LOL: Do I have to be a spinning top too?

The screen was instantly flooded with comments.

[Riven vs. Gnar! A classic matchup!]

[Okay, okay, as expected of your number one fan, you're going to pick TheShy's signature champion, right?]

TheShy's understanding of Riven is quite good; he wasn't called one of the top three Riven players in the Korean server back in the day for nothing.

[Furthermore, Gnar has a natural advantage against Riven, as a ranged champion can beat a melee champion, which is TheShy's forte.]

Oh no, Glory's going to get whipped into a spinning top this time!

The game has entered the loading screen.

Riven's skin is Dawnbringer, and the blue sword reflects light on the loading screen.

Gnar's skin is that of a cute pink dinosaur named Gnar, who looks harmless.

Both sides tacitly avoided using Ignite and instead opted for Flash and Teleport.

Sunny looked closely at the screen and hissed:

"Brother Shai is practically teaching you how to play a long-range top laner!"

"Gnar is a natural counter to Riven. He has long range and can poke people, and when he grows bigger, he can fight you face-to-face."

"You picked Riven, aren't you just asking for trouble?"

Li Hu didn't speak, but stared at Nar's avatar on the loading screen, a hint of excitement flashing in his eyes.

Gnar is one of the champions whose mastery level he hasn't reached yet.

TheShy's understanding of Gnar is at the top level in the League of Legends...

His control over anger, distance management, and timing of growing larger are all textbook-level.

If you get hit with a spinning top by someone of that level, your skill level will skyrocket.

He remained outwardly calm, but his mind was racing with calculations.

The gyroscope system's panel flickered slightly on the side of the field of view, and a line of small text appeared:

[High-intensity laning target detected: TheShy (Gnar). During the laning phase, you will continuously gain Gnar proficiency bonuses; the stronger the pressure, the higher the bonus.]

"It's safe now," Li Hu thought to himself.

The game has finished loading, and two beams of light simultaneously landed on the top lane of Summoner's Rift.

After Li Hu finished buying the equipment with Riven, he didn't go online immediately. Instead, he went into the top lane bush and crouched there.

A level 1 Gnar with Q has a significant advantage due to his long range; he'll definitely get ganked several times in a normal lane.

  

The optimal strategy for Riven against ranged champions is to wait in the bushes until the minion waves converge, then look for an opportunity to trade blows.

"Hitting in the bushes at level one? That's impressive," Qing Tian muttered quietly from the side.

On the other side of the river, TheShy's Gnar didn't rush to lane either, standing in the tri-bush for two seconds to block vision...

Seeing that no one came out, he slowly followed the minion wave forward.

The first wave of minions converges.

Li Hu didn't rush out of the bushes... He waited for Nar to finish off the three melee minions before making his move.

The first dash of Broken Wings hits three melee minions; the normal attack cancels the recovery animation.

But before he could get close to Gnar with his second attack, Gnar's boomerang had already come flying at him.

TheShy's Gnar leveled up Q "Boomerang" at level 1, and the boomerang's angle was extremely tricky...

Instead of throwing it directly at Riven's face, it grazed the ranged minion model, blocking Riven's second Broken Wings dash.

Li Hu was forced to retreat, and the boomerang slashed off a small amount of his health.

The angle of that Q was so skillful; TheShy clearly understands Riven's attack range and dash habits with a clear understanding.

Sunny gasped, "Holy crap, Brother Shai's Q angle, he calculated exactly which way you'd Q."

"As expected of Shy."

Li Hu's lips curled up slightly, and a hint of excitement flashed in his eyes.

He hadn't felt this suppressed feeling in a long time...

He's far superior to those opponents he crushed in the Demacia Cup.

TheShy's laning pressure is ingrained in his bones; his distance control when playing against someone with longer range has reached an almost instinctive level.

Moreover, Li Hu knew in his heart that this was just the beginning.

Gnar's power spike comes after level 2. With the three-hit combo of his W and the increased movement speed, his kiting ability will be significantly enhanced.

Before Riven reaches level six, without the execute threshold of her ultimate, it's almost impossible for her to solo kill Gnar.

Sure enough, it reached level two.

TheShy's Gnar immediately learned W, and his positioning became instantly more agile.

