Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
The latest patch had completely altered Ezrealâs value as an ADC. This was chiefly due to the changes to his W-skill, which meant heâd lost a significant edge in combat.
Despite this, Luocheng had the highest winning rate on Ezreal out of all his champions. Heâd gotten used to the idea that securing Ezreal for himself meant securing victory.
That was just how well he understood this champion.
Heâd looked through Shallow Dreamâs match history, previously. Among the champions sheâd been using, Vayne appeared no small number of times.
Of course, there was no way any mainline ADC player would not be familiar with Vayne, just as every Jungler had to know how to play Lee Sin. The difference was individual tendencies, play-style, and tactics.
***
Luocheng didnât know who Shallow Dream was, nor did he much care at the moment.
He began by helping his Jungler take Blue, contributing four auto-attacks. Then he returned to his lane directly, by way of the river.
When playing against truly skilled opponents, missing out on even a single minionâs worth of Experience Points could become an insurmountable setback. Luocheng couldnât afford a single mistake, here.
As though thinking the exact same thing, as Luochengâs Ezreal reached the brush just southeast of the Dragon pit, Vayne suddenly appeared, brandishing her silver crossbow!
It was the fastest route back to the lane, after leashing for her teamâs Jungler. Just leave after dealing four hits, and neither would be missing out on any XP.
It was clear that Luocheng and Shallow Dream were both well-versed in these matters. The competition was off to a fierce start, right from Level 1!
The Support players on both sides were still helping out their Junglers, so the two ADCs were alone with each other in the lane.
They circled around, trading attacks.
Each evasive maneuver meant the loss of a couple of minions. Looking at the team compositions on both sides, whoever got to Level 2 first would enjoy a slight advantage.
Luocheng grimaced faintly.
He was on the red side. Backing off would lose him more than just a couple of minion killsâ¦
He had to fight!
Shallow Dream was of the same mind. As they approached the line of warring minions, violence broke out immediately!
Both champions attacked each other at the same time!
Bolts of magic and silvered steel criss-crossed the battlefield!
Sidestep, and then teleport!
Since he was fighting on the red side, this meant Luocheng was a little closer to the brush along the corner.
As his 1st-level duel with Shallow Dream carried on, he continued to inch towards the nearest bush. With the concealment it would provide him, coupled with a few more basic attacks, he might be able to get First Blood on Vayne!
Shallow Dream had evidently seen through Luochengâs strategy, and she was edging towards the brush herself. They were both vying for a tactical edge!
âThatâ¦â
Qianqian, Xiao Bei, and Lin Dong gaped at the vicious fight that had broken out right away!
At barely a minute and a half into the game, there was no way either of their Supports would be able to make it there in time, since they were still assisting their Junglers in acquiring their starting Buffs.
As they fought, both ADCs were losing health rapidly, yet neither made to withdraw. They were determined to settle this at Level 1!
With these two champions, it was hard to say who had the upper hand at 1st level!
The atmosphere had suddenly become incredibly tense!
They were still at Level 1, but Luocheng and Shallow Dream were already locked in a duel to the death! Although they only had one skill each, it felt like a titanic clash of epic proportions!
âAt its first level, Vayneâs Q-skill âTumbleâ has a cooldown of six seconds, but itâs the same for Ezrealâs âMystic Shotâ! It all comes down to their next skill!â Lin Dong exclaimed.
Lin Dong was an ADC main himself. He had a deep familiarity with both of those champions. If they fought each other at Level 1, it could really go either wayâit would depend on who used their skills better, to see who would get First Blood!
âNo, Ezrealâs âMystic Shotâ will have a cooldown of five seconds,â Xiao Bei suddenly corrected him.
âFive seconds?â Lin Dong spluttered. After a momentâs thought, he understood: Mystic Shot had an additional effect, reducing all cooldowns by one second if it successfully hit an enemy.
When the fight began, both champions had used their starting skills at the same time, both aiming to get out as many shots as possible!n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om
This additional effect on Ezrealâs âMystic Shotâ allowed him to get out another one before Vayneâs âTumbleâ was ready again!
That difference of one second would be crucial to victory!
***
Sure enough, after five seconds, Ezrealâs âMystic Shotâ was ready again!
Looking at Vayneâs current health, one more hit and Luocheng would be the victor of this duel!
With First Blood imminent, Xiao Bei, Lin Dong, and Qianqian watched as Ezrealâs summoned a glowing bolt of magical energy to hand, and then hurled it forth like a shooting star!
At this distance, with this positioning, there was no way Vayne would be able to dodge it!
In spite of themselves, the three spectators could feel their hearts pounding!
Whistling through the air, the Mystic Shot streaked unerringly towards Vayne!
Bamf!
Suddenly, Vayne vanished in a cloud of light!
Flash!
With a Flash to the side, Vayne had evaded what would have been a fatal Mystic Shot!
***
Sheâd dodged it!
Shallow Dream had managed to dodge it with a Flash!
Seeing what had happened, Xiao Beiâs heart was doing flip-flops!
Versus Ezreal, skilled players were able to dodge a skillshot with Flash.
However, scrambling to gain vision through the brush meant that Vayne was hardly an armâs length away from Ezreal. In these circumstances, whatever your reaction speed, it was impossible to dodge a Mystic Shot at point-blank range!
That meant Shallow Dream had already been keeping her finger over the key to use her Flash, and had been counting down the time on Ezrealâs skill cooldown. The moment Ezrealâs hand lit up to fire his Mystic Shot, sheâd hit Flash!
Sheâd been keeping track of Luochengâs skill cooldowns the whole timeâincluding the skillâs additional cooldown-reduction effect!
Even an expert player like Lin Dong had been under the impression that Ezrealâs âMystic Shotâ had a cooldown time of six seconds!
Locked in pitched combat against Ezreal, sheâd been counting down the seconds while dodging and attacking constantly, and had even been able to take such a fine detail into account!
Five seconds!
Sheâd figured out that his cooldown time would only be five seconds!
Realizing the depth of her skill, a chill ran through Xiao Beiâs entire body!
She was a truly fearsome adversary!
To be able to make such cool judgements in the heat of battleâsuch precise calculations amid the tumbling chaosâit was nothing short of frightening!
***
Luochengâs instincts had been right!
Shallow Dream was the highest grade of playerâthe sort who inspired both awe and abject terror!
And yet, deep down in his bones, something called out in response!