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

Chapter 217 The Ghostly Nine-Tailed Fox, His Name is Lee Sang-hyeok!

"Holy crap, Erzi, what are you doing?"

The moment news of a kill came from the bottom lane, PDD's wailing echoed from the top lane.

SKT's top, mid, and jungle coordinated a tower dive and kill on Rumble right under the second turret.

Zitai opened his mouth, somewhat incredulous: "Ahri just used up all her mana to push the lane, I thought she should go back to base to replenish her resources..."

However, when the camera pans to the top lane, the undeniable fact is that an Ahri with no mana and half health walks out from under the tower.

"The fox only used her E to control me, and I almost escaped, but that charm killed me."

"Old Park, stay calm."

"Hey, it's okay, brothers. It's just that I might have to rely on you guys to carry this game." PDD's voice was tinged with helplessness.

The game is about to enter the ten-minute mark, and his Rambo is not even level six yet, so he can be considered a useless player.

To put it bluntly, even if SKT wants to continue targeting him, they have to weigh whether spending time targeting Rambo can maximize the return on investment.

After all, as the number of deaths increases, the strategic value of this hero will decrease sharply over time, and the investment and return will not be proportional - well, unless the opponent is so crazy as to stack Mejai's Soulstealer.

Will SKT choose this path?

From the overall pace of the game, they were already ahead of IG and were not in a huge disadvantage where they had to rely on Mejai's Soulstealer to gamble on a comeback. Therefore, Faker's Ahri naturally did not need to consider such an extreme build.

The game has progressed to this point.

Because the gaping hole in Rambo's lane has been torn so wide, it has completely disrupted the pre-match tactical plans of both sides.

SKT, who originally planned to focus on the bottom lane, had to protect Renekton at all costs, and IG's jungler Shadow was also forced to abandon the mid-jungle synergy and instead stick to defend with the bot lane duo.

Fifteen minutes in, SKT's top, mid, and jungle invaded Shadow's red buff area.

After spotting the movements of the mid and jungle laners, IG's bot lane initiated an attack, with Xiao Wu's Sona flashing and using her ultimate to control Fumanduo's Zyra.

Kid successfully eliminated Zyra by taking advantage of the high burst damage from the plane's two ultimate abilities, Sheen and Hammer.

However, Fumandoze's final ER control before her death did hit the plane precisely.

Kid was initially greedy and hesitant, failing to use Flash to avoid Zyra's dying skill.

Since the bottom lane no longer had the protection of the first tower, knowing that he couldn't escape, Pig decided to fight back on the spot. Taking advantage of Zyra's ultimate's knock-up effect, he placed two traps under the feet of the Corki.

boom!boom!
Gunshots rang out, and men fell!
IG's kid killed SKT's PoohManDu!

SKT's piglet killed IG's kid!

IG Five kills SKT Piglet!

One for two, bottom lane gains a small profit.

With the battle in the bottom lane over, the director immediately switched the camera to the top lane.

"Ah, SKT played a wait-and-see approach in the upper half of the map. The Spider, who wanted to relieve the pressure on Rumble, became SKT's target." Sitting on the commentary stage, Xiaoxiao wished he could rush onto the field to remind Yingzi.

Bella chimed in: "The fox's support is in place, and this time the Gragas is right in front of the high ground tower. In a 3v3 situation, PDD's Rumble has excellent temperature control."

Can't beat it.

Offstage, Jiang Ming shook his head. In this top-mid-jungle duel, the purple team was at a complete disadvantage.

The first item that the big wooden crocodile built was Spirit Visage. Once he got the Ghost Cloak, the output of IG's top, mid, and jungle AP champions would be reduced by more than half.

Not to mention that PDD's Rambo is half-crippled, with only a small mask on his body.

The battlefield situation was too dire to consider: the shadowy figure immediately used [Spider Silk] to delay the enemy, and while retreating, used Cocoon to control the enemy's strongest damage dealer, Crocodile, allowing the Heavenly Sound Wave to hit him. When he retreated behind his teammates, he transformed into a beast and pounced on Lee Sin for a final desperate attempt.

pat!

A white spider web was thrown out, and SKT's most powerful top laner, Renekton, stopped in his tracks.

"The Blind Monk's kick killed the Spider in the shadows. Bengi is already low on health. Can he kill him by getting close?"

"Wow ah ah!"

"With this ultimate move, Ahri's preemptive ultimate directly evaded Gragas's Exploding Barrel."

Unlike the LPL commentators, the European and American commentators, with their signature passionate shouts, engaged in a fierce battle between the top, mid, and jungle players until the very last moment.

In the game footage, Gragas throws his explosive barrel, but it only hits the crocodile. Renekton, with his ultimate activated and magic resistance stacked, is like a god of war in the confined space.

The key point is that the clumsy chicken, relying on its slow speed, managed to escape to the other side of the wall by touching its eyes.

