That night, Chi Shuo looked through the information that God Ming had given them. He quickly browsed through the videos of the AMT team in the European division. He found that Roman was indeed very strong, and his hero pool was very deep. His performance during the regular season was outstanding, and he had won the MVP title many times with triple and quadruple kills.
In comparison, Cheng Xing's performance in the regular season was difficult to compare with his.
However, the idea of a solo battle was different from a team battle. Roman's excellent performance in the regular season was due to his teammates, especially his support Kilian's protection and field control. His damage output environment was very comfortable.
Chi Shuo and Ye Shaoyang studied it for most of the night and practiced with Cheng Xing. The three of them finally decided on a plan for Cheng Xing to try out during the competition.
The rules of the World Invitational Individual Tournament were that the hero pool was open to both players at the same time. Heroes that had been used before would automatically enter the small black room and could not be used again in the following matches.
For example, if Player A used Wind Elf in the first round, then Player A could not use Wind Elf in the following matches, but Player B could use it. The rules were similar to the overall BP rules of the playoffs.
The plan that Ye Shaoyang had decided on was essentially the "Tian Ji's Horse Race" strategy. He would use the archer that Cheng Xing was not very good at to fight the hero that the opponent was best at, and then use the hero that Cheng Xing was best at to fight the hero that the opponent was average at.
Two wins out of three. As long as they won two games, they would advance.
Ye Shaoyang also became Cheng Xing's practice partner, simulating Roman's hero pool. Cheng Xing practiced very seriously until 2 AM. He got up at 8 AM the next morning to prepare.
Seeing the large dark circles under Cheng Xing's eyes, Ye Shaoyang could not help but ask, "You didn't sleep the whole night, did you?" Cheng Xing scratched his head with a silly smile. "I was too excited to sleep, so I just watched videos all night. Hehe, I'll catch up on sleep after the competition."
There was still an hour before the start of the match at 9 o 'clock. Ye Shaoyang practiced with Cheng Xing for a while to help him get back into the groove. At 8: 50 pm, Cheng Xing logged in to the International Server's Special Match Zone on time. The system automatically assigned him to the competition room, and he saw that his opponent's ID was Romain, who appeared on the schedule.
The referee read out the rules of the game and turned on the camera authentication. The camera had to be turned on throughout the game. The referee would be able to see the situation of the players in real time to prevent people from impersonating players.
After the certification, the competition officially began at 9 o 'clock sharp.
In the first round, the hero pool was fully opened. As expected, Romain snatched [Wind Spirit]. This archer was one of the strongest archers in solo fights and was also a hero that Romain was very good at.
Cheng Xing followed Ye Shaoyang's strategy and chose Machine Gun Hunter.
In team matches, [Machine Gun Hunter] played a very important role. He could push down towers and clear enemies quickly. Usually, he would work with the support to push down towers. However, this hero was too clumsy in the individual competition. He didn't have any displacement skills and was easily kited by his opponent.
Romain was shocked when he saw this. He couldn't help but say to his teammates, "Is this Starlight a joke? He picked a Machine Gun Hunter in solo fights? "
His teammate Vanessa took a look at the information and said with a smile, "He's a player from China. From what I know, one of the better archers in China is called Rain. He's recommended to participate in this year's individual competition. This Starlight is probably not famous and is just a newbie who came to the wild card area to play. "
Romain thought so too. He rubbed his hands together and got ready.
After ten seconds, the map of the competition was loaded.
The map of the individual competition was very simple. There was only the middle lane and no top or bottom lanes. There were no monsters in the jungles that could be used for farming, but there were a few bushes that could be used for ambushes. Farming depended entirely on clearing enemies, which required a lot of details.
The rules for determining the winner of the competition were to push down the opponent's crystal or kill the opponent three times.
From the beginning of the first round, Cheng Xing had been clearing enemies at the bottom of the tower. Since [Machine Gun Hunter] was very fast at clearing enemies, the opponent couldn't cross the tower and kill him in a short time. The two of them cleared enemies and developed. When both of them were level 6, Romain suddenly used a big move to cross the tower and flatten Cheng Xing a few times. Cheng Xing's health dropped by half in an instant.
There were no health packs to eat in the individual competition, so there was no way to recover health. Cheng Xing's hero didn't have a displacement, so he was at a disadvantage. He was quickly beaten to a critical level by Romain, so he had no choice but to return home.
Romain took the opportunity to push down the tower with his minions.
