Chapter 1214: Observer Wei Chen
Translator: Nomyummi Editor: Nomyummi
The players sent up for the team competition walked onto the stage.
Happy - Ye Xiu, Su Mucheng, Tang Rou, Wei Chen, Fang Rui.
Misty Rain - Chu Yunxiu, Li Hua, Shu Kexin, Shu Keyi, Feng Xiangming, Bai Qi.
Misty Rain's lineup for the team competition was rather unusual. Their team composition consisted of an Elementalist, Ninja, two Sharpshooters, and a Cleric.
Over the course of Glory history, all sorts of systematic analysis and experimentation had been done. In the early days, there had even been five Blade Master team comps, but these types of team comps quickly faded away. According to the current Glory meta, a team composition should have at least a melee class, a long-ranged class, and a healer with two other classes to build on this base.
But in Misty Rain's team comp, their melee classes weren't pure melee. Whether it was Taijutsu Sharpshooters or a both long and close ranged Ninja, none of these classes were true melee classes, yet this unconventional team composition was Misty Rain's main force. Their tactics revolved around this team comp.
According to past data, Misty Rain's team comp didn't seem to be reliable. Facing strong teams, their team had yet to win a single match. They had even lost their home game against Team 301, a team considered weaker than them.
even those who won, never expressed their disapproval of Misty Rain's innovative tactics. The one with the most persuasiveness was Team Tyranny's Master Tactician, Zhang Xinjie. In their 6-4 match against Misty Rain, Tyranny had lost their points in the individual competition and group arena, but in the post-match press conference, Zhang Xinjie focused more on Misty Rain's performance in the team competition.
"Very flexible with lots of variations."
This was Zhang Xinjie's evaluation of Misty Rain's team comp and playstyle. It was very simple, only six words, but was just how Zhang Xinjie spoke. Everyone knew that Zhang Xinjie would never talk about anything without reason. He might not say that something was nine, but if he said it, then it was definitely nine, and not eight or ten.
As a result, Misty Rain's team comp and playstyle led to quite a bit of discussion.
Tactics were never secrets because you had to use them on stage for everyone to see. Thus, many tactics were common among everyone. The difference between strong teams and weak teams was an issue of a team's execution.
The analysis and discussion towards Misty Rain's tactics leaned towards the positive side, which meant their rather poor win record was because of their execution. After all, this was the first season Misty Rain started running this playstyle. They needed time to practice and familiarize themselves with it.
Every opponent each round was a sharpening stone for Misty Rain. However, no team was willing to become their stepping stone. Happy wasn't willing either.
Happy had carefully discussed and analyzed Misty Rain's playstyle in their prepwork. In the end, they arranged this team lineup to counter it. Wei Chen would be appearing for his first time in the team competition in Round 12. His Warlock was undoubtedly a crucial part to Happy's strategy.
Wei Chen, who was sitting in the player booth, wasn't calm. The stadium and the seats, none of these were the same as when he had played competitively back then. Even though he was an experienced old general, in reality, he was new to the modern Glory competition. The seat under his butt felt uncomfortable and the sealed player booth felt stuffy.
A cigarette would be great… Wei Chen thought to himself, but when he looked around the interior of the player booth, he could clearly see a sign prohibiting smoking. Fuck, this senior won't smoke, but just dangling a cigarette in my mouth is fine, right? Wei Chen felt indignant. He felt out a cigarette from his pocket and put it in his mouth.
The five second countdown passed, and the two teams loaded into the map.
The map was Mud River Peninsula and was split into four sections, linked together by a narrow piece of land. The separation between these four sections could be crossed; they were just a collection of small or large swamps. The center of the map also had a circular swamp. Characters could go into the swamps and not receive damage, but their movement speed would be slowed by 70%. This map was clearly a restrictive map. Apart from the swamps, there were lots of trees that could be used for protection. Happy had clearly chosen this map to restrict Misty Rain's long-ranged classes.
