League of Legends: Reborn in Season 3, Tuning the Entire League

Chapter 135 What is the Confucius of Esports? (Tactical Lean Back)
The rivalry between North America and Europe has ended. Just yesterday, NA, who was being ridiculed online by their own fans and who were showing their arrogance by saying "I could have done better" after losing 4-0, suddenly became more assertive.

The clean and decisive 2-0 victory made players around the world realize a terrifying fact.

If NA, which imitates the LPL's playstyle, is this strong, then LPL, with its superior tactics, execution, and individual player skills, will only be more outrageous.

"So it's not that NA is too bad, but that LPL is too strong?"

"Watfa, if NA, who beat EU 2-0, is then beaten 2-0 by LPL, doesn't that mean LPL is going to be even more brutal against EU?"

"Although, inequalities cannot be substituted so simply. If you insist that he is right, it is not impossible."

"Hurry up, I want to see rivers of blood!"

"Hehehe, I heard you guys got lucky in GPL, getting a bye in the first round?"

NA fans, who nearly met their end last night, were jolted awake from their deathbeds and immediately began posting frantically about the EU region online.

EU fans, on the other hand, all became ostriches playing dead, not daring to show their faces at all.

There's no way around it; they mocked others for losing by a large margin to LPL, only to lose to OGN first and then to NA themselves. The boomerang-like reversal came back to haunt them swiftly.

The most crucial point was that when the two teams from the loser's bracket were vying for the last semi-final spot, NA personally sent them back home.

The online battle between NA and EU was a treat for LPL viewers.

[Ah, so these two regions, despite sharing the same prefix, are actually sworn enemies.]

[Those EU losers are hilarious. Yesterday they were mocking NA for getting almost 4-0 beaten by us, but not only did they lose 2-1 to OGN, they also got schooled by NA.]

[JM, you've committed a heinous crime! How could you reveal such a brilliant tactic to NA? (laughs)]

[Watching All-Star Day 1 matches: NA is so weak, they're even worse than our secondary league teams.]

[Watch the full All-Star Day 2: The misunderstanding cleared up, it turns out LPL is just too overpowered.]

[What happened to those who said JM had no honors and Pang Ran was a nobody who didn't deserve to be in the All-Star game? You little brat—answer me!]

It wasn't just the viewers who were secretly delighted; LPL commentators like Wawa, Joker, and Miller felt as if they had just taken a sip of ice-cold Sprite on a hot summer day, leaving them feeling refreshed and exhilarated.

Commentators from both the North American and European regions approached them privately to build rapport, hoping to learn more about JM so they could chat with their respective viewers during future matches.

So that they won't be completely clueless when it comes to introducing the contestants from the competition area.

NA's thoughts are very straightforward. After all, praising LPL now is just praising themselves. "The ugly record of being 2-0 in solo and 2-0 in team is not my fault. It's just that JM and the LPL dream team he leads are too strong."

After listening to compliments for most of the day, LPL commentators like Wawa and Miller were still feeling dizzy even when they went on stage to start their commentary.

No wonder people in ancient times knew someone was a treacherous minister but still employed him; they're just saying nice things about you, who can resist that?

"Alright, everyone, the All-Star Day 2 Team Tournament semifinals are now officially starting. What you are seeing now is a match between our LPL representative team and the Southeast Asian GPL representative team."

As the long background music began, the competition officially entered the ban/pick phase.

Blue team: LPL; Purple team: GPL.

"Our LPL's ban/pick strategy is still the same old approach: ban Janna first in an assassin meta."

Wawa chuckled, "Hey, I chatted with JM backstage earlier, and I was curious why Janna is banned so frequently; JM explained that all four of Janna's skills are effective at limiting assassins from taking down the backline carries..."

"Knock-up, slow, shield, knockback plus healing... For players who are good at assassins, if you add a weakness, Janna's existence is indeed a big problem."

The wheels of history have turned back to the same tracks, and Miller, the "Haier Brothers" who paired with the dolls, has finally come together.

"Looking at the purple team's bans, wow, they banned Zed, LeBlanc, and Riven?!"

Xiao Lou, the female commentator, exclaimed in surprise.

Three mid-lane champions have been banned!
The first three bans didn't take much time. After banning Janna on the first pick, the blue side LPL team picked Ezreal and Nunu for their next two picks.

Chawy, the bot laner in GPL, is considered a semi-skilled player; banning Ezreal is tantamount to crippling him.

