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

Chapter 148 The First Strike of the Fist and the Aftermath of JM!
Just as Jiang Ming was preparing to devote some of his energy to training the second team, the first stab in the back from the side of Fist, who had just been awarded the Promotion Ambassador Award a few days ago, was already impatiently stabbing him in the back.

Riot: [League of Legends V3.07 Patch Announcement]

—Fighting for a more balanced Summoner's Rift
Summoners:
The All-Star event has come to an end, and we are delighted to have seen so many innovative gameplay styles on the field. However, we have also noticed that some heroes are performing too strongly in the current game. Therefore, in the second half of Season 3, we have prepared some regular version adjustments and medium-scale gameplay updates for players. We hope to see more heroes shine on the field, rather than one hero dominating.

The official server will be updated to version V3.06 at 3:6 AM Beijing time on June 3rd.

This patch will make key adjustments to the current competitive landscape, while also bringing several game experience optimizations. Here are the key points:

[Hero Balance Adjustments]

ADC ecosystem reconstruction

Caitlyn: Base attack speed reduced (0.668→0.625), headshot mechanic removed from stacking effect on buildings.

Ezreal: W attack speed bonus reduced!
Miss Fortune: Black Shot passive stacks increased to 5, but damage per stack reduced.

Varus: The base damage of Wraith Arrow Rain has been reduced, and the hit detection of Corruption Chains has been optimized.

Core optimizations for mid and jungle:

Diana: Moonsilver Blade damage curve adjusted; Pale Falls shield weakened but can be stacked.

Elise: Spider Form's dual resistance bonus is removed, and Ravage's AP scaling is increased.

Twisted Fate: Fate skill cooldown extended, Card Trick attack speed bonus greatly increased.

Blade's Shadow: Removed the silence effect of E skill, and instead provides a 99% slow bonus.

LeBlanc: Removed the silence effect from the second part of her Q skill!

Master of Shadows: ...

[Equipment System Innovation]

The Goddess's Tears series has evolved.

The basic stacking rate doubles (4 → 8 times).
Both the Demon Blade and the Archangel's Staff benefit from this buff.

The stacking speed of the Staff of Time is increased by 33%.

[Jungle Experience Adjustment]

The experience points for the Lizard Elder/Ancient Statue have been reduced.

……

[Designer's Notes]

(We believe that for an assassin, a healthy state is one where the synergy between their passive damage and their passive ability is maximized, without leaving targets targeted by Talon with no means of counter-attack due to silence. Meanwhile, the experience provided by the Elder Lizard/Ancient Stone Golem in the jungle in the early game is excessive. With both buffs at level three while other heroes are generally at level two, the jungler's threat to lanes is too overwhelming, which is not a good sign. Therefore, we have appropriately reduced the experience provided by the buffs and increased the experience provided by the Krugs and Ghosts. We also plan to add an extra small monster to the jungle before Worlds to increase the jungler's economy, as having two supports in a single game is simply not a pleasant experience.)
(In addition, we discussed the Prophet's Potion, an item that is extremely unfavorable to the losing side, and reached a consensus. The changes will be gradually introduced in subsequent versions.)
Players across different regions had varying reactions after reading Riot Games' patch notes.

OGN and European/American players were applauding, while LPL viewers were utterly disgusted.

[Good, good, well done. The fact that the female police officer could take down a turret in minutes was disgusting.]

This is the price of winning the championship; all the assassins are now in the sewers.

With the new version, everyone is on the same starting line. We must avenge our defeat at the S3 World Championship!

[It feels like the targets for nerfing are practically named.]

【? ? ? 】

[Is Riot Games out of their minds? They just won the championship and you're already pulling out a knife.]

[All the champions Jm used have been nerfed, and you even directly nerfed Talon and LeBlanc's silence. Isn't that toxic?]

I'm so upset! He actually made several dumplings for Varus just for this bowl of vinegar.

So, the All-Star ambassador skin you gave me was just a consolation prize.

[Card Master: Wasn't I the one getting nerfed? Why am I on the nerf list too?]

The only good news is that Manamune has been buffed, meaning NXG's signature Blue Ezreal and Jayce poke composition is still viable.