He's always stuck at the edge of Riven's Q skill's maximum range; if you push forward, he retreats.

If you turn around to finish him off, he'll walk up and throw a Q followed by a basic attack, then immediately pull away after landing his three-hit combo, giving you no chance to get close.

In just two minutes, Li Hu's Riven's health was whittled down to below half, while Gnar still had more than two-thirds of his health remaining.

"This distance control... is just too abnormal."

Sunny exclaimed in astonishment: "He's always just a hair's breadth away; you can't hit him with your Q, but he can hit you with his A."

Li Hu remained silent, his attention entirely focused on the screen.

His fingers flew across the keyboard, each movement carefully executed to dodge Gnar's Q and finish off minions.

The proficiency bar on the side of the field of vision is rising at a visible rate.

"Host detected to be suppressed by Gnar... Absorption progress +0.15%"

"Host detected to be suppressed by Gnar... Absorption progress +0.11%"

For every minute you are interrupted, your proficiency increases by 0.1.

Li Hu appeared serious on the surface, but inside he was overjoyed.

This isn't being whipped like a top, it's like a pure experience boost being delivered right to your door!

If he wasn't afraid TheShy would notice something was wrong, he would have deliberately taken a few more hits to increase his proficiency even faster.

At level 5.5, the difference in last hits between the two players had widened to nineteen.

TheShy's wave control is terrifying; the minion wave is always positioned just a little bit in front of his tower. If Riven tries to get in to last hit, she'll have to take a full combo from Gnar's QA combo.

Li Hu didn't rush into a fight; he steadily farmed minions under the tower, taking every opportunity to gain experience.

He's waiting for Riven to reach level six, and only when she has her ultimate ability "Rogue's Edge" will she have the conditions to kill Gnar.

Once Gnar's rage is fully charged and he grows larger, he becomes a threat of another level.

"Brother Sun is almost at level six."

Sunny held her breath: "Brother Shai's anger is almost at its peak. Who's going to make the first move?"

As soon as he finished speaking, TheShy's Gnar, who had been firmly controlling the line on the blue side, glowed with a yellow light.

The rage bar instantly filled up, and the level jumped six in that instant!

The tiny Yordle suddenly grew larger, and the giant Nal let out a low growl, slamming his hand on the ground.

Almost simultaneously, he used his E to leap forward and then used his Q to throw a boulder, slowing Riven who had come out to gather experience.

After being enlarged, Gnar becomes ridiculously tanky, and his damage increases dramatically.

"Holy crap! Is Brother Sun really that fierce? He just wants to kill me in one-on-one after turning into a giant?" Sunny exclaimed.

Li Hu's eyes narrowed.

Riven's experience bar is just one melee minion experience away from reaching level six.

TheShy had clearly anticipated this, aiming to solo kill a half-health Riven before he reached level six.

The giant Gnar's hand was raised high, and the stun effect of W "Beat" was about to smash down.

At this critical moment, Riven used EQ to dodge W and took a step forward to auto-attack the nearest low-health melee minion.

A sudden burst of bright white light illuminated the screen! Level 6!

Li Hu's fingers moved so fast that afterimages appeared.

R "Exiled Blade" is activated instantly, the broken sword is reforged, and the emerald green sword energy leaves afterimages behind it.

W's "Soul Roar" allows for an immediate counterattack, precisely triggering the stun effect!

A, then Q, A, then Q, A.

The entire sequence of movements was fluid and seamless, with the lightning-fast QA combo dealing maximum damage.

TheShy's Giant Gnar's health dropped by a third.

But he quickly recovered from W's dizziness and used R to "Hey!" to try and push Riven against the wall.

Li Hu had anticipated this, and his E skill, "Charge Forward," conveniently avoided the range of Gnar's ultimate.

TheShy's Gnar's transformation time is about to end. Once he reverts to his smaller form, he will lose any chance to fight back.

Li Hu's Riven ultimate, "Wind Slash," is fully charged and waiting for the optimal angle to unleash it.

The two top laners are still locked in a fierce battle!

The comments section was buzzing with discussion:

This newcomer seems to have some real talent; this isn't a competitive match where you need to worry about the jungler!

[Despite the champion being countered, he managed to avoid being solo-killed by TheShy for six minutes!]

[I have to admit, this Riven is amazing!]