Chapter 1238: Symbol For a Healer
Translator: Nomyummi Editor: Nomyummi
Happy's healer, An Wenyi!
Li Yibo spoke with power and resonance, but since this was a live broadcast, he probably didn't know how many boos came his way when he said these words.
Happy's weak point was An Wenyi. We don't need you to say that. Who doesn't know it?
Yes, everyone knew, including Pan Lin. He hadn't thought that Li Yibo's secret ace would be such an obvious answer. After staring blankly for a few seconds, he finally followed up: "Yeah… An Wenyi really is Happy's weak point."
"Yes," Li Yibo was still smiling confidently, "Everyone knows this, but who among Happy's previous opponents fully took advantage of this weakness?"
Pan Lin was stunned again. He could hear that Li Yibo's words had substance to them, and he subconsciously started thinking about Li Yibo's question. Had any of Happy's previous opponents specifically created a plan to target An Wenyi?"
"We won't talk about matches too far in the past. Let's take a look at the two rather strong teams that Happy had faced in their recent win streak, Misty Rain and Void. Our friends who have watched Happy's matches against these two team, recall Happy's performances in the team competition," Li Yibo betrayed the key points in his analysis.
"Happy's performances in those two matches?" Pan Lin echoed as he pondered in his mind. His perception was quite a bit higher than the average player's. After thinking about it for a bit, he found out that he truly wasn't able to find anything.
"In Misty Rain's match, Happy utilized the terrain to set up their formation. At that time, An Wenyi's Little Cold Hands hid behind that big rock. Misty Rain didn't have the conditions to launch any attacks directly towards him," Li Yibo answered.
Pan Lin completely remembered now: "In Void's match, Happy switched out their Cleric to get into position faster. By the time An Wenyi went onto the field, Void only had four players remaining, and Happy's victory had pretty much been decided at that point."
"For those interested, we can go even farther back. In their match against Hundred Blossoms, even in the Challenger League finals against Excellent Era, these matches against strong opponents give us an even clearer picture."
"Right," Pan Lin completely understood what Li Yibo wanted to say.
"Happy's tactics seem similar to Thunderclap's in the sense that they're always targeting a certain person. However, Happy's tactics are always built off a foundation: protecting their weak point, An Wenyi. In every match, they will always try their best to end the battle without there being too great of a burden on An Wenyi," Li Yibo said.
"Xiao Shiqin has completely seen through this point, so in this match, he's taken the initiative to strike preemptively at Happy's tactical framework. He doesn't plan on letting Happy set up a situation easy for An Wenyi," Pan Lin said.
"Yes, so that's why their offensive rhythm is constantly changing. For a healer, grasping the opponent's offensive rhythm is extremely important. A healer needs to pay attention to any possible dangers, sometimes even needing to predict a crisis ahead of time, in order to prepare a long cast time heal in advance. Does Happy's An Wenyi have the ability to deal with such a hurried situation?" Li Yibo said.
The broadcast team coordinated with him and cut to An Wenyi's point of view.
His screen was shifting around extremely chaotically.
Sure enough, the situation was just as Li Yibo said. Before a healer healed, the first thing that needed to be done was to figure out who needed to be healed, which meant that the healer couldn't solely pay attention to his opponents. The healer needed to look at the overall situation from time to time. However, Xiao Shiqin had set it up such that the battle was spread out all around. An Wenyi could not simply look in one direction to observe the battlefield. He had to look towards one side and then look towards a different side from time to time. Along with Thunderclap's constantly changing rhythm, his inability to keep up and his confusion was completely exposed by the cameras.
The broadcast and the crowd's electronic screens aptly showed the health bars of the two teams.
This sort of image was usually shown to let the viewers know which side's healer was controlling the field well. A good healer would keep his teammate's health above a certain safe line at all times. The health bars would leap up and down like musical notes.
But the health bars of Happy's characters were a complete mess. It was like he was banging around clumsily without any vision. No one could tell what An Wenyi's safe line was.
Without a safe line, it wasn't possible to heal dependably.
Happy's stadium was quiet.
An Wenyi was Happy's weak point. This had been known since the very beginning, but up until now, it had never been fully exposed because every time the team lost, it didn't look like An Wenyi was dragging down the team. But when Li Yibo gave his analysis, everyone discovered that though An Wenyi didn't drag down the team in Happy's losses, he didn't contribute too much in their wins either. An Wenyi's role in Happy seemed to just be a symbol, letting the opponents know: we have a healer. Had Happy ever used any tactics that relied on their healer? Never. Even though An Wenyi had his moments of brilliance, he had always played under relatively safe conditions - conditions that Happy had set up for him.
