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

Chapter 242 Six Against Four!
"In the first game's draft phase, NXG had the right to choose sides 1, 3, and 5. Coach JM determined that NXG would start on the blue side."

[Hey Bella, what's going on? You got it wrong right from the start. It's JM now! (doge)]

[Family members, who understands this? One person has three identities, switching between them all the time, it's hard not to get confused.]

[It doesn't matter, it doesn't matter. Sitting on the stage is both a JM player and a JM coach.]

[SKT: This is unfair! Referee, I'm going to report NXG for playing 6 against 5.]

[Nonsense, it's clearly six against four!]

[Wrong, if you include Xiaobai, then it's seven against five.]

In the first game, the LPL viewers were relaxed and confident in NXG's strength, as evidenced by the barrage of comments on the screen.

The reason is not complicated—NXG is neither one of those dark horse teams that suddenly appear out of nowhere, nor a pseudo-strong team with fluctuating performance. Since its inception, this team has consistently dominated all the competitions it has participated in, and now that JM is on the field, the team is at its peak and at its most complete.

Inside the VIP box on the main stage, the five members of IG, who had just lost the semi-finals, did not immediately leave Los Angeles.

As the owner of the IG team, who also shares his passion for the sport, Xiao Wang and his team watched the finals with great anticipation.

He secretly made up his mind:
"If someone like JM, who runs his own business, can maintain his competitive form despite his busy schedule, and even beat SKT 3-0, then he absolutely has to step onto the stage next year to have some fun."

This kind of thing, like a cup, shouldn't be enjoyed by JM alone.

"Aren't they nervous at all?"

"Today is the grand finals... After a year of fierce competition, the most valuable championship is today's best-of-five series."

The kid curled up on the sofa, muttering to himself.

On the players' bench, the camera panned across the players: top laner Pang Ran, jungler Xiao Shitou, and the bot lane duo, each of them looking exceptionally relaxed.

It would be a lie to say that there was no pressure at all.

Otherwise, Xu Jing wouldn't have been constantly fiddling with the fidget spinner that fans had bought for him from a store near his club.

To be precise, apart from Jiang Ming, the other four people all had various stress-relieving gadgets in their hands; hand grip strengtheners, stress-relieving cubes...

NXG's players are never cold, emotionless machines. In fact, these young people, who are decisive and ruthless on the field, are more emotionally sensitive than anyone else.

However, NXG's pre-match stress reduction and tactical preparation were much stronger than other teams, not to mention they had a pillar of strength standing beside them.

Jiang Ming sat in the mid-lane position, turning slightly to talk to White Crescent. For them, the only possible disadvantage in the finals was losing to SKT by flipping a coin due to bad luck. However, unfortunately, they had a great start today, and even Lady Luck was on their side.

"The Weapon Master moved out?"

In the team voice chat, Song Yuan asked.

"Okay, let's leave the weapons for now. There's no need to give them away," Jiang Ming replied affirmatively.

The white crescent moon stood obediently behind him, silently learning the business plan (BP) approach.

"Weapon Master?" It's not surprising that NXG would ban this hero, Bella. In the semifinals, SKT relied on Weapon Master's split push to force time and finally defeated Royal Club. It's just unexpected that JM would ban this hero, which DaMu is good at, on the first floor.

"NXG's tactical approach is very clear: targeted bans. They know all the strong heroes in the current meta, so SKT should be the ones having a headache."

Miller's analysis followed closely behind.

Miller has spent a lot of time with Bella and Xiaoxiao during this period, and his proactive learning has made great progress in his personal business.

SKT's bans are very slow.

It's like wanting to spend all your time.

Only at the very end did the purple team's ban list finally display Lee Sin's icon.

Koma's draft picks today focused on the jungle.

In the first two rounds of the knockout stage, FNC and IG were both swept 0-3, but they still gained some valuable experience—targeting the mid lane was ineffective.

Yes, in this mid-lane-dominant meta, there are simply too many viable heroes with strong carry potential; three ban slots are simply not enough to limit JM.

The man who can be praised by players all over the world as the Confucius of esports has a champion pool that can be described as unfathomable. Every time Riot releases a new champion, the opponent can figure it out in the shortest time, and even play each one with a unique skill level, as if the opponent has already played it hundreds of times.

Since targeting your mid lane isn't working, I'll just stop targeting your mid laner altogether. Anyway, my own mid laner isn't someone to be trifled with, and you can just let JM crush him.

Considering that NXG's jungler Stone becomes several levels more aggressive when paired with JM, Kkoma decided to give Lee Sin the first counter-pick.

"NXG's second ban was for Zyra, which is probably the champion that Fumando is most proficient with."

Xiaoxiao nodded inwardly. Even though she had seen such bans more than once, she was still amazed by the power of NXG's information database. Their bans always hit your weak spot.

As far as he knew, in scrims, SKT's support player, when playing Zyra, had once dominated the Royal Never Give Up duo in a solo lane.

NXG's support player, Door, is an all-around player. However, based on what Lao Park learned from his time with Door during the All-Star event, Door prefers to roam more than he does in lane.

