novelODS Chapter 29: Do you know how to play this hero? Then choose it!
Chapter 29: Do you know how to play this hero? Then choose it!
Xiao Hu exudes boundless confidence from the inside out.
Did Lu Chen know who he was facing? A genius mid-laner who solo-killed Faker three times at this year's MSI, a man known as the Tiger Emperor!
In a best-of-five series, Lu Chen would be considered successful if he could avoid being completely crushed in lane; of course, it's obviously impossible that.
The cheers from the audience were deafening, and the live stream's popularity was rapidly rising, surpassing the popularity of any previous Demacia Cup.
In some ways, this is even another LPL Summer Split final this year.
Countless fans of the Royal Club are clamoring that they will settle old scores at this Demacia Cup.
As the camera panned, two familiar faces appeared before the audience. Miller and Guan Zeyuan were already on high alert in the commentary booth.
"Alright everyone, welcome to the LPL 2016 Demacia Cup semi-finals! I'm your commentator, Zeyuan!"
"I am Miller."
"It's quite an eventful day, with the top two teams from the 'Big Three' gathering here. EDG has even boldly fielded rookie Kingslayer as their starting player. Miller, what do you think?"
After hearing Guan Zeyuan's words, Miller still analyzed rationally, "I can't say for sure. I believe that LPL viewers have heard of Kingslayer recently. He has been dominating high-elo games in the Korean server and has firmly held the number one spot."
"In terms of overall strength, he is a very strong player, but he has never had any experience in major competitions. Today's match is his first match in the LPL, and his opponent is Xiaohu."
"From all aspects, I definitely support Xiaohu more."
"That's right!" Guan Zeyuan nodded in agreement, "After all, Kingslayer was once Xiaohu's substitute."
This is their official LPL commentary team.
There is no neutrality or objectivity whatsoever!
Their optimism towards RNG was undisguised, prompting a frenzy of comments in the live stream chat.
[That's right! Miller and Guan Zeyuan are quite capable!]
Shut your mouths, both of you! Do you even understand the significance of the Factory Manager's victory over the God of War in the internal battle?
[Hilarious! Does an internal competition have any merit? Let's see how it goes in international matches! I think out of the ten players in today's competition, only my dog has the highest honors, right? Don't you know about being a two-time World Championship runner-up?]
[Bragging about being a runner-up in two World Championships? Do you even have a championship? You don't even have a Demacia Cup title, so being a runner-up in the World Championship is better than being a champion?]
[How dare you! A Solo tournament champion isn't a champion?]
[Two World Championship runner-up finishes are greater than one World Championship title; a comparison method using Royal Never Give Up (RNG) fan groups.]
...
The chat room was buzzing with arguments, and at that very moment, the ban/pick phase for both sides had begun.
In the first game, the sides were decided by a coin toss, and EDG won. Nofe chose the blue side, and he was communicating with Lu Chen and others in voice chat.
"Karma, Jayce, Syndra, please."
In the current version, there are many T0 heroes, and it's impossible to ban them all, so he can only focus on a few.
The current version is a bot lane enchanter support meta, which emphasizes bot lane laning. Karma, Zyra, and Nami are all top-tier supports.
As for Looper's Jayce, it goes without saying that Korean top laners all play Jayce, while LPL top laners rarely play Jayce, except for Mouse.
If Tong Yang comes, we might consider letting him pick first. In the mid lane, champions like Ryze and Syndra are either banned or picked, plus jungle champions like Elise, Olaf, and Lee Sin.
It's fair to say that three ban slots aren't enough, which may be why Riot Games is going to implement a five-ban system next season.
Lu Chen and others did not object to Nofe's draft picks. From any perspective, players generally do not interfere with the draft picks made by the coach.
Unless it's particularly unreasonable or the player feels that choosing a certain hero is better, it's clear that Nofe's three picks are not a big problem.
On the other side, Firefox, nicknamed Fire Fox or Feng Ge, is a coach who joined RNG a few days ago. He was an analyst for LGD during S5.
He was holding a notebook and talking non-stop, "We banned Ryze. Kingslayer on the other side is a master of Ryze, so we didn't let him pick it, and then we banned his Yasuo."
"Isn't his LeBlanc banned?" Uzi asked, chewing his gum.
Firefox glanced at his laptop. "I haven't played many games on the Korean server. Although I've solo-killed Bdd and others, I don't think I'm as strong as Ryze or Yasuo. He probably wouldn't dare pick me. Let's ban Miss Fortune."
At this point, Miss Fortune was considered an overpowered AD carry in the bot lane. Paired with a support who could push the lane, it was absolutely disgusting. Deft and Meiko should never be allowed to play her.
Despite the fact that the two were heavily criticized by netizens during the era of Lu Chen's rebirth, with comments such as Meiko having mad cow disease, his robot being really bad, and Deft only getting an S-series championship because he encountered the world's number one "Shi Yishang".
But this era is their peak, the undisputed number one bot lane duo in the LPL.
"Oh, the three bans for both sides are out. We see that RNG has used two bans on the rookie Kingslayer!"
