Starting with Zaozi Ge, a dream lineup

Chapter 182: The Art of War! Facing The Shy (Long Chapter)
boom!
As the drumbeats in the champion selection screen of the Rift came to a complete halt, the ban/pick phase ended, and the loading screen officially began.

Amidst the enthusiastic and surprised uproar from the audience, Wawa Miller and Guan Zeyuan were all a little stunned.

"Wow, it's really Letme laning against TheShy again this time, and it's Irelia against Fiora?"

The child immediately realized what was happening, rubbed his hands together, and looked excited.

"But Fiora versus Irelia, their champion mechanics are just that simple, how can they fight like that? Letme might get completely dominated by Fiora in this game."

Miller looked worried.

Letme, as a leading domestic top laner, faced off against TheShy, a typical Korean aggressive top laner.

Whoever wins today will be able to continue their invincible spirit.

But if Letme gets tangled, it may be in a slump for a long time.

"Is this considered both sides unleashing their ultimate moves?" Guan Zeyuan said excitedly.

"Although Uzi's Lucian hasn't been picked in this version, I won't comment on it. But any veteran player familiar with Uzi knows that in Season 4, Uzi's Lucian was a force to be reckoned with, dominating the battlefield."

"I remember that back then, all the teams had to give the ban slots a lot of respect. As for the Lucian and Alistar combination, it was definitely RNG's trump card."

The doll said mysteriously that he had spent a long time reviewing the match records before the Spring Finals to prepare a good explanation for today's game.

Just as he said, Uzi's Lucian was indeed a force to be reckoned with back in Season 4.

In Korean ranked games during Season 4, among Uzi's signature champions, if Vayne hadn't debuted earlier and been more difficult to play, perhaps everyone would be more familiar with Lucian now.

"We all know that in this version, once you get Lucian, you maintain an absolute lane advantage in the early and mid-game. The bonus from Press the Attack is extremely effective, whether it's for dominating or in small-scale team fights."

Now that both sides have chosen their heroes, Wawa is no longer going to hold back and is going to start revealing information directly.

"Many of you have probably seen Letme's Irelia before, but what many players don't know is that the Irelia in that game was actually played by Uzi, who was just using Letme's account."

"As far as I remember, this is the first time LPL has used Irelia as a champion, considered a bug in the current version. However, being a strong champion in the current version doesn't mean she's invincible."

"Just like Mordekaiser in Season 5, or Xayah and Rakan in Season 7, weren't they all countered by various teams? Even though there were version changes, Fiora is now riding on Irelia's head."

"On the other side, IG's lineup is Kai'Sa and Karma, the two of them against Lucian and Alistar, emmm..."

Guan Zeyuan wanted to continue, but then he thought that the two combinations were completely incomparable.

One side is clearly adopting a cowardly, avoidance-of-war strategy, while the other side is directly seeking confrontation. Needless to say, one thing can be seen from the choices made by both sides.

Moreover, the current version of Lucian has such high damage that it's hard to understand. If it weren't for the current meta in the bot lane, which requires late-game carry potential, more teams would probably favor this ADC.

"The highlight of this match is still the duel between Irelia and Fiora in the top lane. Whether Irelia's debut will be effective depends on the players' performance," Wawa said.

"Yes, aside from the top lane, RNG should aim for positional advantage in all other lanes."

"."

As the three commentators chatted and laughed, the battle finally finished loading, and both sides officially entered Summoner's Rift.

After Colonel Ki clumsily presented the lineups and advantages/disadvantages of each lane, RNG's decision was immediately proven wrong.

"What are they?"

"The puppy is using Lucian to go top?"

Doll and Miller both exclaimed in surprise.

From everyone's perspective, RNG's Irelia and Alistar went straight to the tri-bush near the bottom lane's first tower, while Lucian, with his teleport ability, headed straight for the top lane without hesitation.

"Is Lucian the best counter to Fiora in this patch?"

The three commentators were all a little embarrassed. Just now, during the draft phase, they were praising how strong Uzi's Lucian was and how much control Alistar had in the bottom lane, and they even speculated on RNG's tactics.

Unexpectedly, RNG put Uzi in the top lane to face off against TheShy.

"While Lucian is frequently seen in ranked games as a top laner, in competitive matches... emm..."

"Indeed, in my memory, I've rarely seen Lucian played top lane; he's mostly played mid lane."

After the S8 talent rework, Lucian still plays mid lane, but the frequency of his play has decreased significantly compared to last year.

Last season, the main reason Lucian was able to dominate the mid lane was the timing of the traditional mid-lane mages' power spikes.

