The Wild Card region's matches for this edition were scheduled to conclude within three days. The best-of-three elimination format made the competition exceptionally fierce. Although Cheng Xing had passed the first round, he still had to fight through two more days of elimination to confirm whether he secured a qualification spot. He didn't dare be complacent and continued training on his computer after his match.
Ye Shaoyang also began practicing for the individual matches, while Chi Shuo dutifully acted as a practice partner for both of them, even teaching them many techniques for individual matches.
The next day, Cheng Xing's match was scheduled for 7 PM. His opponent was a top-laner from the Korean region named Han Chang-ho. No one was familiar with this player, and Chi Shuo couldn't find any information about him in the materials his mentor provided. Checking the Korean region's data, they found he was a rookie debuting this season.
His team, TTX, ranked seventh in the regular season, entered the lower bracket, and wasn't considered outstanding in the Korean region. However, after Chi Shuo searched for match recordings from the Korean official website and watched a few games, he discovered this Han Chang-ho had strong individual skills. In several team fights, he suddenly flanked from behind, eliminated the enemy's backline carries, and turned the tide.
After watching the recordings, Ye Shaoyang said to Cheng Xing, "Your opponent this time is a top-laner 'daddy' specializing in diving the backline. You need to be careful."
Hearing this, Cheng Xing immediately straightened up: "Marksman versus top-laner is so hard!"
In the top lane for individual matches, few people pick tanks; they almost always pick fighters. In a marksman versus fighter duel, the marksman can't win in the early game. Once the fighter gets close, there's a high risk of instant death. A fighter's typical combo can usually burst down a squishy marksman.
Cheng Xing took a deep breath and joked, "Anyway, I've been killed countless times by all sorts of top-laners in the league. Might as well treat it as accumulating death clips for Brother Qu's video montage?"
Chi Shuo said quietly, "A marksman's chances of winning against a fighter aren't great, but there's still hope. In a 1v1 against a fighter, two marksmen are quite effective. First is [Wind Elf]; use rapid repositioning to stay out of his reach, exploit your long attack range to poke him down, take the common skill [Frenzy], and once your damage scales up, burst him down with a full combo."
Most [Wind Elf] players take [Flash] or [Purify] in matches for survival. Taking [Frenzy] in individual matches for extreme burst to secure kills is a viable strategy.
Cheng Xing listened intently as Chi Shuo continued, "The second one, you know, right?"
Cheng Xing quickly nodded: "Yeah yeah, [Sharpshooter], super long attack range. You can poke by sniping him while he clears minions. Three consecutive hits can kill a fighter."
Ye Shaoyang thought carefully and said, "But [Sharpshooter] doesn't fare well against [Blood Duke]. If the opponent picks Blood Duke, you can snipe him a few times, but he can heal back up with his ultimate. So, for tomorrow's match, Xiao Xing, you should pick your hero reactively. Wait for the opponent to pick, then counter-pick accordingly."
Ye Shaoyang paused, then suddenly had an idea, smiling as he said, "Or you can pick first, making the opponent think you're taking a certain hero. Then, after he picks a counter-hero, you swap yours at the very last second of the countdown."
Cheng Xing's eyes widened: "Swap at the last moment? That works?"
Chi Shuo said, "Of course it does. During the hero selection phase in individual matches, as long as the opponent hasn't confirmed their pick, changes are possible. Tomorrow, assess the situation. If the opponent is confident and locks their hero immediately, you pick reactively. If the opponent is cautious and doesn't lock, you swap at the last moment."
Cheng Xing nodded in understanding. To familiarize him with this tactic, Chi Shuo even practiced a few rounds with him. After being ruthlessly beaten by his mentor three times in a row, Ye Shaoyang realized Chi Shuo was also very skilled with fighters, as many jungler heroes are burst-type fighters with similar playstyles.
The next day at 7 PM, Cheng Xing logged into the match channel and was pulled into the room by the system referee.
After both sides readied up, the match began.
First Game: Han Chang-ho chose the highly skill-dependent fighter hero [Blade Will]. This hero has a Blade Form and a Sword Form; switching forms resets skill cooldowns. A full combo from him leaves squishies either dead or critically injured. It's also a common fighter top-laner in league matches.
Seeing this, Cheng Xing decisively chose [Wind Elf].
