Chapter 1340: Wind Howl’s New Playstyle
Translator: Nomyummi Editor: Nomyummi
He Ming was the sixth player when he was at Excellent Era. Players of this position were generally suddenly switched in while the two sides were deep in conflict, so they had to have the ability to read the situation and immediately understand what was happening, thus allowing them to join in and come to their teammates' aid as soon as possible.
He Ming usually played this position in Excellent Era, so his abilities in regards to this were considerable. Judging the situation, observing the tactics, he was rather good at all that. So who should they focus on first out of Happy's current lineup?
Cleric Little Cold Hands? Often considered Happy's weakness, Happy's Cleric was usually the main focus of other teams in the team competition. However, precisely because of this, Happy would often have a very meticulous plan to protect their Cleric. The teams who tried to attack Happy from this direction would often get led around by the nose instead.
Using the opponent's strategy against them! That was something Ye Xiu simply loved to do. Of the Four Master Tacticians, Ye Xiu was definitely the one with the most sophisticated plans and schemes, no matter if it came to his sheer experience or simply his style. As the Glory Textbook, he could put himself into another's shoes and predict a lot of possible strategies his opponents would use and counter them. Thus, any team of which he was a part of, if you didn't have absolute confidence in being able to take advantage of an obvious weakness, it was best to leave it be.
Miracle was currently a new team, not any sort of powerhouse and He Ming naturally didn't have enough confidence to challenge the traps Ye Xiu had laid. Thus, the choice Little Cold Hands was thrown out.
Apart from that?
Su Mucheng? They were familiar with Su Mucheng from a teammates perspective, but Su Mucheng was a Launcher. For ranged fighters, if they wanted to use Screen Cannon, they could often stay out of the main battlefield. If they targeted her, the entire team might get kited around and thus fall to a heavy disadvantage. This wasn't a good breakthrough point.
Then, Fang Rui, Master of Dirty Play. This… nope, never mind! He Ming thought to himself. A tricky and cunning opponent like that wasn't one a young, new team like them could deal with.
Then, there was Tang Rou, the fearsome Battle Mage. Even if her reputation had taken a hit, no one dared to underestimate her actual skill. Just now, in the group arena, Tang Rou had gone first and had almost managed to wipe out two of Miracle's players. Though she had yet to defeat a God, her persistence, her aggression meant that she definitely had the ability pin an opponent like a god level player. If they targeted Tang Rou, they might end up pinned by her, unable to escape.
Thus, looking over Happy's starting lineup, it seemed that Qiao Yifan was the only choice for a breakthrough. Plus, his Ghost Chaining was very dangerous. Dealing with him first would mean to alter the battle situation entirely.
"Let's go!" With limited time, He Ming quickly adjusted their tactics a little before leading the team onstage.
At the same time, at another much anticipated match, Wind Howl versus 301 Degrees had already entered the team competition stage.
In the 1v1s, the two teams had ended up with a 4 to 1, Wind Howl taking the lead on their home turf and only losing one point.
As for the team competition afterwards...
Man to man!
Wind Howl seemed to have tasted the sweetness of this strategy after their victory against Blue Rain. For them, who didn't have any sort of high-end strategy at the moment, dividing the opponent and conquering them through isolating the match into five 1v1s which depended on individual strength seemed like a good choice.
Of course, Wind Howl wasn't naive enough to think that 301 Degrees wouldn't be watching out for this strategy after that last match. When the match begun, Wind Howl, very uncharacteristically, didn't charge right for the center of the map. This was something extremely rare after Tang Hao had become the captain.
Wind Howl used their map advantage for their home game and split up, preparing to observe 301 Degrees from the flanks. After approaching, they saw that, as expected, 301 Degrees was on guard against their man to man offense they had used against Blue Rain. The characters of 301 Degrees were all standing closer together than usual. Every character could assure that they'll have at least two other characters' support. If they charged right in, they probably wouldn't be able to tear their team apart.
However, since Wind Howl had been expecting their opponents to be on guard against this, they naturally had their own way to deal with it. This week, Team Wind Howl had focused on practicing how to dismantle an opponent in a formation primed for teamwork and support, tearing them apart into one on ones.
After observing 301 Degrees' current formation, they quickly communicated their plans in their team channel and then Wind Howl's characters charged out from the sides.
Brawler Demon Subduer, Elementalist Beautiful Light, Spell Blade Total Darkness, Qi Master Qi Breaker, Thief Doubtful Demon.
Five classes, no healer. Wind Howl had once again executed this daring strategy.
Demond Subduer, Tyrannical Chain Punch!
Tang Hao's Demon Subduer was the first to lunge. For this skill, shoving the opponent onto the ground was equal to a grab, a very powerful control.
Qi Breaker, Cloud Grasping Fist!
