Yu Wenzhou didn’t neglect their loss in group arena. It was just that from the start, Happy’s arrangements never seemed to take advantage of this point. Even now, Yu Wenzhou wasn’t sure whether Happy had planned this from the beginning, or if it had been an adjustment based on the flow the team competition.
Throughout the course of team competition, he had been trying to guess what Happy’s goals were, but whenever he made a realization, he was always a half beat too slow.
This delay was fatal for him and Blue Rain.
Blue Rain played reactively. A reactive playstyle required one to pinpoint the opponent’s lifeline and then target it. It was through this style that Yu Wenzhou became a Master Tactician. He reacted quickly and thought through issues meticulously, allowing him to swiftly read the situation. Then, he would grasp the opponent’s goals and search out a way to destroy the opponent’s strategy.
However, Happy had carefully concealed their goals from the start. For a period of time, Blue Rain didn’t even have knowledge of Happy’s team composition.
Huang Shaotian had been sent out to investigate, but he ended up trapped by Happy. The rest of Team Blue Rain was forced to be drawn out. This was their first mistake.
However, Blue Rain had no choice but to make the mistake. At the time, the enemy plans weren’t clear, and Yu Wenzhou had no plans to launch a counterattack. As a result, Blue Rain prepared to rescue Huang Shaotian and would make adjustments after doing so.
But then, Happy started giving out candy.
Wei Chen went in for a 1v2. This sort of ace player reliant strategy was commonly used to create a balance on the ace player’s end, while the other side of the battle established a numbers advantage. However, in this match, Wei Chen was at an absolute disadvantage in the 1v2, while the other side of the battle was still just a 3v3. Moreover, for Happy, it was a 3v3 without a healer.
Happy was at a disadvantage in both sides of the battle. If Blue Rain couldn’t grasp this opportunity, they would not be Blue Rain.
Wei Chen’s tenacity was unexpected though. He had successfully stalled two players, causing Blue Rain’s healer to overuse his mana to support Blue Rain’s offense.
In the end, Wei Chen’s Windward Formation died. From this point, Blue Rain seemed to have grasped onto another opportunity, happily gaining a numbers advantage.
They had also used this advantage. When Happy started relying on their healer in the 4v5, Blue Rain decisively targeted Happy’s healer.
At this moment, Happy gave Blue Rain another piece of candy.
They actually abandoned their main pillar of support in the 4v5: their healer.
Happy made a trade with Blue Rain. Both healers ended up as sacrifices. Although Happy had taken out Blue Rain’s healer first, making it more difficult for Blue Rain to finish off their healer, no one would say that Happy had the upper hand.
Up until Qiao Yifan’s One Inch Ash arrived at the perfect time.
It was beautiful usage of the difference in distance between the two team’s support zones. Blue Rain had less health overall too. If that was all, Happy still wouldn’t have the advantage. However, once their group arena two point lead was taken into account, everything made sense.
Why did Happy work so hard to establish an advantage for their healer and then abandon it all so quickly?
Because their advantage didn’t come from having more mana or having more players on their side.
Yu Wenzhou understood everything now. Happy didn’t want a direct confrontation, especially a 5v5 battle.
The reason?
Just like many of their matches in the regular season, they protected their healer.
Yes, abandoning their healer was a form of protection. An Wenyi may have improved considerably, and his character may have been built just for him, but his capabilities still couldn’t match the capabilities of the healers from powerhouse teams.
The more complex the battle, the more unfavorable it was for An Wenyi and Team Happy. As a result, they simply avoided it. They had no intentions of relying on their healer to win because their healer had never been their strength.
They utilized this so-called advantage, constructing their plans around it. All of these plans came together to take advantage of their true strengths.
No healer.
Team Happy: Ye Xiu, Su Mucheng, Fang Rui, Qiao Yifan.
Team Blue Rain: Yu Wenzhou, Huang Shaotian, Lu Hanwen, Zheng Xuan.
From the names, Happy’s player roster stood shoulder to shoulder with Blue Rain’s.
As for characters, Lord Grim’s class itself was an advantage, let alone his full set of Level 80 Silver equipment.
Dancing Rain and Boundless Sea were All-Star characters. Their foundation was there. In terms of upgrading Level 70 Silver equipment to Level 75, the powerhouse teams were no better than Happy. Happy took an even higher-end route. The amount of Level 75 materials in their possession was no fewer than the amount of Level 75 materials that the other teams had. In addition, these two also had Level 80 Silver equipment.
Blue Rain’s biggest advantage was their extra player.
But Song Xiao’s Receding Tides was still heading over, so this advantage didn’t exist right now!
Hurry! Hurry!
The cameraman would focus on Receding Tides from time to time. He wasn’t in the fight at the moment, but everyone knew that he was this match’s deciding factor, especially for Blue Rain.
