between these two players was in this first game...
Although the top and bottom lanes were severely weakened, the real problem didn't lie with the laners, but with the jungler.
Neo ganked top lane, forcing Rumble to use Flash, thus controlling CJ's top and jungle, and then dove bottom lane, gaining a huge advantage.
In contrast, CloudTemplar is like a puppet being pulled around on strings.
Needless to say, the mid laner was directly tower-dived and solo-killed at level six, and was unable to recover afterward, watching Nidalee fly and dodge everywhere, invading the jungle and ganking.
Under such circumstances, the two veterans were absolutely speechless...
To be honest, R1SE seems a bit eerie!
Finally, CJ's coach, OnAir, spoke up: "Everyone... let's have more fighting spirit! This is only the first game!"
"In the last game, we made a lot of mistakes and underestimated our opponents. Now that we've determined that our opponents are not a weak team, let's be more serious in the next game."
"Show the spirit you have in the finals! Remember, we are the OGN champions!"
I can only say that the coach's words were effective.
These days, coaches can't be on the field to handle draft picks and bans; their role during matches is limited to cheering and encouraging the team, so they are all extremely professional.
When CJ heard keywords like "championship," they all looked up, their eyes seemingly burning with passion.
Right, damn it!
We are the champions!
......
Soon, both players returned to the stage.
When Li Zhixing went on stage, he glanced at CJ's players' seats and was somewhat surprised by what he got.
According to the normal plot, the opposing team should be demoralized after the first defeat, and then be easily swept aside.
But this time, as soon as they stepped onto the stage, all of CJ's players had serious expressions and were visibly full of fighting spirit.
Is your mindset really that good?
Li Zhixing couldn't help but think more highly of CJ.
It must be said that a team that can win the championship with such overwhelming dominance does have some merits...
But that doesn't matter.
It won't prevent them from winning.
In the subsequent BP phase, the two sides switched positions, with RISE moving to the blue side.
Li Zhixing also slightly changed his draft strategy, directly giving Li Xianghe the first pick of Orianna.
It's very difficult for the blue side to get a counter pick in the mid lane. Instead of dragging it out, it's better to let the mid laner pick first and leave it for the teammates to pick later.
Lee Sang-hyeok was not afraid.
Regardless of whether he chooses first or last, he will naturally suppress his opponent.
With Lee Sang-hyeok sacrificing himself in the draft phase, the remaining four teammates were naturally comfortable, and the lineup was quickly finalized.
In the commentary booth, Kim Dong-jun immediately checked the lineup choices of both sides.
Blue side RISE: Top lane Shen, Jungle Jarvan IV, Mid lane Orianna, Bot lane Varus and Zyra.
Red team CJ: Top lane Renekton, Jungle Lee Sin, Mid lane Sion, Bot lane Miss Fortune and Thresh.
Both teams' lineups are so-so that you can't really find anything wrong with them.
CJ is extremely strong in all three lanes. With the strong tempo of Sion and Lee Sin, the pace of the game will definitely not be slow. This is a system they often choose, relying on individual skill to forcefully crush their opponents.
RISE, on the other hand, is more balanced, with a strong presence in the early, mid, and late game, and is relatively more defensive.
The two sides were in a standard offensive and defensive formation.
At this moment, the mid-jungle duo of Ambition and CloudTemplar were exchanging very enthusiastic messages in CJ's voice channel.
Their plan was quite simple: since they had the power to attack, they would coordinate and start moving around.
Top lane Renekton and bot lane Thresh both have extremely strong crowd control abilities, making them unstoppable in any situation!
You can't say that this can't kill someone, can you?
But... a few minutes after the game started, CJ's mid and jungle players quickly went from making bold statements to remaining silent.
They really can't kill it...
Dreams are beautiful, but reality is harsh.
A stark reality was laid out before them.
In the mid lane, they simply cannot gain lane control.
Logically, Sion has the "hardened skin" passive, which reduces damage from basic attacks, so he should have an advantage against champions like Orianna who rely on basic attacks in the early game.
But he clearly didn't expect that the person who created the Sion vs. Orianna lane matchup was sitting right across from him.
Even the victims were on the other side...
After being crushed by Lee Ji-hyeong's Sion while playing Orianna, Lee Sang-hyeong became determined to improve and conducted countless studies on this matchup.
Lee Sang-hyeok knew the cooldown, damage, and range of Sion's QW combo perfectly!
If you're not a Sion of Lee Ji-hyeong's caliber, don't even think about beating Lee Sang-hyeong's Clockwork!
Sion would just activate his W skill, intending to use it in conjunction with his Q skill to harass and push the lane, but Orianna would quickly unleash her skills, landing a full AQWE combo that would break through Sion's shield.
Even if Sion stuns Orianna, he won't be able to unleash the AOE effect of his W shield debuff because the shield will be depleted.
Moreover, Sion has a fatal flaw: extremely high mana consumption. A full mana bar is only enough for two sets of skills.
After two waves, Sion's mana bar was depleted, while Orianna was still almost at full health, and the minion wave hadn't been pushed forward at all.
Ambition stood under the tower and took a wave of tower kills, sweating profusely as the fight progressed.
If you can't push the mid lane, all tactics are just empty talk!