Happy loaded into the northwest corner of the peninsula, while Misty Rain loaded into the southeast corner.
Wei Chen sucked in a deep breath and had Windward Formation set out according to the strategy the team had prepared.
Team Happy's five players split up into three groups as they moved forward. Tang Rou, Su Mucheng, and An Wenyi went straight ahead, while Ye Xiu and Wei Chen circled around from the left and right.
The middle group moved more slowly to match the pace of the two circling from the left and right. The three groups were constantly updating each other with their positions as they advanced.
The team competition maps were much larger than the 1v1 maps, but that didn't mean the two sides would take a long time to find each other. The middle group were gradually starting to see the circular swamps in the central region appearing within their sight, but they were intentionally slowing their pace, so since they had yet to see Misty Rain, they knew that Misty Rain took a roundabout path.
The middle group informed Ye Xiu and Wei Chen, the two on their left and right.
"I know, they're on my side…" Wei Chen had been just about to notify them!
Windward Formation was hiding in a shrub on the side. Misty Rain's five characters hadn't scattered and were concentrated in one place, preparing to traverse through the swamps to directly cut across to the southwest region. If they moved along the swamp line, they would get to the rear of Happy.
Too bad they've been found by this senior.
Wei Chen peeped at them, while delightedly plotting what he should do next. If Happy had been together, then ambushing them while Misty Rain was traversing through the swamps would be the most optimal choice, but since he was alone...
Wei Chen hesitated.
Even though his Windward Formation had an abnormally long range, that was only relative to his class. Misty Rain had two Sharpshooters, whose natural attack ranges were above Mages. Even with Windward Formation's increased cast range from his weapon Death's Hand, he had no advantage over these two Sharpshooters.
"Misty Rain is forcefully traversing through the swamps. Do you guys think I should attack or not…" Unsure of what to do, Wei Chen asked for the opinion of his teammates.
"They have two Sharpshooters. You won't be able to suppress them!" Ye Xiu replied.
"Stealthily place a Death's Door to their side?" Wei Chen said.
"Windy Rain's spells will instantly blow it up," Ye Xiu said.
Stealthily placing a Death's Door was a concept that only existed among the normal players. Death's Door made a huge disturbance when cast and required the caster to control it. Pro players could easily deduce the enemy Warlock's position.
"Then what do I do?"
"We'll prepare an ambush at the Half Moon Rock in the 9 o'clock position, while you go back on your original path and cut to their rear," Ye Xiu replied.
"They're probably… about a minute away from the Half Moon Rock, assuming that they directly move in that direction," Wei Chen calculated from Misty Rain's movement speed.
"Good, that's enough time. Are you fine?" Ye Xiu said.
"No problems here," Wei Chen replied.
"Don't appear in front of them too early," Ye Xiu said.
"Hahaha, hilarious," Wei Chen replied. He didn't hurry to move his Windward Formation into position. He continued to crouch inside the bush, watching as Misty Rain's five players moved through the swamp towards the southwest corner.
"They've passed through." After Wei Chen sent the message, Windward Formation finally left the brush.
Half Moon Rock.
Situated at the link between the northwest and southwest region, Tang Rou's Soft Mist leaned on the outer edge of the rock with her spear propped up. In just one step, she could launch an attack on any passing characters. Su Mucheng's Dancing Rain leaped to a spot three-quarters of the way up the Half Moon Rock. In one jump, she would be able to reach the top of the rock, letting her suppress the enemies with her firepower from the high ground. An Wenyi's Little Cold Hands didn't need to find an attacking position. He just moved into a position between the two characters to support them.
"In position."
"In position."
"In position."
The three players each confirmed that they had reached their chosen positions.
Would they succeed in ambushing Misty Rain?
The suspense was unfolding before them. The live crowd and the viewers watching the broadcast waited for the moment to happen.
