LOL: My talent is top-tier, my professional skills are unparalleled.

Chapter 461 Let's get serious! First appearance as a jungler, Pyke!

"SKT has picked! Instead of the popular Sylas, they locked in Irelia first, which is a flexible pick. I wonder if it's for Faker in the mid lane or Khan in the top lane!"

SKT then instantly locked in a hero on the second floor.

A hero who surprised everyone.

gem!

"Oh, it's confirmed, Taric. Is this the bot lane duo going to pick Taric and Sona?!"

Upon seeing SKT's choice, Wawa exclaimed in surprise.

"Judging from this, it must be a high-tech Taric Sona, otherwise Taric alone wouldn't be very effective!" Remember was analyzing the draft picks on the field.

"Yeah, this is also a popular bot lane strategy on foreign servers right now: the Taric/Sona combo, endless healing!"

This combination is a super-powerful, unconventional combination developed by European players, with both players reaching the top 10 in the European server.

This combination was then brought to the professional arena by professional gamers.

Even in the European Spring Split finals, G2's bot lane duo pulled out this combo and shone brightly, completely dominating their opponents.

These two heroes facing off in lane is torture for each other.

Both heroes have healing abilities; as long as they aren't killed in one combo, they're essentially a perpetual motion machine with infinite health regeneration.

In addition, Sona's burst damage in the early game is comparable to any damage-dealing champion. If the opponent has no healing ability, slowly whittling down their health will give her an advantage in the laning phase.

Once the laning phase is over, both Sona's aura crowd control and Taric's stun invulnerability are very powerful skills in mid-game team fights.

If the team were to include a carry hero capable of finishing off weakened enemies, it would be even more perfect.

This gameplay has been further improved and refined over this period of development.

It can develop, which is an advanced version of the "starvation approach".

The OP aspect of the "fasting strategy" is that even if the AD carry doesn't farm, the bot lane's total economy is still better than the opponent's.

The Gem Girl's double-support build allows her to stack support items at an astonishing speed. This rapid development and lane dominance have led to the resurgence of the "starvation" strategy.

With too much control, it's just mindless tower diving.

You can never kill me, but I can kill you with ease.

This is the second advantage of the Taric + Sona combo: a constant "double-skin milk" (referring to the bot lane's sustain), making them virtually unstoppable in the bottom lane. After level 6, almost no one can touch them.

Conversely, the enemy bot lane got caught out. After reaching level 6, Taric used his ultimate, Sona used her ultimate, and they tower-dived without any reason.

Moreover, Sona's damage is extremely high when built with AP items, and squishy champions can be killed in one combo.

In team battles, just focus on supporting your carry.

When both sides are evenly matched, the side with Taric and Sona has a significant advantage, especially in the mid-game, where they are practically invincible.

Sona's team is not only invincible in team fights, but also invincible in counter-attacks. As long as you can't kill Sona's team's "position one", she will instantly be at full health, and then she can cast an invincibility spell, making team fights a free kill.

Therefore, Sona + Taric theoretically has many advantages, provided that there is a "damage dealer", otherwise there will be no damage.

Therefore, in all previous Taric + Sona matches, the strategy revolved around a certain "position 1" carry. Once the carry died, Sona + Taric became useless in team fights.

In this game, SKT has already locked in Irelia, which is considered a damage dealer, but that's not enough. They will definitely need to add a main damage carry in the end.

This combination also has its weaknesses. When facing heroes with strong engage abilities like Alistar or Blitzcrank, Sona can easily be controlled and killed.

Upon seeing the gem appear on the other side, Maokai instantly understood.

EDG's analysts had already taken notice of this wildly popular bot lane duo.

"So, is Xiao Zhao going to pick Draven?!" Meiko teased her old teammate.

Upon hearing Meiko's words, iboy's face instantly turned green.

It's not that he doesn't know how to play Draven, but he's a little hesitant to bring him out in this situation.

"Dare to pick him?! Do you want to show off your Draven on the World Championship stage?!" Flandre chimed in, adding fuel to the fire.

Against a combination like Gemstone Sona, farming is useless.

All you can do is go all out in the early game. Draven paired with a tanky support like Alistar, Thresh, or Blitzcrank is all about pushing forward!

"Let's start with other positions, and then we can get a support hero with a hook, or a jungler with hard crowd control and burst damage!" Maokai said at this moment.

