FRY Team's coach looked full of confidence.
He held a notebook in his hand. On it was the strong lineup that FRY Team's coaches and Finger Games' Balancer had researched together. Without FV Team banning any core heroes, they successfully snatched the global hero they wanted: the Wings of the Blade.
FRY's coach was very happy. He felt that FV Team was most likely unprepared for this lineup. They would definitely be able to win by surprise if they released it as an ultimate move.
If they could get a good start in the first round of the 'best-of-five', the rest of the competition would go very smoothly.
FRY wanted to play a lineup that strengthened the global style. The ultimate move of the mid-laner, Wings of the Blade, was a displacement skill that could cover half the map. It could support his teammates at any time. That way, they would choose a pressure resistant combination for the bottom lane and then choose a top lane that was very strong and powerful in solo battles. The entire lineup would become very complete.
The mid-laner could obtain an advantage through rapid support in the early stages. The top-laner was also an advantage against the line and could ensure development.
Once they maintained their advantage and entered the middle stages, both heroes would have the ability to split and could easily roll a snowball to victory.
Thus, FRY first snatched the core of this lineup, the Wings of the Blade, when a large number of popular heroes were outside. That was because this hero's ultimate move was irreplaceable.
It was FV Team's turn to choose.
Old Zhou's expression remained calm as he directed his team members to take down the Fierce Gale Martial God.
FRY Team's coach could not help but feel his eyelids twitch. That was because this was the best top laner hero in their hearts!
The Fierce Gale Martial God was a top laner hero with very strong solo abilities. It was also the best solution for their top laner lineup. That was because this hero had no natural enemies in terms of solo.
FRY's team members panicked a little when they saw the hero being snatched.
FRY Team's coach quickly said, "Don't panic. It doesn't matter if they go first. We can still get the Sickle of Death anyway."
The Sickle of Death was a top laner hero with multiple positions. It was a small disadvantage against the Fierce Gale Martial God, but the Sickle of Death was better at cooperating with his teammates to play rhythm. What's more, there were more displacement skills and he was not afraid of being caught. He was a very good substitute in this lineup.
However, just as the coach finished speaking, he saw FV Team lock the Sickle of Death again.
FV Team's first two hands directly took two top laners, taking the two most suitable top laner heroes for FRY's lineup!
It was FRY's turn to choose. The coach's mouth was slightly agape, and he did not recover for a moment.
What did that mean?
Are we still playing or not?
What's the meaning of stealing both of our top laners? Don't you have two paths?
Could it be that one mid lane and one top lane? Or was it going to be one top lane and one jungler?
FV Team had directly snatched the two most suitable top-laners in FRY's lineup, disgusting FRY Team. The key was that FV did not seem to have obtained any benefits because these two heroes did not match at all. FRY Team could not tell what kind of lineup they were going to play!
Time passed minute by minute. FRY's coach quickly changed his train of thought.
"Since the two most suitable top laners have been snatched, then we'll first protect the bottom lane, and then choose a good jungler for the top lane."
"Choose the bottom lane combination first, then the top lane."
"Consider choosing Ancient Lava Tree for the top lane. In the early stages of the game, Entangling Roots can be used as a control skill to capture the top lane along with the jungler."
FRY directly chose a bottom lane combination that was easier to mix in. They planned to choose a pair of junglers that were easier to cooperate with in the last two hands.
The top laner would definitely not be a strong line, but as long as they chose a top laner with control and could resist pressure, they could kill the opponent's top laner two or three times with the jungler and the Wings of the Blade in the middle lane. Then, the Wings of the Blade in the middle lane could still be divided without any pressure in the middle. The strategy could still continue.
However, when it was FV Team's turn to choose, they immediately locked the Ancient Lava Tree!
Right on the heels of that, FV Team chose another bottom lane archer who was strong in the early stages and useless in the mid and late stages. There was only one position left to choose.
FRY Team's coach was confused.
What did that mean?
FV Team directly got three top-laners and one archer. Who played the game like that?
The key was that these three top-laners did not have good coordination with the archer in terms of skills!
FRY's coach frowned. His entire face was scrunched up as he began to analyze FV Team's path.
The Fierce Gale Martial God seemed to be on the top lane and had a small chance of being a jungler. If the Fierce Gale Martial God was on the top lane, then Death Sickle, a top-laner hero with multiple positions, would most likely be a jungler or hang in the middle lane to play support. This Ancient Lava Tree … would definitely be on the top lane if there were no first two heroes. Could it be a support now?
If FV Team's last choice was revealed, they might be able to judge which path these heroes would take based on the overall lineup.
However, it was FRY Team's turn to choose now. Their lineup would be released first before FV Team would choose the last position.
This crazy swing made the FRY team's coach dizzy.
"Coach, hurry up. There's not much time left," the team member reminded.
FRY's coach decisively gave up on analyzing. At this stage, the most important thing was not to analyze the opponent's lineup, but to get his own lineup right.