After Team Misty Rain crossed through the swamp, their movement speed returned to normal, and they quickly advanced forward. Soon, the Half Moon Rock was within their sights. Wei Chen's Windward Formation reached this area one step ahead of them. He once again found an ambush spot in a shrub by the road and observed Team Misty Rain's movements.
"They've arrived."
"They've slowed down. They're probably wary of the Half Moon Rock."
"They've changed direction. They're not heading towards Half Moon Rock."
"Fuck, they're coming my way."
"Then you're the bait! Go lure them into our ambush!" Ye Xiu made a firm decision.
"How evil." Wei Chen cursed, but he also approved of this decision. Windward Formation suddenly scurried out of the bush.
Bang!
Lower Your Head, None Dare Attack!
Having changed from male to female characters through a backdoor, the Shu sisters immediately fired at Windward Formation.
Windward Formation rolled and crawled frantically, moving in a beautiful S path.
Bang!
An incomparably powerful sounding gunshot sounded.
Lower Your Head directly mounted Thunder Snipe and fired a heavy shot amidst None Dare Attack's rain of bullets.
Windward Formation wasn't able to avoid the snipe. Blood spurted from his wound. Both person and blood tumbled forward.
"How fierce…" Wei Chen didn't forget to give a remark when he was hit.
"Keep up the good work," Ye Xiu encouraged him.
"Where the fuck are you?" Wei Chen asked. Ye Xiu wasn't among the ones who confirmed they were in position.
"I'm ready to help you at any moment," Ye Xiu said.
Wei Chen turned around to look. Misty Rain had started speeding up, looking as if they wouldn't rest until he died. The two Sharpshooters shot a hail of bullets, putting Wei Chen's reactions to the test. Windward Formation was instantly hit by several bullets.
Fuck, if this was ten years ago...
Wei Chen's reaction speed and mechanical skill weren't able to keep up. He suddenly realized that he might not be able to complete his mission as bait.
"Help!" Wei Chen immediately called for help.
Dancing Rain leaped onto the top of Half Moon Rock, propped up her heavy cannon, and started firing!
Chapter 1215: Suppression From Map and Skill
Translator: Nomyummi Editor: Nomyummi
Explosive artillery fire headed straight towards the center of Misty Rain's formation. The AoE covered by her attacks could not be ignored. The five Misty Rain players immediately had their characters dodge, instantly pulling their formation apart. They weren't planning on giving Su Mucheng an opportunity to burst them all at once.
As the Misty Rain players avoided the artillery fire, they didn't loosen their attacks towards Windward Formation. They seemed to have no intention of firing back at Dancing Rain.
As a result, Su Mucheng also switched targets. Her dazzling artillery barrage fired towards Windward Formation.
Everyone was struck dumb.
Windward Formation wouldn't take damage from his ally's attacks, and the light from the artillery fire made his figure flicker, appearing and disappearing intermittently. This was Zhang Jiale's famous Hundred Blossoms style.
Team Misty Rain was suddenly unable to effectively locate and attack Windward Formation. The Shu sisters immediately switched targets, and their bullets fired towards Dancing Rain at the top of the Half Moon Rock.
Su Mucheng didn't retreat. Dancing Rain only dodged the necessary incoming attacks, while taking the attacks that wouldn't affect her much. At the same time, a white light glowed around her. Little Cold Hands, who was hiding behind the Half Moon Rock, had started doing his work.
Without any danger of being attacked and only needing to focus his healing on Dancing Rain, An Wenyi's weaknesses were completely covered up. Under these conditions, An Wenyi's healing displayed an extremely high level of skill. Dancing Rain's health was maintained at a steady state.
Dancing Rain continued to provide cover for Windward Formation.
Chu Yunxiu realized that something wasn't right.
With the Shu sisters switching targets, Windward Formation was no longer under any pressure. Thus, Su Mucheng could easily switch targets too, yet why was she still protecting Windward Formation?
Absolute Focus!