The two of them fought back and forth for ten minutes. After Romain made the key equipment, he directly crossed the tower and killed Cheng Xing, pushing down the outer tower. After that, the rhythm of the game was quickly controlled by Romain. He snowballed crazily, and his equipment was ahead of Cheng Xing's. He directly attacked without thinking. As long as he hit a critical hit, Cheng Xing would definitely be at critical health.
The first round ended in fourteen minutes. Cheng Xing had lost without a doubt.
After a five-minute break, Ye Shaoyang analyzed, "Romain's playing style is more aggressive. Little Xing, pay more attention to the details in the second round. Drag it out with him until the later stages."
Cheng Xing nodded. "Okay!"
At the start of the second round, Romain chose the Archer [Sharpshooter], which was also very suitable for solo fights. His attack range was very long, and no hero could reach him with a normal attack, unless he went around and cut.
In a solo fight between Archers, [Sharpshooter] could hide very far away and snipe the opponent, but the opponent couldn't hit him. After being sniped by him twice in a row, it was easy to be at critical health or even killed.
Cheng Xing was not in a hurry. He waited for Romain to finish choosing his hero before choosing the hero [Vampire Princess].
This was the Archer hero that Cheng Xing was very good at. His big move could drain health. Although he didn't have any displacement skills and wasn't flexible enough, his damage output was at the top of all Archers, and his survivability was very strong.
As soon as the game started, Romain aimed at Cheng Xing and sniped twice, and Cheng Xing returned home with critical health.
After a few minutes, he sniped Cheng Xing back home with critical health.
"Isn't this newbie too weak? He can't dodge my shots at all. " He stared at the computer screen and couldn't help but think that since victory was in his hands, he should end the second round as soon as possible.
When Cheng Xing returned to the game, Romain found that his opponent was hiding in the bushes somewhere. He was really a coward.
The minions of both sides met in the middle lane. Romain used his Q skill to snipe and clear the minions quickly. Anyway, if he didn't come out, he would be able to quickly destroy the defense tower and still win.
At that moment, Romain's eyes suddenly swept across a red corner.
Cheng Xing immediately appeared from the bushes nearby and cleared the minions in an instant. Then, he launched a combo at Romain. As the minions were cleared, Romain's defense tower hit Romain. Romain's reaction was also very fast. He sniped with a big shot and quickly retreated to increase the distance between them. Cheng Xing then used his Lifesteal skill to chase after him.
Romain sniped Cheng Xing twice. Although Cheng Xing was disabled, Cheng Xing quickly recovered with Drain!
Vampire Princess's Drain skill was comparable to a healer's healing. At that moment, Romain also realized that he had been tricked by his opponent. [Sharpshooter]'s advantage was long-range consumption. He definitely couldn't beat [Vampire Princess] in close combat!
He was careless just now and pushed the defense tower too far. As a result, he was hit by [Vampire Princess] and had to return home with critical health.
After that, Romain became more and more uncomfortable. Cheng Xing's first equipment was "Blood Arrow", the core equipment of the Vampire Princess. Its attack had a percentage of Drain. Together with his big move, he could restore his health to full in just a few seconds. He sniped his opponent twice from afar, and his opponent quickly recovered to full health.
Sharpshooters had limited bullets and had a long cooldown after sniping. However, Cheng Xing's Drain equipment didn't have a cooldown at all. He could Drain the minions' health!
His long-range consumption was like scratching an itch through a boot. It was useless unless he could kill his opponent in one burst. However, [Sharpshooter] wasn't a burst hero. He needed time to aim and snipe. He also needed time to accumulate bullets. In the end, when he had accumulated enough bullets, he realized that Cheng Xing had actually dropped a piece of equipment called "Anti-Damage Armor".
This was a defensive equipment. Its effect was "Reflect 50% of the physical damage received." Usually, only Warrior and Tank heroes would drop this kind of equipment. You, a Sharpshooter, dropped armor. Are you completely ignoring your damage output?
Cheng Xing's thought process was almost mocking him to his face: Come on, snipe me. Snipe me once and I'll reflect half of it back to you. I can restore my health with Drain, but you can't.
Romain was speechless.
In the later stages of the game, [Vampire Princess]'s Drain ability was extremely terrifying. She could restore her health to full in two hits. Coupled with the Anti-Damage Armor, she was simply an untouchable hedgehog!
His damage output was indeed very weak, but so what?
