Realizing how TM was going to play later on, Greg took a big deep breath.
"We play safe and develop slowly."
Both Solo Laners were 1 vs 3 champs which was incredibly hard to pick them out even when they were pushing in lane alone.
Their best option was to let their damage dealers develop nicely and deal with them in the late game where they were supposed to fall off.
In the early game, they shouldn't feed them any kills and have an early lead just like in the previous game.
HL was determined to drag the game but of course, will TM agree? The answer is no.
As if paying back the debt, four men invaded the blue and they engaged in the 4 vs 3 fight.
Mary put down a cage stunning two of them in return. Kaze together with Yu Tian focused on taking out the ADC.
Zen zoned away the enemy Support and helped his team deal with the other two.
"First Blood!"
"Double kill!"
Two kills went to Kaze and the blue was stolen away by Zen. HL's Bot Lane was late to catch the wave which was a disastrous start for the team.
Nonetheless, Greg reassured, "It's fine. I will drop by bot after hitting level 3-"
"An Ally has been slain!"
Greg froze at this sudden announcement. He hurriedly turned to look at Mid only to see a half-health Yu Tian leisurely farming near his Mid Laner's corpse.
"Fish, didn't I tell you not to engage?!"
Starfish felt incredibly wrong from being scolded, "I did but who would have thought that Yu Tian is going all in despite being one level lower?!"
Starfish didn't participate in the last fight so he got to full-clear the first wave, unlike Yu Tian who arrived late into the lane.
Yu Tian was a swordsman, therefore, Starfish, a mage was supposed to be fine during the farming phase as long as he kept his distance.
Having a level advantage, Starfish would be a fool not to suppress his opponent. Due to this belief, he was caught unprepared by Yu Tian's sudden move.
Greg cooled his head down and lightly said, "I will go help Bot first and come to you later."
"Ok."
With that being said, Starfish went back to the lane. However, the moment he came back, Yu Tian immediately initiated another attack on him.
Starfish briefly hesitated between retreating and fighting back. Yu Tian didn't base so he was still half-health and the probability of winning was quite high for him.
Due to this indecisiveness, Zen suddenly came out of the bush, dashed onto him, and knocked him in Yu Tian's direction.
Instantaneously, Yu Tian thrust his sword forward stunning the enemy in return. Starfish didn't even have the time to flash as Yu Tian proceeded to finish him off cleanly with a few more strikes.
Starfish dumbfoundedly looked at his KDA and Yu Tian's at 4 minutes.
0/2/0
2/0/3
Starfish: "... I am sorry."
Brandy, "It's fine. We are scaling."
Even though Brandy said so, he was not confident in his words.
TM was playing such an aggressive comp that they were not safe even sitting under the turret.
Both their Top and Mid were having a hard time dealing with their respective opponents.
As a Support, he could roam and make some plays but he was held back by TM's Bot Lane.
Ever since Kaze got two heads in the early game, their Bot Lane was miserable.
Brandy was also a veteran Support. He missed the international stage for two seasons so he has never played against this rookie duo before.
However, it didn't mean that he had never known BlackLotus's reputation. After all, this was a newbie who was hailed as the second Shen.
Regardless, TM had three rookies which meant their teamwork still needed some time to integrate and adapt.
He initially thought that they should take one win from today's match but it looked like his ego was too big...
"I am here."
Greg arrived in the Bot lane signaling his teammates to go in. Brandy immediately acted and engaged.
He tossed a hook in Kaze's direction but the latter dodged with his teleport. Fortunately, Greg had already anticipated this and tossed a net to root Kaze soon after.
Mary helped her ADC by putting down a cage around him causing both Jungler and Support to be stunned.
Starfish's anxious voice was soon heard, "Yu Tian is missing!"
The moment this warning came out, Yu Tian whose whereabouts were unknown reappeared in the Bot lane. He activated his Ult and dashed to attack the stunned targets.
While his Ult was active, every strike he dealt would be true damage and heal him based on a certain percentage of the damage dealt. In the meantime, he would receive an increase in movement speed and attack speed.
HL has a level 4 Jungler so what? They have a level 6 Mid Laner to counter-gank!
The outcome was predictable. No one survived. Yu Tian amassed three heads and one turret.
At the same time, Greg heard Mike's exclaim before it ended with another head at the Top Lane.
It turned out that while they were fighting in the bot. Silence ganked Top and helped his teammate secure another kill.
At this moment, Greg numbly watched as Silence together with OldLongTea hit the Young Saint. In the meantime, Yu Tian took the lead to attack the Earth Dragon with his Bot Laners.
As a Jungler, this felt like sh*t.
All his three lanes fell behind and he couldn't secure any objectives or apply any pressure!
Don't even mention trying to steal the enemy's resources! With such a terrible gatekeeper, he might send another head to Yu Tian for free!