After the match started, Cheng Xing constantly repositioned rapidly to maintain distance, hiding under his tower to clear minions and farm. When Han Chang-ho reached level 6, he Flashed in to try and burst Cheng Xing. But Cheng Xing was prepared; the moment his opponent hit 6, he quickly retreated under his tower, escaping with a sliver of health, denying the solo kill.
Han Chang-ho was a very steady player, unlike the "mad dog" style of China region's Zhao Xin'an. He keenly judged Cheng Xing's positioning and seized an opportunity to solo kill Cheng Xing once.
Fortunately, Cheng Xing had cleared the minion wave, so his tower wasn't taken.
After returning to lane, Cheng Xing capitalized on his opponent's skill cooldowns, activated Frenzy, went in for a combo, chunked the opponent low enough to recall. Once Han Chang-ho's skills came off cooldown, he Flashed in again to forcibly kill Cheng Xing.
The two traded blows back and forth, with the kill score going from 1:1 to 2:2.
Cheng Xing was on edge, palms sweaty. The match dragged to the 15-minute mark, where Cheng Xing's items gradually came online. He built three critical strike items and one defensive item, making it harder for the opponent to burst him down instantly.
Han Chang-ho, clearly aiming to end the match with 3 kills, had built full damage items.
In their late-game duel, Cheng Xing relied on extremely fast jumps and agile maneuvers to dodge Han Chang-ho's key skills. Then, leveraging his range advantage, he activated Frenzy and his ultimate, unleashing a barrage to take down his opponent!
Cheng Xing won the first game.
Second Game: Han Chang-ho seemed to wise up and didn't rush to lock his hero.
Cheng Xing pretended he was going to play [Snow Queen], selecting that hero. The opponent then picked [Kung Fu Master], which counters Snow Queen well because Kung Fu Master has long-distance leaps and isn't afraid of her slows.
However, at the very last second of the countdown, Cheng Xing instantly swapped to [Sharpshooter].
Han Chang-ho: "…"
You China region players really have a lot of tricks! Swapping at the last second, he didn't even have time to react.
Kung Fu Master can also deal with Sharpshooter; leaping in with his ultimate for a full combo can burst the Sharpshooter down. But Cheng Xing played extremely cautiously this second game. He hid in distant bushes, using vision provided by minion waves to snipe shot after shot, chunking the Kung Fu Master low.
Han Chang-ho had no choice but to recall.
Cheng Xing used the timing window when his opponent recalled to quickly clear the wave. After several repetitions like this, Han Chang-ho fell behind in gold, missing several minions, and his tower was worn down to half health.
Cheng Xing seized the opportunity, hiding in a bush and landing two consecutive shots to kill his opponent!
Push with minions, take the tower, retreat immediately without overstaying.
After the opponent respawned, continue hiding in bushes, aiming, shooting, chunking them low…
Cheng Xing controlled the tempo exceptionally well, taking the inner tower by the 10-minute mark. Han Chang-ho was powerless to turn it around, ultimately losing as Cheng Xing pushed through with a minion wave to destroy the Nexus.
2-0 victory.
Cheng Xing excitedly jumped up: "How did I win again?!"
Ye Shaoyang held back a laugh and patted his shoulder: "That was a beautiful win today. This is your first time solo killing a fighter, right?" Cheng Xing nodded vigorously: "Yeah, it felt so damn good!"
Before, it was always top-laner daddies Flashing in to dive and solo kill him. His first reaction upon seeing a top-laner was "run." But today, his first-ever 1v1 against a top-laner, Cheng Xing never imagined he could actually solo kill his opponent.
Chi Shuo reminded him: "A semi-tanky marksman build can solo kill fighters. But you can't play like that in team fights. Team fights require marksmen to deal more damage, and the enemy won't let you auto-attack freely for over ten seconds."
In team fights, not only are there top-laners, but also junglers and assassin mages—a whole group diving him. Building more defensive items wouldn't help. So, in professional league matches, marksmen mostly build four or more damage items to maximize their output.
Cheng Xing nodded seriously: "I know. Team fight and individual match strategies are different. Through individual matches, I'm mainly practicing laning, positioning, mechanics—these skills."
Ye Shaoyang asked: "As long as you gain something, it's good. Keep up the good work for tomorrow's match."