As for Nunu, perhaps influenced by Assassins' championship win, the Southeast Asian region really likes this champion as a jungler. HarLeLuYar once achieved a terrifying eleven-game winning streak with Nunu on their server.

When it comes to team composition, Jiang Ming always prefers to plan carefully before acting, and he doesn't have the strange mentality of deliberately letting you use your best moves to increase the difficulty of the game.

Who would want to work overtime for no reason if they could finish the game early and leave work early?

After the ban ended, Abu, who was standing behind his teammates, was just pretending because they had already discussed their tactics backstage. The blue team picked their first hero almost instantly.

"I will make your dreams come true with my own hands!"

—Li Qing, the blind monk.

GPL's first and second floors use Varus and Zyra.

Their superior statistics forced them to target Jiang Ming in the mid lane, and his past reputation for strength also forced GPL to choose a strong bottom lane duo to counter WeiXiao.

In the second and third floors of LPL, a more aggressive Vayne and Thresh duo was selected.

The Night Hunter of Season 3 was not the demon hunter of later generations who was universally disliked, had outdated mechanics, terrible stats, and severely lacked wave clear ability; Vayne had maxed out all her stats, her E skill could be used to add an auto-attack, and her ultimate made her invisible and not very afraid of assassins. Vayne could be considered a five-sided warrior.

Why not a hexagon?

It's very simple; it's just that Vayne's wave clear was still ineffective during Season 3.

GPL's third and fourth picks struggled for a long time. Lacking a coaching staff, they finally decided to have Orianna in the mid lane and Jarvan IV in the jungle, reserving the counter pick for the top laner.

"The BP rights have been switched again, and the fourth floor picks heroes very quickly. Oh ho, Rumble, one of PDD's signature heroes."

"Finally, let's see which champion JM will choose. Gragas and Ahri are both outside, and with Rumble there, Kassadin for finishing off enemies is actually not bad."

"I prefer Ahri, because Ahri's early-game crowd control can synergize well with Lee Sin!"

The three commentators on stage and the many audience members below were discussing which hero Jiang Ming would bring out, and when an avatar on the fifth floor of the blue team lit up, the crowd erupted in uproar again.

The baby blinked repeatedly, not reacting at all.

Once the hero's portrait was fully locked, the unique somber tone of the Chinese dialogue was transmitted through the on-site sound system;
"Live by the blade, die by the blade!"

The God of War Under the Car, oh no, I shouldn't say the Blade's Shadow—Talon.

【handsome! 】

[Finally, we get to see my Talon! Streamer, streamer, can you show off your one-second instant kill technique today?]

[Hey bro, I'll teach you how to use a level 1 naked Bloodthirster to get five kills. You can just stand there and kill people.]

【Ugh, why can't I pick Katarina when Talon is available? Am I not good enough for Katarina?】

[I suddenly noticed a blind spot: JM seems to pick mid-lane champions that can quickly push lanes; I rarely see him play Kassadin.]

[The person upstairs clearly hasn't been studying diligently. Is the class representative here? Take this kid back and review the minion wave knowledge a hundred times.]

The appearance of the physical assassin who walks on the edge of a knife sparked discussion among viewers in the live stream, accompanied by cheers from the players on site, creating quite a lively atmosphere.

GPL players' seats.

As the confirmed owner of the future Orianna championship skin, Toyz was quite excited, saying, "This guy is getting a bit cocky, daring to lane against my Orianna with Talon. Brothers, mid lane is safe."

No wonder Toyz was so excited.

The old version of Talon's skills were too extreme. His passive, Compassion, could deal extra damage to targets with abnormal statuses, but what was really annoying was that it only worked on basic attacks.

Q skill adds extra damage to the next basic attack, but it doesn't have the dash effect found in later versions. The dash effect is in E, which even has a noble silence effect.

W's "Eliminate the Weeds" skill is quite good; both instances of damage are instantaneous bursts, eliminating the need to wait a second in place.

A hero who relies on skill bursts has a passive ability that only applies to basic attacks. To be honest, the word "pity" is a very apt translation.

At first glance, it seems very strong, but what kind of existence is Orianna, who can lane against it?
At level 1, learning the E skill and attaching it to your character provides high armor and magic resistance plus a shield. At the same time, the passive basic attack damage increases as you deal damage. Let's just say that no matter what skill Talon learns, he can stand and fight Orianna without flinching.

