LPL History

Chapter 261 Governor Zhou's weary eyes survey the assembled heroes; the crimson tent of the broken-winged rat shatters the alliance.
In the commentary booth, Bella was frantically flipping through her little notebook.

Despite the previous controversies, Bella still joined the Haier Brothers as commentators for this year's finals thanks to Zhou Li's efforts.

"Since entering the World Championship, Samsung White's overall strength seems to have risen to a whole new level. I just looked at their KDA data, and it's absolutely terrifying! Among the sixteen teams in this World Championship, Samsung White's average KDA is as high as 9.5! That's the highest among all sixteen teams! And the five players' KDAs occupy the top six spots in the World Championship KDA leaderboard!"

"Top laner Looper is the second highest ranked player during the World Championship and also the player with the highest KDA in the Samsung White team, with a KDA of 10.7! Looking at Looper's data in many games, as a top laner, he can often go without dying even once in a normal game!"

When people mention Samsung White, they think of Mata, the jungle-support roaming system, the almost invincible Fat General in the mid lane, and the later mentally ill Pupu.

But Looper might be the most underrated player on the team!

This is also closely related to Looper's gameplay and personality.

But it would be a huge mistake to treat this champion top laner as a dispensable accessory.

"The support player Mata's KDA is second only to Looper, reaching a terrifying 10! He dominated vision control and roaming across the entire map during the game, and it can be said that together with Dandy, he controlled the rhythm of the entire team!"

The data Bella presented undoubtedly startled some netizens.

After all, everyone had previously realized that Samsung White, the second seed in the OGN, was stronger than Samsung Blue, the so-called first seed.

But obviously, no one expected that this team's strength would be so exaggerated.

Holy crap, that's terrifying! The top laner and support both have such high KDAs?!

[This is hilarious! Imp's KDA is second to last in the entire team.]

[imp: Mata Shiba, that jerk! Just thinking about him makes me angry!]

[A KDA of 10.7 is second? Then who's first? How terrifying must they be?]

I don't know! Who's number one? I'm so curious!

Bella's little notebook was already showing its afterimage.

"Currently, the player with the highest KDA during the World Championship is Zhou Li, the jungler for WE.A, with a KDA of 13.7!"

After Bella finished speaking, she turned and said:
"Actually, the KDA data of other WE.A players is also very good. Here's a very interesting point: ten players from Samsung White and WE.A teams occupy the top ten spots in the KDA rankings at this World Championship!"

Although the other four players of WE.A also have KDA in the top ten, which is already very good data, it is obvious that, apart from Zhou Li, the KDA of the other four players is not as good as that of Samsung White.

This is also why the Korean side had previously believed that Samsung White might be stronger than WE.A.

League of Legends is a five-player game. Even if someone on your team is really outstanding, you can't possibly take on five opponents at once, right?
At this moment, the camera lingered on Zhou Li for a long time, seemingly indicating that the key player in today's match was this jungler who had caused countless controversies.

However, compared to the full energy of Samsung White and the other players from WE.A, Zhou Li actually yawned in front of the camera, looking like he hadn't woken up yet.

After all, Zhou Li had spent the whole night opening Korean river clams.

It's either one or two.

We all know that opening river clams is not just a physical task. In addition to requiring strength, it is also a skill. You need to accurately find the pearl in the muddy clam meat to be considered a good clam opener.

After yawning, Zhou Li's spirits improved considerably.

Both sides have entered the business proposal (BP) phase.

Samsung White is on the blue side, and WE.A is on the red side.

Miller and Wawa's enthusiasm had already waned by the very beginning of the draft phase.

Even when he speaks, it sounds like he's shouting at the top of his lungs.

"Samsung White banned Rengar right away! Zhou Li's Rengar is truly unstoppable! After Zhou Li used Rengar in the finals, this champion immediately became a popular pick in the current meta! From the knockout stage to the current finals, it has always been either banned or picked!"

