LOL: I just turned 18, let me fight back and be reborn

Chapter 389 Prepared? "The True Sewer Lineup!" The Opponent You Know Best!
"In the first game, V5 flipped a coin to choose sides and came to the blue side. They immediately banned Aatrox!"

The roaring commentator on the home commentary stand looked in high spirits: "That's respect! After a season, Kingen's Aatrox is still a worthy choice to respect!"

However, sitting next to him, P, a commentator who had just participated in "S13 Night" yesterday, didn't think so.

"To be honest, champions like Aatrox, Renekton, and Jax are among the strongest top laners in this patch, and everyone will ban them!"

"On the other hand, the Akali and Sylas that Hanwha banned were clearly not strong picks in this version. That's true respect."

Hearing the other party's sabotage, Roaring Emperor was slightly embarrassed but tried to brush it off: "Haha, that's true, but we were just saying that if any team lets Akali play in this year's World Championship, it's very likely to be HLE, since Akali and Sylas are both Zeka's signature picks!"

Unfortunately, P didn't respond: "The facts prove that he didn't dare to let it go."

The live chat was filled with comments like, "I hate it! I hate it so much!"

Fortunately, Niu Guli, who was sitting on the edge, spoke up to help out: "This ban should have taken into account that the opponent might pick it and burn it. After all, as a signature move for both sides, the blue side still has a considerable advantage in the first game."

Both sides' first-round bans:

V5: Sword Demon, Renekton, Weapon

HLE: Akali, Sylas, Neeko

"V5 still prioritized picking Quesanti, a champion who was initially considered weaker due to a major nerf, but has become popular again thanks to the lane-swap strategy. After all, he's one of the easiest champions to withstand 1v2 pressure in the top lane!"

"HLE, on the other hand, secured Gnar and Alistar! Alistar is also a popular champion in the latest version of the Swiss system!"

It must be mentioned that the changes brought about by the understanding of lane switching to the game environment are definitely not limited to tactical gameplay within the game.

It's a global change.

This includes the sudden changes in the "popular heroes" for each lane.

Just like the previously lukewarm support Alistar, who suddenly became the strongest tank support in the current version due to the popularity of many teams.

The reason lies in Alistar's ability to tower dive, which is unparalleled in the entire league, after reaching level six and acquiring his ultimate. This ability is enough to break through any tower defense in a 1v2 lane swap situation!
There are many similar impacts and changes, and there is still no definitive understanding of the version in the competitive arena.

"V5 continues to pick Jarvan IV and Ashe, the blue side's first three picks are very comfortable!"

"And HLE's third floor picked Widowmaker!?" Roaring Emperor exclaimed in surprise, "Canyon is going all out in the very first game! He pulled out his signature Widowmaker, which he used in the S-series finals!"

"Nuguri, do they have some kind of surprise plan?"

When asked about it, Niu Guli expressed his nostalgia: "Jian Shi's Widowmaker was really well-understood, and she usually came out with a synergy. When we picked her in the S10 finals, we were preparing to pair her with Xu Xiu's mid-lane Lucian to launch an absolute mid-jungle invasion."

Meanwhile, P, an untimely young player, muttered from the side, "I seem to remember, Xia Quan, isn't this the pick you made in the only game you lost in that BO5 series?"

"."

One sentence silenced Niu Guli, who was still reminiscing about the good old days.

Do you even know how to have a conversation?

No wonder this kid got caught up in the power struggle between DRX's mid and top laners.
"That's different. Back then, it was because we didn't expect the enemy jungler to have Rengar hidden. Rengar's Shadow Strike mechanic counters Evelynn too much. That was a completely unexpected champion pool for us, and we were caught off guard."

After explaining, he paused and continued, "However, there's definitely something special about the Widowmaker in this game, especially after seeing that the other team picked Ashe!"

"As far as I know, Widowmaker is absolutely not afraid of Ashe; on the contrary, Ashe is afraid of Widowmaker! We had this understanding back in Season 10!"

"It's safe to say that HLE came here well-prepared today!"

At first glance.

Ashe has the E skill [Eagle Spirit] which can detect vision across the entire map. It can occasionally scout the jungler, which should be a good counter to heroes like Evelynn who specialize in sneaky and underhanded tactics.

But Ashe's E skill can't reveal Widowmaker's disguise!
Not only that.

Soft support heroes like Ashe, who lack mobility, reliable hard crowd control, and are extremely fragile, are actually extremely afraid of burst assassins like these!
Even burst assassins who can easily get close!
V5 had previously used Ashe as support in their Swiss League match against G2 and displayed incredible skill, seemingly having cheated during lane swaps. Therefore, it wasn't hard for HLE to predict that their opponent would choose this champion.