Is it possible that the nerf to jungle experience will significantly impact NXG's signature tempo-based playstyle?

How about we nerf the Irelia instead?

When Jiang Ming saw the patch notes released by Riot Games, he understood that the storm he had stirred up, like a giant moth, had completely taken shape. As for where it would eventually spread from the esports scene and how large it would expand to, that remained to be seen.

……

Jiang Ming naturally wouldn't get emotional over Riot's targeted update. Esports is different from traditional sports; adapting to game updates and outsmarting them is also part of the competition.

For example, in version updates, there are nerfs as well as buffs. Ryze, whose status was instantly elevated by Tear of the Goddess, Fizz, whose E skill's wave clear ability was strengthened, Jax, whose passive attack speed was extended, and Nunu, representing a herbivore jungler, have more opportunities to be played after the jungle experience was reduced.

In a sense, weakening mid-lane assassins actually benefits teams that focus on macro-management.

Professional teams and players cannot vent their frustrations on forums like ordinary players do. What they need to do is immediately immerse themselves in familiarizing themselves with the new heroes and developing tactics after the version update is announced.

Jiang Ming: "Go ahead and cut and modify it, if you can't keep up with the pace, I'll admit defeat!"

Well, at most I'll just complain: you nerfed Zed, his pick rate dropped, what if we don't see the Zed vs. Zed showdown between Guapi and Yue Lun anymore?

Surely Yue Lun in this timeline can't possibly escape the fate of being remembered as a loser for over a decade?
Regarding the issue of adapting to the version, NXG's starting five players did not need Jiang Ming's supervision. After a short rest after returning to the team, Pang Ran returned to the team for training the next day to prepare for the upcoming LPL Spring Playoffs.

The training match against the youth academy not only taught the fledgling rookies a profound lesson, but also put considerable pressure on the entire NXG team when facing their exceptionally talented juniors.

This pressure manifests as a sense of crisis that one could be replaced at any time.

Another point is the incentive mechanism mentioned in the previous contract. For the Spring Split champion and runner-up, the club set up a significant difference in bonuses.

The combination of these two factors became the driving force propelling the five starting players of NXG forward!
We must practice more; we absolutely cannot give up our starting position and bonuses.

Since the All-Star Game, LPL and teams from other major regions have listed the entire NXG team as a key research target. Pang Ran and others' sudden and significant increase in training volume naturally did not escape the attention of these teams.

Hero training?

Learn by following along.

New equipment combination?
study!
A high-intensity training session lasting more than ten hours?
Hmm... this is something you can choose to learn or not.

In short, the evolution of the competition area that Jiang Ming hoped for is taking place in an atmosphere of collective involution.

WE Club.

A training match is underway.

"Sell out on the top lane, then I'll make a push at level two."

"No, Mingkai, I really don't need to come to the top lane. You can help Weixiao or the mid lane."

Strawberry looked troubled. For some reason, after the All-Star game, Mingkai's ganking frequency suddenly increased a lot.

Most importantly, Smile didn't have any complaints, but they also started asking questions about the mid lane a lot more often.

Ding!
(The Demacian prince has marked the mid lane.)
Mingkai: "Ruofeng, just hold the minion wave steady and don't let the enemy make the first move."

"Assassins have been nerfed, and junglers don't have much ganking ability before level three, except for a few special heroes. Go and trade blows with him!"

"There's nothing we can't beat. We can catch them once we're out of form."

"Curly's coming with me later!"

"Charge! Charge! Charge! Don't back down! Don't back down!"

"Mingkai, calm down, let's retreat, let's retreat."

"The mid laner is out of shape and needs to go back first; if that doesn't work, just switch resources."

Smiling, he turned his head and looked at Mingkai, who was separated from the mid laner on his left. He sighed slightly and felt inexplicably sorry for his jungler.

Two days have passed, a full two days. Mingkai still hasn't recovered from the pain of changing his mid-laner.

I'm fine. Xiao Pang's steady and professional vision made the game very comfortable for me, but Curly wasn't bad either. It's just that Mingkai, as the jungler, couldn't accept the reality of the mid lane being swapped back from JM.

