Chapter 344 – China VS USA (Second Round)

Before the game, LI Cangyu and the other six commanders had carefully discussed possible situations in the finals and were prepared for a loss. Thus, the loss in the first game didn’t have much impact on his mood. It was just that there was only a five minute break between the two rounds and he had to think of a method as soon as possible.

Ling Xuefeng bowed his head and thought about it. A moment later, Li Cangyu turned to him and asked, “What do you think about the second game?”

“Have you thought of a way?”

The two men opened their mouths at almost the same time and then smiled.

Li Cangyu looked at him and said, “The thing I’m more worried about is the third game. The US team hid their maps too deeply in the previous rounds. There are actually two maps that haven’t been used. In the first game, I banned Universal Studios and if he releases it in the third game, I can no longer ban it.”

According to the rules, the map of a country could only be banned once per match. The same map couldn’t be disabled twice, nor could it be selected twice.

In other words, Li Cangyu chose to ban Universal Studios in the first game and chose Doomsday Crisis. In the third game, the US team could no longer choose Doomsday Crisis because it had been used once. Li Cangyu also couldn’t ban Universal Studios because he banned it once before. This was the non-repeatable nature of maps in the same match.

According to the US team’s map tactics, Li Cangyu just banned Universal Studios so Noah would definitely release Universal Studios in the third game to force Li Cangyu to choose it.

The Doomsday Crisis map was too pitted and it was impossible for the Universal Studios map left behind by the US team to be simple.

This was what Li Cangyu was worried about. If too many gods played in the second round, it would be tough to deal with the US team at home in the third game. Regardless of the score of the first two games, the third game was crucial for both sides. Losing it would seriously affect the morale of the whole team.

Ling Xuefeng obviously knew this as well. There was a moment of silence before he said, “Why don’t you take the second game and I take the third game?”

Li Cangyu shook his head. “This tactical system might not necessarily win against the US team.” He touched his chin and thought carefully before calling Tan Shitian over. “Captain Tan, how about you lead this game?”

Tan Shitian was startled. “Me?”

He was the youngest captain of the national team and Li Cangyu sending him despite the first loss was enough to prove Li Cangyu’s absolute trust in him. Tan Shitian couldn’t help feeling moved and he nodded seriously, “I will try my best.”

“Yes, don’t think too much and play well.” Li Cangyu patted him on the shoulder and encouraged him. “There are many opportunities for you to participate in the World Competition in the future. Just think of it as practice.”

Tan Shitian immediately understood Li Cangyu’s meaning. As the youngest captain in the league, he had the opportunity to participate in the World Competition in the next few years. For Li Cangyu, the next season might not necessarily… Thoughts flashed in Tan Shitian’s head but it wasn’t appropriate to ask them at this time. He forced back his doubts and nodded with a smile. “I understand.”

***

After the break, Li Cangyu got up and went to the command post.

This game was the Chinese team’s home game. They had the map advantage but the problem was that the US team could disable the Chinese team’s map. Four of the five Chinese maps had been revealed in the previous gap. The Eight-Trigram Array was the only one that hadn’t been revealed and it was likely to be directly banned by Noah. If this was the case, the advantage would be lost because the away team could send a targeted lineup.

Li Cangyu chose the economic warfare mode that Tan Shitian was excellent at. The maps shown were the Mechanical City, the Eight-Trigram Array and Frost Temple.

Noah didn’t hesitate to ban the Eight-Trigram Array that hadn’t appeared before, leaving the Mechanical City.

Kou Hongyi couldn’t help feeling some regret. “The new map was banned. It seems that the US team left a lot of trump cards to play in the finals, leaving two maps to force us to play both. It was truly far-sighted.”

Yu Bing stated calmly, “This can’t be blamed on us. After all, we met the Korean team in the semi-finals. If we held back too many cards, it was likely that we would’ve been eliminated by the South Korean team.”

“In other words, the US team’s opponents were much weaker so they could hide many maps. According to the rules, Cat God has to choose the previously banned Universal Studios in the third game. However, if Eight-Trigram Array appears in the fourth game, the US team can’t disable it anymore.”

Kou Hongyi explained.

“The map is just one factor that affects the game but it isn’t the decisive factor. If you are lucky, you can win in away games. In the last game, our luck was really bad. Captain Su refreshed alone in the upper half and was killed by the other three. Otherwise, we could’ve fought the US team head on.”