Both sides' second-round bans:

HLE: Varus, the Enchantress

V5: Skateboard Shoes, EZ
"V5's intentions are very clear. They banned two ADCs with mobility skills, obviously wanting to maximize the power of Jarvan IV's ultimate. This makes it difficult for HLE to pick an ADC, and the counter pick should still be reserved for the mid laner."

"A rat!?"

"It's confirmed! HLE really came prepared today! They've already picked Widowmaker and Twitch, two extremely rare heroes, in the very first match!"

Exhilarating cheers erupted from the audience below the stage.

In any case, at least LCK fans saw from the start that HLE was clearly prepared and definitely not coming in empty-handed!

"Choose one of these two," Ye Bo seemed to be deep in thought. "Help me choose the Tsar."

"Master Ye, they look like they're up to no good again," Beryl reminded him, sensing that the Tsar was a vulnerable target.

But Ye Bo had a mysterious smile on his face.

"It's alright, let them target me in this match, I'll absorb their firepower. It'll be a good opportunity to test that strategy."

V5 quickly settled their decision on the fourth and fifth floors, selecting the combination of the Tsar and the policewoman.

This surprised the commentators at the home stadium—not because of anything else, but because it felt a bit too "conventional".

After all, HLE's lineup is extremely unconventional compared to others.

However, this was certainly great news for the HLE players, especially mid-laner Zeka, who couldn't help but smile under the camera's lens.

"Zeka finally picked Qiyana on the fifth floor! HLE is still pulling out all the stops!"

The lineups for both sides have been finalized.

Blue side: V5 vs. Red side: HLE

Top Lane: Nazruom's Glory vs. Lost Tooth

[Jungle: Jarvan IV vs. Acolyte of Pain]

Mid Lane: Azir vs. Queen of the Elements

[Marksman: Caitlyn vs. Plague Rat]

Support: Ashe vs. Alistar

The Roaring Emperor is analyzing the lineup: "Just like Nuguri said last night, this lineup looks 'very HLE'. Anyone who has followed their matches this year knows that even if you cover up the team name, you can still tell that it is HLE!"

"A truly ultimate offensive lineup, it's like all four lanes are filled with offensive heroes, absolutely unique in the LCK region!"

"Of course, V5 also made good use of their advantages in the draft on the blue side, and picked a very standard and strong lineup in the current version!"

However, the comments section had a different opinion.

Where's the attack? All I see are a few lecherous perverts!

[A true "sewer cast"!]

[It's true, if you lift the manhole cover and wander into the sewers, you're bound to bump into a few of these heroes. It's so damn shady!]

[Three invisible monsters! Why didn't the support pick Shaco? What are they even doing here?!]

[This matchup between Azir and Qiyana seems familiar? Has Master Ye played this before?]

The two coaches came to the center of the stage to shake hands. HLE's coach this year, Kim Jung-soo, felt inexplicably annoyed as he watched the masked "nobody" coach walk towards him.
But to be fair, he certainly knows that this year's Hanwha team has some shortcomings.

In particular, the two rookie duos in the bot lane, who were bought from KT, obviously cannot attempt to attack V5's bot lane from the laning phase like the bot lane duos in the Asian Games or T1 and GEN.

But don't forget.

Kim Jeong-soo's most famous coaching team was IG in 18.

While it's hard to say exactly how much this coach contributed to IG's championship victory back then, at least he has "successful experience" that can be replicated!

So it's not hard to find if you look closely.

This year's HLE team, in terms of player development and roster drafting, really does resemble the old IG team.

This is why HLE this year is called "the least LCK-like team".

at the same time.

The players watching backstage were also discussing it.

The backstage area for the quarterfinals was much emptier, with the remaining teams not being too close together and not appearing to know each other very well.

And just as they saw HLE's final pick, someone wore the same smile as Zeka.

Scout, who was waiting to watch the show, scoffed, "This mid laner is going to suffer. Azir versus Qiyana, I think he's forgotten all about it."

"What do you mean, Ruichan? Is there any explanation for this mid-lane matchup?" Zika, the substitute top laner, asked curiously.

Hang chuckled, "You forgot? Ruican used Azir against YE's Qiyana in the summer semifinals, and he got completely dominated in that game... well, anyway, it was pretty easy for him!"

Zika glanced at Breathing Bro, who had been bought mid-season to replace him. No wonder he didn't remember him; it turned out he hadn't played back then.

"Stop talking nonsense all the time."

Scout glanced sideways at Hang, who hadn't kept his mouth shut, clearly annoyed.

Unfortunately, that is indeed the case.

Two months ago in the LPL Summer Semifinals, Ye Bo's first professional game with Qiyana after the assassin equipment buff was against Scout's most confident Azir!

That match not only featured the infamous "Traitor Shockwave" moment, but also proved that Qiyana does indeed counter Azir somewhat in terms of her ultimate ability mechanics.