"Beat him up, Toyz, it's your turn this round."

On the fifth floor, the player chose the crocodile, and Stanley, who was also on the TPA team, gave him a thumbs up.

He originally wanted to pick Malphite or Mundo to play casually, but considering that the top side of the map would be too weak and he might get toyed with by the LPL like he did in the second game against NA, he eventually switched to Renekton, which is better suited to synergize with the jungler.

After GPL's fifth-floor hero, located on the purple side, was locked in, a brief exchange ensued, and the lineups for both sides were officially finalized.

Blue side LPL: Top lane Rumble, Jungle Lee Sin, Mid lane Talon, Bot lane Vayne and Thresh.

Purple Team GPL: Top lane Renekton, Jungle Jarvan IV, Mid lane Orianna, Bot lane Varus and Zyra.

"Judging from the lineup, the purple team's five-hero combination is significantly better than the blue team's."

"The crocodile is tanky and deals damage in the front line, and with the prince's EQ initiation and Orianna's AOE damage, it feels like the left side will have a hard time taking this wave of attack."

"Even Varus and Zyra have a lot of control!"

Before the game started, they had to build up their luck. Although they trusted Jm's draft strategy, the three commentators couldn't help but feel apprehensive when the ultimate-focused lineup on the right side was formed.

Even if the right side is at a disadvantage in the early game, as long as they initiate a team fight well in the mid-game, they can turn the tide of the game. LPL is not stable.

……

"Start in the top half of the jungle at level one. After PDD finishes clearing the jungle monsters, help him with a couple of hits. Be careful not to let the jungle monsters take too much damage and alert GPL."

"Smile and Xiao Pang, you guys play aggressively in the bottom lane in the early game, don't be afraid to trade blows."

"no problem!"

"Hehe, don't worry, leave it to me. This time, I'll show the other side what an undead Yordle is all about."

PDD has always kept in mind the posts on the forums after the match that called him a reckless man.

It's fine if I go all out, but you're not allowed to criticize me if we win the game.

Do you understand that starting a team fight against the odds is problematic?
As for WeiXiao in the bottom lane, he was also holding his breath. As the absolute core of WE, his brilliance was directly overshadowed by the mid lane after entering the All-Star event. It would be a lie to say that he had completely given up and had no competitive spirit at all.

When formulating tactics for the first game today, he proactively sought the coaching staff's suggestion of an offensive strategy focused on the bottom lane.

The coaching staff agreed, which is why Jiang Ming chose Talon, who has excellent wave clear and roaming abilities but limited early-game solo kill potential, to play mid lane.

Zyra and Varus do have incredible early-game poke, but that's only true after level three.

Thresh who learns E at level 1 deals more damage with his backflip and auto-attacks than the two GPL players combined.

"Factory, after you finish the red buff, gank mid lane. I'll level up my E at level 2 and take down his health."

"no problem."

The strategy of quickly reaching level 3 with double buffs for Lee Sin, starting with blue buff followed by red buff, and then initiating a counter-attack from the bottom half of the map was also part of their plan.

In a normal game, junglers like to quickly reach level three and look for opportunities on the side lanes.

However, in reality, once players reach a higher rank, many will increase their vigilance against junglers at certain times, and only consider whether to make a move when the jungler appears in a certain lane.

Jiang Ming's command strategy is to always prioritize freeing up the mid lane, thereby turning the threat from the jungler from one into two.

At 1 minute and 52 seconds, the mid-lane minions arrived on the lane. A solo laner only needs seven minions to reach level two, and Jiang Ming, following the old strategy of starting with a large health potion, immediately began his wave clear playstyle.

Toyz frowned slightly. The enemy Talon had no intention of fighting him at all, focusing solely on clearing minions and pushing the lane. Toyz's Orianna, who had leveled up her E skill at level 1, really couldn't clear him.

"But if I play like this, what will you do if I block the line?"

Toyz positioned himself to block the minion wave, consciously moving towards the lower jungle to stay away from the Lee Sin who was about to reach level three after clearing red and blue buffs.

Despite the scarcity of resources in the jungle, the experience gained from the two early-game buffs is enormous. While the duo laners are still at level one, the jungler has already reached level three.

"The factory manager's field clearing route today is really strange."

"The Lee Sin chose to start with blue buff, was he trying to gank bot lane? But Rumble in the top lane clearly needs more jungle support in the early game. With Jarvan IV and Renekton, if he gets bitten, he could very well give up first blood."

