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

Chapter 250 You're guaranteed to win, what a coincidence, we can do it too!
A single level 2 solo kill put the already excited Staples Center crowd on a high, almost drug-induced frenzy.

Many North American audience members stood up, waving their hands wildly, one after another imitating the others. As the number of people increased, it turned into a huge disco!

The English commentators also lamented SKT's unwise decision, saying, "Oh, it's a pity. I think Kkoma might have been considering a mid-jungle roaming strategy, but unfortunately, this idea was completely thwarted by JM during the laning phase."

"A level 2 solo kill, what an insane performance. Every time Master Yi swings his longsword, it's like art."

"Haha, that's a very apt description." The man in the suit playfully pulled a T-shirt from under the table and showed it off to the camera, revealing the NXGlogo logo. "Hey JM, hey NXG fans, it might be a bit late to say this now, but I still want to say that from this moment on, I am a die-hard NXG fan."

If the English commentators' reactions were relatively normal, then the TGA livestream room was truly in complete chaos at this moment.

[Wuhu, solo kill!]

[I could solo kill Twisted Fate with a level 2 Blademaster. (Yeah, the one who got killed.)]

[Such high damage! Starting with a QA combo, applying Ignite, and just kept hacking away at the cards until they were dead.]

[It seems JM chose Doran's Blade as her starting item, aiming for a solo kill.]

[My goodness, the second game might be disturbing; please watch with parental supervision.]

[Hehehe, let's see who dares to call us Blademaster players elementary school kids now.]

[To the person upstairs: JM's skill at playing Master Yi doesn't mean you're good at it.]

[Attention, everyone in ranked tonight! Remember to ban Master Yi! A huge wave of mad dogs is on its way.]

Faker stared at the cold, black-and-white screen, his fingertips still trembling slightly from the mouse clicks, but his eyes were already somewhat dazed.

Level 2!

Level 2 only!
He hadn't expected, or rather, in his memory, that he had very little experience laning against Master Yi in the mid lane.

The strategy of using the level 1 Q skill to accurately hit minions and whittle down their health, followed by the level 2 QE combo and then going all-in by closing in and fighting—from an operational standpoint, this combo is so simple that it's almost devoid of any fancy moves.

The Sword Saint simply used Alpha Strike precisely to avoid damage, then activated his E skill and chased after him, relentlessly auto-attacking.

But it was precisely this back-to-basics approach that left Lee Sang-hyeok somewhat frustrated—JM had clearly already completed all the calculations in his mind.

"Is the difference in game understanding really that big?" he muttered to himself, his gaze slowly shifting to the players' seats on the other side of the arena, his pupils reflecting the calm expression on his opponent's face.

He never doubted his skill level; in fact, he had defeated his opponents time and time again in countless past matches thanks to his meticulous micro-management.

The collapse of his aggressive laning strategy in the previous game, coupled with the fact that his mid-jungle lane swapping strategy was overshadowed by his early solo kill, struck him like a hammer blow. It turns out that some differences are not just about mechanics...

When the strategy of avoiding the enemy's sharp edge crumbled during the laning phase, and when the pre-planned operational rhythm was completely disrupted by the overwhelming laning pressure beyond mere skill, this talented mid-laner felt a strange weight on the field for the first time.

That was the suffocating feeling of being crushed by an opponent's pure understanding of the game.

……

NXG's show wasn't over yet. When Jiang Ming opened up the game in the mid lane, Xiao Shitou's Aatrox and Benji's Xin Zhao switched to the top lane duo and completed a game of strategy.

"Zac is being heavily harassed by Sona and is in very low health. Benji has already circled behind the tri-bush and is preparing to tower dive Norsha. If they can tank the damage well, they have a great chance of succeeding!"

"Well, the Aatrox came to the rescue very quickly. Stone realized that his top laner was in danger and rushed straight to the top tower from the lane."

"That's it!" Xiaoxiao said sarcastically, "SKT is in a bit of a dilemma now. Zhao Xin's early game damage is good, but you can't stop NXG from having two resurrection guys duo-queuing with the tower."

"Oooh!"

"Stone took the initiative and seized an excellent opportunity. Zhao Xin, who was crouching in the triangular bush, became disconnected from the duo."

"Dark Leap knocks Miss Fortune into the air, Zac E in too, can they kill her?!"

However, the original timeline's Benji could not have become a three-time champion by simply coasting along. He made a quick decision and flashed from the tri-bush to the edge of NXG's first tower. After activating W to gain attack speed, he quickly used Triple Claw to hit Aatrox – a diversionary tactic!
boom!
Shi Zhenyu quickly flashed back, creating distance between himself and the three SKT players.

As a warrior, Aatrox is much squishier than Xin Zhao in the early game. In addition, his skills require him to consume health, so after surviving the first wave of damage, he can only retreat from the battlefield.

