All-round Mid Laner

Chapter 89

The Illusionist was very commonly seen in online ranked games. This hero could take a quick kill as soon as he set his sights on his opponent. He was a typical assassin mage who could take a kill every time he attacked, and he was one of the easiest assassin mages to play. Casual players who were 'handicapped' especially liked to play him.

However, this hero didn't actually appear all that often in professional games.

That was because the Illusionist had one fatal flaw—his ult could be diffused. In other words, the Illusionist could kill off most glass cannons in a 1v1 fight. However, as soon as he entered a group fight or a full team fight, the damage of the Illusionist's ult would be split up between enemies in his range. That left him in the awkward position of not being able to take any kills at all with his big move.

Furthermore, unlike the Abyssal Lord, the Illusionist's skills wouldn't come off cooldown as soon as he got a kill. After unleashing a skill combo, the Illusionist would be left with no more skills. In that state, he would be no better than a minion.

Team BOB's coach was a little surprised—

Tianhuan, using their first pick on the Illusionist… why?

When the Illusionist appeared in professional games, he was usually chosen specifically to counter the cumbersome Frost Goddess. In that match-up, the Illusionist would have a natural advantage. However, Tianhuan had taken the Illusionist as their first choice. That meant their opponents could pick a hero to counter him, right?

BOB's coach thought for a moment, then decisively said, “Take the Cobra King to counter him.”

The logic here was very simple. The Cobra King could summon four little snakes. When the Illusionist used his ult, his damage would be split up between those snakes. He would never be able to kill the Cobra King.

Furthermore, those little snakes could chase after the Illusionist and bite him like crazy, swiftly stacking poison on him. It would be very easy for the Illusionist to be poisoned to death.

A summoner hero like the Cobra King was the bane of the Illusionist's existence.

BOB's mid laner excitedly rubbed his hands together. “I heard Xiao Bai is nationally ranked with the Illusionist? I've been the National #1 Cobra King in the past too. By choosing the Illusionist first, they really aren't taking us seriously enough!”

BOB's jungler smiled and said, “His teammates helped him take a pentakill last week. I bet he's gotten carried away with himself.”

Both sides continued their picks and bans. Tianhuan's first three picks were the Illusionist, the Holy Knight, and the Machine Gun Huntsman. Among them, the Holy Knight was a flexible hero who could be played as a support, top laner, or jungler. It was currently unclear which role Tianhuan expected this hero to fill.

But their mid laner and marksman were already confirmed. And so, BOB decided to target the top lane with their next round of bans. They chose to ban the Black Dragon Knight, which Old Qin was quite good at playing.

For their fourth and fifth picks, Tianhuan chose the Enchained Reaper and the Blessed Priest.

BOB's coach froze—

The Blessed Priest could only be played as a support. That meant the Enchained Reaper would be their jungler, while the Holy Knight was their top laner?

The coach mulled it over for a while, then locked in a lineup focused on team fights.

Tianhuan's five players swiftly swapped around their heroes. The Holy Knight was, as expected, given to the top laner Qin Yizhu. The Enchained Reaper went to Chi Shuo. The Illusionist went to the mid laner, the Blessed Priest went to the support, and the Machine Gun Huntsman went to the marksman.