"Don't we understand each other perfectly?"

Ding!
Just as he was about to use his E skill to get over the wall and chase after the enemy, a cluster of pink hearts blocked his way.

boom!
"Both white and black meat are good meat, hahaha!"

Ignoring the best-performing Gragas, DaMu immediately flashed and used his red-rage buff to bite Rumble. Seeing this, Faker also used his second R to get close to PDD, and the two of them worked together to kill the fire-breathing Poppy.

At this point, PDD's record stands at 0-3!

【Mouth balls are spicy! 】

GGG!

This big fish was moving around as if it were nobody's territory.

[A single Ghost Cloak can cripple half of your top, mid, and jungle fighting power.]

The funniest part is that Gragas' ultimate dealt two or three hundred damage to Renekton, and then Renekton just used his Q to heal back up.

[It's been said before that three AP champions aren't viable, so what is IG's coaching staff doing?]

[That's it? That's it. NXG fans were bragging about how strong their training team was, but is this the level of coaches who came from NXG?]

[Stop joking, okay? This game was just about being targeted by SKT's lane swap in the early game. The top, mid, and jungle were pretty strong if they played normally.]

The lower half of the bracket still has an advantage.

The problem is, it's IG on the field. I wouldn't mind if you replaced them with NXG or Royal Club, but you guys aren't expecting Kid to carry the game, are you?

[This guy from the OGN region is amazing! He dodged Gragas's ultimate with Ahri's ultimate, and didn't even bother to use Flash.]

[+1, no wonder the Korean forums are touting him as a potential challenger to JM. After watching the entire group stage, his mid-lane skill is indeed in a league of its own.]

The live stream chat erupted into chaos, with the classic questioning of the coaching staff beginning in the comments.

However, a closer look at the economic panel reveals that although IG, having secured the dragon, was behind in kills, the difference between the two sides was only around 1,500 gold.

The only headache and real hidden danger for them was that PDD's Rambo's development collapsed, and the purple team's economy was highly concentrated on kid's plane.

The players were right about one thing: you really can't expect kid, this abstract character, to carry the game.

To qualify for the World Championship as the second seed, countless matches were won by relying on the top, mid, and jungle to attack, while the bottom lane held off the pressure and played the role of a damage dealer in team fights.

Asking the AD carry to lead the team forward now is asking too much of a question.

As the game time went by, Kid ultimately failed to prove himself.

Seventeen minutes in, the second dragon team fight.

PDD's initial ultimate was perfect, scorching four SKT players with his own red heat and instantly bursting down the jungler and support. However, SKT's Spirit Visage Renekton, along with their two carries, relentlessly chased them down. Ultimately, neither side secured the dragon, but the bottom lane tower was destroyed. At nineteen minutes, both sides regrouped at the dragon pit for a second contest.

However, due to their disadvantage in the upper half of the map, SKT firmly controlled both the top and mid lanes.

"Don't rush, wait for the minions to get into the tower," Fumando reminded his teammates, clicking on the minimap with his mouse.

Thanks to Ahri's lead, the mid lane minions kept pushing towards the right side, which caused IG's purple side to position themselves all in the lower half of the map, leaving them entirely in their hands whether to engage or not.

Xiao Wu quickly realized what was happening and made a decisive decision: "Don't waste time with them, attack the dragon quickly."

The kid's plane now has Trinity Force and boots, making its combat power incomparable to a Bloodthirster and Blink Dagger. Even though the top lane is half-crippled, the Renekton also lacks armor. With Sona and Gragas' ultimates protecting him, as long as they are careful to avoid Ahri's dives, their chances of winning this dragon fight are not low.

Countless eyes were fixed on Faker's fox.

Will he be able to break the deadlock through his own skills?
"Withdraw, let's move to the center!"

Seeing that IG had initiated the dragon fight, Faker immediately signaled to retreat.

Yes, if it were him six months ago, he would have made a move in this situation, using Ahri's three-stage ultimate combined with Deathfire Grasp to try and forcefully eliminate the enemy hero and secure victory in the team fight.

But after playing many scrimmages with NXG, especially against JM, Faker realized something he hadn't noticed before: winning in League of Legends isn't just about skill.

When the game version changes, hero stats are altered, or even the strategic importance of the mid lane is weakened, the key to victory often transcends mere skill level when both sides are at a similar level in terms of hero proficiency and mechanics.

For JM, mechanics are just the basics; the key to winning the game is definitely not about hero proficiency or mechanics.

Just like the mid-lane opponent in this game, seeing the enemy Gragas is like seeing my past self.

They are confident in their operations, or even blindly believe in their personal abilities, always thinking that one person can control the whole situation.

The best example is Rumble in this game. No matter how strong you are in the top lane, we only need to use two lane swaps to control your strengths and limit your power.

