Chapter 1527: Sunset Dunes

“You should have done that earlier!” Ye Xiu told Tang Rou as she came down from the stage and received applause from her teammates.

“Okay, next time,” Tang Rou replied with a smile. She knew that Ye Xiu’s words were probably a form of encouragement for her outstanding performance in the latter half of the fight.

The current Tang Rou was no longer the noob who challenged Ye Xiu and got crushed dozens of times. She could see the difference in skill between two players now and wouldn’t be so foolishly confident like before. She knew what sort of tempo she played best at. The higher she raised the tempo, the more likely it was for her to make a mistake. It was similar to how in basketball, the farther away you are from the hoop, the less likely it is to make it in. Although half-court three point shots sometimes made it in, who would count on those to be their main method of attack?

Tang Rou’s final burst was like a half-court three point shot. If she hadn’t been forced to do so, why would she have made such a choice?

Ye Xiu smiled as well. He was very pleased with Tang Rou’s spirit.

“In the playoffs, when it’s time to go all out, don’t hesitate,” Ye Xiu added.

“Of course,” Tang Rou said.

“Pay attention to the timing,” Ye Xiu said.

“Okay…” Tang Rou nodded her head pensively. In that previous fight, her Soft Mist had used 20% of her health to wipe out 60% of her opponent’s health after her explosive burst. What if she had done it earlier? If she had started with that burst and kept it going until the very end, Happy might have won.

It looks like I’m still not fast enough at making these types of decisions! Tang Rou sighed.

“Then, let’s take back the point we lost in the group arena in the team competition!” Ye Xiu said to the team.

Although Happy had lost a point in the group arena, since they had won the previous game, they didn’t feel too nervous about the loss. The entire team was still in high spirits.

On Tyranny’s side, despite winning the group arena, the atmosphere wasn’t as lively as Happy’s. Their team was huddled together, anxiously preparing for the following team competition. As the home team, their plans could be more targeted.

The mid-match break quickly passed, and the referee called for the two sides to come onto the stage. The lineup for the two teams were displayed onto the screen. On Happy’s side, there was a player not on the main roster, who was being followed closely, Luo Ji. In the previous game, Luo Ji had demolished the map, leading to Tyranny’s loss. He had been proclaimed as someone who had exceptional talent in this area. Would he continue playing in today’s match?

The names lit up on the screen one at a time.

Happy – Ye Xiu. Tyranny – Han Wenqing.

Happy – Su Mucheng. Tyranny – Zhang Jiale.

Happy – Fang Rui. Tyranny – Bai Yanfei.

Happy – Tang Rou. Tyranny – Qin Muyun.

Happy – An Wenyi. Tyranny – Zhang Xinjie.

Happy – Bao Rongxing. Tyranny – Lin Jingyan.

No Luo Ji.

A commotion began going among the crowd. When they saw that Luo Ji wasn’t being put in, they felt like the claim that Luo Ji could destroy the map whenever he pleased turned out to be a bluff. Happy didn’t dare choose Luo Ji in their away game.

On the broadcast, Pan Lin and Li Yibo didn’t immediately start analyzing the two team’s lineups. They first discussed why Luo Ji wasn’t put in, before commenting on the differences between their lineups compared to the previous game.

On Happy’s side, Ye Xiu, Su Mucheng, Fang Rui, and An Wenyi had the most stable positions in the team competition. This time, Tang Rou was put in as a starter. Steamed Bun replaced Luo Ji, but he was designated as Happy’s sixth player.

Tyranny’s lineup was the same as before. The only difference was that their Elementalist, Bai Yanfei, had swapped positions with Lin Jingyan. Bai Yanfei would be in the starting lineup, while Lin Jingyan would be their sixth player.

“Both sides have made slight adjustments to their lineup! But the home team usually has a clear strategy in mind. Tyranny specifically placed Bai Yanfei in a starting position. Coach Li, do you think there’s a reason for this?” Pan Lin asked.

“Bai Yanfei, Zhang Jiale, Qin Muyun. Tyranny has three long-ranged classes in their starting lineup. Bai Yanfei’s Elementalist is nicknamed the “Gun Turret” and is proficient at AoE spells. By coordinating with Zhang Jiale’s Dazzling Hundred Blossoms, the two can cover an extremely large area. My guess is that Tyranny has chosen a relatively large map to play in.”

“Oh oh, we’ll see. The players have entered their booths. The match is about to begin,” Pan Lin then confirmed that these ten players would be starting in the team competition.

The map began loading. The answer to the question that everyone had been wondering about was on verge of appearing.

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“Ah, it’s Sunset Dunes!” Pan Lin called out. He immediately followed up with praise for Li Yibo: “Coach Li, you guessed right. As you said, Tyranny has chosen a large map. As expected of someone who came from Tyranny!”