After advancing through the second round, only about 50 players remained. The third day's matches would determine the final roster for the World Invitational. Cheng Xing also prepared diligently. This time, he was lucky; in the third round, he faced a marksman from the Japanese region.
In a marksman duel, Cheng Xing was quite confident, having just defeated a rookie marksman from the European region in the first round. However, reaching the third round meant this player had some skill, so he couldn't be careless.
Cheng Xing practiced earnestly. The next day, he spent the entire day in 1v1s against Ye Shaoyang and Chi Shuo, then logged into the match room again in the evening.
He employed a "Tian Ji's Horse Racing" strategy: using [Vampire Princess] against the opponent's [Sharpshooter], [Wind Elf] against marksmen without mobility, and [Snow Queen] with a slowing build against marksmen with strong sustained damage.
He lost the first game to a solo kill, but Cheng Xing didn't get discouraged, quickly adjusting his mindset to win back the second game.
The deciding game dragged to the 18-minute late game. Both sides had taken outer and inner towers, leaving only the lonely Nexus. Cheng Xing gritted his teeth, stabilized his play, eyes fixed unblinkingly on the screen.
He pretended to be losing, retreating, luring the opponent to push his Nexus. Then, exploiting a tiny health differential, he burst down the enemy marksman in a counterattack. Coincidentally, the next minion wave spawned from his base, and the enemy's respawn timer was very long. Cheng Xing pushed with the minions all the way to the enemy Nexus, turning the tables!
Watching his precise micro-play from the side, Ye Shaoyang couldn't help but praise: "Beautiful!"
A gratified smile also appeared on Chi Shuo's face.
The two exchanged a look, smiling simultaneously. This feeling was probably akin to "seeing your child (disciple) finally grow up." Xiao Xing had really matured.
He wouldn't recklessly charge in like a hothead during his training camp days, nor would he be as nervous and only know how to flee like when Ye Shaoyang first joined the team. Now, no matter the opponent, Cheng Xing could remain calm and had even learned to use his brain, employing strategies to win.
This was the most crucial point.
Cheng Xing excitedly looked at the line of English text the referee had sent on the screen, asking: "The referee sent a bunch of notifications? This line of English—does it mean the World Invitational?"
Chi Shuo said softly: "Yes. Advancing through the third round means you've secured one of the 23 individual match spots from the Wild Card region. You can go abroad with us."
Cheng Xing's eyes reddened, wanting both to laugh and cry. He choked up: "I… I've never been abroad before. I don't have a visa either…"
Chi Shuo said: "For the World Invitational, it's a group visa. The league will handle it uniformly; no need to worry."
Ye Shaoyang said: "Mine isn't done yet either. Probably after the Wild Card region concludes, they'll confirm which players from each country are attending, then handle the visas uniformly, right?"
As the three were chatting, the phone suddenly rang. It was a call from the league: "Hello, Cheng Xing. The results of your Wild Card region matches are out. The international referee panel has reviewed your match recordings and confirmed the results. Congratulations on successfully qualifying from the Wild Card region."
Cheng Xing suppressed his excitement, trying to sound calm: "Thank you, sister!"
The woman smiled and said: "Please submit your ID card and professional player certificate to the staff at the league headquarters within three days. Oh, is Lieyang there?"
Cheng Xing handed the phone to Ye Shaoyang, who said: "Hello, this is Tianhuan Lieyang."
The woman said: "Please also submit your ID card and professional player certificate to the league headquarters."
Ye Shaoyang: "Okay, we understand."
After hanging up, Ye Shaoyang looked at Chi Shuo: "Xiao Xing and I are on group visas; the league should arrange our trip abroad and book flights uniformly. What about you, Captain Chi?"
As the S6 world champion, Chi Shuo wasn't on this edition's invitational roster, so of course he couldn't travel with the league group. His trip abroad was personal; all expenses were out-of-pocket, just to accompany Yangyang and Xiao Xing.
Chi Shuo said: "Don't worry. My visa hasn't expired. I'll book my own ticket. Once the league confirms the flight, I'll book the same one as you."
Ye Shaoyang smiled: "This way, our Tianhuan's Sun, Moon, and Star will go abroad together."
Cheng Xing thought to himself, Isn't this like a family trip?
In future world championships, using the names Sunshine, Moonlight, Starlight—foreign audiences seeing them would probably also think they were family.