He could understand it. From a partner who always had an advantage in his position, never lagged behind in jungle support, displayed superb command and strategy, and excelled in both offense and defense, he ended up with someone who wouldn't carry if he helped him, and would definitely fail if he didn't help him...

Which jungler can accept this kind of drop in performance?

Mingkai's change in style is a good thing. At least there's one more teammate who can carry the team. Once Strawberry can hold the top lane, they still have a chance in the playoffs.

Like Mingkai, IG's PDD also suffered from severe All-Star aftereffects.

"Hey, Shadow, don't die standing on my path. Try another path."

"Yes, yes, I don't need to gank top lane. It's useless for them to try to gank me. Even if they do, I can still pressure them. Coming to top lane is just a waste of time."

"You need to have your own gank rhythm, understand? And Erzi and Ge Yan, you two, don't interfere with Shadow's decisions. How Wild Daddy goes is Wild Daddy's business."

"If you guys can carry, then I'll pick a tank. Do you understand Zac King? I'm the one who can withstand pressure and carry three others. I'm the All-Star MVP."

"Hey you pigs, how come you got caught so easily? Learn from me, okay? You need to be a hundred times more careful when playing solo lane."

"Pulling, being pulled, this is the ultimate pulling."

After the training match, Xiaoxiao looked at PDD, who was still engrossed in playing tanky champions, and showed a serious expression.

"This won't do. Old Park is treating us like All-Star teammates."

"The kid can't compare to Smile, and Erzi is even less capable than JM, that tough guy. If he doesn't play carry in the top lane, IG might be eliminated in the first round of the playoffs."

"We were unlucky; we were drawn against NXG in the semifinals."

"Damn, let's get a snakeskin skin then..."

……

September 31th, 2013!
"Go! Go! Go!"

"Hurry up!"

"Four-Wheel Drive Warriors are on the move?"

"Go to hell."

"You can get a skin by logging in and playing one game today!"

"Hey bro, you're fast, can you save me a spot at the internet cafe?"

"Hey, I don't know why you guys are in such a hurry. I saw on the forum today that a lot of people got the seven-day trial of that skin."

"That's because they were unlucky. A guy from the neighboring school got Zhao Xin's Zilong skin directly."

"Wow, my luck is off the charts! I got a 199-yuan skin for free!" "That guy probably used up all his lifespan to do that."

Across the country, similar conversations can be seen everywhere on this Friday.

Keyword: Night of Battle!

Influenced by the All-Star event and the massive promotional resources invested by Tencent, the number of new LOL players has once again experienced an explosive growth.

Internet cafes seized the opportunity, as the poem goes: Internet cafes take the chance to refresh their look, League of Legends posters cover the walls, Pentakill internet fees are used as a gimmick, popular female hero-themed mousepads are on the market, and the support wave is loud and clear!

Ah, that made a loud noise!

There's no way around it; during the LOL Battle Night, an announcement of double gold and double experience, plus a free skin draw, can bring internet cafe owners across the country a terrifying three-day period of revenue generation.

Without even thinking about it, the next few days will be so crowded that "overcrowded" won't even begin to describe it.

From Friday to Sunday, many people simply plan to occupy a spot and never leave except to eat, drink, or use the restroom, keeping their computers on 24/7.

What, you mean sleep?
After pulling an all-nighter, I can take a nap on the sofa in the morning, have lunch, and then continue the battle.

With the massive number of online players on Battle Night, the LPL Spring Split playoffs, which are somewhat out of sync with the original timeline, have officially begun.

In the upper bracket, IG will face NXG; in the lower bracket, WE will play against PE!

Players also adjusted their schedules, pushing their stomachs to their limit from the early morning until the afternoon, ordering a box of six-yuan fried rice sold in internet cafes, and then buying a large bottle of hang-up water from the internet cafe counter.

Yes, a perfect viewing experience.

The clock struck 15 PM, and the semi-final match between WE and PE kicked off.

There has naturally been a lot of discussion surrounding this semi-final match involving WE.

During this period, although NXG's strong rise and overwhelming victories in all three rounds of competition have diverted a lot of attention from WE, as the saying goes, even a lean camel is bigger than a horse.

The outstanding performances of Mingkai and Weixiao at the All-Star event helped the team salvage some of the face lost due to their poor performance in the first few rounds of the Spring Split.