It's hard to choose an ADC; those positions are left open.

Since the opposing team doesn't have an ADC, and no ADCs have been banned, all ADCs are available, so there are too many options to choose from. There's no need to rush.

"can!"

next moment……

EDG selected a champion.

Suddenly everyone's eyes lit up.

Parker!

Water ghost!

He's also a hero with a hook!
And a hero who's even more volatile than Thresh and Blitzcrank!
If you start playing like that, Gem might be killed before his ultimate skill even lands!

Wow, Parker!

"Pyke support?!"

"Wow, EDG has also brought out some cutting-edge technology; they're going to go head-to-head with you!"

Upon seeing EDG's choice, the commentators exclaimed in surprise.

Looking at Pyke's previous matches, his role has actually been very limited, making it quite easy to counter him.

Whether or not you can gain an advantage online is another matter, but even if you do, you'll still feed the enemy team in team fights.

However, using Pyke to counter the Taric and Sona combination is a good choice.

Enough with the violence!

Because of this Pyke pick, it's clear that SKT completely disregarded them, believing that the Taric and Sona bot lane duo could dominate the game!
"But... do you guys think there's any possibility that this Pyke could be played flex, not as support, but in another role?!"

At this point, Miller stroked his chin and voiced his doubts.

"You mean Pyke top lane, or mid lane?!" Remember to continue the conversation.

Wawa nodded in agreement: "I think it's possible. It could be Pyke in the top lane or the mid lane. There have been matches like this on both the North American and European servers."

Just as the commentators were wildly speculating, EDG confirmed Kennen as their third pick.

The hero has been chosen for top laner A Guang.

A hero with strong crowd control abilities.

SKT's third pick didn't hesitate at all and immediately locked in Sona.

The second floor already has clearly marked gemstones, so there's no need to install any more.

With this, the first round of banning and drafting has officially ended, and the second round of banning will begin immediately.

Sylas and Hecarim were immediately eliminated by EDG.

Kennen and Pyke have already been released; if Sylas isn't banned soon, it's practically a crime.

SKT, on the other hand, started targeting Wang Yao's jungle champion pool.

SKT's jungler then confirmed the champion Lee Sin.

This version has been improved, making the competition very intense.

And when it was EDG's turn...

"What do you mean?!" Maokai patted iboy on the shoulder.

In fact, the best choice for the ADC in this game is Draven paired with a support who can initiate team fights aggressively.

Otherwise, if you choose a standard ADC and slowly fight against Sona and Taric, you'll only get tortured.

But iboy really didn't dare to pick Draven. He's not Wang Yao. Just when iboy was thinking of picking Kai'Sa...

"Let's pick Draven. I can jungle with Pyke, and then pick Thresh or Blitzcrank. I can gank bot lane endlessly!"

Wang Yao's calm voice came over.

"It doesn't matter if you can catch an axe, as long as you can do normal attacks."

"Pfft..." iboy almost spat it out.

This is hilarious!

However, when the team's "wild dad" spoke up, Yu Datou hesitated.

Anyway, this is just the first match of MSI, so we can play around a bit. It shouldn't be too difficult to qualify.

Pyke jungle?!
At that moment, head coach Maokai's eyes lit up.

"But can Pyke jungle? Can he beat the jungler?!" Meiko asked.

There are Pyke support players and mid laners, but very few junglers play Pyke.

"No problem, just play the same way as Camille."

Wang Yao gave his coach and teammates an OK sign.

"That's a great idea! Let's add a Thresh support and go all in. We don't care about winning or losing, we just want to have fun!" Maokai encouraged his teammates.

"Alright, let's go!"

Hearing his teammates' encouragement, iboy stopped worrying about everything else.

The next second, Draven locked on.

Anyway, Daddy said it doesn't matter whether you can catch the axe or not, as long as you know how to use normal attacks.

"Wow, what is this?! Draven?! Is it iboy's Draven?!" I remember being shocked when I saw EDG play Draven.

"I think so. Could it be that Iboy has been secretly practicing Draven all this time?!" Miller was also shocked.

"But to be fair, this game's strategy is to pick Draven and counter the enemy Sona and Taric!"

The chat room was also filled with laughter.

"Holy crap, Draven?!"

"This game is over. I told you, nobody can carry this game!" "..."