The support-type mid laner and the stable bottom laner had already been chosen. Now, they had to choose a top laner who was not weak in the line and a jungler who could carry.
That was because no matter how the other party shook, the top laner would definitely be a strong top laner. Choosing a top laner who was weak in the line would directly cross the line. There was no way to play.
However, the problem was that apart from the three top laner heroes that FV Team had snatched away, the other top laner heroes could only guarantee that the line would not collapse, but they could not guarantee that they would take over the competition in the middle and late stages.
Thus, the jungler could not choose a tool anymore. He had to have a certain level of ability to carry. Otherwise, it would become a shocking five-to-zero lineup. If they lost with such a lineup, the coach would definitely be scolded to the skies.
FRY Team's coach immediately instructed his team members to take down a spare lane who had an advantage in the early stages and was trash in the late stages according to his own thoughts. He also obtained a jungler who was relatively weak in the early stages but could take over the competition when he developed.
However, FV Team's last move was a hero that they had never seen before in this world finals: Explosive Craftsman.
This hero did not have any special advantage. It was just that he was faster at pushing the line and dismantling the tower. Its development period was relatively long. Without the equipment advantage, it would not be able to deal damage. Thus, it was a mid to late stage hero and could only play in the middle lane.
FRY's coach frowned slightly as he stared at the screen in confusion.
What did this mean?
Since the last hero could only be used to play mid-laner, the previous few heroes were basically clear: Fierce Gale Martial God would play top-laner, Sickle of Death would play jungler, and Ancient Lava Tree would support.
FRY's coach confirmed the lineup of both sides and felt that his lineup should be able to play.
The top lane, middle lane, and bottom lane were all 50-50. The other party had an advantage in terms of jungler, but as long as they got through the early stages steadily, there would be a clear difference in the output of both sides when their jungler became fat in the middle and late stages. Then, the scales of victory would tilt towards FRY.
FRY's coach was much more relieved. He patted his jungler's shoulder. "Come on, we'll definitely win as long as we can hold on in the early stages!"
…
The first round of the competition officially began under everyone's attention!
The onlookers could not see the scheming between the two teams because the lineups chosen by both teams were lineups that had never appeared in the top eight and top four.
Many heroes were unpopular heroes. They had played so many games before and had never performed well. Therefore, the start of the finals gave everyone a refreshing feeling.
Most of the audience felt that FRY's side was stable because FV Team's lineup seemed to be a little too lively!
The mid-laner was a hero who developed slowly, had short legs, and would die with one grab. The only characteristic was that he pushed the line and the tower quickly.
The archer at the bottom lane was more ferocious in the early stages. He would not be able to win if he dragged it back a little.
The most important thing was to snatch three top-laners in order to destroy FRY's lineup and shake two top-laners to the jungler and support positions. The entire lineup was flashy.
On the other hand, FRY's strategic intentions were clearer. They would develop steadily in the early stages, rely on the quick support of the mid-laner's ultimate move to obtain some advantage in the middle stages, and directly crush them in the late stages.
The commentators on the commentary platform were all worried for FV Team.
It was not that they hoped that FV Team would win. The main reason was that they felt that FV Team's lineup was too ridiculous. They were worried that if they lost too badly, wouldn't the viewing value of the finals be completely gone?
On the other side, the bullet screen comments on the domestic live-stream platform were completely different.
"Holy sh * t! Could this be the variant of the forced demolition style in GOG? "
"Look at this mid-laner. It does seem like it. Let's see how to play later!"
"Are we really going to use GOG's gameplay to play? Is the wretched forced demolition style restraining the global style? Are we going to snowball the other party in the early stages? "
"It's good to watch. This gameplay is either the other party exploding or you exploding!"
"… Those who don't play GOG don't understand what you're talking about. What forced demolition style? Can anyone explain it to me? "
It was the morning of New Year's Eve, a legal holiday. Most people were on holiday, and the GPL had already stopped competing. Thus, IOI's global finals naturally attracted a large number of viewers.
Many of the viewers were GOG players who came to watch IOI's finals because they had nothing better to do.
Players who only played IOI could not tell, but players who often watched GPL quickly recognized FV Team's tricks.
In the GPL league, some teams had already tried to use the so-called "forced demolition style" to fight against the global style.
On the other hand, FV Team's lineup choice was completely different from GOG's, but it obviously fit the definition of "forced demolition style"!
The so-called "global style" was the support style. The mid-laner would quickly reach level 6 and use ultimate moves to support his teammates, kill people, get resources, and then quickly snowball. After they developed well, they could bring the line to pressure the other party's minions in the middle stage and win the competition.
In the process of fighting against the global style, each team's choices were different. Some teams chose to use the global style to fight against the global style. They would fly together and compete to see who could provide support faster. Some teams chose to forcefully invade the lineup or forcefully open the lineup. They would either directly destroy your mid-laner in the early stages or capture those who were alone in the middle.
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