Bella nodded and said:

"I feel that Samsung White will likely ban three junglers in today's game! I saw a very heated discussion online before, saying that in order to lane against WE.A, you have to ban three champions: Lee Sin, Nidalee, and Rengar. As long as you ban these three champions, you might be able to last more than 30 minutes against WE.A."

The doll nodded and analyzed:

"This isn't us bragging, I've seen this post too, it was made by a Korean. Let's take a look at WE.A's bans! WE chose to ban Alistar, a standard ban, no problem!"

Miller continued:

"Samsung White has also banned Lee Sin again! Does this mean they're really going to ban junglers for the third time?!"

WE.A doesn't seem to have much fear of Samsung White, and still chose a standard version of the banner, banning Zilean.

Just when everyone thought that Samsung White would take down Nidalee as expected, Samsung White's next move was to take down Lulu!
"Hey! Samsung White has banned Lulu! That's actually fine! We've always said that WE.A's mid-lane Lulu system is somewhat unstoppable! But this means Nidalee is left open! That's a bit strange, considering Nidalee is arguably the jungler with the strongest early-game offensive tempo! Especially for Zhou Li, most teams would have left Lee Sin open rather than Nidalee!"

Bella thought for a moment and then speculated:

"I have a feeling that Samsung White might be planning to release Nidalee and then use their advantage as the blue side to first-pick her!"

She quickly flipped through her little notebook again.

"Because I checked Dandy's rank history beforehand, and he actually practiced a lot of games with Nidalee jungle during the finals!"

As soon as Bella finished speaking, WE.A indeed eliminated Nidalee.

"It seems WE.A was prepared! Actually, Samsung White's move was quite underhanded. They banned two top-tier junglers and deliberately left Nidalee exposed. It's not that WE.A is afraid of Dandy's Nidalee, but there really aren't any junglers on the field that can effectively counter Nidalee's offensive rhythm."

WE.A's decision to remove Nidalee didn't surprise the Samsung White players.

This move actually has a hint of revealing one's hand.

It forces WE.A to use a ban on Nidalee.

Of course, if WE.A is so stupid that they can't even understand this, then they wouldn't mind going for Nidalee.

The battle for the player's identity ended, and the right to choose now fell to Samsung White.

"WE.A had to use a banner on Nidalee, which means Maokai is free! Samsung White will definitely pick him first... Hey! They've picked Thresh right away!"

Miller said with some surprise.

"With the tree still outside, they actually stole Thresh first?"

The doll seemed somewhat puzzled. Thresh, although currently a very high priority champion in the support role...

However, Maokai is currently a Tier 0 hero. Since the finals, except for a few times in the group stage when some reckless teams let him out, he has consistently been a top pick.

In the few times the tree was released, the team that got the big tree won.

Therefore, this hero currently boasts a terrifying 100% win rate in the finals.

Miller thought for a moment and analyzed:
"I feel that Samsung White's intention is very clear. This Thresh pick is a direct way of telling WE.A, 'I'm going to roam and invade your jungle!' And under this premise, it can be predicted that Samsung White still wants to continue with a fast-paced playstyle! We know that Maokai's power spike is actually in the mid-to-late game when he becomes tanky! So, Maokai's priority is not high for Samsung White!"

Bella nodded and said:

"In that case, I feel that WE.A will most likely not choose to take the big tree."

Just as Bella predicted, WE.A also did not choose to take the big tree.

Furthermore, WE.A's first player selection also surprised everyone.

"Hey! WE.A actually locked up a mouse on the first floor! That's a really strange pick! Sima Laozei hasn't used mice much before!"

Hearing the doll's words, Bella explained:

"WE.A's move to take the mouse is more like a steal than a slam!"

It's worth noting that imp is arguably the best mouse player in this World Championship.

This allowed him to replace Pray as the holder of the title of Rat King after this final.