More importantly, Ye Bo used the invisibility and kiting provided by the grass element to exploit the Tsar's weakness in frequently deploying sand soldiers in the early game, and managed to gain a significant "lane advantage," which can be said to have taught many people a lesson.

The World Championship version of Azir was also nerfed once, making him weaker than the Summer Finals version.

Logically, the laning phase should be much harder!
"The match begins! HLE really did have a plan!"

"The rat learned Q at level 1 and immediately went invisible to sneak into the top jungle, placing a very deep ward behind the first tower. This is clearly to scout the enemy bot lane's movements, so HLE is definitely going to switch lanes!"

"This design is ingenious! The rat can sneak in undetected, and even if Ice shoots an arrow first, it won't find a trace of the rat; instead, it will expose its own position!"

"However, judging from V5's actions, it seems like they're not planning to try and switch lanes?"

From God's perspective, it's still unclear what V5 is doing.

V5's Ashe didn't shoot "probe arrows" from a specific angle like before. The three junglers were just crouching at the entrance to the lower blue buff area, seemingly preparing to invade the jungle.

And the "horrifying" scene then unfolded from God's perspective.

"Hey Canyon!" Roaring Emperor exclaimed in surprise, noticing something.

Then, the widow, who was originally about to start her run in the upper half of the map, appeared.

But just before the jungle was about to respawn, as if he had suddenly "changed his mind," he turned around and headed to his own bottom half of the jungle alone!

However, it should be noted that because HLE was trying to catch the opponent's bottom laner by switching to top lane at the start of the game, their main force was almost entirely in the top half of the map, so the only person in the bottom lane naturally dared not show his face or take any position.

This results in the lower half of the blue area of ​​HLE being almost entirely black at this time!

"Oh no! We're going to crash into them head-on!!"

Canyon had just entered the jungle from behind the mid-lane tower and wanted to cautiously approach and place a ward first, in case the enemy wanted to start with blue buff—but unexpectedly, he ran into three people in his own bushes outside the wolf camp!

Fortunately, Canyon reacted incredibly quickly. Knowing that Ashe was slowed down and trapped, she couldn't possibly run away on her own, so she decisively used Flash.

"No way! Why would Canyon suddenly switch jungles to start? This isn't..." Roaring Emperor was completely baffled, and he didn't say the last two words, "acting crazy."

"Luckily, I used Flash decisively enough and didn't lose too much health, so it shouldn't affect my jungle clearing too much."

Niu Guli, standing nearby, seemed lost in thought.

He guessed that there must be someone on the other side who knew Canyon too well.

"Haha! I knew this guy would try to embezzle!" Beryl laughed smugly. "This guy hasn't changed at all, still so greedy~"

Beryl's judgment logic is actually very simple.

First of all, HLE's bot lane consists of Twitch and Alistar. Playing against two marksmen is almost a guaranteed lane swap, as it's a "lane matchup = jail time" situation.

But V5 had no intention of switching lanes in this match—because they had a completely new strategy.

From Widowmaker's perspective, after her team swaps lanes, the entire bottom half of the map will inevitably become V5's territory, and she has no reason to be able to reach the bottom half of the map until at least the second lane swap at 5 minutes.

If the prince can steal a set of jungle monsters at the start of the game, the widow will definitely be at a disadvantage from the start, and at least the "counter-jungling" will be very difficult to carry out.

That's why Canyon changed its approach at the last minute.

If he can steal the jungle monsters in his own jungle at the start of the game, even if it's just a set of three wolves, it can affect the prince's jungle route!

After all, jungle resources are fixed—for Widowmaker, even just being ahead of a group of jungle monsters could mean starting her attack half a minute earlier.

"Fortunately, it was just a flash at the start. As long as the prince stays put and farms in his own half of the jungle, both junglers should have a peaceful start."

The Roaring Emperor attempted to gloss over the minor incident at the beginning.

But it seems that whatever you fear most is what happens.

Now that V5 has achieved its first step, it's inevitable that there will be follow-ups.

"V5's move looks like the prince made an impromptu change; he's really going to come back and defend the jungle!"

"real or fake!?"

"Although the trade in the mid lane seems to have been quite successful, they only have three players in the top half of the map, they shouldn't be a match for HLE!"

Logically speaking, HLE's lineup is designed to take advantage of the half-lane advantage. In the early game, because of the weak hero Azir, as long as HLE doesn't stay in the lane where the duo is located, they will have a combat advantage.

Even if the mid lane occasionally provides a view showing Azir aggressively pushing the lane, it doesn't seem to change anything.

Fortunately, Canyon, who was an expert in jungle counter-jungling, knew what the opponent was trying to do and was aware that the opponent would definitely target his development, allowing him, a Widowmaker, to happily farm to level six.

He then considered his team's lineup strategy for this match.

Suddenly, a new idea came to me.

"Support, follow me, pretend to invade the enemy jungle, Twitch, you go steal the mid lane!"

(End of this chapter)