Even if you're a strong mid-laner, you still have to back down when faced with the threat of a roaming jungler and support.

"SKT is very smart. They've taken the Corki's combat power into account at this stage. The Renekton hasn't built much armor yet, so team fights are risky. They're going to switch lanes to the mid lane to push towers. That way, they can at least take down a second tower."

At 20 minutes into the game, IG's top and mid outer turrets were destroyed, leaving only the bottom lane's second outer turret remaining. Although the kill score had been tied, the gold difference had reached 2,600.

Faced with the team's disadvantage, Shadow's Spider had no choice but to abandon the Egg Hat and build tank instead, lacking a front line.

Otherwise, the plane will have no room to deal damage in subsequent team fights.

After that, both sides entered a long period of operational transition.

IG's strategy is to help PDD develop as much as possible, so that at least he can have a Zhonya's Hourglass to buy time in team fights.

SKT, on the other hand, was also waiting for Caitlyn to develop. With a score of 2-2, Caitlyn still had two items by the 24-minute mark.

However, the good news for the blue team is that there is no real tank on the right side, so Caitlyn doesn't have to hesitate between choosing between Armor Penetration Bow and Infinity Edge.

Thirty seconds later, IG gave up the fight for the third dragon and instead tried to push the mid tower.

There was no way around it; SKT's mid-lane Ahri was just too overpowered. In a skirmish in the jungle, Faker almost killed Elise with a combo of his abilities and Deathfire Grasp.

It's worth noting that in this game, Shadow built pure tank items except for two magic penetration boots.

At the 27th minute, the real turning point came for both sides.

Facing IG's attempt to push the first tower in the mid lane, SKT launched a counter-attack. However, PDD and Zz1tai executed a clever coordinated play against the surprise attack from Ahri.

Rumble unleashed his ultimate at a 70-degree angle, while Gragas entered from the side, blasting the Gragas at the four SKT members behind him.

Divide the battlefield, unleash a powerful move to trap your prey!
"Wow, IG's top and mid laners had a perfect start! Rumble's ultimate hit four enemies, all that's left is Corki..."

"airplane!!!"

"Aaaaaah, Ge Yan, where's your Flash?"

In her panic, Xiaoxiao even called out Kid's real name.

Instead of coordinating with teammates to deal damage, the plane inexplicably dove into Ahri's E skill.

And then... no more.

With the combination of Deathfire Grasp and Ignite, the plane was instantly killed by a single skill combo.

IG initiated the team fight but lost their most important damage dealer, ultimately failing to win.

A complete wipeout!
……

On the IG players' bench, Kid's pupils dilated slightly, and he looked dazed.

The teammates' callouts in the headset sounded like waterlogged cotton, starting to buzz.

He didn't know if it was because of nervousness or because he was too afraid of the fox on the other side, but when he saw the fox's ultimate move rushing in, he forgot that Sona had her ultimate move to protect her.

As a result, W tried to create distance but instead ran right into Ahri's charm, which she had intended to use to control Rumble, and was instantly killed.

The game is over.

Because of him!

With a team wipe and a Baron Nashor, Caitlyn's equipment is now fully complete.

The disadvantage of not having a front line was fully demonstrated in the subsequent high ground attack and defense. With one headshot from the female police officer, the squishy Sona was reduced to half health.

Then, the three-item Renekton activated his ultimate and charged into the high ground, accompanied by the ghostly Nine-Tailed Fox. Bengi acted as his bodyguard, and SKT's top, mid, and jungle once again targeted Corki.

From beginning to end, Faker didn't even glance at Zz1tai's Gragas.

SKT Faker kills IG Kid!

Even though Gragas's E and R are quite effective, without Rumble and Corki as two damage dealers, a single Gragas is simply not enough to clean up the battlefield.

Twenty-odd seconds later, IG's main crystal was destroyed.

The group stage of the S3 World Championship has come to an end.

In Group A, IG and SKT drew 1-1, and both teams advanced to the next round.

On the IG player bench.

When Kid came to his senses and realized that he had lost the game, the tips of his ears were so red that they were almost bleeding, and his eyelids drooped heavily. He didn't dare to look up, for fear of meeting even the slightest reproachful look from his teammates.

He didn't mean to be killed repeatedly in team fights; it was truly unintentional.

The fox on the other side seemed to know what he was thinking, and her charm always came towards the landing point of his W.

With all of Ueno and Nakano charging at him alone, there was no way he could survive...

However, at this moment, no one on IG paid any attention to Kid, who was directly responsible for losing the game.

At this moment, the other IG team members were getting up in twos and threes.

"The shadow disappeared, it's not your fault."

PDD stood up, patted Visible Shadow on the shoulder, and gestured for him to get up and shake hands with the victorious SKT after the match.

Shadow took a deep breath and took off his headphones: "Sorry."

(End of this chapter)