Chu Yunxiu immediately had her Windy Rain activate a skill. Just when she was about to cast a high-level spell, Windy Rain was suddenly entrapped by an array of light. All of her skill icons turned gray, meaning they could not be used.
Spell Shackle!
Chu Yunxiu was startled. This was an Elementalist skill. If it had come from the enemy team, then it could only have been from their unspecialized, Lord Grim, and his Myriad Manifestation Umbrella's mage form.
Where was Lord Grim?
Spell Shackle was a silence. It did not stop her character from moving. Chu Yunxiu whirled around, but she couldn't see any signs of Lord Grim.
There's only one possibility...
Chu Yunxiu's gaze locked onto the dazzling light created by Dancing Rain.
The flickering of the light created a facade, falsely making it seem like the covered target was moving. In reality, Windward Formation might not be moving and might actually be casting some sort of powerful spell. Lord Grim had entered the light cover as well and sealed her attacks with a Spell Shackle. His intentions were obviously to protect Windward Formation...
Chu Yunxiu instantly read and understood Happy's strategic intentions.
"Focus your fire onto Windward Formation!" Unable to attack, she immediately sent down a command in their team channel.
The Shu sisters didn't really understand why they should, but they followed their captain's orders. The two Sharpshooters switched fire back to Windward Formation, but where was he positioned at? The two weren't able to accurately grasp his location.
Chu Yunxiu felt a bad premonition in her heart. Although the Sharpshooters attacked fast, their coverage was small since they didn't have any AoE skills.
"Scatter!" At this moment, she could only take precautionary measures. Windward Formation was most likely casting a spell such as Death's Door.
Chu Yunxiu's prediction was absolutely correct. At this moment, an evil aura condensed into Death's Door right in the center of Misty Rain's formation.
The light screen from Dancing Rain's Hundred Blossoms style suddenly dimmed. Misty Rain's players could now see that inside this light screen, Lord Grim had his Myriad Manifestations Umbrella open, shielding Windward Formation.
How did he suddenly get there? It had to be from some instant movement skill like Shadow Clone Technique. But the issue wasn't the process, but rather the result.
Death's Door had been summoned, and it was now starting its work. Black tendrils extended out of the door, grabbing towards Misty Rain's five players.
Yes, five!
Chu Yunxiu's "Scatter!" had been too late. Everyone in Misty Rain was still inside Death's Door's range.
Some were still closer than others though.
Shu Keyi's Lower Your Head stepped back a few times and reached the safe zone. She was the farthest away, being able to escape from the Death's Door with just a few steps. The closest was Li Hua's Dark Forest. However, Ninjas had the most escape skills out of any class! Substitution Technique into Shadow Clone Technique into the Assassin's high speed dash, Shining Cut, Dark Forest was the second to escape.
The remaining three were in a more difficult situation. Being farther away from the safe area than Shu Keyi, their characters weren't able to escape so quickly. All of them were running away and dodging for their lives!
Interrupt Death's Door!
This was the first thing that popped into Shu Keyi's mind. However, Lord Grim's Myriad Manifestation Umbrella being wide open like that was rather discouraging. Shu Keyi tried moving around to adjust Lower Your Head's attack angle, but unfortunately, this wasn't something that could be done in an instant. If she moved left, she would be blocked by the Half Moon Rock. If she moved right, she would be inside Death's Door's range, and she obviously couldn't force her way into there. And if she circled around, by the time she got into position, Death's Door would already be over.
Helpless, Shu Keyi discovered that while she had escaped, there was nothing she could do.
This...
This had to be planned!
Being able to escape so easily yet unable to attack Windward Formation, Shu Keyi felt like this wasn't luck. This was the enemy team fully utilizing the map and their skills to meticulously squeeze the amount of space available to maneuver.
Li Hua, the second to escape from Death's Door, was in an even more awkward position. He wanted to hurry and break Windward Formation's spell, but he was suddenly in the same predicament as Shu Keyi.
