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

Chapter 237 Three to zero, showing the utmost respect to IG!

After reaching level six, Vi's ultimate ability, which locks onto targets, is absolutely a nightmare for all carries.

Kid and Xiao Wu were already being very careful, retreating to the second tower when they were about to take the dragon in their own bottom half of the map. But even so, the NXG team still rushed over and killed the support Sona next to the self-isolation bush.

[Only one support died, thankfully. At least they can secure a dragon. IG really came out ahead with Caitlyn.]

"[Made a profit? No way, bro, you need to look at the lineup before you say that. IG's top laner is Yorick, mid laner is Lissandra, and their late-game damage relies entirely on Kid's Caitlyn. Look at their CS now, Corki is 50 points ahead.]"

Indeed, the female police officer is practically dead; the top lane minion wave is constantly being eaten by the turret, and the duo is severely behind in levels.

The little dragon gets some gold coins, but the experience you lost can't be made up for.

In the live chat, many viewers had a clear understanding of the situation.

In terms of rhythm, it seems that IG is trying very hard to respond to each wave, but in fact, NXG has already achieved its strategic objective against the female police officer.

On the right, there's a plane in the mid-game and a clockwork in the late game. What's on the left?

Are you going to rely on a female police officer who has already collapsed the tower-pushing rhythm with only around 60 CS?

After the minion wave was almost burned down, the NXG duo pushed down the top tower and pushed the minions all the way to IG's second tower before recalling.

When Jiang Ming was explaining the minion wave to them from below the stage, he specifically emphasized the handling of this timing.

"When you need to switch lanes and return to base, if you want to gain the initiative or push the minion wave back, you must send the minion wave under the enemy's tower."

On IG's side, the resurrected support Sona no longer followed the AD carry.

While Kid was farming and leveling up in the mid lane, he headed straight to the bottom lane to coordinate with his teammates to tower dive Nasus.

Yes, you heard right, it's been almost 13 to 14 minutes and the support Sona has only just reached level 6.

When the designers were buffing the jungle, they seemed to have forgotten about the support role. While the addition of wards solved some of the problems that support players had to spend a lot of gold on vision, it still didn't address the root cause of the issue.

"Oh dear, IG really has no other choice but to do this dog head thing."

"Four people came down, and the Ice Maiden even used her ultimate. Norsha was like, 'Here's the kill for you.'"

"Resist pressure, resist pressure, both sides have people who are extremely resilient under pressure in this game."

"The problem is that the 'dog head' effect was achieved. You got a kill, and then the top lane tower was gone. Bro, according to normal logic, it should have been my Caitlyn pushing the tower, right?" Xiaoxiao seemed to have realized that his old team was hopeless now, so he quickly stood up for his new boss NXG.

However, it seems there are too many people at the platform, and they don't need Square Dragon alone.

【G!】

[IG's head coach means well, and I can understand his desire to use unconventional tactics, but you can't put the carry role on Kid!]

[Dude upstairs, this really wasn't about putting the carry in the bot lane. The early game tempo was actually being pushed towards the top, mid, and jungle, but you just couldn't compete with NXG's rhythm.]

Seeing this, neither the on-site commentators, the viewers in the live stream, nor even IG's own fans held any hope of a comeback.

It can be said that from the very first minute of the game, or even further back, from the draft phase, by using Nasus to counter Yorick, and then using Nasus as a sacrificial hero in the game, and then invading the jungle at level one to exchange tempo points, the blue side's strategic plan was completely disrupted.

If the player is ahead in strength, it's fine; the players can make a comeback through mid-game decisions, player actions, and teamwork. But when the two sides are evenly matched, or even when the opponent has a significant lead, it's truly a situation where you can only lie down and wait to die.

Backstage, Paladin rubbed his hair and said to Xiaoyan, "Let's get ready for the next round. We have to get at least one point."

Coach Xiaoyan nodded vigorously. It was precisely because JM had taught him that they did not want to lose the semi-finals so easily.

In fact, as the owner of IG, Xiao Wang is already very satisfied with the results IG has achieved so far.

Last year they fell short in the quarterfinals, but this year they not only fought their way through the group stage, but also defeated their quarterfinal opponents 3-1. Unfortunately, they were too unlucky in the draw, otherwise, reaching the final and getting second place would have been no problem at all.

Now facing NXG, who have helped their team improve along the way, in the semifinals, all the players can do is hope that they can fight to the best of their ability.