"JM's playstyle here is also very strange. They start pushing the lane quickly from level one. Orianna has learned the E skill, and with the shield, they can probably hold the lane for a long time."

"Hey, what's the factory manager doing? Aren't you going downstairs?"

"Wait, JM and the others are planning to target Toyz's Clockwork!"

……

In the mid lane, Toyz was actually very careful with his positioning. Even though there was a Prince in the upper half of the map, he tried to avoid getting close to the river and also prevented Jiang Ming from easily getting to his face with his E.

But as the saying goes, it's not that we're afraid of stupid people who don't work hard, it's that we're afraid of mediocre people who work hard in the wrong direction.

Toyz, who had initially guarded against the wrong position, was unaware that he was already close to death.

Of course, the intensity of the fight between the bot lane duo and the performance of Rumble in the top lane also played a certain misleading role.

No one expected that the Lee Sin could suddenly turn around and gank the mid lane.

[Ruofeng: Back when we were with WE, Mingkai, you never treated me like this.]

[It feels like the damage isn't enough. If Talon learns Q, he can't get close. If he learns E, Lee Sin's damage output alone isn't enough...]

Jiang Ming and his companion quickly explained to the audience where the harm came from.

Swish!Swish!
With the attack of 【Eliminate the Weeds】, two fan-shaped blades slashed across the Clockwork Demon's body.

There was no intention of continuing to fight to the end; in Orianna's eyes, Talon seemed to be simply there to deplete her resources.

"Attack!"

The worst thing you can do in mid lane is to just take the hits without fighting back. Toyz, who had taken two hits from Talon's W, was wary of Talon's engage, so he didn't use his E shield immediately. When Talon created distance and wasn't afraid to turn around and use his E to fight back, Toyz threw his Q at the retreating Talon.

Yes, a QA combo to whittle down the opponent's health, plus the damage from the minions, makes it very profitable.

But at that moment, a red light suddenly appeared on the male knife's body.

The big red herb!
Toyz: ? ? ?
Dude, you've already used all your skills, why did you use the big red potion beforehand?

The next moment, Toyz understood.

"Being blind will not hinder my pursuit of the enemy in the slightest!"

The Lee Sin stepped into the middle lane bush, his right hand forming a palm, and slammed it heavily into the air before any doubts could even arise in the audience's minds.

Golden light shimmered and shone in the canyon.

boom!
The alms-begging monk appeared beside Orianna, while the damage from her E skill poured into Orianna's body, which had already lost the magic resistance buff from the Magic Orb.

[Heavenly Thunder Strike]

boom!
Another flash appeared simultaneously.

Talon, who was a few hundred yards away, flashed and used his E to arrive in front of Orianna, applying [Throat Slash] - silence.

The two moved so fast that Toyz had no time to react.

What kind of maneuver is Lee Sin?
E-Flash?
A series of questions flashed through Toyz's mind, but it was clear that the LPL's mid and jungle duo wouldn't give him that chance.

With Ignite applied, Mingkai quickly pressed the second part of his E skill to apply a negative effect to Talon's passive, while simultaneously applying his Q skill to Orianna.

"It's over, there's no escaping it now."

"Talon's basic attacks deal extra damage to champions with negative status effects. Now, the basic attack damage alone is quite considerable. He applied Sonic Wave, and Toyz still has Flash available, but Lee Sin hasn't used it yet. It feels like he can save his skills."

Upon reaching the tower, Jiang Ming did not attempt to steal the kill from the struggling Orianna, allowing Ming Kai to finish her off with his second Q.

"killed!"

"Toyz couldn't react to the Lee Sin's sudden attack, and Talon used a health potion and Ignite to go all in."

"Their burst damage is extremely high. The Heavenly Sonic Wave has been applied. Should we use Flash?"

"Toyz gave up the struggle."

This is Season 3, a season where damage output was off the charts and players were constantly killing each other. If it were a later season where hero durability and damage were significantly reduced, the best you could do would be to use Flash and buffs.

Of course, there's also the reason why Mingkai chose Doran's Blade as his starting item instead of a jungle item.

CNLPL-Clearlove kills GPL-Toyz
In the early game, if the jungler uses Flash to help gank the lane, giving the enemy first blood is more beneficial than giving blood to a Talon who is still a long way from level six.

