League of Legends: League of Unknowns

It was the age of LoL. On the street, one was liable to overhear a bunch of school children chattering about Demacian culture.

In the cyber café, more than half of the screens might be displaying the green fields of Summoner’s Rift.

Most astounding of all was how, in the world of women, where most such games could find no foothold, LoL had managed to win the hearts of many.

In fact, in the literature libraries on the internet, the genre ‘MOBA games’ was dominated by several series about League of Legends, subtly implying that it was the only game worth writing about.

It rolled in, like a typhoon!

The exhibition hall was reverberating with noise. It felt like there was a concert going on in there. Huang Junjie, the assistant manager of Grand Linca Emporium, had both eyes squeezed shut with glee. As gaming reached more people, more people would buy gaming hardware. Prosperity was knocking on the door!

Would people doing office work buy a Logitech mouse for greater sensitivity? Balderdash! Only gaming and e-sports could move such high-end items off the shelves!

“The grand prize for the Lecheng championship is thirty thousand this time?” Huang Junjie asked an event manager at his side.

“That’s correct.” The manager nodded.

“Set our sponsorship at the same value, then. If we can make a name for ourselves in the provincial matches…” Huang Junjie felt this venture could prove lucrative.

To the deputy manager of an electronics emporium spanning multiple floors, a five-figure sum was mere pocket change. Huang Junjie would not be shy about handing out a sponsorship, if this tiny investment had the potential of creating a hundred times its value in business returns.

***

The noise from the crowd was growing with every moment.

Each champion selection set off another hubbub of heated discussion. Knowledgeable players swiftly rattled off the individual worth of each champion, as well as what they could bring to the team composition.

“Team Scarlet’s AP, Yu Luocheng, seems to be undecided between Lux, Zyra, or Ryze… he cycling through them.”

“The enemy AP is Brand. He must be thinking about how to counter that champion. Twisted Fate… wow, is this guy really thinking of picking the Card Master?”

When Yu Luocheng chose Twisted Fate as his AP champion, the crowd broke into a great storm of murmuring.

In a manner of speaking, the appearance of a champion like Twisted Fate was a promise that this would not be a boring, run-of-the-mill game. Twisted Fate was a harbinger of battle, able to start a fight anywhere at the drop of a hat!

“Locked in! Looks like Team Scarlet’s AP player is very sure of himself, to be bringing Twisted Fate into this match! If they weren’t a little short-handed just at the moment, I’m certain this would be a hell of a game to watch!” the MC yelled.

A 4v5 game. This championship was off to an odd start. If Team Scarlet could hold their own here, this would be a fight to remember; but if they stumbled and fell, it would just be a terrible disappointment.

“Well then, let’s have a look at both team’s line-ups:

“From the Aviator Cyber Café, Team Aviator has Olaf the Berserker going Top. This is a high damage champion, and we’ll see whether Aviator’s Tian Hao will be able to put on a good show for us. Facing him will be Team Scarlet’s Xiao Tongtong, who will be on the Butcher of the Sands, Renekton. In terms of bloodthirst and savagery, few are his equal within the League of Legends.

Playing AP in the Mid-lane, Xiao Guangjun of Team Aviator has chosen Brand, the Burning Vengeance. This champion deals incredible burst damage, and those among you who know him should already be anticipating those delicious instant kills, I’m sure. His opponent will be Yu Luocheng, Team Scarlet’s AP player. His choice is the highly anticipated Twisted Fate, the Card Master.

“Aviator’s Jungler, Li Sheng, has chosen Xin Zhao, the Seneschal of Demacia—a man who pulled himself up out of misfortune! It’s said that victory and defeat both depend upon Xin Zhao—we shall have to see how well Li Sheng can play this champion!

“Meanwhile, Team Scarlet’s Jungler has snatched away Jarvan IV, the Exemplar of Demacia! Excelling at ganks as well as team fights, he may also have been selected to counter Olaf’s mindless headlong charges. With his ultimate on, Olaf becomes an unstoppable juggernaut, and only the crater wall thrown up by Jarvan’s Cataclysm can contain him.

“Now let’s talk about the ADCs: Team Aviator’s captain, Liu Qi, has taken Ashe, the Frost Archer—and I must say, it’s a sharp move. Team Scarlet’s ADC has made a peculiar choice in Kayle, the Judicator. Whether or not Kayle can be used in the role of ADC has always been a contentious matter, but it looks like Team Scarlet’s Xue Haiyang is going to show us how it’s done.

“On Support, Team Aviator’s Wu Kai has both excellent defense as well as offense in his choice of Leona, the Radiant Dawn. Huang Yu, playing Support for Team Scarlet, has made the mind-boggling choice of Evelynn, the Widowmaker.

“Truthfully, if not for Huang Yu’s injury relegating him to the Support position, it would be a challenge for me to look at Team Scarlet’s line-up and tell you who’s the Support, who’s the Jungler, and who’s the AP… This must be a special strategy by Team Scarlet, and who knows if they’ll be able to make a miracle happen—we’ll just have to watch and see!”

***

The players on both teams had already put on their sound-dampening headphones. As cheers rose from the audience, the countdown went down and the loading screen came up!

Players could neither hear the live commentary, nor see the massive screen over the stage, which would display the ongoing game from an Observer’s point of view . ¹

Yu Luocheng had his full attention on the screen in front of him. As he bought his starting items and left the base, his gaze sharpened to a knife’s point. Even should a buxom beauty wander past him… well, alright, he’d still chance a peek.

Their starting items in hand, Team Scarlet moved out.

Starting from the Blue side (the lower-left corner of the map), standard procedure was for the Bottom-lane duo—the Support and ADC—to help their Jungler pick up the Red Buff without having to use Smite. However, if they did this now, it was guaranteed that the enemy team would ambush them with all five champions. Team Aviator was looking to take advantage of how one of Team Scarlet’s players was currently unable to use his keyboard!

As such, breaking from the usual pattern, the players of Team Scarlet scattered wide, with Yu Luocheng’s Twisted Fate going for the Blue Buff together with Jarvan and Kayle.

Huang Yu moved Evelynn along the river. He’d put his first skill point into her W-skill, ‘Dark Frenzy’, which could be used to speed up his movement, allowing him to swiftly reach the enemy’s Raptors camp.

Having escorted Evelynn there safely, the rest of the team immediately pulled back to their Blue Buff, while Evelynn remained there, unmoving.

When the game timer reached 1:25, Huang Yu used his mouse pointer to manually select a Ward from his inventory panel, and then planted it in the patch of brush directly North of the enemy’s Raptors. Having secured vision in this area, he turned and left without delay.

Throughout those tense first two minutes of the game, neither team ran into each other. This suggested that the enemy Jungler had either been at his own Blue Buff, or else had been prowling around their Red. Both were on the right side of the map.

Because of this, Huang Yu decisively planted his second ward at the intersection between their own Raptors camp and the river, lighting up Xin Zhao’s likely path to gank the Middle lane.

Yu Luocheng would be farming around the lower-right corner of the Mid-lane, and this second ward was meant to ensure his safety while doing so. Doubtless the enemy Jungler would have it out for their Twisted Fate.

Huang Yu was well aware that Yu Luocheng’s Twisted Fate would be crucial in deciding the outcome of this match! Therefore, his first priority was the security of the Mid-lane. If the enemy team managed to gank Yu Luocheng even once, slowing down his progress, this game would basically be over for them!