Just two minutes into their discussion offstage, the game's dynamics shifted again.

Because the female police officer was placed in the mid lane to develop, Xiao Wu's Sona chose to follow the jungler and sneakily went to the bottom lane, wanting to cause trouble for the blue team's Orianna.

Although Yorick died once during the first tower dive, he managed to get kills in subsequent waves of targeted attacks from his teammates.

With a development advantage, it's unlikely you'll get a kill on your lane opponent, but dominating the solo lane is no problem.

In the river, Lissandra and Orianna exchanged skills, and the positions of IG's jungler and support were immediately detected by the control ward in the tri-bush.

Yihan, who was equipped with Purification, remained calm and unleashed a barrage of attacks on the Ice Maiden.

"The two mid laners are locked in a fierce battle. IG's jungler and support are right behind them, but NXG's Zyra has already arrived in time. Wow, what great awareness of supporting others..."

Shenchao glanced at the plane's position and said, "That's normal. The plane just went back to base and upgraded his Trinity Force and Sorcerer's Shoes. He's facing Caitlyn in a one-on-one situation. Caitlyn's side needs to be careful not to get solo killed. The support is completely free. Coming to the bottom lane to protect Orianna's development is the right choice."

"Wei is here too!"

This is exactly what is meant by a "positive strategy".

If your jungler and support aren't in the bot lane, then I'll target your mid laner. It's fine if you go to the top lane too.

If the Corki has lane priority in the mid lane and there's no Crystal Maiden nearby, a three-man tower dive can easily result in Nasus leaving the Corki to finish them off.

Of course, it's even better now that the vision system can see you, the jungler and support, bot lane.

"Sky-Shattering Bombardment!"

"Stone is in! He's aiming straight for the support Sona from the Dragon Pit, and Orianna is using her ultimate in mid-air! Wow!"

"This position is fatal. Lissandra used her ultimate, but Zyra followed up with her ultimate, so the others couldn't deal any damage. Sona died again..."

Gasps of surprise erupted inside the Galen Center stadium.

Simply put, watching NXG's matches is just too exciting. The five players' teamwork is like perfectly coordinated gears, and every turn propels this war behemoth forward.

However, at the same time, the scene in the commentary booth of the OGN region was quite different.

The three men shouted themselves hoarse, their words filled with their desire for IG's victory, cheering them on from beginning to end.

"IG, hang in there!"

"You have to win, beat NXG... at least force them to reveal some of their tactical patterns."

The reason the OGN commentators support IG isn't because they love them so much; they simply don't want NXG to make it to the finals.

In the semifinals, SKT was pushed to the brink by Royal Club, and even resorted to using their last resort: Orianna with a hat on her head.

Right now, they can't rely on IG suddenly going on a rampage to defeat NXG and enter the finals, or on them revealing more of NXG's hidden cards, in order to have any chance of winning the S3 championship.

However, judging from the current situation, it's almost a certainty that NXG will advance to the finals. Even IG, with their ultimate moves, can't beat NXG when they're playing normally. How can they possibly win?

Two consecutive years of second place, the runner-up position is really not desirable.

……

Twenty minutes into the game, NXG, having already secured a lane of high ground, decisively initiated a Baron Nashor fight. After obtaining the Baron buff, they further leveraged its increased combat attributes to constantly pressure IG into team fights. At this point, the damage output of Corki and Zyra was considerable, but what about IG's side?

Despite the presence of the gravedigger, the carry doesn't need to worry about being focused down and killed instantly;

Unfortunately, the damage output isn't enough!
The policewoman stood there attacking for ages, while a dog with equally overpowered abilities, only wearing a Randuin's Omen, was almost sparking with his gun.

"Unbeknownst to many, Norsha's score had reached 4-3. The Nasus who had been under pressure throughout the game not only got fed in the end, but also caused Kid's Caitlyn a lot of trouble in team fights with his W and Randuin's Omen."

"Haha, if NXG wins the first game, I think the MVP can even be awarded to Norsha's Nasus. He did almost everything a top-tier top laner can do, including withstanding pressure, drawing fire, and absorbing damage in team fights."

Four minutes later, all three lanes of IG were breached.

The economic gap between the two sides suddenly widened to tens of thousands, which is also the biggest deficit IG has faced since advancing from the group stage to the semifinals.

At 26 minutes, IG's five-man squad made a desperate attempt to halt NXG's advance.

