Chapter 1001: Don’t Underestimate Your Opponent
Translator: Nomyummi Editor: Nomyummi
Seeing Tang Rou's expression, Ye Xiu made sure to give her a reminder. He had to say something that stunned everyone who heard him.
"Hey, don't underestimate your opponent!" Ye Xiu ran out of his seat and called out to Tang Rou.
Underestimate your opponent?
Xiao Shiqin was heading to the player booths and almost tripped when he heard these words. What was that? It sounded very unfamiliar? How long had it been since he heard someone utter those words?
Xiao Shiqin steadied himself. He couldn't help but turn around and look. After all, he didn't really have a good understanding of Tang Rou's personality. From her performance on stage, Xiao Shiqin couldn't see any reason for Tang Rou to underestimate him. Could it be that after a year away from the Alliance, he had already been ignored to such an extent?
Don't underestimate your enemy. Xiao Shiqin stared blankly for a long while until he saw Tang Rou reach her player booth. Only then did he continue walking.
When he got into his player booth, he had adjusted his mentality. He was an All Star player, who had seen all sorts of storms and waves after all. Something like that wouldn't drive him to his wit's end. However, he didn't lose his vigilance. He had a good grasp of Tang Rou's skill level from her match recordings, but perhaps she was hiding her strength? Or perhaps she had a mysterious trick up her sleeve that she had prepared specifically for him?
Xiao Shiqin carefully pondered over every possibility. It was this mentality that allowed him to become a Master Tactician, who cared deeply about the small things.
Ye Xiu warned Tang Rou not to be careless, but it resulted in Xiao Shiqin putting up his guard.
The match began. The map was Dockside Town. When the offline tournament kicked off, the maps chosen for the finals had been announced beforehand. A team like Excellent Era would certainly researched these maps thoroughly. They had no doubts that they'd reach the finals. As for Happy, just in the match against Jade Dynasty, Qiao Yifan had fully utilized the map to his advantage. Just from this alone, it could be seen that Happy didn't dare to be negligent in studying the maps for every match. Thus, their focus naturally wasn't as concentrated as Excellent Era's. Even though the map was new, Excellent Era's understanding of it was most likely deeper than Happy's The Esports Home issue released on this day had mentioned this point in the pre-match analysis. In addition to this, throughout the broadcast, the commentator hastily did some analysis during the map loading screen.
The Challenger League finals was a very important match. Even the broadcasting side wouldn't slack off. The previous broadcasts were all commentated solo, but for this match, the golden casting duo of the Glory League, Pan Lin and Lin Yibo, were both assigned.
After Pan Lin quickly introduced the advantages and disadvantages each side had for this map, Li Yibo lost no time and commented on how the map could be utilized.
"This Dockside Town carries the tradition of maps chosen by the Alliance. The style is all-around. Fighting in the water, streets, indoors, and so on could can all be taken advantage of on this map. But then again, I feel like calling this map Alley Town would be more appropriate?" Li Yibo commented.
"Haha, Coach Li, you're right. This map really should be called Alley Town. Okay, everyone can see that the two characters have loaded in. The one on the upper left corner of the map is Team Happy's Tang Rou. Her character is Soft Mist. The one in the lower right corner is Team Excellent Era's Xiao Shiqin. His character is Life Extinguisher, a character we are all very familiar with. He's left our sight for almost a year now! Now that he's appeared again, I'm sure many of our viewer friends are feeling reminiscent." The commentator Pan Lin said.
"The difference between him and the other players on Excellent Era is that Xiao Shiqin transferred into Excellent Era after Excellent Era was relegated last season. From this point, we can see his determination and foresight." Li Yibo said.
"Yeah, he obviously didn't join Excellent Era to play in the Challenger League. What he's looking at is Excellent Era's future next year." The commentator Pan Lin said.
"At this point, it should be the next half of this year." Li Yibo said.
"But he still has to help Excellent Era win this match first. Right now, the two characters have started moving. Tang Rou's Soft Mist is going straight towards the center, while Xiao Shiqin is moving more strategically." Pan Lin said.
"That's his usual style." Li Yibo said with understanding.
"Yes, I don't think there's a need to say too much about Xiao Shiqin. Then, let's talk about Team Happy's Tang Rou. What are your thoughts, Coach Li?" Pan Lin said.
"Hm, I've been paying attention to this player recently. Her skill is quite good. From what I've heard, there are numerous teams that are interested in her. Her future prospects are boundless!" Li Yibo said.
"Okay, Tang Rou's Soft Mist has already reached the center of the map, but there are no signs of her opponent."
"It seems like she's already realized that her opponent is moving more strategically. She's now having her Soft Mist move around." Pan Lin continued to speak as he watched the match.