As Yu Bing spoke, Li Cangyu submitted the game’s lineup— Tan Shitian, Lu Xiao, Cheng Wei, Yang Muzi, Yan Ruiwen and Guo Xuan.

Many viewers couldn’t understand it but it wasn’t difficult when analyzing it carefully. Tan Shitian and Lu Xiao were the main output archers of the Time team, Yan Guo were black magician partners in the Wind Colour team while Cheng Wei and Yang Muzi were white magicians with different styles. In other words, this was a pure output lineup.

“It is an economic war without a healer?” Yu Bing frowned slightly.

“Even so, the explosive power of this lineup is very strong. The two white magicians can join hands to control the opponent while the double archers and black magicians can open up their attacks at the same time. If the opposite side doesn’t have a good defense, they might be destroyed.” Kou Hongyi really liked this lineup. “There is no problem with the system. An economic war can also be quick and this system is suitable for a quick fight.”

“The US team should send a targeted lineup.” Yu Bing’s voice had just finished when the captain of the US team, Noah submitted the lineup. Sure enough, it targeted the Chinese team. There was one paladin, two berserkers, two swordsmen and one healer.

Noah’s intentions were obvious. ‘You want to kill us in seconds? Then I’ll send a pile of thick-skinned blood cows.’

Li Cangyu saw this lineup and appreciated Noah’s layout. He hadn’t dealt head on with the US captain but this person had a deep heart and meticulous tactics.

After returning from the command post, Li Cangyu went to Xie Shurong and asked, “According to your opinion, how likely is it that Captain Tan will win?”

Xie Shurong thought about it before replying, “Around 5:5. The two swordsmen are fixed partners of the ICE team. Angus was the best newcomer last season and Benjamin’s level is similar to my brother. The two berserkers are old partners of the TP team. One is very fierce and the other is very stable. Winfrey’s healing level is also very high.”

Li Cangyu did his homework before the game and naturally knew the strength of the players. He nodded and asked, “There are many captains in this game but the commander should be Benjamin, right?”

“Yes, after all, he was the captain of last year’s championship team.”

After Xie Shurong left, the ICE team didn’t win the title this year and the championship was taken away by the TP team led by Noah. However, Captain Benjamin of the ICE team, Vice-Captain Jack Josh and the best newcomer Angus, the strength of these three players couldn’t be underestimated.

China’s Mechanical City had already been revealed and must’ve been studied by the US team. The map advantage wasn’t great.

The Mechanical City had a structure of two floors and had been modified accordingly to suit the economic warfare. The lower level was the refresh points of the mobs and it was divided into the ‘田’ four fields. There was a staircase leading to the upper floor protected by guardian beasts. After climbing up the stairs, there would be a high platform with the crystal in the middle.

In other words, the upper level was almost useless in the economic war. It was only at the end where they would climb up the stairs to hit the crystal. All previous battles would be on the lower floor.

According to the panoramic view of the map, it could be seen that the mobs on this map were all mechanisms that fired arrows to cause a lot of damage.

Noah saw this and spoke in a low voice, “Our lineup has many melee classes. Be careful when facing the wild monsters. Even if you have to give up the money of a few mobs, don’t task risks for greed. Try not to be too greedy in the early stages. Don’t give the Chinese team any heads, especially Tan Shitian. You absolutely can’t let him get a head.”

Perhaps Tan Shitian might be a bit happy if he heard this? After all, being warned by the captain of the US team showed that Noah was very certain of Tan Shitian’s personal level.

***

The map loading ended and the game officially began!

The players on both sides refreshed on the map. Tan Shitian immediately arranged the splitting method. He and Cheng Wei were in the middle road, Lu Xiao and Yang Muzi would go to the top while Yan Guo would go down.

The arrangement on the US side didn’t follow the fixed partners. The paladin took a swordsman to the top road, the healer took a swordsman in the middle and the remaining two berserkers went down.

In other words, the economy of the upper and middle roads would focus on the swordsman. The US team would obviously use the double swordsmen combination of the ICE team as the main attack point in the group battle.

In the domestic league, the most annoying thing for Tan Shitian was to meet the swordsman Su Guangmo. It was because the swordsman’s ability to advance was a great threat to the archers. The US team sent two swordsmen to clearly aim for him.

However, as Li Cangyu said, he didn’t need to think too much. He only needed to carefully command this game.