Miller exclaimed, "Is this how you treat a rookie? If so, it seems Kingslayer doesn't have many heroes to choose from."
"That's not the case. There are definitely other heroes, but they're probably not as strong as his Ryze and Yasuo. As everyone knows, Kingslayer used these two heroes to dominate the Korean server," Guan Zeyuan added.
Seeing this, Nofe wasn't too surprised. He had briefly looked into Lu Chen's hero pool, and at least he had LeBlanc, which he could play. He had also practiced other heroes, so it wasn't like he would have to retire on the spot after just two heroes were banned.
He immediately had Mouse pick Olaf, the OP jungler of the patch, and he wouldn't pick him unless he was at the bottom of the map. But after he locked in Olaf, countless viewers in the studio and the live stream burst out laughing.
[My god, Nofe, aren't you ROX's coach? You saw with your own eyes that Kai's Olaf stepped on Caitlyn's trap before using his ultimate, how dare you pick Olaf for Kai?]
【Wait, is this person impersonating a coach?】
[I'm laughing so hard. Have you ever been a coach? Just do drafts and bans. If all else fails, retire and order takeout!]
...
RNG acted swiftly, immediately taking down Lee Sin and Zyra.
"Hey, how so?" Guan Zeyuan suddenly blinked. "Is it Lee Sin beating Olaf, or 4396?"
"Zeyuan, I think we should focus on whether Zyra's talents include Windspeaker's Blessing."
The two immediately started talking on the commentary desk. Both sides made quick moves. EDG's second and third picks were the bot lane duo, Ashe and Nami, while RNG picked Irelia for Looper and Orianna for Xiaohu.
EDG's fourth and fifth picks are to lock in Shen for Mouse, supplementing their frontline initiation and tankiness.
As for his final move, he quietly spoke over the voice chat, "Xiao Chen, what do you want to play?"
"The Enchantress."
"Then let's go with Enchantress." Nofe didn't hesitate for a moment and decisively asked Meiko to lock it in, which immediately sparked a heated discussion among the audience and commentators.
"Wow! We saw rookie Kingslayer pick LeBlanc in his LPL debut! That's like playing LeBlanc in a game of chance!"
Miller sounded utterly shocked, shaking his head as he said, "You know, LeBlanc is Xiaohu's signature champion. Just this year at MSI, he solo-killed Faker three times with LeBlanc!"
[Has K gone mad, or has Nofe gone mad? They should have locked in Orianna first! Wouldn't it have been better to pick a scaling mid laner?!]
[I burst out laughing! How dare K choose the Enchantress in front of Xiaohu?]
If you know how to play this hero, then choose it!
[I feel like we can just congratulate RNG now, it's a cause for celebration! K is going to retire after just one match.]
[A rookie playing an assassin in his first major tournament? Do you think you're Faker?! You bastard!]
...
On the RNG stage, Xiaohu saw Lu Chen pick LeBlanc, which was truly like an old lady going to bed – making Jiang Ye laugh.
"We won."
As he finished speaking, RNG gave their final pick to Uzi, and at that moment, cheers erupted throughout the stadium.
"VN! VN!"
Actually, many viewers have a bit of a preconceived notion that Uzi and Vayne were paired up not in S7 or S8, but as early as S5 or S6.
Countless GSL players have called him the world's best Vayne.
After all, look at Vayne's lines—"I heard the cry of ignorance (stains)."
They even look quite similar, both having red eyes. It's just a pity that Vayne was branded as a "pig" at this point.
So Piglet committed the sin of arrogance, and after Season 3, he disappeared without a trace.
The earliest divine punishment!
However, after careful consideration, Uzi still chose Jhin.
If he says he can't play Jhin, then he'll show Lu Chen and the entire audience what he's made of today!
If he can't beat Bang, then can't he beat Deft?
In which year did Deft become the runner-up in the World Championship?
Amidst the heated discussions, the lineups for both sides have been finalized.
EDG (Blue Side): Top lane Shen, Jungle Olaf, Mid lane LeBlanc, Bot lane Ashe and Nami.
RNG (Red Side): Top lane Irelia, Jungle Lee Sin, Mid lane Orianna, Bot lane Jhin and Zyra.
"Xiao Chen, just stay calm and don't fall behind in lane. Occasionally come with me to the jungle and provide support, and protect He Kui while he plays."
Hearing Mingkai's words, Lu Chen took a sip of water. "Don't worry, Kai-ge. I'll carry this game. My LeBlanc is a hard counter to the enemy AD."
"How so?" Deft asked, somewhat curious.
"Look, doesn't my LeBlanc's E look like a dog leash? And the enemy AD is nicknamed Mad Dog. If you leash him, he's a cripple and can't move at all."
"This move is called 'K God Leading the Dog,' and it can be used to lead cats too."
"Watch my performance."
For a moment, the entire voice chat fell silent, occasionally broken by suppressed laughter. Nofe, who had just shaken hands with Firefox and was about to leave the stage, understood the meaning behind it.
Under the watchful eyes of countless people, he stumbled!
...