Blue Rain was trying to stall until Song Xiao arrived.
But Happy understood their intentions. Happy wasn’t going to play tactics with them. Their only goal was to attack regardless of anything else.
Holy light would flash from time to time in this chaotic battle. Ye Xiu was still having his Lord Grim heal. But in this battle without healers, his bit of healing became all the more precious. It was especially loathsome to Blue Rain.
The health on both sides could be depicted as downward slopes.
Who would be the first to fall?
Seeing where Receding Tides was located, everyone was certain of this point. Before he arrived, someone would certainly die. But who?
From the remaining health on each character, Huang Shaotian’s Troubling Rain had the lowest. Ever since he started his investigation at the beginning of the match, Huang Shaotian had never rested. He had constantly been in high-intensity fights. His Troubling Rain’s health had never gone up. When Soul Speaker died, he had the lowest health on the team. And he was someone who needed to fight in close range, which naturally made him a target for Happy.
No way to retreat.
If Blue Rain could retreat, they would have certainly done so. Then, they would convene with Song Xiao.
But Happy bit at them too tightly. If they tried to force a retreat and let Happy chase, they would only lose health needlessly. If things went poorly, their corpses might all that be left.
All they could do was try to move the battle towards Song Xiao.
Persist!
Everyone understood. They grit their teeth and bore the pain. The countless people in the crowd stood up anxiously. Happy looked to have the advantage in health, but it wasn’t to the point of having no worries. A single mistake could turn everything around.
Come on!
None of the players on either team could sit still as they stood up and stared at the match screen.
Troubling Rain, 6%!
Who would be the first to fall?
Huang Shaotian had pulled off several miracles this round. Could we see another one with just 6% of his health left?
No one regarded Huang Shaotian as a dead man. As long as he stood on the field, he would always be the greatest threat.
Sword’s Divine Judgement!
Troubling Rain suddenly activated his awakening skill. Huang Shaotian had waited a long time before using this skill. It was a skill that could open up the current situation. As long as there was an opportunity, Blue Rain would still choose to retreat to get closer to Song Xiao.
But..
Qi Guard!
Fang Rui’s Boundless Sea raised both arms, forming a Qi Guard, shielding Lord Grim, Boundless Sea, and One Inch Ash all at once. Su Mucheng’s Dancing Rain was outside of the attack’s range and wouldn’t be affected by the wave of sword qi.
Ye Xiu’s Lord Grim took advantage of the Qi Guard to complete a cast.
Devil World Flower!
A Summoner skill was used, a level one Devil World Flower. It had low health and light attacks, but its functionality was comprehensive.
Zheng Xuan’s Bullet Rain immediately fired a Blazing Bullet.
Lord Grim’s Myriad Manifestations Umbrella suddenly opened.
Bang!
The flames spread out from the impact between Blazing Bullet and the Myriad Manifestations Umbrella. The Devil World Flower was unaffected, its vines extending out.
Blue Rain was annoyed! It was such a critical moment, and now they had another target to worry about.
Huang Shaotian’s Troubling Rain leaped into the air, dodging the curling vines. His sword fell. With the buff from Sword’s Divine Judgement, the swing was faster and more ferocious. Before he even landed, the Devil World Flower was cut into pieces.
But Ye Xiu’s Lord Grim was waiting for him!
Circle Swing!
The Myriad Manifestations Umbrella transformed into a spear and struck towards the sky. Troubling Rain hastily swung his sword to try and block it, but he was too late. The spear stabbed into Troubling Rain and instantly flung him down.
Blue Rain’s other team members immediately tried to save him, but Troubling Rain only had so much health left. How could Happy let him go? Kill!
Troubling Rain became the first to fall. Happy’s fans cheered, while Blue Rain’s fans grit their teeth.
“Sigh… what a pity…” Pan Lin sighed. He had high hopes for Huang Shaotian. He had expected him to perform one final explosive display, but in the end, all he ended up doing was trading his life for a Devil World Flower.
“From the numbers, Huang Shaotian’s hand speed seemed to have fallen,” Li Yibo looked at player hand speed stats and said.
“Ah?”
“He was in a very tense situation throughout the entire match!” Li Yibo said.
Pan Lin let out a sigh. Although it was somewhat unfortunate, no one was a machine. Huang Shaotian hadn’t had a single moment of rest. He had exhausted the most energy out of anyone else in the match.
“But Blue Rain seized this opportunity and took out quite a bit of Boundless Sea’s health,” Li Yibo said.
“Boundless Sea still has 11% health left. Happy has the 4v3 for a short period of time! Ah! Boundless Sea doesn’t care about himself at all. Happy’s focusing on Flowing Cloud!” Pan Lin said.