Translator: Nomyummi Editor: Nomyummi
Hua!
The crowd erupted.
How could he be so lucky! Countless Tyranny fans were filled with grief.
Luck was luck, but it couldnt be ignored. And at this moment, its importance was being displayed in front of everyone. He had been moved randomly to such a good spot. If it wasnt luck, what was it?
For life or death to be decided by luck, the losing side was the most helpless and the most unwilling. Its no wonder that Tyrannys fans were unhappy.
How surprising! To think Mo Fan would make a gamble! Who would have thought? Pan Lin also cried out. The deepest impression that they had of Mo Fan was his patience and perhaps excessive caution. Yet this sort of player had chosen a method that he didnt have a complete grasp of, betting on luck to succeed. It was truly unexpected.
But is that really the case?
At Tyrannys seats, Zhang Xinjie had marked out on his electronic pad the distance between Deception and Negative Nine Degrees when the Substitution Technique had been used.
He had drawn a circle showing the maximum distance that could be traversed using Substitution Technique. He split the circle into several small sections. The circles in red were areas that were dangerous for Negative Nine Degrees. The circles in yellow were areas that posed a threat. Blue represented areas where the was no threat. Black represented areas unfavorable for Deception.
With the Substitution Techniques range, the area in black was the smallest. The area in blue was the largest and then the yellow. Although the area in red was smaller than the area in yellow, it still took up around 15% of the total area. The area in black was only 8%.
It didnt matter whether or not Mo Fan had a high chance of reaching a good position, the chances of him getting into an unfavorable position was only 8%.
This Substitution Technique wasnt purely a gamble. With only an 8.2% of truly failing, there was in fact little risk for Mo Fan. In reality, this choice was very safe.
Mo Fan was still Mo Fan. He didnt make risky moves. Although he made a gamble, it was because it was in his favor. The chances of failure was less than 10%.
In the end, he got lucky!
Deception was able to close the distance between himself and his opponent. Once his Empty Cicada Double Kill landed, a combo was started. The distance between them was too close. Qin Muyun had no way of starting up his Gun Fu, which required a certain amount of distance and space.
Negative Nine Degrees kept trying to retreat. He was in quite the defensive position.
Deception stayed in close pursuit. Fireworks Style? It didnt appear! Mo Fan continued to have Deception attack relentlessly.
This was the difference between Mo Fan now and the Mo Fan of the past. Instead of immediately retreating as soon as his threat was starting to give out, he persevered. He recognized that there were many areas where he couldnt compete with Qin Muyun. Facing an all-rounded opponent like Qin Muyun, it was very difficult to repeatedly employ his signature Fireworks Style in this sort of map. Perhaps this was his only chance. He had no choice. He could only surpass his limits and continue ahead.
How long could he last?
Those who truly understood Mo Fans style were wondering about this question. And this included Qin Muyun.
Mo Fans style was very distinct. Deconstructing someone with such distinct characteristics was easier. It wasnt a style that could easily be overlooked, unlike Qin Muyuns fundamental-heavy style.
In terms of playstyle and upbringing, these two were on opposite ends.
Mo Fan had taken a gamble to break through Qin Muyuns defenses. As for Qin Muyun? Even though he was in a passive position at the moment, he was calm because he knew that Mo Fan wasnt good at keeping up a long assault. Perhaps it was an issue of focus or an issue with his technique, but in either case, there was no need to panic. An opportunity would appear.
Persist!
Both players were thinking the same thing.
What a strange feeling.
Mo Fan started to feel numb. His mind seemed to come to a standstill. All he could see in front of him was Qin Muyuns Negative Nine Degrees. Everything else had become a haze. His fingers were moving, but he didnt know what they were doing. Sometimes, Mo Fan only realized what skills he had after using them.
His thoughts were starting to have trouble keeping up with his actions.
Chance!
Qin Muyun finally saw an opportunity. Negative Nine Degrees struck with his knee, while his other leg slid backwards, instantly pulling the distance apart.
With a bang, Qin Muyun immediately began his counterattack.
Everyone was stunned!
They hadnt seen any signs of it coming. Hadnt Deception been playing well?
But nevertheless, Qin Muyun had taken back the initiative.
With their positions suddenly reversed, Mo Fan was having trouble adjusting.
He wasnt very good at defending. His expertise was at escaping.
But trying to completely escape from a Gunners attacks was quite troublesome. Gunners had a very long range.