But the next second, EDG's last hero emerged, which surprised everyone even more.

The sea is boundless!

A deep, resonant voice rang out.

Titan locked!

Huh?! This?!
Why choose a Titan when we already have Pyke?!

What kind of tactic is this now?!

"What?! This... Could it be Titan jungle?!" After seeing EDG's strategy, the commentators didn't know how to explain it.

"It shouldn't be. Back in the old versions of Titan, when he was a top-tier top laner, he could jungle, but now he's not allowed to jungle!"

Miller rejected it on the spot.

"It can't be Ryze and Kennen jungling, right? This must be Wang Yao's Pyke jungling!"

"Wow, you're starting to develop new tactics!"

"But to be fair, this lineup really counters Sona and Taric! Especially in the early to mid-game, if Sona has fewer than two people around her, she's doomed, and no one can save her!"

"..."

SKT was also in a panic, but there was nothing they could do. The overall roster was already set and there was no way to make any changes.

The last counter pick was given to Khan, who picked Gnar to counter Kennen.

Kkoma had a significant impact on SKT, or rather, SKT's playstyle was already established during his era.

From beginning to end, SKT's core has always been Faker. No matter how things change, they will never break away from this system. This is the root of the problem.

Although Faker's playstyle has changed a lot, giving his teammates more space.

But Faker will always be the absolute core.

Once this fundamental problem is addressed, will SKT still be the same SKT?

SKT has tried to demote Faker from his position in the team before, but without exception, they were quickly overwhelmed by other LCK teams.

In this game, despite SKT's unconventional bot lane pick of Taric and Sona, the core of their strategy remains their mid and jungle.

But Irelia was the key to ending the game.

EDG's response in this game was quite simple.

Pyke jungle, Draven ADC, they're all about going head-to-head with you.

By seizing lane control, securing kills, and grabbing resources, they quickly established an absolute economic advantage, completely overwhelming SKT in the mid-game.

And this is precisely what EDG and Wang Yao excel at.

The lineups for both sides were quickly finalized.

EDG (blue side) - Top lane Kennen, Jungle Pyke, Mid lane Ryze, Bot lane duo Draven + Nautilus.

The red team is SKT, with Gnar in the top lane, Lee Sin in the jungle, Irelia in the mid lane, and Taric and Sona in the bot lane.

The business negotiations between the two sides have concluded.

"Go EDG! Go EDG! Go EDG!"

"SKT fighting! SKT fighting!"

As the two coaches finished their final handshake in the center of the stage, the large screen displayed the scene as Summoner's Rift appeared on the screen.

The audience once again gave their most enthusiastic cheers and encouragement to the two teams!
Miller exclaimed in surprise:
"Both teams played too aggressively. Neither team actually had a late-game composition. However, if we had to say, EDG's composition was slightly stronger in the late game. But SKT's Sona and Taric were really useless in the late game and were easy to engage on, making them very weak!"

"But it all depends on how the bot lane matches go. If SKT wins the 2v2 in the bot lane and iboy's Draven is silent, then it's a composition that can kill you in the early game!"

The doll added, teasingly saying:

"The main problem is that this is iboy's Draven, not JackeyLove's Draven. If it were JackeyLove's Draven, I wouldn't be worried, but..."

When the voice of the doll Miller, which sounded like "The wind is howling, the Yi River is cold, the hero goes forth and never returns," was heard.

All LPL fans, both at the venue and watching on screen, were instantly energized and sat up straight.

Because they were all very clear that neither EDG nor SKT seemed to be taking this game very seriously.

Instead, they're more like playing around and experimenting with cutting-edge technology.

However, in the hearts of fans, this is the opening match of the MSI Mid-Season Invitational, and they are hoping that EDG can win this game and get off to a good start.

This is the first global tournament since the end of last year's S8 World Championship.

Inspired by their victory in S8 last year, countless veteran players have returned.

For this MSI Mid-Season Invitational, many veteran players who have graduated and started working still made time to watch the opening match, no matter how busy they were.

The LPL official live stream was flooded with countless comments.

Thus, amidst the unwavering belief of all LPL viewers, the first match of the MSI Mid-Season Invitational main event, between EDG and SKT, officially entered the game phase.

In this game, EDG's Pyke really did not play the support role as the commentator said, but became the jungle Pyke!
hum...

The audience was once again stunned.

