LPL History

Chapter 78: A Surprising Strategy from the Contestants' Tables; A New Force Tested in Busan

When WE's final pick was confirmed, the entire audience erupted in a gasp!
In the commentary booth, Jeon Yong-jun stared wide-eyed, exclaiming incredulously:

"Master Yi?! WE actually picked Master Yi in the end?! Is he meant for mid lane?!"

WE quickly completed the position adjustment, clearly telling everyone that this Master Yi is meant to be played in the mid lane!

WE player seat.

"Brother Zhou, will this work?"

Curly, who helped Zhou Li lock up the Sword Saint, couldn't help but raise a question, which immediately drew criticism from Strawberry.

"What nonsense are you spouting? My brother Zhou can definitely do it!"

Zhou Li ignored it and simply adjusted his rune talents.

Spell Penetration Marks *9!

Fixed Armor Seals *9!

Nine fixed spell power glyphs!

Ability Power Quintessences Rune x3!

Then, the 21-9-0 extreme damage output talent was selected!
AP Master Yi!

Upon seeing Najin's lineup, the Juggernaut build, which was only legendary to most League of Legends players, immediately popped into Zhou Li's mind!
At that time, the Sword Saint's skills had not yet undergone major changes.

Q skill has a high damage output with a 1.0 AP ratio and is also an AOE skill.

If not handled properly, and the Blademaster manages to land two or three Qs on you using minions during the laning phase, you'll have no choice but to go back to base.

The Sword Saint's W skill has a 4.0 AP ratio, while also increasing armor and magic resistance by 300 points.

Without any crowd control skills to interrupt the Sword Saint's meditation, even if five people surround the Sword Saint and attack him relentlessly, they still won't be able to kill him.

Most importantly, at this time, the Blademaster's ultimate skill will refresh all of the Blademaster's skills after the kill is completed.

In team fights, once the enemy has low health, the Sword Saint can immediately enter the fray and begin his five-Q combo.

The phrase "Give me a low-health enemy, and I'll give you the world" originated from AP Master Yi.

AP Master Yi and the pre-rework Katarina were the easiest champions to get a pentakill with when stomping newbies.

However, AP Master Yi's weaknesses are also obvious.

That means you first need to rely on your teammates to create an environment where you can deal damage when you're low on health.

Secondly, the opponent's lineup cannot have too much control.

If any one of the conditions is not met, AP Blademaster will have a hard time being effective.

Because he is too easily countered by team compositions, AP Master Yi is rarely seen in high-level games.

This is why AP Master Yi has received mixed reviews from many veteran players.

In fact, AP Master Yi really became popular in 2013.

Although the AP Master Yi build already existed at this time, it was still considered a niche build and had not yet entered the mainstream.

Many people believe that AP Master Yi is only good for stomping noobs.

This naturally includes the current audience and Najin's players.

As soon as the two entered the game, Zhou Li didn't hesitate and immediately bought a Doran's Ring.

In the commentary booth, Jeon Yong-jun's mouth started gesturing in a Korean style.

"Wow! Lion! Is he going to play AP Master Yi?! Wow! To be honest, that's a little over the top!"

Lee Hyun-kyung blinked, clearly not having heard of this unconventional AP Master Yi build, and subconsciously asked:
"Huh? Master Yi can still be played as an AP champion?"

Jeon Yongjun spoke up:

"This is not a mainstream way of playing, but how should I put it... ah... hiss... this way of playing is usually used by experts to crush novices."

Jeon Yong-jun's words immediately caused a stir among the audience.

Since most of the people in the audience were Koreans and Najin fans, they became instantly dissatisfied upon hearing these remarks and began cursing at the WE members on stage.

Meanwhile, the faces of the Najin players on the bench were also quite grim.

They were just joking around, discussing whether Lion could play AP Master Yi.

Even though the swordsman had already reached the center, they still felt it was unlikely.

Until they saw the Doran's Ring on the Sword Saint who appeared in the mid lane.

"Damn it..." Mid laner SSONG's jaw jutted out, his upper lip curled up, and he couldn't help but swear, "Hey?! What does he mean by this? Does he think we're idiots who can't play games?!"

"Oh! AP Master Yi! This guy's a bit too arrogant, isn't he?" "Wow! Watch, this game I hope you'll be squatting in mid lane even when you're taking a dump!"

Zhou Li had no idea that by choosing an AP Sword Saint, he would directly wipe out the Koreans.

In fact, this was a choice he made after careful consideration, taking into account the game's lineup.

After all, AP Master Yi did eventually make it to the World Championship stage.

In Zhou Li's view, there is another reason why AP Master Yi has never become mainstream.

That's because current players have such poor awareness of how to develop their characters.

As a playstyle with an extremely singular output method, AP Master Yi is actually very dependent on equipment.

Therefore, AP Master Yi is a late-game champion.

But in the face of Zhou rituals, these were not problems at all.

He knows exactly how to develop.

It's worth noting that back then, in the minds of players, the phrase "The Sword Saint is up" was no less than a classic line from a horror movie.

A Blademaster who is ahead of his time is even more terrifying.

Mars Live.

In addition to Su Xiaoyan and Guns N' Roses, we also have a special guest commentating today.

Joker, the coach of WE, is currently in South Korea and speaking via voice chat.

Yes, while the WE players were competing on stage, Joker was already backstage doing the commentary.

In this primitive era, this seemingly bizarre behavior was actually not bizarre at all.

After all, Joker, as WE's coach, also participated in the commentary during the TGA.

Of course, the main reason for this was that at that time, the position of club coach was actually a sinecure.

At most, they are responsible for the players' daily training and food delivery.

Once on stage, the team's draft picks and tactics are all done by the players themselves.

As for why Joker was able to stand behind several people and point fingers during the TGA, that was because of WE's high level of influence in China at the time.

"Coach Joker, we noticed that Lion picked AP Master Yi today. Was this a tactic you discussed and practiced beforehand?"

Joker chuckled and nodded, then began to speak:

"Yes, this is indeed a tactic that we at WE have practiced before. Actually, the feasibility of this AP Master Yi was something I initially thought of..."

Just as Joker was about to start praising the contestants, the Korean director switched the camera to the contestants' seats.

The conversation of the WE team members could also be heard.

"Brother Zhou, I've never seen you play Juggernaut before?"

"I've never played it, let alone seen it. I've just heard it's amazing."

The Mars live stream room was instantly filled with question marks.

On OGN's official live streaming platform, the Koreans have completely exploded!
【Huh? What the hell is this kid talking about?!】

[Has he never even played this once? Is he serious? So he just throws this out to beat our Najin?!]

[Wow! I can't take it anymore! Najin, crush WE!]

【Ashiba! Ashiba! Ashiba!】

Jeon Yong-jun in the commentary booth stared wide-eyed. He was 100% certain that this was footage the director had deliberately shown after overhearing the conversation between the WE players.

"Wow, Lion! Isn't this a bit much?! You've never played this before, and you're using it in a competition on your first try?! Is this really your first time? Will you even be able to play it well?! Hmm?!"

Lee Hyun-kyung, standing to the side, spoke up:

"Maybe you'll be amazing the first time too."

"Is he really that good on his first try? That's unlikely, isn't it?"

Faced with his senior's questioning, Lee Hyun-kyung seemed to suddenly realize something and stopped arguing.

Her face suddenly turned red.

I don't know if this is the first time.

But anyway, it's pretty impressive.

(End of this chapter)