Many people initially thought that commentators were just saying and not serious, but soon they found that something was amiss. 

The previous autumn tournament was the first major competitive event that Lu Qi participated in with JK, and although his performance was average, it was still impressive. In every game, he played as a mage that was either a mage assassin or similar to a mage assassin, dazzling everyone with heroes such as Diao Chan, Luna, Yuan Ge, Shangguan Wan’er, Sima Yi, and Kong Ming. 

These types of heroes were relatively rare and had a high degree of difficulty, but Lu Qi liked to use them and could carry the team with his dazzling game mechanics when he chose them.

However, as they say, success and failure can be caused by the same person ^[1]成也萧何败也萧何: 萧何 Xiao He, the first prime minister of the Western Han dynasty, who persuaded his lord to make a strategist commander-in-chief but later planned the strategist’s … Continue reading. JK entered the playoffs because of Lu Qi but was also eliminated in the quarterfinals because of Lu Qi. Even so, Lu Qi’s strength was recognized by everyone, and he was given the title of top mid laner in KPL by Tieba. 

Later on, everyone understood that JK was strong because of Lu Qi’s carrying the team, but if they targeted Lu Qi and made it difficult for him, JK would not be so difficult to deal with. 

In JK’s last game, the opposing team seemed to have made it their mission to target Lu Qi, banning all mage assassin heroes for all of their four ban slots and only allowing heroes that could be countered. 

So what if you are strong? There’s Donghuang Taiyi, Fuzi ^[2]Global name of Lao Fu Zi plus Zhang Liang. At the start, the five-man team gave up on the jungle to turret dive Lu Qi in the mid lane.

Lu Qi was helpless and could not carry the team. It was at that time that everyone knew that Lu Qi could only play mage assassins.

.

“If I’m not mistaken, the one who banned all the mage assassins was LZ, right?” Commentator A checked the records of the previous game and could not help but laugh, “In the regular season of this year’s spring tournament, Time is still relying on his mage assassins to dominate the game. Today, I don’t know if he’s still only capable of playing mage assassins.”

“If he still only knows how to play mage assassins, it will be difficult to take revenge!” Commentator B said objectively. “Indeed, during the entire offseason, the other members of JK have all grown rapidly. And now the brothers, Da Qing and Da Ming are basically in sync with Qi Ge. Ling Chen has also performed well since he became a starter. However, Qi Ge is a mid-laner, and he can’t be replaced.”

Lu Qi’s ability to only play mage assassins meant that he was destined to be the weakest link in the team. 

MOBA games were always a team game. 

Commentator C quickly came to Lu Qi’s defense, “Actually, it’s not so bleak. He can try to delegate the C position to his teammates.”

Of course, it would be best if Lu Qi could play other mages well, such as mage tanks or even squishy fortress mages ^[3]mages that can deal a high amount of damage, but is squishy and have zero dash skills. 

If Lu Qi knew how to play another hero, the team would have another option when strategizing.

It seemed like Lu Qi had only picked Chang’e, but in reality, the fandom had already been turned upside down: 

[What are they doing? Giving LZ a good start to the playoffs?]

[Heh, you guys are too overconfident.] 

[Last year, all the mage assassins were banned, this year only one Shangguan was banned, aren’t there other mage assassins available? Don’t you know you can only play mage assassins? Did you lose all your confidence when you see LZ? Are you going to throw the game now?]

[Last year, Lian’s Gui Guzi and Qi Ge’s mage assassins were very powerful and could kill whoever they wanted. Why aren’t they being used?] 

[Gui Guzi is gone, and Qi Ge doesn’t play mage assassins anymore. Thinking about it, it feels a bit… emmmm]

[When you can play mage assassins, you don’t want to play them. When LZ bans all the mage assassins later, you’ll cry.]

[Waiting for LZ to sweep JK and take the opening victory.] 

Of course, there were also some people who stood on JK’s side and expressed weakly: 

[Maybe it’s not that bad?]

[It’s a new season, maybe Qi Ge has learned other heroes.] 

[Chang’e? I hope you can really play her and are not just messing around.]

……

“They must be talking bad about me,” When he entered the game, Lu Qi said unhappily. 

It took a while for Da Qing, Da Ming, and the rest to realize what he was talking about. They could not help but laugh, “If you can’t means you can’t. Your non-mage assassin hero picks are just like Eden’s Sun Bin, they come with the headwind buff.” 