Therefore, in terms of roaming, banning Zyra doesn't cause much loss to the blue side.

"SKT has banned Lissandra again. Although it is unlikely that JM will pick her in the mid lane, NXG's top and mid laners have such a high level of mastery of this champion within their tactical system that keeping her out is the best option."

"NXG's last move, huh? Ban Zed?" Miller asked, somewhat surprised. "NXG proactively banned Zed, why?"

Discussions also broke out inside the venue.

Are JM afraid of Faker's Zed?
Just kidding.

Despite Faker's iconic double Zed showdown in the OGN league, in the eyes of players worldwide, the world's best Zed is still JM. Keep in mind that this man had already developed the terrifying "Three Flowers Gathering at the Top" technique just three days after Zed's release.

The duel between the two Zed wasn't so much about Faker being too skillful, but rather that Yue Lun, whose Zed was at full health but was killed by a low-health Zed, was really too bad.

Yue Lun: ???
The audience all had this thought, and SKT certainly wouldn't be so arrogant as to think that JM was afraid of Faker or anything like that.

Koma banned Shen, the champion Song Yuan played most skillfully, in his last pick.

Lee Sang-hyeok's eyes flickered slightly as he sat down.

He seemed to understand what JM meant.

"Don't worry, JM."

"I will definitely try my best!"

……

On the first floor of the blue team, with only one strong jungle hero, Spider, remaining, Jiang Ming did not rush to lock onto her.

He then let Song Yuanxian snatch the spring for him.

"We'll help you kill the enemy, that'll definitely be fun!"

"Wind-up!"

"It's a very stable choice. JM puts himself on the first floor and takes on the pressure of being countered by the purple team, which will make the subsequent drafting much easier."

"From another perspective, JM's confidence is what you call 'I go first, you can do whatever you want after that'..." Square Dragon got into the zone in a second, and after handing over the serious commentary to Miller and Bella, he started to boast.

"SKT's first and second picks were Renekton and Elise instantly, a very strong top and jungle combination."

"Hehe, I feel that the Spider Queen has strong early-game strength and doesn't need to consume too much gold in the mid-to-late game, which perfectly matches Bengi's playstyle."

On the OGN commentary desk.

Today, the Roaring Emperor is sitting on the stage as a commentator for the competition.

He affirmed SKT's first two picks.

"Yes, although we don't want to admit it, we are somewhat behind NXG in the mid and jungle. The coaching staff is facing this gap squarely and shifting the focus of the game to the side lanes is a very smart move."

If the top laner is already picking Renekton and Elise, then the bottom laner naturally won't be choosing a late-game combination.

"The other team will most likely pick the plane." Jiang Ming turned to ask, "Xiao Xu, what hero do you want to use?"

Xu Jing: "I can play any champion, Ming-ge, Ezreal, Varus, Vayne..."

That's the advantage of having a deep champion pool; the coach doesn't need to worry about being restricted in the draft phase.

"Alright, let's hold off on the bot lane for now and help the top and jungle pick their heroes."

"Stone Sword Demon, Song Yuan's side gets Zac."

SKT third and fourth floors: Select the plane and Lulu.

NXG floors 4 and 5: Varus and Leona are confirmed!
Miller: "Here it comes, Pangpang's best Leona."

Bella covered her mouth and chuckled: "In terms of hero selection, NXG basically revealed their hand in the first game that they were going to play the jungle-support roaming strategy against SKT."

Are spiders very strong?

Sorry, but I, Aatrox, am not to be trifled with, especially with a Leona following right behind me.

"Now it depends on what champion Faker on the fifth floor will pick to counter JM's Orianna." Xiaoxiao thought for a moment, "Ahri and LeBlanc are both okay, Talon was heavily nerfed, his silence is gone and he's basically hard to pick, and Kassadin is too weak in the early game..."

[Talon: Waaaaah, speak up for me! Speak up for me! All I did was lose control during the All-Star game, and you just slashed me with one strike! What's with that?]

[Faker probably doesn't play Kassadin. I've watched OGN matches and ranked games, and he rarely picks it.]

[I think half the reason for not picking it is due to the jungler. The jungler is inherently a passive, farming type of player. If the mid laner picks an extremely farmed Kassadin in the early game, then SKT's side laners might as well not even have a chance to play the game.]

"Sang-hyeok, choose him. We believe in you."

Lee Sang-hyeok adjusted his breathing, calming his overly excited body, and used his mouse to find the hero he had practiced for S3 for a long time, locking it in.

Inside the Staples Center arena, the hero selection voice lines echoed endlessly.

"I'll come if you pay the bill!"

"Hiccup, I'll come if you pay the bill."

—Gragas, the Barrel!

Koma patted Faker on the shoulder, said nothing more, and walked off the stage alone, shaking hands with the white crescent moon right hand waiting at the exit.

"I suddenly envy you!" Koma exclaimed for no apparent reason.

White Crescent shrugged. "You're not the first."

"I'm actually quite envious of my own luck."

(End of this chapter)