Lucian, also a mid-laner, can change the pace of the game as early as 15 minutes and head straight for the mid-game, but several traditional mid-lane mages might not even have basic items by then.

Lucian's other advantage lies in his ability to rejuvenate his team.

In the early game, all heroes rely on basic attacks for damage output, and Lucian, with his passive and instant-cast abilities, is a prime example of this.

However, in the current version, even if Lucian, as an ADC, develops normally and exerts pressure, his impact in the mid-game is still not as great as that of a traditional mid laner.

To put it simply, the damage output of the top, mid, and jungle lanes has undergone a qualitative change in this version due to the rework of talents, making Lucian too easy to die.

Without crowd control abilities and with a short range, Lucian is easily caught and killed in one combo in the mid lane, rendering him useless.

But everyone seems to have fallen into a misconception.

In this version, the damage of the top, mid, and jungle laners has been increased to a whole new level, but the ADC, as a potential beneficiary, has also seen a considerable increase in damage.

With the addition of Aggressive, Lucian essentially eliminates the concept of tanks or frontliners during the laning phase.

If we had to find a weakness, it would only be the player's individual ability.

Lucian is a champion that truly showcases a player's skill level and reveals just how high their ceiling of mastery over a champion can be.

In the current version, only coaches who have exceptional faith in their team's ADC player's individual skill would dare to play Lucian, or to go mid or top lane as an AD carry.

Of course, Uzi is definitely among them.

RNG will unconditionally provide resources to Uzi, no matter the circumstances, as long as he gives the word.

This reflects the team's trust in each other, and it's also RNG's style.

"Oops, I've been tricked!"

The moment Rookie in the mid lane saw Lucian appear in the top lane, he exclaimed in surprise.

It's important to know that in ranked games, Lucian has an advantage when facing Fiora.

As Lucian used his small movement to block the lane from the backline minions, TheShy's Fiora instantly started to have a hard time.

In order to catch Irelia in the bushes in the future "the shy", Fiora was released a little late.

It was precisely because of this gap that Lucian was able to position himself well and block the minion wave in advance.

Being suppressed from level one was extremely difficult for TheShy to handle, but the main problem was that his mindset was caught off guard.

If IG's thinking is still at the first level, then RNG has already reached the fifth level.

Playing Irelia in the bot lane, and on Letme's account, naturally gives the opponent the impression that I'm going to use this strategy, but I'm also being secretive about it.

Coach Jin knew nothing about Chinese military strategy and was easily tricked.

Li Luo's true purpose, of course, was to personally come to the top lane and suppress TheShy.

If a true warrior meta were to arrive, he might still be evenly matched with TheShy in the top lane. But in the current meta, with Lucian, he's confident he can dominate TheShy in lane.

How strong is TheShy's laning ability?

There are a hundred different answers in the minds of a hundred people.

However, it's rare to hear professional players say that he has a strong laning ability.

When most players talk about their experience laning against TheShy, they usually say that TheShy has a very strong laning pressure.

However, no mention was made of TheShy's laning ability.

If the League of Legends were to combine the laning abilities of all five positions and consider the historical laning prowess of each position, even TheShy at his peak might not rank in the top five.

Laning ability encompasses a great deal, including dominance, resilience, and support capabilities. Countless sub-abilities make up true laning ability.

TheShy, like the sharpest spear, poured all his points into dominance, resulting in a lack of other skills.

This is also why Shy often started 0-3 or 0-4 after everyone else had free time.

"This is truly a matchup I've never seen before."

Guan Zeyuan looked excited and surprised.

All the viewers in front of the screen were also stirred up at this moment.

"Wow, this champion can be played in the top lane in competitive matches? Does that mean my Teemo can be played too?"

"Swaying back and forth, without Feng Ge, now Chris has inherited the essence of 'swaying' (a term used to describe a swaying motion in martial arts games). IG has been set up this time."

"That's more like it! The top lane should be a real man's duel. Tanks and stuff like that are just boring."

"Can some experts analyze whether Fiora is stronger or Omniknight is stronger?"

It's worth noting that the question of whether TheShy or Uzi is stronger is a topic that gets brought up for comparison every time the discussion revolves around gameplay.

As one of the few remaining skilled players in the game, everyone is happy to see the two of them facing off in lane.

"Haha, now Lucian can't go mid lane, so he's come to top lane instead. Judging from his early-game pressure, I think this champion can still go top lane."

The doll laughed loudly, realizing his understanding of the game was lacking, and quickly gestured for his brother Miller to take over the conversation.

All I can say is that Lucian is definitely a viable top laner.

Miller watched as the two men widened the gap to 10 points in just three minutes, and after careful consideration, he said...