Jungle Pyke?

Who on earth came up with this jungle strategy?!
"It's Pyke, the jungler?"

"This...this should be good news for the SKT team."

"After all, Pyke's jungle clearing efficiency is definitely very slow, plus Clid's Lee Sin will definitely invade Pyke's jungle like crazy in this game, so it's a question whether Wang Yao's Pyke can even reach level six."

"Once Clid manages to dominate Pyke in terms of levels and gold, then EDG's Pyke jungler will become a complete joke!"

At this moment, the LCK commentators, whose booths were separated from the LPL commentary booths by only one wall, were making statements that sounded rather angry and embarrassed.

Wang Yao dominated the world last year, but that doesn't mean he defeated them.

The LCK region has always wanted to turn the tide, and with SKT and Faker coming to this year's MSI Mid-Season Invitational, the god in his heart has returned!
Therefore, if SKT wants to win this game against EDG, they must take drastic action against Wang Yao's jungle!

"Although the jungler Pyke was indeed a bit unexpected, we hope that SKT is still prepared for this."

"If we can shut down this Pyke, then SKT will be able to successfully represent the LCK region and achieve their first victory against Wang Yao!"

"Now, let's witness SKT's final battle together!"

Finally, the LCK region has started using the term "finals," indicating that fans there value it even more than those in the LPL region.

This guy's jungling is too extreme; if he can't catch anyone, the sky falls; if he gets counter-jungled, the earth cracks.

Pyke was released last June and is positioned as a support.

However, the ultimate skill's execution mechanism has been developed for other lanes.

However, this hero is too extreme; there is no such thing as a disadvantage.

The current version of Pyke can jungle. His E skill now deals damage to both minions and jungle monsters, meaning that Pyke no longer has sustain.

Pyke jungle can actually be compared to Camille jungle, but it's even more extreme than Camille.

There's no such thing as "farming" in the jungle; you can only go on hunger strikes to gank.

Level 2 ganks bot, level 3 ganks top, level 6 ganks top again... you only have the right to farm jungle camps after getting Tiamat.

Actually, just like Camille, Pyke was no longer even allowed to enter the jungle after later patch changes.

Q is single-target damage, and now it does no damage to minions or monsters. Without AOE, such a hero can't even perform well in the jungle, let alone in the mid or top lanes.

Efficiency in pushing lanes and clearing jungle camps is always a measure of a hero's ability to thrive in both lane and jungle.

Pyke couldn't even push the lane, let alone clear the jungle.

In this game, Wang Yao's Pyke's primary rune path is Hail of Blades, which enhances Pyke's burst damage with three Hail of Blades strikes.

Then use Sudden Impact, which, combined with W, can easily trigger E skills.

The Eye Collector can gain a very high attack power in the later stages of the game.

Finally, the Relentless Hunter skill increases Pyke's movement speed outside of combat, enhancing his roaming ability.

The secondary tier of Precision includes Triumph and Coup de Grace. Triumph restores a certain amount of health after participating in a kill.

It can be a lifesaver in critical moments, as a fatal blow deals more damage to enemy heroes with low health.

As both sides entered the game, the battle officially began!
Meanwhile, the commentators are still analyzing the situation.

"First Blood!"

"EDG's Pyke, the Bloodharbor Ghost, has killed Sona, the Maven of the Strings!"

But in the next moment, before any of the commentators, the audience, or even the director could react, things were in complete disarray.

At 0 minutes and 55 seconds into the game, the first blood of the match was already born!

This is not only another first blood for EDG, but also the last thing any SKT and LCK fans wanted to see.

Pyke's first blood!

Rewind 30 seconds, after EDG's five players bought their starting items, they grouped up and headed straight for the bottom lane.

Without any hesitation, they headed straight for the bushes at the bottom of the river.

As expected, Sona went to establish vision control first.

Captain Teddy clearly hasn't played Sona enough.

Seeing that the five EDG players were still a little stunned, the Titan's hook cleared the channel and pulled them over.

Once Sona is controlled by Titan, it will be difficult to use Flash again, even though she managed to Flash out with low health.

But what awaited Sona was Pyke, who had already positioned himself perfectly.

Charge up Q-shaped bone-piercing spike!

Pyke's blade pierced Sona with pinpoint accuracy.

Firstblood!

The first blood has been born!!
(End of this chapter)