They could only watch as their teammates struggled to escape from Death's Door, while they seemed to be stuck in a crack, unable to move even a single step.
Even if I can't interrupt him, I can't just do nothing!
Li Hua's Dark Forest shot to the left and leapt onto Half Moon Rock.
The Number One Ninja's ninjato skills were undoubtedly extremely high. Watching Dark Forest's agility, quickness, and fluidity was a sight to enjoy. The crowd couldn't help but wish that there was no top to reach.
Happy wished for that too, but unfortunately, that wasn't reality. Dark Forest quickly scaled Half Moon Rock, heading towards Dancing Rain.
Facing melee attacks, Dancing Rain could not forcefully take the hits like before. After all, she was a Launcher, a long-ranged class. If the harassment was enough to mess up her aim, then it was equivalent to her being suppressed.
Su Mucheng immediately used Aerial Fire, and Dancing Rain jumped off of Half Moon Rock. Li Hua didn't stop to rest. Dark Forest jumped in midair, attacking Dancing Rain with Flickering Pursuit. But just before he did this, he threw a Shuriken. His target, Windward Formation!
Jumping over the Half Moon Rock, Li Hua found an angle at which he could avoid the Myriad Manifestation Umbrella's shield and directly attack Windward Formation.
"Beautiful! Too beautiful!" the commentator, Pan Lin, yelled in admiration.
"Yes, outstanding," Li Yibo followed up. Of course, he had to expound on it. "Happy's tactical formation is quite remarkable. The two who escaped from Death's Door were stuck between Half Moon Rock and Death's Door, unable to interrupt Windward Formation's cast. Unfortunately, they ignored a point. For Li Hua's Dark Forest, Half Moon Rock can't be considered a cover. Even though it required a bit more time, Li Hua was able to successfully break through!"
"A brilliant play," Pan Lin continued to give praise.
As the two praised, the Body Pathway Derangement struck Dancing Rain multiple times, and that Shuriken was more than enough. While it's true that Lord Grim could turn his umbrella around and block it, an opening at the front would appear, and the three escaping from Death's Door definitely wouldn't miss such an opportunity.
Death's Door, interrupted!
Fortunately, this was Happy's home stadium. If not, the cheers and applause from the crowd would have shaken the stadium. The commentators, Pan Lin and Li Yibo, continued to praise Li Hua. As for Li Hua, he discovered that below, Ye Xiu's Lord Grim was running back, waiting for him. Soft Mist, who was hiding behind Half Moon Rock, suddenly charged out, not towards his Dark Forest, but away from the Half Moon Rock.
Li Hua turned around. To Dark Forest's back was Half Moon Rock. He was completely cut off. He had no idea what the situation behind him was.
Li Hua was startled. Seeing Lord Grim, who had been ready for him, he realized that he had made a mistake.
He had been lured away from his team, and with how the enemy team was prepared for him, they didn't seem to be planning on letting him go back so easily.
This was the enemy team's true goal.
Li Hua understood now. He knew that the effect of him leaving the group was extremely large. Misty Rain's tactics revolved around him. Their team composition consisted of mainly long-ranged classes. Without him filling in the gap, their tactics were useless.
Shit...
Li Hua looked at Lord Grim, who didn't wait for Dark Forest to land before starting his attacks.
I have to hurry up and get away. Li Hua thought to himself. Then, he heard a crackle as Dark Forest was suddenly lit on fire.
Sacred Fire?
Li Hua watched in astonishment as his skill icons turned gray.
He hadn't seen any indication of the fire. This meant that the other side had precisely calculated Dark Forest's fall speed. The instant Sacred Fire burned, Dark Forest would land directly into it.
What type of calculative ability and mastery of timing is this?
Li Hua turned his gaze toward the rear of Half Moon Rock at the Cleric, who had always been viewed as weak.
Chapter end
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