"I haven't seen Lucian top lane much, but since Uzi dared to pick him against Fiora, he must be confident. Don't forget that Uzi crushed Wither with Fiora at the All-Star event; he should know this champion very well."

"No need to question this choice, just watch the puppy show."

Listening to Miller's words, Wawa couldn't help but facepalm. Ever since S7, Miller's team composition seemed to be shifting from her own to that of a dog-like player.

Now, it has only gotten worse.

"IG is currently being suppressed across all lanes; it all depends on whether Ning's Trundle can make an impact."

"Troll? Trolls seem to counter Graves and Lucian quite well in the mid-to-late game."

In this game, Li Luo equipped Lucian's Project skin and positioned himself in a very difficult spot for Fiora. She couldn't land her Q, and when she went to farm minions, she would get attacked.

Every now and then, Lucian would shoot a smiley face out of the ground with a bullet to mock him.

The bottom lane duo of Irelia and Alistar, once online, also displayed a dominance no less than that Li Luo showed when facing Deft and Mata.

Other ADC champions were quite common in Season 8, including Swain who had already appeared in the bot lane, Vladimir who had also gone bot, and now Irelia.

Strictly speaking, they shouldn't be called ADCs, and even Riot Games has changed the traditional "ADC+Sup" name to "bot," meaning the bottom lane duo.

Top lane Lucian has a relatively comfortable lane matchup against Fiora due to his champion mechanics.

Before level 6, Fiora has a hard time winning against Lucian in a head-on confrontation.

Lucian is too agile; many players in solo queue get crushed by Fiora.

However, in professional matches, when fully focused, Lucian can easily dodge Fiora's Q skill, Rift Slash, as long as he controls the distance well.

Once Fiora's Q skill enters a long cooldown, if the minion wave is in front of the tower, it's fine; she just needs to go back to base.

However, if the minion wave is under the enemy tower, Lucian can use his W skill and auto-attacks to accelerate, making it very likely that he can solo kill Fiora.

Only after reaching level 6 will Fiora gain a movement speed bonus (30/40/50%) from Duelist's Dance when near an enemy champion using her ultimate (R).

Only after using the speed boost to get close enough can Fiora have room to maneuver.

And
"I'll reach level six before him, that's an advantage."

Watching Lucian dance in front of him, TheShy secretly made plans.

Lucian kept pushing the lane, and by the time he reached level 6, the red team's minions would have pushed into the tower first, allowing Fiora to reach level 6 first as well.

"If I can lane against him in an unfamiliar location (top lane), and seize this crucial level 6 opportunity, I might be able to crush him."

The ADC in the bot lane is afraid of Uzi, but none of the top laners are afraid of him.

TheShy played very cautiously, maintaining a safe distance from Li Luo at all times.

Even though Li Luo controlled the minion wave well, as time went on, the minion wave kept pushing towards the blue side's tower, even if Fiora didn't touch the minion wave.

Even if Li Luo pushes the lane, Fiora under the tower can still use her QE skills to last-hit minions under the tower, and she herself is at risk of being ganked by Ning.

Li Luo knew this, so he carefully controlled the lane and farmed minions to ensure his development as much as possible.

Due to TheShy's proficiency with Fiora, there weren't many skirmishes in the top lane in the early game.

As for the mid lane, needless to say, Malzahar will definitely be suppressed by Taliyah in the early game. With Taliyah's current wave clear speed, coupled with Graves' early game strength, it will be difficult for Malzahar to even cross the river.

Furthermore, due to the existence of his E skill, Malzahar's tower last-hitting is extremely unreliable.

The bottom lane became the main focus of the broadcast in this match.

Ever since Li Luo and Xiao Ming proved that the Irelia and Alistar combo was viable in the bottom lane, Letme has been practicing with Xiao Ming.

Unfortunately, the outside world thought that Uzi was duo-queuing with Ming, and everyone was kept in the dark.

The two powerful and aggressive champions, Irelia and Alistar, fought with exceptionally high aggression, exchanging blows very frequently.

After arriving in the bottom lane, facing two weaker heroes, Letme unleashed 12% of his strength, displaying impeccable skill and exerting a dominance that was in no way inferior to Li Luo's.

When RNG's bot lane reached level three, IG had only just reached level two.

Now, even if Ning didn't want to come, he had to. Although the goal was to protect the top lane, looking at Uzi's position, it wouldn't be easy to catch him.

We can only try to do something in the bottom lane in the early game.

Unfortunately, the troll, still on his way, had no idea that the Graves was already hiding in the bottom lane bush.

Seeing Jin Zhu disgusting Faker again makes me feel sorry for him. Changing coaches for a different team every year is really something else. Sigh~
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(End of this chapter)