“Hahaha,” Li Yibo laughed. After laughing, he felt like something wasn’t quite right. “As expected of someone who came from Tyranny?” Wasn’t that implying that he couldn’t make accurate predictions for teams that weren’t Tyranny? Li Yibo’s confidence had been wavering recently. He couldn’t help but overthink it. Pan Lin hadn’t meant to imply that and wasn’t aware of the issue. He continued by introducing the map to everyone.

Sunset Dunes was a desert under the light of the setting sun. The main features of this map were the sand dunes and the oasis at the center of the map. The map was indeed quite large.

“Happy’s decision not to field Luo Ji was the correct decision,” Pan Lin said half-jokingly. Who would have thought that as soon as the match started, Ye Xiu would type into the chat: “Just as I thought! Not putting in Luo Ji today was so smart of me.”

There were no buildings in this map. The sand dunes were the only parts of the map that weren’t flat. The oasis at the center was really just a small puddle. The lonely tree near the oasis and the cacti scattered throughout the desert were the only objects in this map.

Luo Ji’s “Demolition Style” would be useless here.

The two teams spawned at the north and south ends of the map. Tyranny was more proactive, immediately pushing forward as soon as they spawned. As for Happy, they were a bit slower than Tyranny, but they quickly set out as well.

The two teams didn’t take a roundabout route, heading straight for the center. Tyranny didn’t stop after moving past a sand dune. As for Happy, they paused slightly. The five characters were looking left and right, observing their surroundings.

The sand dunes weren’t mountains and weren’t that tall. Just standing on the slope gave them a fairly good view. Not only could they see all around them, they could see several hazy figures in the distance to the north.

“There doesn’t seem too many good places to set up ambushes in this map…” Happy’s team members began discussing their next moves. Fang Rui started with his opinion.

“There are some good spots for me to attack from,” Su Mucheng remarked.

“The sand has a certain level of impact on our movements,” An Wenyi’s gaze was fixed at his feet. Their feet sunk into the sand, leaving behind deep footprints.

“They’re rushing straight for us,” Tang Rou mainly observed their opponent’s movements.

“Let’s go somewhere high enough where we can see them more clearly before making any further plans!” Ye Xiu said, giving them an opening of sorts in this team competition. As a result, Happy didn’t go down from this sand dune. Ye Xiu led the way as they climbed it. After Tyranny’s five players ran across the sand dune, they could be seen more clearly. Tyranny also noticed Happy. They turned and rushed towards them.

“It looks like they want to attack us directly,” Fang Rui said.

Happy didn’t like direct fights. As a new team, they were slightly inferior to Tyranny’s old team in a direct fight in many aspects. What’s more, the terrain was special. An Wenyi noted that the sand would affect their movements. It wasn’t just movement speed; their jumps, rolls, and other movements that required leverage would be affected. It would affect their attacks as well. Tyranny chose this as their map and was used to these effects. But Happy? Ye Xiu would be better. He had played in countless matches and would adapt quickly to this sort of terrain. Su Mucheng and Fang Rui had experience as well. However, Tang Rou, An Wenyi, and Steamed Bun were rookies. Their playing would definitely be impacted to a greater degree.

“Does the wind do anything?” Ye Xiu suddenly asked.

“It does, but the direction of the wind is constantly changing and it isn’t easy to grasp,” Fang Rui replied. His Qi Master’s qi attacks would be affected if the speed of the wind was high enough.

Happy examined their surroundings carefully. Tyranny was obviously familiar with these characteristics, and they clearly wanted to use this map to restrict Happy.

The sunshine… couldn’t be used either.

Ye Xiu took a look at the sun. The setting sun was just about to go under the horizon. The sun rays were dim enough for him to look at the sun directly. There wasn’t much of a difference between having their backs against the sun or facing the sun.

“You guys stand here,” Ye Xiu called out to the others. He used his umbrella to point to a spot.

The four gathered there.

“Stand in a line,” Ye Xiu said.

“Are we taking a group photo? I don’t think that’s a good idea. It’s the playoffs, let’s be more serious,” Fang Rui said as his Boundless Sea posed for the camera.

“Stand up straight,” Ye Xiu said, while his Lord Grim retreated.

Happy’s four players lined up. As for Ye Xiu’s Lord Grim, after moving away a certain distance, he turned back to look at them.

The opening period was a bit dull since the fighting hadn’t started yet. It was just the commentators guessing what the two team’s intentions were.

Tyranny was pushing forward. Their intentions were rather obvious.

As for Happy? They were just moving on top of a sand dune, but because the team was discussing the map in the chat, it wasn’t too boring. Ye Xiu suddenly ordered everyone to do this and that, so the viewers were obviously curious about what he was planning. The broadcast nimbly cut to Lord Grim’s perspective.

Under the backdrop of the setting sun, Happy’s four characters were standing directly in the center of the sun. It looked rather imposing.

Were they… really taking a group photo? Everyone was puzzled.