I don't want to deal damage, and I don't want to kill you. I'll slowly push the tower.
Although Cheng Xing didn't kill Romain single-handedly, he controlled the army very well. He kept leading the army to push the tower. In the end, he quickly pushed the crystal right under Romain's nose.
Seeing the golden word "victory", Cheng Xing said excitedly, "This strategy is really effective!"
Ye Shaoyang said, "Don't be happy too early. There's still the third round."
Cheng Xing nodded vigorously. "Yes, yes. I'll play well in the third round!"
In the first two rounds, Cheng Xing waited for Romain to pick a hero before choosing. In any case, the hero pool for the individual competition was completely open. Both sides could choose at the same time. You could choose a strong hero first, or you could choose a counter hero later. It was very free. Sometimes, you would suddenly change heroes at the last second. It was a psychological game.
In the third round, Romain chose [Archer], whose Fire Arrow could cause continuous burning damage. Cheng Xing chose [Snow Lady], whose Ice Arrow could cause a slow effect.
After the match began, Romain gradually realized that it was very difficult for him to hit his opponent!
In theory, the attack range of the two heroes was about the same. However, [Snow Lady]'s slow attack made his movement slow like a snail. He couldn't move or catch up. Naturally, he would be at a disadvantage when fighting against each other.
Moreover, [Snow Lady]'s Ice Arrow could cause a short one second freeze if it hit the opponent continuously. Romain was having a hard time. He was slowed and frozen repeatedly. He couldn't even clear the minions, let alone hit the opponent.
[Snow Lady] was a rare archer in the competition because her damage output was very low. In the later stages of the competition, her damage output was not as good as other archers even with godly equipment. She was only suitable for special lineups. She was either an operation or control player. However, in today's 1v1, the effect was unexpectedly good!
Cheng Xing was getting better and better at it. When the match reached the 10-minute mark, he relied on his fast hand speed to shoot three arrows in a row in one second, freezing Romain on the spot!
Following that, Cheng Xia used his big move to deal a series of critical hits and single-handedly killed Romain!
When Cheng Xing saw the system notification that Starlight had killed Romain, he was so excited that he almost screamed. His left hand quickly tapped on the colorful keyboard while his right hand moved the mouse. He led the minions to push down the outer tower in one go.
After Romain revived, he attacked Cheng Xing and crippled Cheng Xing.
However, Cheng Xing's Flash and Backhand Slow made it impossible for him to catch up to his opponent. Cheng Xing escaped with a sliver of health.
At the 15-minute mark of the match, [Snow Lady]'s attack speed was stacked to the max. Her ice was so cold that it made people doubt their lives. In the end, Cheng Xing froze Romain in front of the crystal and cleared it as quickly as possible!
— — Victory!
— — Congratulations to player [Starlight] for advancing to the second round of the wild card competition!
Cheng Xing jumped up in excitement. "I won! Ahhhh! I won! "
Ye Shaoyang smiled and patted him on the shoulder. "Good job."
In France's AMT team, Romain was dumbfounded. "How did this happen?"
Vanessa rubbed her chin thoughtfully. "Don't you think that your heroes were countered in the second and third round? They seemed to have studied you specifically? It was like BP in a competition. "
Romain had the same feeling. The first round was too smooth for him. The second and third round became more and more difficult for him. He scratched his head and asked in confusion, "Does he have an expert guiding him from behind?"
Cheng Xing was very proud.
I have two strategists behind me!
My master is the world champion of the Singles. His strategies, ideas, and awareness in a 1v1 match are not something that ordinary people can compare to. Brother Yang's marksman is also very good. He even trained with me personally!
Actually, Cheng Xing knew very well that his individual ability was not as good as Romain's. However, a competition was not a brainless competition. Strategies were needed. Even if it was an Singles competition, he had to use his brain.
How to choose a hero, how to target his equipment, how to grasp the timing?
Chi Shuo and Ye Shaoyang had taught him a lot. This was also the key to Cheng Xing's comeback in this match.
In the beginning, he had thought that he was just going to be cannon fodder and accumulate experience in the wild card competition. However, after this match, Cheng Xing realized that nothing was impossible.
His mechanics were not bad, and his awareness was not bad. His hand speed and reaction speed could keep up. With his master and Brother Yang's advice, he still had a chance of winning the Singles competition!
Perhaps he could follow his master and Brother Yang to the World Invitational Tournament and show his face?