Greg felt his balls hurt. Glancing at their economy it became even more depressing.
"Group Mid."
The Young Saint was dropped at Mid and four of TM's players quickly gathered in the Mid Lane.
Despite being outnumbered, TM was fearless and pressed HL relentlessly. After securing the outer turret, they even attempted to take the second-tier turret too!
Greg wouldn't take this beating without fighting back and commanded his team to go all in.
Mike dashed in trying to stun the enemy team but almost immediately, Zen flashed past him and went for the backline.
Activating his Ult, he pulled all four people in and knocked them up. Kaze followed him with Aoe Ult easily hitting all four people.
Dame ignored Mike and jumped in to finish the four.
Mike who was ignored got caged by Mary and was forced to flash out to save his teammate.
However, he was still too late and soon killed by Kaze.
"An ally turret has been destroyed!"
Everyone went silent when they saw Yu Tian down in Bot Lane casually securing another objective by himself before basing.
HL: "..." At this time, he is actually spilt-pushing?!
To make matters worse, after TM took down the second-tier turret and went back to their base, Dame immediately teleported to the Top Lane and managed to take down another outer turret.
It had to be said that to this time, HL hasn't gotten a single kill, a turret, or an objective yet...
HL's Coach warily shook his head. Be it micro or macro management, TM was way better than them.
They all thought TM's strength was in decline but it was such a grave mistake!
Coming back to the game, HL seemed to finally lose it and all together crazily chased Yu Tian ignoring the recently spawned Saint completely.
Seeing his gray screen, Fu Yue was a bit speechless.
"Am I worth that much?"
Li Haoran cheerfully laughed, "Haha, I guess the game can be lost but they must kill you at least once to vent their anger!"
Zhao Fu's voice was full of sympathy toward their enemies, "Split-pushing Yu Tian must have annoyed them."
After the word victory floated on the screen, Fu Yue went back to the lobby and everyone bid their farewell.
[Abxcd1: Good luck with your future matches]
[Ghjkl1: You too.]
[Abxcd2: TM Mid!]
[Ghjkl2: ?]
[Abxcd2: Make sure to play this well in your official match!]
[Ghjkl2: OK:)]
Seeing that everyone had taken off their headphone, Coach He clapped his hands to get their attention
"Okay, let's review the matches right away."
Coach He first pointed out several mistakes that they made.
"Some of the shot callings were quite risky but fortunately, everyone listened and executed the plan well. However, this won't work with strong teams, so Fu Yue, I hope you can tone this down for a bit."
Fu Yue didn't disagree with him and nodded his head obediently.
In the past, this was one of his misgivings. Fu Yue indeed toned it down but lately, it felt like his reckless habit has returned.
Coach He proceeded to point out the other's mistakes and finally ended the meeting with praises since they worked together really well for a new roster.
Yang Yuxuan checked the time on his phone and suddenly asked Fu Yue, "Fu Yue, do you want to come to the Night Market with us?"
Ever since coming here, Fu Yue didn't have the time to sightsee this new world so he excitedly nodded his head.
He then habitually turned to ask the taller man, "Are you coming too, Captain?"
At his question, the other three looked up at their Captain in unison.
Seeing that their Captain didn't reply right away, they all thought that he would decline just like last year.
Unexpectedly, it was the opposite.
"Ok."
Wei Chen unhurriedly said, "Quickly get change. I will start the car."
Fu Yue smilingly added, "Wear warm clothes to avoid catching a cold. See you guys in a bit!"
Li Haoran emotionally sighed, "Captain has fallen!"
Yang Yuxuan nonchalantly walked away with his hands folded on top of his chest, "I guess there is really something called fate."
Zhao Fu who still failed to find that something was off, "...?"
The trip didn't take long and they soon arrived at the bustling alleys.
It was already 9 pm but the streets were brightly lit and packed with customers. Perhaps, since the festive mood of the new year remained, it was particularly noisy.
Fu Yue's eyes lit up at all those delicious-looking street foods. He together with Li Haoran and Zhao Fu ran from one stall to another eating non-stop.
Yang Yuxuan was more interested in crafts and jades so he didn't eat much.
As for Wei Chen, he obediently took a bite whenever Fu Yue offered him food and he actually ate quite a lot.
To be honest, Wei Chen didn't particularly like crowded places. Rather than coming for a stroll like this, he preferred playing the game.
Last year, only Zhao Fu, Yang Yuxuan, and Li Haoran came out to play. Xieyu had a plan with his friends and didn't join them.
Wei Chen noticed that his teammates were quite tense around him. As a result, he didn't go with them to spoil the mood.
But this time was different.
Watching Fu Yue ask him as if it was a natural thing to do, Wei Chen felt somewhat pleased deep down.