From this perspective, Mo Fans Fireworks style was rather hard to use against long-ranged classes. Pulling apart the distance and retreating was exactly what long-ranged classes wanted you to do.
When playing against long-ranged classes, it wasnt a good idea to try and completely escape from the opponents attacks and then coming back. It was giving up space, allowing the opponent to set up barriers. Facing long-ranged classes, close combat suppression was king. Even the Fireworks style could not stray from this principle.
But Mo Fan wasnt doing this. His Deception began to run away. It looked as if he was only going to be happy when he completely escaped from Negative Nine Degrees.
I dont think... thats a good idea? Pan Lin said.
He had already closed the distance with Negative Nine Degrees. He shouldnt have given up so easily. Mo Fan is still lacking in experience! Li Yibo agreed with Pan Lins judgement.
Mo Fan wanted to run, but Qin Muyun wasnt going to let him go so easily. Negative Nine Degrees chased after Deception closely.
Mo Fan had no way of completely escaping. At this distance, Deception had no way of making any counter attacks against Negative Nine Degrees. He had taken the initiative to pull apart the distance between them. Qin Muyun was glad to see it happen and didnt try to block him too hard. Right now, Mo Fan could only be bullied. Pan Lin and Li Yibo felt extremely proud of their foresight and kept talking about it on the broadcast.
But... even though Mo Fan was on the backfoot, Qin Muyuns offense wasnt anything impressive.
Deception moved nimbly, dodging and weaving the gunfire from Negative Nine Degrees. He wasnt able to escape from Qin Muyun, but Qin Muyun had no way to kill him.
Mo Fans skill, trained from running for his life in huge chaotic wars, was being put on display in this 1v1.
Not only was this distance uncomfortable for Qin Muyun, Mo Fan was at ease dodging the incoming attacks.
I need to get closer!
For long-ranged attackers, the farther away they were, the lower the chances of hitting the target. This distance couldnt be considered as far, but Mo Fans skill at dodging made it much harder to hit him.
Qin Muyun began having Negative Nine Degrees press a bit closer. Suddenly, Mo Fans Deception turned around and dashed towards him.
Shining Cut!
With this Assassin skill, Deception had instantly traversed a length of distance. Qin Muyun, who had Negative Nine Degrees press forward, felt that something was wrong.
This distance was too close!
Attack, leap backwards.
Qin Muyun had wanted to close the distance a split second ago, and now he wanted to pull away.
But this time, Mo Fan didnt retreat. After Shining Cut, he used Shadow Clone Technique...
Something isnt right.
Qin Muyun stared blankly. This scene felt like deja vu!
But he continued to have Negative Nine Degrees retreat, while controlling the distance between the two of them.
Ground Shrinking Technique!
This skill again.
Qin Muyun knew what was going to happen next. It was the same strategy as before.
Qin Muyun tried to block him, but failed. After Ground Shrinking Technique was Substitution Technique.
Where!
The usually steady and calm Qin Muyun started to panic. Negative Nine Degrees spun around.
This time, he wasnt as unlucky. The position that the Substitution Technique had sent Deception wasnt dangerous for him. However, Qin Muyun didnt have any advantages either. Just like what Zhang Xinjie analyzed, the chances of Deception being placed in a bad position was only 8%.
This time, he didnt win any opportunities, but he didnt lose out. It basically amounted to nothing happening.
Mo Fans Deception immediately began to retreat, while Qin Muyuns Negative Nine Degrees immediately pressed forward.
Attack, dodge...
Qin Muyun knew why Mo Fan wanted to run away before and why Mo Fan didnt continue pressing him.
Because for Mo Fan, he had a better grasp of running and dodging than approaching and pressuring.
As he dodged, he waited for an opportunity for him to start a new round of gambling.
It sounded somewhat ridiculous.
He had already gotten close, yet he was insisting on retreating and then going through so much effort to get close again...
But that was Mo Fans style. It was what he was in control of. He wasnt good at keeping close. He was good at burst attacks. Even if he tried to persist, it would end up being broken in the end and then he would be counterattacked. When that happened, he would have to run away, and that was exactly what he was best at.
Then, he turned around, re-established his position in close combat, his burst combos, and his stubbornness.
It was the same Fireworks style.
Mo Fan hadnt changed. He didnt bet on luck or do things by flukes. He used his terrifying patience and his own familiar methods to create this strategy of chance.
In the sixth round of the group arena, Happys Mo Fan won.
He had tried a total of twelve times. Three successes, seven resets, and two interrupted by Qin Muyun...