Starting with Zaozi Ge, a dream lineup

Chapter 199 Khan gets military training again!
"Let me make a prediction. I feel the two teams will play to a 3-2 score?" Wawa summarized.

"RNG is in such good form in ranked games right now, even Xiaohu in the mid lane is about to reach the top of the EU server. Of course, as we all know, Faker plays recklessly in ranked games, but judging by his score alone, Xiaohu is no less skilled than Faker."

Not only were LPL commentators full of hope for RNG, but commentators from other regions even boldly predicted a 3-0 victory.

The famously outspoken commentator from North America, who was broadcasting the finals live, also made this prediction.

However, none of the three North American commentators were optimistic about Skt. The obvious gap in the bot lane was something that the team's strength could not make up for.

Although Bang trained hard during S8, he had eventually passed his peak performance. Now he can be considered one of the top ADCs, but he is still more than half as good as he was at his peak.

Even the famous forecaster Li Laoba didn't hold back this time, boldly proclaiming that RNG would definitely win.

The pre-match trash talk segment was uneventful this time. The rivalry between the two teams is well-known to any League of Legends fan, and the organizers didn't intentionally create any conflict.

Seeing the RNG vs SKT match schedule is enough to pique everyone's interest in watching.

SKT suffered a fair and square defeat to RNG in S7, and this time they showed no resentment, saying that friendship comes first and competition second.

The ban/pick phase has begun.

In the first game, both sides were in the preliminary stage, so they only banned heroes that were uncounterable in the group stage and previous knockout stage, just to give it a try, without targeting them too much.

The two coaches walked to the middle and started rolling the dice. Chris went first and luckily got an even number 6, suppressing kkoma's 4 and successfully helping RNG get the blue side at the start.

Having a natural right to grab the first pick gives them a significant advantage in the draft phase.

Especially for teams like SKT that desperately need mid and top lane champions, RNG perfectly countered them in the first game.

In Li Luo's previous life, the current Hanzi Ge also played the top lane in the KZ team and successfully met RNG in the finals.

However, in the final match against RNG, they were either thoroughly outplayed or experienced Letme's incredible plays.

In this installment, Hanzi has joined SKT. Unlike KZ's Bdd mid laner and Peanut jungler, Faker and Black are now more inclined to provide support.

Khan's strategic position within the SKT team is several levels higher than in his previous life. If they still think about having Letme go top lane against the current Khan, they'll probably be targeted and become fools in no time.

Therefore, Chris's blue side counter pick and first pick were given to the top lane, and the three top laners, Fiora, Irelia, and Gangplank, were all shut down.

Skt also showed their respect by banning three strong bot lane champions: Rakan, Caitlyn, and Kai'Sa.

The ban/pick phase between the two sides was intense from the very beginning, eliciting screams from the audience.

Captain Galio can be said to be SKT's signature system in the Spring Split and MSI.

Without the wake-up call from Team Liquid (TL), just like IG who dominated in S9 but were sent home by TL at MSI, RNG's win rate against SKT would only dwindle.

Chris's coaching is good, and Kkoma is not bad either; both sides were very serious in the first game.

The lineups for both sides were quickly finalized.

Rng (Blue Side) vs Skt (Red Side)

Top Lane: Ornn, the Flame of the Mountain vs. Cho'Gath, the Terror of the Void

Jungle: Lee Sin, the Blind Monk vs. Sejuani, the Wrath of the North
Mid-lane: Syndra vs Galio (the Colossus)

ADC: Xayah vs. Ezreal

Support: Janna, the Storm's Fury, vs. Tahm Kench, the River King
"RNG's strategy today was really targeted. They're forcing SKT to focus more on the bot lane. That ban on Chris was quite clever."

Watching Khan helplessly pull out a giant bug and engage in melee combat with Letme's Ornn, Wawa commented with considerable insight.

"Yes, RNG's newly added mid and jungle players have extremely strong pressure in the early and mid-game. If Faker wants to take off, he'll have to see if Mlxg's Lee Sin is willing to play."

"Unfortunately, Skt's bot lane pick was also very tactful, making it difficult for RNG to gank them."

The three commentators went back and forth, and they all saw it extremely clearly.

SKT's seemingly normal player selection actually hides a secret. Although Khan's arrival has changed SKT's lineup options to some extent, SKT is still the same SKT.

The Ezreal + Tahm Kench lineup is clearly designed to play a game of cat and mouse with your bot lane. Plus, Bang is an Ezreal main, so trying to pressure SKT's bot lane with Xayah and a soft support is basically wishful thinking.