As for his own health potion, getting a first blood and two hundred gold for an assist is already a good deal.

To be fair, the younger version of the factory, after some adjustments, can still pull off some impressive maneuvers.

Besides, he just took the big red pill; who knows if he'll have any follow-up?

"Was that Lee Sin's E-Flash?" Wawa asked uncertainly.

Miller nodded: "It was an E-flash. Clearlove pressed E first in the river, and then flashed to Orianna's side after the animation started."

"Unexpectedly, following JM's Gragas E-Flash, our LPL player Clearlove also showed us an amazing play."

"Toyz was probably confused himself, not expecting Lee Sin's E-flash. After being slowed down first, Talon's silence prevented Orianna from using her skills. Without the Magic Orb buff, the two of them were indeed enough to secure the kill."

……

They killed Orianna in the mid lane, and the two of them pushed the lane together before disappearing from the mid lane.

"Old Park, step back. Don't give the prince a chance."

"learn!"

With the large red potion, Jiang Ming's health was still relatively good after taking some damage from the turret. Instead of returning to base, he and the Lee Sin strode towards the bottom lane.

From God's perspective, the commentators from each region immediately noticed the movements of Nakano and Jungle.

"GPL's Prince came to the top lane, but Rumble was too alert and only used his E skill to last hit minions from a distance, not giving the purple team a chance to gank."

"Oh, JM and the others are really crazy. They're not satisfied with just killing Orianna, are they trying to take on the bottom lane too?"

"I must admit that Clearlove's Lee Sin E-flash was very cool, but now that they don't have Flash and the players are focused, if Thresh can't hook first, they are destined to have wasted their time."

"..."

Just as Talon and Lee Sin were about to approach the river, Varus and Zyra, realizing the danger, tried to retreat.

"Xiao Pang, keep them here!"

"No problem, I can hook it."

In the team voice chat, Pang Ran unusually gave Jiang Ming a guarantee.

As I typed and clicked, my mind drifted to all the posts praising that support player from the OGN region that I'd seen online recently.

"The god of support, the pinnacle of hook support?"

"I wonder if you've ever seen this move before..."

In the game, the Chain Warden swings his chain upwards in a circle, then pretends to swing it toward his target.

Chawy chuckled dismissively, "With a hook like that, I can outmaneuver it..."

boom!
Another burst of golden light rose in the bottom lane, and Thresh, who had been standing still and throwing his hook, suddenly appeared on the other side.

The hook was positioned directly towards the GPL duo, who were on the same lane.

Crunch!

The crisp sound of chains snapping shut echoed through Summoner's Rift.

"bingo!"

"Whoa whoa!!"

"Q-Flash, another skill-flash combination, Thresh precisely controlled Varus."

“If we go far enough away, Vayne still has a knives-on-the-wall technique.”

During the duration of Q skill, Mingkai can apply the Sonic Wave from a distance and enter the fray to deal damage.

Pang Ran then activated his second Q again, arriving next to the GPL duo. As the Doom Pendulum pushed Varus backward, it forced Zyra to use Flash.

boom!
After smiling, Talon follows up with [Demon Judgment] to connect the control, followed by [Throat Slit] to enter the fray.

In the first three minutes of the game, Varus didn't even have to struggle; the barrier he instinctively activated was torn apart by the four players in less than a second.

CNLPL-JM has eliminated GPL-Chawy!

With the second kill, WeiXiao kept reminding himself that this was All-Star, not WE, and he had to be mindful of social niceties, so he suppressed his urge to kill and let Jiang Ming get the kill.

Compared to a mid-laner who can come and help at any time, Vayne losing one kill in the early game doesn't have a big impact.

【brutal!】

Stop! You've gone too far!

Two kills in three minutes, LPL, what are you trying to do?

[Wow, is this how they start today? Lee Sin's E-flash, Thresh's Q-flash, is it going to be WeiXiao's Vayne next?]

[Okay, okay, no wonder the factory manager had that mischievous grin on his face in yesterday's post-match interview, saying he learned some amazing techniques from JM. Turns out he really did.]

Is this what makes JM so great? She even teaches techniques like E-flash.

What does it mean to be the "Confucius of esports"? (Leans back tactically)

[PDD: Give me a shot!]

Everyone's showing off, except me, PDD, who's getting beaten up in the top lane. (doge emoji)

JM, you've done so many bad things!

(End of this chapter)