“They do not.” 

Da Qing laughed and said, “It’s okay, this game, you guys take more care of the top lane, and I’ll carry.”

Actually, Lu Qi was not entirely to blame for JK’s loss in the previous KPL tournament. 

The main problem was that they relied too heavily on Lu Qi to carry, and once he was targeted, JK was like a team with a broken leg. 

But now, Da Qing and Da Ming believed that they have fully integrated into the team and could handle this type of situation without their hands shaking. They could fully demonstrate their normal capabilities and do not necessarily need Lu Qi to carry them.

They believed that JK would be able to break into new ground this time.

“JK! Fighting!” 

Da Qing started the cheer. 

“Fighting!”

The others echoed and gave themselves encouragement. 

— — Including Yu Yue.

Then they all went to their respective lanes. 

Today, they were going to let LZ know why the flowers of their motherland were so red!

Although LZ’s IQ was always playing old heroes, and their BP was questionable, their IQ was still online at the start of the game. From JK’s lineup, they knew that they were going to heavily assist the mid laner Chang’e, so they tried to target her as soon as they left their base. 

However, JK’s heroes were too strong in the early game. 

Tigerous, Gui Guzi, and Chang’e, wherever they went, nothing was left.

Frustrated, Pekingese’s grievances were enough to fill the whole sky, “Don’t you know how to help me watch the jungle? Every time I come out, there’s not a single hair left in the jungle.” 

He Jian: “Who can keep up with them!” 

Not mentioning that Tigerous was too mobile to catch, they could not even catch Chang’e — — Gui Guzi’s visioning was impeccable, and Chang’e’s speed at clearing the jungle meant that by the time they found Gui Guzi in the bushes, Chang’e had already stolen their jungle creeps and left. 

Even if the two sides met, LZ had no way to deal with a well-fed Chang’e.

“Chang’e is so tanky,” Top laner Hua Mulan could not help but feel bitter. “I’m so pitiful up here, and no matter how many skills I throw, Chang’e hardly loses any health. This hero is too tanky.”

I suspect that the mid laner is even tankier than me!

“You don’t say! All the new heroes are monsters,” the jungler, Pekingese, also felt stifled. “I used Li Bai’s combo on him, but Lu Qi’s HP barely dropped, he’s so tanky! Why didn’t we practice?”

“Let’s wait for Lady Sun to get fed,” Hejian comforted them, “Once the young miss is fed, she can take on Chang’e like it’s her younger brother with ease.”

JK’s mid laner has already taken the minion waves and jungle creeps, even the blue buff, and with the help of Yu Yue watching nearby, LZ’s attempts to gank Lu Qi were all unsuccessful. They waited until they thought Lady Sun was fed enough to join the team fights.

LZ could not tolerate it anymore.

In the twelfth minute of the match, LZ, supporting Lady Sun who had already become a daddy, rushed towards JK with great momentum, attempting to wipe out their team and take the high ground.

Then, a Gui Guzi appeared from the bushes.

Flashing to pull the two carry, Lady Sun was forcibly pulled into Chang’e’s second skill.

Xi Xi: “F*ck me! I got locked by Chang’e’s first skill!”

He Jian: “It’s okay, I’ll block for you! Use your first skill to roll away from that circle!”

“I can’t get away!” Xi Xi watched himself get trapped and killed by the Chang’e emerging from the bushes. The damage he dealt before dying was negligible. “I was locked by Chang’e’s first skill and couldn’t escape.”

The fattest carry died before achieving anything.

Following that was just a waste of time.

Ukyo entered forcefully, cooperating with jungler Tigerous to kill Xiao Qiao, while LZ’s top laner Hua Mulan only managed to deplete Chang’e’s mana bar with her combo.

” — — F*ck! What kind of hero is this? She’s so tanky!”

After being beaten to death, LZ’s top laner opened the economy panel and found that — —

Chang’e had already become a daddy.

There’s the addition of the blue buff, leading by a core item, with her core build completed.

“This Chang’e is do fed. Why didn’t we ganked her earlier?”

Pekingese sneered, “It’s not that easy! Chang’e is originally a mage tank, and now she has so much gold. Moreover, there is a Gui Guzi nearby with the team to keep an eye on us! This is my first time knowing that Time’s non-mage assassins are this good too!”

TL’s Note:

Chapter 20 is a vv long chapter (A whooping 9k words) so I’m probably splitting it into two parts.