Guo Yang had truly met an opportunity at Wind Howl this season, though his current Qi Master character, Qi Breaker, was rather weak. Although this was that powerful Qi Master of Excellent Era's glorious past, when the Challenger League happened, Excellent Era didn't have a Qi Master character and so this character wasn't upgraded with the big update. It wasn't until Wind Howl bought the character for a low price a Excellent Era's clearance sale that its equipment began to be upgraded, so it was natural that it was a little behind. However, for Guo Yang, this was the character he was most familiar with, one he had used for years, and it was much smoother than the character Wind Howl had given him last year. Although Wind Howl hadn't had the best journey this season, he only got better with time and stabilized his position as the last member of Wind Howl's team competition lineup. In the current Wind Howl, apart from Ruan Yonglin, all the players had changed from before.
Right now, he cooperated with Tang Hao, of the two Fighters, one closed in and grabbed a target and the other snatched a target from afar.
Afterwards, Beautiful Light began the cast for the AoE Heavenly Lightning Earthen Fire while Liu Hao's Total Darkness sent Wave Sword after Wave Sword into 301 Degree's formation. Lin Feng's Doubtful Demon, a battle Thief that didn't care for dirty play, went into pursuit, using this opportunity to start isolating his own target.
"Wind Howl's teamwork isn't bad!" Commentator Li Yibo called out. Team 301 Degrees was clearly having some trouble reacting to Wind Howl's offensive.
Demon Subduer's attack should be dodged.
Qi Breaker and Beautiful Light's attacks should be interrupted, but the two were far off.
Total Darkness' Wave Sword attacks were sweeping into their team, cutting up their formation.
Everything had occurred simultaneously, and there wasn't enough time for giving orders. In these situations, they could only rely on their teamwork and synchronization, on the reactions of the individual team members.
However, 301 Degrees' weakness was unfortunately exposed. Their team had their new core member join during the winter transfer window and their strategy had gone through a metamorphosis. Though they were doing well, it didn't change the fact that they were still in a transitional period, still trying to get familiar with one another.
Thus, in a situation that necessitated a high level of synchronization between team members, where they had to be able to divide up their workloads, they erred.
Qi Breaker's Cloud Grasping Fist wasn't interrupted, and Knight Tide was pulled out of the formation.
Tide was originally using his shield to shield his teammates from Total Darkness' Wave Swords, preventing their formation from being ruined. But with him dragged off, Total Darkness' Wave Swords reached their formation, and 301 Degrees' formation scattered as the team members dodged. Lin Feng's Doubtful Demon took the opportunity to dart in, using a Staggering Blow to dizzy Gao Jie's Stellar Sword. Though Demon Subduer's Tyrannical Chain Punch had been dodged, Demon Subduer managed to grab 301 Degrees' Paladin, Sun Mingjin's Double O Seven, and throw him out of the formation in the confusion.
Currently, 301 Degree's formation had been completely destroyed. They hurriedly tried to adjust, but the weakness in their lacking synchronization once again surfaced. In the blink of an eye, they were thrown to a dire disadvantage.
In the end, Wind Howl won, which surprised many. No one would have thought that the 301 Degrees that everyone was nervous about facing, having been reborn after the winter transfer window with a new set of tactics, would lose to a team like Wind Howl, who was seen as weak.
"After Blue Rain, 301 Degrees, too… If succeeding the first time was just because they had it easy by catching their opponents off guard… But this time 301 Degrees had clearly been on guard against this playstyle of Wind Howl's, yet in the end, they still didn't manage to defend against it. Team Wind Howl acted swiftly, precisely, utilizing this man to man offensive to its fullest. I believe that we can reignite our hopes for this team. They seemed to have found the style that suits them," Li Yibo commented post-match.
"But wouldn't just one playstyle be too simple?" Pan Lin wondered aloud.
"One playstyle can be used in many different ways. I believe that Team Wind Howl won't just just stop here. They'll definitely continue to practice and perfect this playstyle. Of course, this doesn't mean that we can say for certain that they don't have any other strategies. In any case, this playstyle is a good new addition to Team Wind Howl's strategies. In the future, whenever a team faces Wind Howl, they'd have to be on guard for this and will have to practice countering this. This, in and of itself, is already one way to hinder their opponents," Li Yibo explained.
"You're too right! And this is where Wind Howl and 301 Degrees' match ends. This match really was fast. Currently, all other matches are still fighting their team competitions!" This live broadcast was surprisingly quick to end and the broadcasting channel was probably adjusting the plans for the time they had left over. The match had ended, but the broadcast was continuing. Pan Lin and Li Yibo then turned the match broadcast into a talk show.
"Hey, we can take a look at the other matches!" Li Yibo suggested.
"Wait!" Pan Lin merely took a glance before he cried out, "Ye Xiu didn't appear in the team competition between Happy and Miracle!"
"Oh? How come? We didn't get any news of this. Is he hurt or…? Did he fight in the individual competitions?" Li Yibo asked, rapidfire.
"He did fight in the individual competition, continuing his streak." Pan Lin looked over the information. "Huh? Luo Ji's appeared to play in this round."
Li Yibo was stunned for a moment. "Sending up rookies for experience, their team's core player Ye Xiu not playing… Does Happy think that their position in the playoffs are secured and they can treat the remaining matches as training for their troops?"