Starting with Zaozi Ge, a dream lineup

Chapter 147 Style Clash, Duke and Letme
"Wow!!"

"Rng!!!"

"Go go go go go!!!"

He confidently declared his championship, and with a resounding victory, that confidence, that arrogance.

If this had been said before S7 won the championship, it would have definitely caused a stir among the haters in the audience, but now, everyone thinks it's perfectly reasonable.

After the trash-talking segment ended, all the viewers, including those watching on screen, were aroused, and the barrage of comments reached a new peak.

"It feels like IG, even when facing the S7 champions, doesn't lose any of their momentum."

"That's right, IG is like a newborn calf that's not afraid of tigers. They have Rookie, a top-tier mid laner in the LPL, and Duke, a champion top laner. As for Ning's performance, he was no less than Xiangguo last season. And their bot lane is a rookie AD. Now, facing RNG, I'm even a little curious to see how the two sides will play today."

"RNG's first match in the main tournament is undoubtedly being watched by many people both domestically and internationally, so let's cut to the chase and get straight to today's ban/pick phase."

The scene shifts, and the players are all ready. The ban/pick phase is immediately displayed on the screen.

As IG's home turf, IG was on the blue side and RNG was on the red side in this match.

Right from the start, IG's first ban was Varus, the champion that Uzi had performed exceptionally well in the Demacia Cup. Clearly, IG didn't have any good ways to counter this current meta champion.

As for first-picking Varus, sorry, in Duke's champion pool, or rather in the champion pool of all Korean top laners, tank champions are basically only practiced when the team needs them. Very few Korean top laners focus on tanks.

However, Ornn is the top pick in this patch, so it's a must-pick if you can get him. If you give the first pick to Varus and Ornn to Letme, who performed well in the Demacia Cup, Duke doesn't have a good way to counter him.

RNG directly banned Zoe and Kalista, two strong champions in the current patch.

IG countered by banning Malzahar and Camille, clearly not giving RNG a chance to stabilize in the early game, banning strong lane champions and Xiaohu's signature picks.

RNG's last move targeted Jacklove, eliminating Miss Fortune.

"RNG gave their rookie bot laner two bans this game, banning two easy-to-play AD carries. It looks like Uzi is determined to kill them."

The child exclaimed:
"Jacklove earned RNG's respect in his first match; I wonder if that's a good thing or not."

"Haha, kid, haven't you noticed? Our LPL AD carry players are all very resilient under pressure."

They exchanged glances and hints.

"We still need to give the newcomers some experience; it's how a veteran team welcomes newcomers!"

"Yes, let's see what both sides pick in their first pick. RNG and IG are fielding their full rosters, but I feel like they'll let Duke try out Ornn, who's currently overpowered."

"I think we should pick Ornn. Although his win rate is terrible in ranked and normal games, he has performed surprisingly well in professional matches."

"In this version, Ornn top lane is very strong against any top laner. I heard Duke has been practicing it in ranked games recently. I wonder how it compares to Letme's previous performance."

"Besides, if you don't pick Ornn, RNG will definitely make sure to take it for you."

Before the doll could finish speaking, Duke, as the first pick, decisively locked in the Ornn champion.

"Yes, that was a very wise move, bringing out the blue team's advantages."

"Oh my, there's something there."

The audience screamed when they saw Duke's instant pick.

"The competition has already started right from the first pick. You know, Junze reached 690 points in the Korean server Challenger rank with Ornn, surpassing a large number of professional players."

"Many observer perspectives now are tutorials on Junze's Ornn, and Duke is instantly picking it right in front of you, which means he's going to teach you, the current number one Ornn player in the Korean server, a lesson."

Within the RNG team, the selection of Ornn elicited a burst of cheers. "Haha, class is in session! Junze, are you sure your hands aren't shaking from all that beating? I'll definitely give you feedback this time!"

"Get lost, get lost! Watch me teach him a lesson with Maokai this game. Ornn is still easy to beat. Just come to my top lane more often."

"Hey, in this championship battle on the top lane, it's not even our little pawns' place to speak."

Xiao Ming, sitting to the side, also made a sarcastic remark.

The more familiar you are with a hero, the more you know what that hero is afraid of. As the Ornn Jinchūriki, Letme certainly knows Ornn's counters in the current version.

The current Maokai hasn't been nerfed yet, and its abnormal regeneration and teamfight capabilities are in no way inferior to Ornn. In fact, in the laning phase, with the help of the jungler, Maokai can effectively counter the clumsy Ornn.

Without hesitation, Chris, as planned, immediately secured the Rogue Prince for RNG.

Everyone has seen the previous strategy of using Rogue Ornn, so now that Ornn is available, we certainly can't give Rogue to Rookie, who is also good at it.

The ban/pick phase went very quickly on both sides, and the lineups for the first game were determined in no time.

IG vs RNG
Top Lane: Ornn vs. Maokai
Jungle: Olaf vs Jarvan IV
Mid Lane: Lucian vs. Ryze
ADC: Ezreal vs Tristana
Support: Braum vs. Tahm Kench
"The big tree"

Seeing Letme's choice, Duke breathed a sigh of relief. Despite Duke's previous trash talk, if he were to actually face Letme now, his win rate would only be 50/50.

Is Maokai good against Ornn?

Easy to beat.

But this hero is actually no different from Ornn. The lane pressure is just a retreat to advance, using his passive to frequently trade blows.

Essentially, everyone focuses on steady development and building tanky items, then plays the role of the team's front-line tank in the mid-to-late game.

As for whether Maokai can solo kill Ornn, unless a Gold-level player is playing Ornn this game, Maokai's damage is far from enough to solo kill Ornn.

Tank heroes in a matchup often only have the ability to harass and control the lane, but not the ability to secure a solo kill.

If Letme picks a champion that's good for dueling, Duke might be afraid of getting solo killed, so he'll bring in his substitute next game.

"Ning can go to mid and bot more often; he doesn't need to come to top this game."

Duke said directly.

Ornn and Olaf both lack strong crowd control, making it too difficult to gank a Maokai. Instead, it would be better for Olaf to team up with mid laner Rookie to exert pressure in the jungle.

Once the Prince is caught by Olaf in the early game, he will have a very hard time escaping. As long as Olaf's axes are accurate, he will have a very strong presence in the jungle.

This is also why Chris wanted to pick Tristana in the bottom lane to exert pressure, making good use of Tristana's escape ability to attract Olaf's attention and help the mid, top, and jungle share the pressure.

IG's tactics always revolve around protecting the mid and top lanes, and there is probably no team in the entire LPL with a more distinctive style than IG.

RNG's tactical system favors protecting the bottom lane, so the two sides naturally clashed tactically at the very beginning of the game.

"OK, OK, go to the bot lane more this game. Tristana pushes the lane very fast, and Rookie can also gank the bot lane then."

Ning said directly.

"The homeless person is carrying medical supplies; there's no need to worry about him going to provide support."

Rookie speaks fluent English and has no trouble communicating with the others.

(End of this chapter)