But in this round against Thunderclap, Xiao Shiqin didn't give them an opportunity to set up these conditions. These multi-directional and constantly changing attacks forced out Happy's weakness. In a team battle, if the healer could not keep up, the entire team would suffer. Thunderclap's attacks weren't focused on any one person. They frequently changed targets, forcing An Wenyi to constantly search for their focuses, pressuring him into making more mistakes.
Happy wasn't routed yet. Their team still had Ye Xiu and Ye Xiu's Lord Grim. The unspecialized had limited healing capabilities, but it was better than nothing. These heals might be enough for crucial saves, but relying on Lord Grim to keep up the entire team's health was impossible.
What are they going to do?
This was Happy's home stadium, so the crowd was obviously worried for Happy. Thunderclap couldn't be too relaxed either though. Maintaining this sort of battle tempo without making mistakes was not an easy task.
"Keep this up!" From time to time, Xiao Shiqin would give encouraging words to boost the team's morale.
Thunderclap's offense was maintained extremely well. No matter how amazing a team's tactics were, if the team couldn't carry it out, then it was pointless. And in terms of execution, Thunderclap's players were second to none. This team had always relied on tactics to beat stronger teams. The team's players were very accomplished at tactics, even more so under Xiao Shiqin's guidance. They understood his commands very quickly and executed them smoothly.
"Happy's in trouble," Li Yibo was already announcing it.
"Let's see if they've got a way out!" Pan Lin said.
"Thunderclap is utilizing the map extremely well. I nearly forgot who chose the map," Li Yibo chuckled.
"Uh… I'm sure Happy chose this map for a reason." Pan Lin chose his words carefully because he had a premonition that as soon as he came out and announced Happy's demise, he would definitely be slapped in the face.
Li Yibo could feel Pan Lin's cautiousness and laughed. What could Happy do in this situation? No matter which direction you rush towards, you won't be able to escape from battle. Thunderclap doesn't need to trap you here. As long as they can continuously harass you and can stop your healer from being effective, this harassment is equivalent to damage. And enough damage means that it's their win! In addition, Thunderclap's leader is Xiao Shiqin. With him watching over, what tactical intents could be hidden from him?
"Cheng, pressure with triangular movement!"
"Dai, turn 30 degrees."
"Fang, move back."
Commands continued to be given as Happy wasn't just sitting there letting An Wenyi deal with the pressure himself. However, their intentions were always seen through by Xiao Shiqin, who would promptly respond and stop Happy from escaping this situation.
"Fuck. Bullying the rookie, you call that skill!" Fang Rui complained in the public chat.
"Keep pressuring them. Fang, move a little towards my location." Xiao Shiqin was unmoved. In a match, there was no such thing as trash talk only for the purpose of complaining. The words that jumped onto the screen always contained a message, which would automatically be read by the eyes. This sort of small distraction could lead to an unconscious change in emotions and ultimately, a mistake. Xiao Shiqin wouldn't be affected by it though. As soon as Fang Rui said these words, his first thought was that the opponents would be making a move soon, so he immediately warned his team to be wary.
Sky Piercing Strike!
After Fang Rui's grumble, Boundless Sea pushed out a blast of qi. The qi swept past the grass directly towards Life Extinguisher.
Laser Beam!
Su Mucheng's Dancing Rain immediately added to Boundless Sea's attack with a Laser Beam.
But their coordination was a bit off beat, so the effects weren't the most optimal. Xiao Shiqin's Life Extinguisher easily dodged it. However, his line of sight left that area for a short moment.
Chaotic Rain!
At this moment, greenish purplish raindrops suddenly poured down. It was Chaotic Rain summoned by a Warlock.
"Oh, so those attacks were cover for Chaotic Rain. Then, they plan on using Chaotic Rain's AoE to attack. In that case, we need to…" Xiao Shiqin thought and prepared to give another order.
Wait...
1, 2, 3, 4...
Happy was missing a person!
The missing person was Lord Grim?
"Where's Lord Grim?" Xiao Shiqin hastily asked in the chat. Did he disappear from view while I was dodging those attacks? Even if I didn't see him, my other teammates should have, right?"
"Ah?" His teammates all gasped in surprise.
No one saw?
Xiao Shiqin didn't ask further. Everyone's "Ah?" was clear enough.
Had there been a blind spot in everyone's field of view at that instant?
Was that a coincidence, or… had it been set up?
Xiao Shiqin reflected on this question. If it was the latter, then Happy's plan was currently being set in motion. Ye Xiu's Lord Grim was hiding in the grass. What was he planning on doing?
"Cheng, approach and search. Fang, support him." Xiao Shiqin immediately ordered.