During the World Championship, imp used Twitch a total of eight times, with a record of seven wins and one loss. The only game he lost was in the semi-finals against WE.B, where he was caught off guard by WE.B's fast-paced strategy.

WE.A's move of using a preemptive strike instead of a game-changer clearly shows a different approach.

Often, when both sides are drafting their proposals, they will focus more on targeting each other's strengths.

It's like Samsung chose to ban Rengar, Lee Sin, and Lulu.

WE.A's attempt to steal the mouse was clearly somewhat unexpected by Samsung White.

Because Samsung White has come this far, the ADC role has actually not received much attention.

Why did imp use so many mice?

It's because the hero Rat perfectly fits the 3-star White's jungle-support duo roaming system.

There aren't even any other heroes that can be played at the same level!
Mata's frequent roaming is the core tactic of Samsung White, and also the key to Samsung White's victory.

In this situation, imp often finds himself alone in the bottom lane.

The rat's stealth mechanism ensures his safety when alone under the tower, allowing him to effectively avoid the risk of ganks when roaming with Mata.

Of course, Twitch isn't the only ADC capable of soloing under the tower; champions like Ezreal and Corki, who have a unique champion, might be a better choice.

However, the rat has a greater advantage compared to this type of hero.

That is his ability to steal money.

And sometimes, they can even roam together with Mata.

In previous matches, imp would often use stealth to support the mid lane or jungle, quickly creating a situation where he outnumbered Mata and Dandy.

Looking at the data alone, imp, as an ADC player, has the second-lowest KDA for Twitch in the entire team, which seems a bit low.

However, in reality, imp's rat is also a core part of the Samsung White tactical system!
WE.A's direct acquisition of the mouse not only affected imp alone, but also directly impacted Samsung White's tactical arrangements.

And as mentioned before, in the Samsung White system, there is no equal replacement for the hero Twitch, only lower-tier replacements, such as Ezreal and Corki.

Therefore, WE.A's move of using a counter-attack instead of targeting the opponent's strengths is more like a fierce attack on the crippled leg of the opponent!

After securing the Twitch, WE.A immediately locked in the support role of Titan on the second floor!

On the first and second floors, they directly picked the bottom lane duo.

After seeing WE.A's player selections, the atmosphere at the scene became noticeably more enthusiastic.

"WE.A's draft is also incredibly aggressive! Wow, in this first game, aren't either side planning to play a little more conservatively and play it safe? Are they going to go all out from the start?!"

Miller had barely finished speaking when Samsung White locked in Jayce!

Then they added Ezreal to the ADC position!

"Samsung White has secured Jayce and Ezreal! Now, a crucial question is whether we intend to play Jayce mid or top! As far as I know, both Pawn and Looper are excellent Jayce players!"

Seeing Samsung White's player selection, WE.A quickly responded.

They first locked the big tree.

Then he immediately pulled out a Yasuo!
Taking down the big tree was to deal with the situation Jayce was facing.

As a long-range champion, Jayce has almost no natural counters in the top lane, except for Maokai, who is currently a top-tier champion.

Maokai can perfectly counter Jayce's poke damage in lane, and with his full range of crowd control abilities, Maokai can also coordinate with the jungler to pose a significant threat to Jayce.

As long as Samsung White isn't stupid, no matter which path he initially intended to take with Jayce, he will ultimately be forced to let Jayce play mid.

In this situation, Yasuo in the mid lane is a better choice when facing Jayce.

The power to choose has returned to Samsung White's hands.

Samsung White first locked in Rambo.

What's both logical and unexpected is that at this point, both sides only had their jungler heroes left to choose.

This is understandable because everyone knows that the battle between the two junglers will largely determine the outcome of today's match.

Surprisingly, the counter-pick for the jungler position is not as important as that for the lane. More considerations are the synergy between the jungler and the team composition, as well as the strength of the champion. Few teams choose to place the jungler last in their build.

At this moment, the eyes of the whole world are on the two junglers!
(End of this chapter)