With the top, mid, and jungle players all picking tanky champions, it's difficult for RNG's burst damage to kill someone quickly.

The two teams were mutually restrained, yet there was room for maneuver. The first game's draft phase was so exciting that many players who enjoy studying the draft phase exclaimed how thrilling it was!

The match began. RNG had high damage at level 1, but lacked crowd control. Skt seemed unwilling to fight either, instead focusing on helping their jungler and laning.

The top laner and mid laner were both from the same team, while Xiao Dongbei and Xiao Tian were relegated to the bench to watch the game.

As soon as Letme's Ornn came online, Khan seized the opportunity to trade blows.

With his passive healing ability, Ornn immediately gained the upper hand.

Khan was the most outstanding top laner at this year's MSI, and audiences around the world remember his aggressive top lane style.

However, when Hanzi can't get an aggressive top laner, he's just like Doinb, who has to play a normal mage mid laner. Not only does his laning ability drop by more than one level, but his game sense also weakens.

Coach Kkoma was well aware of Hanzi's weaknesses. When he couldn't get an aggressive top laner, he picked Cho'Gath, a top laner with strong survivability but not lacking in damage.

Use the big bug to forcefully increase Khan's lane dominance.

However, in matches against top-tier opponents, it's very easy to see whether someone is strong or not: the precision of their skill usage, the smoothness of their basic attacks, and the unpredictability of their positioning.
The laning phase had only been going on for a minute, and Xiangguo hadn't even finished clearing his two buffs yet, but Khan was already starting to push Ornn out of the experience zone. Laning against this kind of blue-collar top laner often makes top top laners feel like they're invincible.

Take Huni and Duke, who came to LPL back then, as examples. Both of them only realized how LPL treats top players after being subjected to rigorous training.

As a result, Khan's playstyle unconsciously became more aggressive. He wanted to solo kill the opposing top laner to prove his strength and create an advantage for SKT.

It's fine for such a dangerous idea to arise, but it's a bit puzzling when it comes from a large insect.

Father, like son.

Many SKT fans, watching from a god-like perspective, saw Khan frequently trading blows and then looked at Xiangguo's jungle pathing in the jungle, their palms sweating with anxiety.

Having an excessive desire to kill is either an opportunity or an opportunity given to the other side.

Lee Sin clears jungle camps faster than Sejuani, especially since it's Xiangguo's Lee Sin.

The Cho'Gath had just reached level three when he saw Ornn with half health remaining. He crossed the minion wave and went to the back, trying to stop Ornn from gaining experience.

Caught at the perfect distance, the bug used a perfectly timed W to silence Ornn, and then a precise Q skill knocked Ornn into the air as well.

Khan was instantly excited when he saw Ornn with less than one-fifth of his health remaining.

But he didn't expect that his killing intent had already been predicted by Xiangguo almost perfectly from the very beginning. A player's champion pool can be very deep, but throughout the professional history of League of Legends, very few players can maintain a consistent style when using champion A and a different style when using champion B.

Only the most elite players can achieve this after years of honing their skills.

Clearly, Hanzi from S8 doesn't belong to this category.

As soon as the silence ended, Letme's Ornn immediately used Flash to hide behind him. It was this Flash that made Khan confirm that there was no one behind Ornn!

Khan immediately used Flash and activated his E skill to auto-attack Ornn to slow him down.

But as the Ornn jinchūriki, Letme had already figured out how to seduce Khan when Xiangguo arrived.

He used his E skill to slam into the wall, knocking away the giant bug next to it.

The eager Lee Sin emerged from the bushes, using his W to glide towards Ornn, granting him a shield, and simultaneously unleashing a basic attack.

The next second, Thunder Strike/Bone Crushing (E) was used. In the early game, the big bug without tank items is very fragile, and its health can be seen dropping rapidly, bar by bar.

A near-instant kill with a Sonic Wave (Q), followed by a second kick that instantly killed Khan's giant worm.

First blood!

A blood is born!

"Khan played a bit too aggressively here. After Cho'Gath ran out of Q and W skills in the early game, he still flashed in to continue chasing. It feels like Khan is being a bit arrogant today."

In the live stream, Grandpa Wu Wukai said without any politeness.

From the perspective of a former professional runner-up, Wu Wukai could clearly see that Khan was being too pretentious.

Before Cho'Gath gets his ultimate, he's a useless champion. He mainly relies on his passive sustain to gain an advantage through trading blows. Once he reaches level 6 and is at half health, he can silence with W, knock up with Q, and then finish off with R.

Khan underestimated RNG's top laner and didn't expect Xiangguo's Lee Sin to clear the jungle so quickly. He couldn't keep up and had to give up the first blood.

