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

Chapter 248 Man Yixin?
Xin Zhao, the Grand Marshal of Demacia!

The moment the resolute man holding a long spear appeared in the hero selection box, the entire arena erupted in uproar.

"Wow, Shinji is on the field too!"

"Should we also consider Barbarian King and Master Yi later?"

As a first-level captain, second-level Xin, and a core member of the third-level Crocodile Killer, and also one of the best buddies of Man Yi Xin, Xin's combat power was beyond doubt before the S3 update.

It combines armor penetration, knockback, buffs, debuffs, and slows, making it virtually flawless except for its short range.

Back when Season 3 started, quite a few LPL teams were already playing Xin Zhao. However, as Lee Sin and Elise gradually dominated the battlefield, Xin Zhao, with his obvious flaws, was slowly abandoned by professional players and even high-level players.

However, given the current situation, Jiang Ming can understand why SKT would choose Xin Zhao as their jungler.

After all, they banned Lee Sin and Elise, two junglers with explosive early-game strength, and Bengi couldn't really pick a champion like Kha'Zix who could carry the game by farming gold. Picking Xin Zhao, who could guarantee jungle fighting ability and also feed his teammates, was really not a problem.

But what the players on the field are thinking is one thing, and whether the audience can understand it is another.

In the Korean live stream, when Benji had no other options and finally decided on Xin Zhao, OGN fans went wild.

What is SKT doing? How can they pick a champion like Xin Zhao with such obvious weaknesses?

[Oh dear, Kha'Zix is ​​still out there, or at least Prince Jarvan IV can jungle.]

[It's one thing if their game understanding isn't as good as others, but their hero pool is also inferior. NXG doesn't even need to do anything; they can win the game simply by targeting the jungle.]

[Rio's actions were intentional; they felt our region was too strong, so they deliberately changed the jungle.]

[How come the scenario where Nakano was supposed to be 1+1 ended up being halved for us?]

While Korean netizens were in a state of chaos, the on-site director playfully rubbed salt into the wound.

The camera cut directly to the NXG competition booth, focusing on Shi Zhenyu, the opposing player.

On the big screen, Xiao Shitou, who had been calm, suddenly lowered his head and his shoulders kept shaking, as if he was trying to suppress a laugh.

"Barbarian...Barbarian is really no good. His jungle clearing efficiency is too slow before he gets his items." Little Stone rejected his teammates' persuasion. "And don't even mention Master Yi or anything like that. If you guys play Master Yi, you'll probably end up in jail."

"Hey, what's there to be afraid of? I heard that Riot Games will give priority to the champions we've used in the tournament when designing the S3 championship skins."

Xu Jing continued his nonsense, "I reckon Lao Song's big dog head hasn't changed. Stone, with your sales skills, you'd have to make a whole Sword Saint skin, one skin and you'd be rich, okay?"

Pang Ran couldn't stand it anymore. "The competition isn't over yet, don't try to get the championship by default!"

During a casual chat.

All of BP's assets were transferred to them.

The first and second floors remained unchanged, continuing to use the two heroes, Aatrox and Varus, who performed brilliantly in the previous match.

In professional esports, the thing that strong teams like to do most is "do nothing". In a best-of-five series, as long as they can keep winning and their lineup is sound, they won't easily change their strategy.

In a game of strategy, whoever makes the first move is the one who concedes defeat. The later stages of the game become more about tactical reserves. Therefore, if the original lineup can guarantee the team's advantage, the best option for the coach is to make minor adjustments based on the opponent's specific player selections.

"Aatrox, Varus, NXG continues to use heroes that are hot to play."

"Let's stick to the status quo and deal with all changes. That's a very stable approach."

As they spoke, SKT quickly confirmed the Sona and Miss Fortune duo on the second and third floors.

"Oh my, they have a trump card too, Sona and Miss Fortune, SKT looks determined to win the second game."

"No change, still no change. NXG continues to pick Zac and Leona on the third and fourth floors. JM is passing the buck to SKT. I know your Renekton proficiency is not very high, so you can lock Zac first and leave the counter pick for the mid lane."

"Miss Fortune and Sona are not the same as Lulu and Corki in the last game. Their survivability is much worse. Leona is actually a big threat to SKT's bot lane. SKT's Renekton pick has to deal with the tricky problem of the jungler running to both sides."

"unless……"

Unless SKT gives Faker a support-type champion in the mid lane and implements a mid-jungle gank system.

As Xiaoxiao finished his analysis, the heroes for SKT's fourth and fifth floors were also determined simultaneously.

Twisted Fate + Shyvana, the Dragonblood Warrior!
"Oh, Twisted Fate, I was right. SKT banned Zed because they were considering their own mid laner's laning phase."

Challenging Twisted Fate is no less difficult than facing Karthus. With his slow damage output and the fact that both of his main damage skills have projectiles, Twisted Fate is far too easy for Zed to evade.

With the added effect of his ultimate ability making him untargetable, a Twisted Fate card that gets caught in close combat during the mid-game simply cannot survive, especially when the player controlling this hero is a top-tier, highly skilled player.

"SKT has changed its tactical approach, and it seems they want to use frequent roaming in the mid lane to achieve victory."

"I don't think this idea is wrong. In previous matches, Faker's greatest strength was using his lane advantage to support his teammates. Bengi could comfortably play as his support/second-position player after feeding a fed mid laner. It's just that now, facing NXG's mid and jungle, trying to gain an advantage against JM..."