Unfortunately, while Crystal Maiden and Yorick offer excellent control and harassment capabilities, they lack the ability to deliver a decisive blow for the team.

"Then let's congratulate NXG on winning the first game."

"Yes, congratulations to them, they've taken a 1-0 lead."

……

After a short break, the two teams of contestants returned to the stage.

Xiaoyan, who came from NXG, didn't stubbornly shift his damage output focus from the bottom lane back to the mid and jungle, while PDD replaced Xiyang in the top lane.

The IG fans at the scene breathed a sigh of relief; that's more like it.

You and NXG are definitely in a strong position to win the Icebound Sunset match, but your potential is undoubtedly lowered. It would be much better if Kid in the bot lane just picked Ezreal and let him fend for himself.

To be honest, after changing their lineup in the second game, IG's performance improved significantly, and they fought back and forth with NXG in the upper half of the map.

For the first ten minutes or so, the situation was balanced.

But that's all there is to it. People often say that the factor that determines how far a team can go is not its strongest position, but its weakest position.

When your strengths cannot compensate for your weaknesses, it means that the other party can gain the upper hand by constantly targeting your pain points.

That's how NXG works.

In the second game, Jiang Ming still did not make any special arrangements in terms of tactics or lineup;
Top lane Renekton, jungle Lee Sin, mid lane Ahri, plus bot lane Vayne and Thresh.

Well, it's not that there aren't any tricks or schemes involved.

Picking Vayne as the ADC is a small way of targeting IG.

Facing IG, who focused their efforts on the top half of the map and left the bottom lane to fend for themselves, Xu Jing's Vayne enjoyed a perfect development environment.

In the early stages, IG maintained a stable situation and did not allow NXG to gain much advantage.

The most crucial point is that NXG, on the blue side, can afford to drag the game out with Vayne, while IG, with their mid-game composition of Ezreal and Rumble, cannot.

In late-game team fights, IG couldn't even contain Vayne. With Lee Sin, Ahri, and Renekton charging in, EZ's water-gun-like damage output was simply not enough.

It was only at this point that LOL players around the world finally realized what was happening.

Yes, although NXG is extremely good at the early game, that doesn't mean they are weak in the late game. On the contrary, with their unparalleled macro and teamwork, how many teams can compete with them in late-game team fights?

Facing a Vayne that they simply couldn't handle, IG clearly missed out on victory in the second game once again.

Ouch! NXG, go easy on me!

[They're not all family, so there's no need to be so serious. NXG's five members really aren't giving them any chance at all.]

[You guys push the tower whenever you want, and retreat whenever you want. It feels like the final game of the grand finals.]

How about we discuss it, three to one?

[You guys upstairs are going too far, talking about giving away points like that.]

NXG Lounge.

Jiang Ming: "Let's concentrate again, it's the last game, let's give it our all..."

……

In the final match of the semifinals, while LPL viewers were discussing whether NXG would play it safe and give IG some face, and whether they would play a game of "dumpling" (a Chinese idiom for winning by throwing the game) when the score was 3-1...

At the end of the halftime break, a man who had taken off his suit and put on a player's uniform appeared in the NXG queue.

In an instant, the entire online live stream exploded with excitement.

【Ah ah ah! 】

No, we're discussing you releasing some water, not creating a flood!

[IG (tears streaming down his face): No, no, bro, it's just 3-0, I accept it, why did you have to use a nuke in the last game?]

[JM: You didn't expect that, did you? I haven't even appeared yet.]

【NXG, are you guys planning to treat IG like they're Japanese?】

[Calling each other "brother" one minute, but getting increasingly ruthless with each attack?]

From the perspective of esports spirit, NXG showed IG the utmost respect by sending their good brothers home in top form.

[Waaaaah, do you dare move?]

I was quite touched (doge emoji).

Sina Weibo!

Wang Gongzi @NXG Esports Club JM: Dude, what do you mean by this?
Completely unexpected, NXG, leading 2-0, had to go all out in their final match against IG.

However, the players on the IG bench actually smiled when Jiang Ming finally got to play.

It's hard for outsiders to understand JM's choice.

But for this group of people, if they are going to lose no matter what, then...

It is better to bravely draw your sword when facing the most powerful enemy than to die a cowardly death, so that even if you fall, you will not be resentful.

……

Twenty-one minutes later, the second best-of-five semifinal match of the League of Legends World Championship came to an end.

NXG defeated IG 3-0!

(End of this chapter)