Wind Howl with their man to man offense had neglected to consider the Summoner amongst Happy's ranks. This was a humiliatingly rookie mistake.
Team Happy's courage and their confidence in their players had reached an absurd level. For other teams, how many of them would be willing to bet everything on a rookie, even when knowing that Summoners were a counter to Wind Howl's playstyle? A rookie that hadn't played many rounds since his debut at that?
That's what Happy had done. As for the humiliating mistake Wind Howl had made, barely anyone had the heart to criticize them for it, because most people had neglected to consider this as well, just like Wind Howl.
Just as everyone was obsessing over how Ye Xiu wasn't playing, now many people had stopped to think how Happy would face this match without Ye Xiu?
From their perspective, Happy was just messing around with Ye Xiu not playing.
Unfortunately, with a Smoke Bomb and a Summoner, Happy had used two rookies of theirs that rarely played in official matches to dismantle Wind Howl's man to man offense.
The smoke had more or less dispersed and Happy's impressive formation was revealed. Concealed Light's summons made Team Wind Howl's man to man seem ever so idiotic.
Liu Hao's Absent Sun was caught by the Devil World Flower's vines.
Tang Hao's Demon Subduer had managed to pin a Spirit Cat, but his own head was in the jaws of a Frost Wolf, a rather terrifying sight.
Zhao Yuzhe's Beautiful Light had been locked onto by a Thunder Eagle. Though there was no way a single summon could be much of a threat to a pro player, he'd have to ask the Thunder Eagle before he could attack Happy.
Was Guo Yang's Qi Breaker and Lin Feng's Doubtful Demon in the clear then?
Of course not!
Happy was a team, and Luo Ji wasn't the only one in it. Concealed Light's summons had occupied three of Wind Howl's players, and the other members of Happy had plenty of freedom to act as they wished!
Su Mucheng's Dancing Rain engaged Qi Breaker with her artillery. However, the most unfortunate one was Lin Feng. He was a battle Thief and had sneaked over with Doubtful Demon under Stealth, planning to tear a character out of Happy's formation. However, the smoke dispersed, his Stealth wore off, and then he got surrounded.
Tang Rou, Fang Rui, Mo Fan's three characters had surrounded Doubtful Demon.
Dismantling an opponent's strategy didn't count as a victory. A true victory was dealing a critical blow to the opponent. Strategies could be switched and adjusted. Wind Howl wouldn't have the rookie mistake of forgetting the Summoner in their opponent's ranks again.
Thus, Happy would naturally want to use this chance and deal a critical blow to Team Wind Howl first. Otherwise, they would've merely tanked past their opponent's first wave of attacks; without a counterattack, what use was that?
Lin Feng was currently deeply lodged in Happy's counterattack. Being ganged up on by three people had him incapable of fighting back. Doubtful Demon's health plummeted, however, there wasn't nearly enough time to erase Doubtful Demon from the field in one go.
Just a Thunder Eagle wasn't nearly enough to completely control Zhao Yuzhe.
It might have looked scary with Frost Wolf's jaws clamped around Demon Subduer's head, but this was just a game. The damage didn't increase just because of how scary the scene was. However, the frosty breath of Frost Wolf would give Demon Subduer a slow that could prove annoying for Tang Hao.
Liu Hao's Absent Sun was only caught by the vine, which only limited his movements. He could still attack from there. The attack range of Wave Swords could still reach Happy.
In the end, the only one who was pinned rather badly was Qi Breaker under Dancing Rain's assault. Summons, in the end, wasn't as good as a pro player, not nearly good enough!
"In the current situation, Happy has the advantage, but we can't determine the victors just from that. We'll still have to see how well they perform." Li Yibo could tell that the battle was far from over and commented with this in the live broadcast.
"Indeed. Liu Hao's Absent Sun might be rooted in place by Devil World Flower, but Happy is still within his attack range. He can definitely still provide Lin Feng with support!" Pan Lin exclaimed.
Earthquake Sword!
Liu Hao, as Pan Lin said, soon had Absent Sun provide support for Doubtful Demon.
However, Devil World Flower had become a shield then. Doubtful Demon was dragged behind Devil World Flower and beaten down. Absent Sun's Wave Sword attacks couldn't go around Devil World Flower no matter what. Earthquake Sword was all for naught. But Liu Hao did see a missile rocket over, bouncing on the ground twice before landing in front of him after the dust kicked up by Earthquake Sword dispersed.
That bitch!
Liu Hao only had the time to curse in anger before the Heat Seeking Missile descended, spewing fire. Absent Sun, trapped by the vine couldn't dodge.
Boom!
A mushroom cloud engulfed Absent Sun. Su Mucheng, who was primarily dealing with Qi Breaker, managed to divide some of her precious time and focus to send Liu hao a gift.