There's no need to say more; the fact that they almost got shut out in the last game speaks volumes.

"Wander around!"

"It will probably be eaten in conjunction with line replacement."

Miss Fortune and Sona facing off against Leona and Varus in lane has a very high chance of dying instantly in lane. If the opponent picks this combination, they are basically aiming for a strong team fight performance. Meanwhile, the top laner is Shyvana, who is stronger than Renekton in terms of lane sustain and late-game split pushing.

SKT's lineup selection and lane swapping intentions are as clear as day.

"But should I follow suit?" Jiang Ming pondered the winning probabilities and methods of different strategies. If he went all out, he would choose strong laning heroes like Syndra and LeBlanc to suppress Twisted Fate, while also invading at level one to gank SKT's bot lane.

Going with the flow is also an option, as it broadens the range of heroes to choose from, for example...

Jiang Ming mentally simulated the gank scenarios between Twisted Fate and Xin Zhao against him in the mid lane. With SKT's jungle and mid lane having a single output method, as long as he avoided the yellow card, the initiative would undoubtedly be instantly in his hands.

Syndra is out; her mid-game split-pushing ability is too weak, and she's too vulnerable to being targeted.

Take the Demoness?
Wait a minute!
As Jiang Ming was pondering, a lightbulb suddenly lit up in his mind, and he immediately told Pang Ran about a hero they had used in a training match, but which no player outside the arena had thought of.

"My sword is your sword!"

—The Sword Saint of Wuji, Yi!
How could you forget about Master Yi?

Without a doubt, when the hero character on the fifth floor of NXG was confirmed, the audience at Staples Center went absolutely wild.

"what!"

"What!"

"Xiba!"

The commentators erupted in a cacophony of languages ​​from different countries, their eyes wide with disbelief. "Sword... Sword Saint?"

"I'm not seeing things, am I, Master Yi!"

"Viewers, don't doubt it, what you are watching now is the second game of the finals between NXG and SKT, except that today's draft has a little surprise."

If the audience could accept Xin Zhao, the Grandmaster of Demacia, appearing on the competitive stage, then Master Yi, the Wuju Blademaster, a champion dubbed "for elementary school students," clearly shattered the audience's preconceived notions.

[Are you going to play AP Master Yi?!]

In the TGA tournament live stream, viewers who didn't understand the drafting strategies of both sides immediately burst into laughter after spamming exclamation marks.

You can't exactly tell me at this hour that Master Yi is the jungler and Aatrox is the mid laner, can you?

The person who picked JM was JM, the creator of the AP JM build in Season 2.

"One Q, a thousand HP!" "Physical immortality, tanking the fountain!"

"Give me a low-health enemy, and I'll give you the world in return."

Countless players say they still vividly remember the Juggernaut who dominated high-level matches in the Chinese server last year.

It's worth noting that the AP Master Yi trend was so exaggerated that even Zz1tai tried to pick it once during the LPL qualifiers in China at the time.

Well, that time it didn't generate much discussion because we lost the game.

Things are different now. He's the S3 World Championship winner, the number one player in LOL, and in the second game of the finals, his opponent has Xin Zhao as his opponent... You could say he's got all the buffs stacked up.

After a long while, the atmosphere on the field finally calmed down, but the two sides still completed the lineup exchange and prepared to enter Summoner's Rift.

The lineups for both sides in the second game are as follows:

Blue side SKT: Top lane Shyvana, Jungle Xin Zhao, Mid lane Twisted Fate, Bot lane Miss Fortune and Sona.

Purple side NXG: Top lane Zac, Jungle Aatrox, Mid lane Master Yi, Bot lane Varus and Leona.

……

"Okay, the game has finished loading, the second match is officially starting!"

As soon as the commentator finished speaking, both players quickly completed their equipment purchases and controlled their heroes to head towards the river.

"Hey—look closely! JM's Master Yi is building Doran's Blade at level 1. Are they not going for an AP build this time?"

On the playing field.

Jiang Ming stared intently at the hero skill panel on the screen, a hint of nostalgia flashing in his eyes.

In fact, the reason his live stream traffic and video popularity skyrocketed overnight was precisely because of the AP Master Yi gameplay strategy.

It is no exaggeration to say that the "JM" brand, which has achieved its current reputation through the "Master of Laws and Ease" approach, is truly well-deserved.

He certainly wasn't going to play the standard basic attack-based Blademaster build.

AP Easy!
This build of the Sword Saint isn't actually as amazing as players claim, but once equipped, his ability to finish off enemies is indeed formidable.

However, its shortcomings are also very obvious: it is extremely dependent on economic development, has weak damage in the early game, has a serious rhythm gap, is afraid of control in team fights, and its survival and output are highly dependent on the cooperation of teammates.

In short, AP Master Yi is a powerful tool for skilled players to dominate in lower-ranked games, but it is a true double-edged sword in top-tier professional matches.

While harming the enemy, it may also backfire on oneself.

Therefore, at level one, to compensate for the weakness in lane, it's best to choose physical damage items as usual.

Both sides quickly arrived at the river. This time, SKT learned from their mistakes and did not blindly invade the jungle again. The five players simply stood obediently in their respective positions, guarding against NXG's actions.

(End of this chapter)