In the forums, the posts no longer contained the sarcastic remarks and cynicism directed at PE at the beginning of the Spring Split.

Because everyone has realized that it wasn't that the PE team was too weak during the server selection competition, but rather that NXG was simply too overpowered.

Based on PE's strong momentum in the second half, some players gave a more objective assessment, believing that even if they lost, the score would most likely be one to two.

Three hours later!
The result of the match was somewhat unexpected by the audience.

They were right about the score: 2 to 1!

However, it wasn't WE who defeated PE 2-1, but rather PE who defeated WE 2-1 to advance to the finals.

When the host announced the end of the competition and congratulated PE on stage, the live broadcast room erupted in excitement.

【? ? ? 】

[Seriously, we just got back from the All-Star game. Even if we don't dominate the LPL, we should at least make it to the finals.]

It's clear that Mingkai and Weixiao tried their best, but their teammates couldn't carry them.

[We had a huge advantage in the first game, but PE almost dragged it out and won. Then, in the next two games, the mid and top laners completely dominated us. How could we possibly win?]

[Ruofeng is human, you know? You can't beat Twisted Fate with Diana, and you can't beat Diana with Twisted Fate. My invincible Diana, who can one-shot enemies in All-Star mode, becomes a complete idiot in your hands.]

[I'll just say one thing: the mid-lane players are really bad.]

[Don't spout nonsense, or WE fans will come knocking. It was clearly JM who caused Diana to be nerfed—what, Twisted Fate got nerfed too? Never mind then.]

[Waaaaah, JM, please come back soon! WE's mid lane can't do without you.]

After losing the game, the angry WE fans didn't even defend any particular player; instead, they immediately started a blame-sharing session.

We won the first game, but there was no one in the mid lane.

In the second game, Diana couldn't control Twisted Fate in the mid lane, allowing PE to provide free support in the mid lane. When she moved to the bottom lane, she was caught and killed by the duo lane.

The third game...

In an instant, a wave of criticism against WE's shortcomings and demands for the retirement of the incompetent Ruofeng swept the internet.

Aside from those researching WE, some casual fans, after focusing their attention on PE, expressed alarm:
[Hey, don't you guys find PE's playing style familiar?]

Teamwork, vision control, resource management... Holy crap, this is exactly NXG's tactical philosophy!

[PE simply changed the four-man gank on the bottom lane to a three-man gank on the top lane, shifting their focus from ganking the bottom lane to targeting the mid lane.]

No wonder when I read novels, martial arts practitioners could identify a person's sect or school just by their moves; now I understand.

[It must be tough for WeiXiao and Mingkai. The things they learned from JM in the All-Star game, PE also knows. The key is that PE has five players; even if one player is lacking, the others can fill the gap.]

[The weakness effect: when WE's strengths are insufficient to compensate for its weaknesses, the fighting power of a team like PE, with its stronger overall cohesion, becomes apparent.]

[If you covered up the team IDs, I'd think NXG's match had started early (lol)]

[Alright, alright, you're all copycat masters, aren't you?]

[Hey, I just watched the OGN match yesterday. MadLife's CJ team got thrashed by SKT's second team, who were bottom of the Spring Split.]

Don't ask, the answer is we're playing scrims with NXG every day.

In a post-OGN interview, SKT's rookie player named Faker said he learned a lot from JM in scrims, which is now confirmed.

[Hey, I remember this rookie beat up the mid laner from this year's OGN All-Stars right after his debut. Maybe if it were someone else, they could have gone toe-to-toe in the mid lane.]

[There's a very alarming fact: teams with Mingkai and Weixiao were all eliminated by PE. Does that mean our All-Star Dream Team didn't actually select the five strongest players this year?]

[That makes sense, but next time you say that, remember to exclude Doraemon first; he's definitely the strongest in the mid lane.]

After the match between WE and PE, the second match between NXG and IG quickly followed.

A semi-final that was practically a foregone conclusion!
To put it bluntly, their team owner, Wang Sicong, didn't have high hopes; he just hoped they wouldn't lose too badly.

Two to zero!
In the two matches, IG's performance can only be described as improved. Their overall teamwork and discipline are still far from up to par. Facing NXG's unchanging operational style, they struggled in the mid-game and easily lost their way in various mistakes in the late game.