Tang Hao's Demon Subduer managed to finally escape by then.
Fling!
The Frost Wolf was grabbed by Demon Subduer. Though his speed had been reduced due to the slow, the power of his attack wasn't reduced at all. The Frost Wolf was thrown right at Tang Rou and co.
Dragon Breaks the Ranks!
But that was when Tang Rou, attacking even as she defended against his assault, charged out with a Dragon Breaks the Ranks, knocking the Frost Wolf away and stabbing right towards Demon Subduer.
Tang Hao's reaction speed and mechanics were perfect, but he couldn't do anything about Demon Subduer's slow. With Tang Rou's abrupt and resolute change in targets, his character couldn't keep up with his attempt to dodge. With a clink, Demon Subduer was sent flying by Soft Mist.
However, Tang Rou didn't bother pursuing him. Soft Mist turned right back, continuing her assault on Doubtful Demon.
"Happy is doing very well. Their play is methodical, very well paced!" Li Yibo exclaimed in awe.
"But, like this, hasn't Demon Subduer escaped his pin? Tang Hao will be free to join the fray!" Pan Lin said.
"Really?" Li Yibo smiled.
On the field, Concealed Light's casting and orders continued relentlessly.
The Four Summon Beasts were what he mained, and this number was also one he was good at controlling. However, right now, Luo Ji didn't conserve anything. He summoned all and any summons that were available to Concealed Light.
Some low leveled summon creatures had very limited attack power, but Luo Ji wasn't counting on these summons to finish the battle. All these summons had one job: to stall and pin their opponents. They were like line after line of defense, preventing Wind Howl from engaging with Happy.
To achieve this goal, Luo Ji summoned relentlessly. Luo Ji's mana was the one thing that was being exhausted the fastest on the field. Normally, Summoners definitely wouldn't fight like this. Otherwise, they'd use up their mana before they managed to defeat their opponents. However, the task of defeating their opponents had been given to the others in Happy, and Luo Ji's task was simply to use his summons to continuously harass his opponents.
This was a trade: Concealed Light's mana for the opponent's HP. Right now, Lin Feng's Doubtful Demon's health was being depleted just like Luo Ji's mana.
Under the combined efforts of three of Happy's members, he couldn't retaliate at all. He could only stall as much as possible, waiting for his teammates to save him, and what Luo Ji was doing was preventing this sort of support. Concealed Light's summons and Dancing Rain's long-ranged firepower had become the biggest hindrance to Team Wind Howl.
A measly rookie Summoner had managed to stall their entire team?
This reality was driving Wind Howl crazy.
But what could they do?
Luo Ji's crazed summoning had creature after creature appear in front of them. He was also giving the summons orders the best he could, not just sending them up to die.
With Luo Ji's mechanics, he wouldn't be able to do it perfectly. However, the choice in what details to focus on and which to neglect was something he was accomplishing very well this time. He couldn't perfect his mechanics, but he would act when needed at the crucial moments.
Those who looked down on Luo Ji, but had some understanding of Glory, snapped their mouths shut. Anyone could tell how important Luo Ji was to this match. Though he wasn't the main DPS, he was an indispensable part of Happy's strategy. He was like a healer, barely providing any DPS, but who would say that a healer had no value on the field?
As for those who were a little more skilled, they were shocked by Luo Ji's performance.
It was true that he wasn't top notch with mechanics, but he had managed to do what he could, the best he could.
Precise calculations, a carefully executed rhythm.
Happy seemed to have produced another interesting player!
Although his natural talent was limited, he could perform at his limit.
For example, if this were an exam, some had the ability to achieve a 100 percent, but because they would make mistakes out of carelessness, they only achieved 90 percent. As for Luo Ji, he was someone who could only achieve a maximum 90 percent, but in the end that was what he achieved. With that, his actual performance was no different from those who could achieve 100 but only got 90.
"Wind Howl needs to find a way to turn things around. This mess won't be good for them if it continues," Li Yibo commented.
"Then, Advisor Li, what do you think Wind Howl needs to do to solve this dilemma?" Pan Lin asked.
"Cooperate," Li Yibo replied, "Wind Howl needs to work as a team. Only by cooperating and advancing as a team can they successfully deal with Concealed Light's stream of summons. Right now, they're each doing their own thing. It's far too low-efficiency. This is the root of why Luo Ji has managed to stall them all by himself."
"As a team…" Pan Lin wasn't too sure what to say anymore. Everyone knew that Wind Howl had ended up with this man to man style because they performed too terribly as a team. With that, they could brute force a battle of cooperation and teamwork into one on one duels. Yet now, Wind Howl had to work as a team to solve their current crisis.
"That's probably… a little hard for them now, no?" Pan Lin lamented. He couldn't lean too much to one side right now, after all!