"As a Master Tactician, Xiao Shiqin's playstyle is not limited to only one style. His style is dynamic. For a rookie like Tang Rou, who hasn't played Glory for very long, this could be quite fatal." Li Yibo added in a comment. From his omniscient view, he could see that Xiao Shiqin had already located Soft Mist and was currently circling around her.
"It looks like our previous analysis was correct. Excellent Era has a deeper understanding of this map. It seems like they've focused their research towards the finals early on." After seeing the path that Xiao Shiqin took, Li Yibo sighed with sorrow, "On the other hand, Happy's player appears to be a bit lost! A rookie's ability to grasp an unfamiliar map can't compare to a veteran's."
"Good! Right now, Xiao Shiqin's Life Extinguisher has already successfully circled around to Soft Mist's side. Tang Rou still hasn't noticed and is still moving forward. Ah, the terrain up ahead is very wide. Is she trying to letting the opponent find her?" Pan Lin said.
"If this terrain is used properly, she might be harassed to death by the Mechanic!" Li Yibo predicted how things would develop.
"Then what will Xiao Shiqin do? Life Extinguisher is quietly following behind her. Is he going to play dirty? Life Extinguisher hid a Bouncing Mine. It looks like he will be playing dirty! Mechanical Seeker has been sent out. And then….. Air Drop! Life Extinguisher summoned an Air Drop. He's going on the offensive!" Pan Lin said.
The two things nicknamed "Rising Winter Melons" flew above Soft Mist's head. Their stomachs opened and bombs rained down. Soft Mist rolled on the ground. After getting up, she dashed forward. The two "Rising Winter Melons" chased after her. The bombardment of bombs practically landed at her feet. A huge scene exploded behind her. Fire and earth flew everywhere.
The Air Drop was thrown behind her and kept on dropping bombs until the skill's duration ended. The instant the place quieted down, Tang Rou heard a kaka sound. She looked down. A little Mechanical Seeker had run up to her feet. Soft Mist hastily jumped up and her spear leapt at the small robot, creating a huge explosion.
"Tang Rou's reaction speed is very fast, but it's not over yet….."
Pan Lin wasn't able to finish his words, when he saw the airborne Soft Mist suddenly move towards the side.
"Ah, she dodged it??" Pan Lin cried out in astonishment.
From his omniscient view, he obviously saw it very clearly. After the Air Drop and Mechanical Seeker, Xiao Shiqin had thrown out an Air Compressor. This gadget used air pressure to attack the target. When it was initiated, it didn't release any light effects. The only clear warning was a bang, similar to when a champagne bottle was opened. The Mechanical Seeker's explosion covered up that sound, yet even in this situation, Soft Mist was able to evade it.
"How did she find out? How did she move in midair?" Pan Lin continued to be surprised. Usually, Coach Li Yibo would explain. Inviting him over as the guest was for him to interpret these complex interactions!
This time, when Pan Lin cried out, the person to his side was also quiet. He turned to look and saw that Li Yibo was also furrowing his brow in astonishment. It seemed like he didn't know either. The commentator didn't have to see through it and talk because these complicated situations were for the specialist to interpret. Li Yibo was their specialist in this case. If he couldn't see through it, it would be a bit embarrassing!
Pan Lin had already thrown the question out though. Even if Li Yibo couldn't answer it, he still had to give some sort of answer. He had the broadcast replay that scene for him. He carefully studied it, while the battle continued. Soft Mist landed on the ground and headed towards the Air Compressor.
Life Extinguisher's whereabouts had been exposed. He turned around and ran. Soft Mist chased after him; her foot landed on the Bouncing Mine that Xiao Shiqin had buried earlier.
The Bouncing Mine exploded. Soft Mist rolled, negating the knockback from the explosion. Soft Mist got up and continued to chase after Life Extinguisher, ignoring the scraps from the Bouncing Mine flying at her.
The broadcast seized the moment to play a quick cut of when Soft Mist leaped to avoid the Mechanical Seeker and her dodged the Air Compressor. The camera focused, zooming in on the instant Soft Mist's spear hit the Mechanical Seeker. Then, the replay went into slo-mo. Everyone saw it clearly. After the Mechanical Seeker blew up, the spear that should have been retracted suddenly moved sideways and stabbed into the ground. Soft Mist used this as leverage to quickly move through the air, allowing her to avoid that Air Compressor.
"In this instant, it wasn't possible for Tang Rou to have seen that Air Compressor, so there's only one possibility. When the Mechanical Seeker exploded, she heard the sound of the Air Compressor starting up." Li Yibo explained.
"This….. Is that possible?" Pan Lin asked.
"Uh, very experienced players might be able to differentiate between the sounds." Li Yibo said.
"But Tang Rou is only a rookie!" Pan Lin exclaimed.
"It looks like this rookie has extraordinary talent!" Li Yibo could only explain, but this explanation was actually correct. Tang Rou really did have incredible hearing.