By exploiting IG's mistakes, NXG won the game effortlessly.

When the match ended, the audience was horrified to find that IG's top lane, which was usually the easiest to gank, was surprisingly stable in both games, while the mid and bot lane carries were feeding like crazy.

Add to that a jungler who is completely invisible, just as his name suggests, and a support who automatically deducts his ultimate ability at level six.

The top laner couldn't carry the team alone. In both games, despite not being targeted much and having achieved good dominance in his lane, his teammates collapsed as soon as the game reached the mid-game, before even a team fight could take place.

In the second game, a terrifying scene even occurred where PDD's Jayce was still laning in the top lane while his own bot lane duo was caught and dove in front of the second tower.

The deranged Xiaoxiao even made the bizarre decision to trade a small dragon for a large one.

PDD: Laoming, I miss you.

……

NXG base.

The young people who persevered through the first phase were gathered in the conference room.

I have half a day off today to watch a team's match in the LPL Spring Semifinals.

As the game progressed, gasps of surprise occasionally rippled through the crowd.

"It seems they weren't taking our practice matches seriously."

"I'm truly sorry that I didn't get the adults to go all out!"

Listening to the outrageous comments from his fellow youth training teammates, Zhu Xiaolong was utterly speechless.

What's with all this Japanese anime-style chuunibyou (middle school syndrome) stuff?!
However, they were right about one thing: the first team did hold back when they played against them in practice matches.

At least they hadn't shown the same level of teamwork as they did in the semifinals, where the five of them were completely integrated. Before, they had simply used some basic skills and professional techniques to crush them.

If we were to target a weakness and exploit it relentlessly, just like we did with IG, we'd probably have to run out of several more players on the very first night.

Watching Song Yuan make some of his decisions on the top lane, Zhu Xiaolong tried to put himself in the other's first-person perspective. A few minutes later, the young man shook his head with a wry smile.

It's completely unplayable.

Putting aside the jungler's gank combos at levels three and four, just the back-and-forth laning phase at level one revealed many details he hadn't noticed in solo queue games.

The team's top laner has better fundamentals than IG's top laner. Although his mechanics may not be as refined as his opponent's, he is better at dodging skills.

The health points have remained at a very healthy level, which is a major reason why IG's attempts to target them have been unsuccessful.

He gradually came to understand why the club had been putting pressure on them and conducting basic skills training in the previous few days.

Without sufficient mental fortitude, it's impossible to withstand the pressure of IG's relentless targeting of the top lane.

Without sufficient basic skills, if the enemy jungler targets you a few times, your development will fall apart, and you won't know how to catch up.

"To win, you must first learn to lose."

Zhu Xiaolong recalled the first lesson the manager had taught them after the first day of stress training.

Unlike Zhu Xiaolong, who only focused on the top lane, Xiao Duan, as the support player, paid attention to the entire lane from top to bottom.

He realized that the biggest gap between him and the team's support players was in their overall game sense.

I tend to focus too much on my lane during the laning phase, which causes me to ignore information from other lanes and thus prevents me from responding to my teammates in a timely manner.

On the other hand, for the first team's Door, as soon as any enemy appears in the map's field of vision, they are immediately locked onto by a signal.

Sitting by the window, Mala Xiangguo was envious of the communication efficiency, ruthless execution, and teamwork of the team in the game.

One of the biggest reasons he can't climb the ranks is that when he invades the enemy jungle, his teammates are always a beat too slow to react, or they are too greedy for minions and arrive too late, causing him to die easily.

If he could receive sufficient support from his teammates when he invades, just like in the game, how could he possibly keep hovering around Diamond II?

Mo Ziye sat in the first row, facing the group of youth training players.

Seeing the thoughtful expressions on the faces of the contestants, as if they had figured it out, I couldn't help but feel sorry for them while also finding it a little funny.

Young man, your torment has only just begun.

If professional teams' tactics were really that simple and easily understood by you, how could other clubs have been thrashed by NXG for so long?

　March is over, and Lao Qing has updated a total of 360,000 words. Without further ado, let's keep working hard next month and ask for some monthly votes!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)