Of course, Grandpa Wu Wukai has been retired for a long time now, so he spoke very politely.

"Black Emperor's Sejuani jungle proficiency isn't very high, is it? His jungle clearing speed was obviously slow this wave, giving Khan the wrong signal."

"Xiangguo's jungler was very smart not to clear the F6 camp. You know, in the early game, Lee Sin needs to use Smite to speed up clearing the F6 camp, but at the same time, he will slow down at the Wolves camp."

"If he clears the blue buff, he'll be on par with Sejuani. At that point, even if Khan gets overconfident, Peanut will still go and counter-gank."

Seeing Lu Laoye pontificating in the live stream, some fans immediately started spamming the chat, asking him to return to his professional career.

However, this time Grandpa Lu didn't speak, neither admitting nor denying, but his faint smile was full of boundless confidence.

Khan was caught and killed, but because of Teleport, the kill went to Lee Sin, and Letme's Ornn didn't gain any advantage.

Instead, the minion wave failed to push to the tower and was blocked in front of the tower by Khan, which was very frustrating.

"what?"

Just as the doll was about to say that Letme's situation here was not good, she exclaimed in surprise the next second.

"It looks like RNG is going to gank top again! This minion wave, oh my god, Khan's wave control is going to kill him!"

Viewers watched as a level 6 Syndra and a level 4 Lee Sin simultaneously attacked, and in the dark vision of the red side SKT, Khan stood alone like a lighthouse in a storm.

Helpless and lonely!
Khan is only level 5, but he already has a 10-CS lead over Letme in the top lane.

Since Khan is controlling the lane, there's no difference in the outcome if he farms all the minions.

But will Xiaohu and Xiangguo let Khan slowly farm minions?
As the director finished broadcasting, all that was left was Khan under the tower, still foolishly using his last auto-attack to control the minion wave.

Unfortunately, Syndra, at level 6, came over without any warning.

Without Flash, Cho'Gath was easily pushed down by Syndra, who unleashed her ultimate, causing all the orbs to explode and mercilessly securing Cho'Gath's kill.

"Khan, what's going on?"

When XiaoDrow, who was counter-ganking with Sejuani in the bottom lane, saw the miserable state of the top lane, his heart sank.

"They're targeting me so badly! I can't even walk out from here."

Khan then marked the spot where the two RNG players had come out, indicating that he had been targeted badly this game.

Syndra, who had lane priority in the early game, had the ability to roam against Galio. On the contrary, Faker's Galio only reached level 6 after Cho'Gath died and didn't have time to fly.

"This Ornn is too good at calling for help, and he's also incredibly tanky. I can't kill him with my giant bug at all."

"what?"

Upon hearing Khan's words, Xiao Hei couldn't help but open the tab to confirm. Even the two players who were under pressure in the bottom lane were shocked and opened their panels.

The coach clearly stated during the draft that you were to withstand pressure in the early game, and now you're trying to solo kill the enemy with Cho'Gath as soon as you step into the game?
Can I use this cloth armor to solo kill?
Or should I use this Doran's Ring to solo kill?

Although none of them are top laners, they play this type of champion quite often in ranked games.

The Cho'Gath in the aftershock, if it goes in and trades blows with the Undying Ornn, will definitely come out ahead in the first wave.

However, while Cho'Gath can't kill Ornn instantly, Ornn, with the right items, can stick to Cho'Gath and keep fighting. With Unyielding and percentage-based damage, Ornn is definitely much stronger.

"Wait a minute, I'll go catch a bunch for you to relieve some pressure."

During the S7 World Championship, the match between SKT and RNG made Black realize what a battle of gods really meant.

This time, he came prepared, but he didn't expect that his own top laner would become the opponent's breakthrough point immediately.

The combination of Xayah and Janna is easy to gank in the early game, but considering that his team has Tahm Kench, Peanut is just gambling on whether Xiangguo will gank, and if he does, it will be a huge win.

"He has no vision and just caught me. Now is a good opportunity. Hurry up, these few minutes are the best time to catch him when his Flash isn't ready."

Before Xiao Hei could finish speaking, Kahn interrupted him anxiously.

Khan is not fully mature yet, and his impatient personality makes his top lane position an easy target for exploitation.

Unlike the guy who joined FPX in S10, he is too immature in his playstyle now!
"I'll try it too, I can bring a control ward."

After quickly switching screens, Faker decisively said...

With his exceptional skills and daring, Faker, having maxed out his support abilities, completely abandoned any opportunity to secure a kill in lane!
(End of this chapter)