"Ignite killed me, ahhh, I was just seven points away from killing you."

Song Yuan, who had also been pulled back to the tower with low health, looked at the female gunner in the distance with a fiery health bar above her head, but who had locked her health at only seven drops, and felt extremely frustrated.

"Not bad, we gained an extra Flash. Miss Fortune doesn't have Flash, so we can keep bothering him later."

The game continued to move forward. Bengi, who had suffered a slight loss in the top lane, did not stay still. Taking advantage of the moment when Aatrox was out of shape and had to return to the fountain to replenish his supplies, Bengi rushed to the mid lane to help Faker gank.

Viewers flooded the chat with comments about the ultimate tips for protecting the mid laner who was the runner-up.

However, just as the OGN commentators were indulging in their own culture and congratulating themselves on their success, believing that SKT's mid and jungle had formed a perfect partnership and that victory was assured, the OGN commentators were still deceiving themselves.

NXG's bot lane also managed to whittle down Shyvana's health to low levels, and after she finished replenishing her items, Aatrox, with boots, jungle item, and a Doran's Blade in hand, arrived behind the tower at the perfect time.

Leona flashed and initiated with her Q, stunning Shyvana under the tower. After Aatrox used Dark Leap to land a second crowd control, Pang Ran retreated from the tower without looking back.

"Benji seems to be obsessed with ganking mid lane!"

"Indeed, if you're not in good shape to help the bottom lane, then going after a Master Yi who's almost at full strength is probably a sign of a problem with your thinking."

"Hehe, our NXG's four-for-one strategy is starting to show results."

Having successfully tower dived, the three, who were chipping away at the tower's health, joked amongst themselves.

"That's true."

He was hit and his health was almost completely restored after he reached level 5 and unlocked the W skill, simply by casting the Great Compassion Mantra on the spot.

When he returned home for the first time, he upgraded his equipment by getting a Doran's Ring and Boots of Speed, which gave him a 2.0 AP bonus. Even with just a level 1 Meditation, he could restore an astonishing amount of health.

Of course, it's only polite to reciprocate; if Zhao Xin ganks, then Jian Mo can also gank.

Just as Faker reached level six, Aatrox leaped out of the bushes. Although he failed to knock Faker up, his E skill applied a slow, and combined with Master Yi's damage output, the two severely damaged Faker, who had just returned from recall.

As a result, the first wave of action when the card has its ultimate ability has to be postponed!
At 7 minutes and 40 seconds, knowing they couldn't afford to waste any more time, SKT's mid and jungle players forced a comeback.

With the help of the cards, Zhao Xin flew in and the four-man gank killed Song Yuan's Zac.

"SKT isn't making any money!"

"norsha's Zac clearly intentionally sold the kill to you. A kill in the top lane is definitely more valuable to the purple side than a dragon in the bottom lane."

A kill plus an assist only yields 450 gold, while a single dragon can give the whole team nearly 1,000 gold.

The commentators are analyzing the ongoing clashes on the field.

At 8 minutes and 50 seconds, the NXG duo, who had wasted a lot of time fighting the dragon, finally pushed down SKT's bottom lane tower.

The kill count and turret count were tied 1-1, with SKT trailing by only a few hundred gold. However, savvy players know that the blue side is actually further behind, as a portion of their gold comes from Twisted Fate's passive ability.

At 9 minutes and 20 seconds, SKT's jungler and support came to the mid lane, wanting to further free up Twisted Fate. However, before the two could make any more moves, Pangran, who was also looking for an opportunity in the jungle, unleashed his ultimate from an extremely long distance, successfully predicting Miss Fortune's movement.

"It's huge!"

"Varus, follow the Chains of Corruption, AAA! Ghost Arrow Rain + Piercing Arrow will take another head."

"If SKT focuses its efforts on targeting the mid lane, then you should be prepared for the other laners to be eliminated."

So the question is, has SKT's strategy of targeting Master Yi in the mid lane been effective?

Obviously, the answer is no.

Although the Juggernaut's presence was diminished by his solo kill at level two due to his teammates stealing the spotlight, and he remained silent afterward, his rapidly upgrading equipment clearly demonstrated that the final boss was developing extremely well.

Faced with SKT's three-man push in the middle, Jiang Ming retreated, cleared the minions, and instead of moving forward, plunged into the jungle.

In the last game, he acted as Little Stone's bodyguard for the entire match; this time, it was Aatrox's turn to give him a taste of his own medicine.

Protect the middle?

Sorry, we can do that too.

However, unlike your mindless, brute-force approach to securing the middle ground, NXG's strategy for securing the middle ground refers to... economic tilt.

The Great Law of Protecting China?

Coincidentally, we can do that too.

"Wow, the Sword Saint's sword-wielding is terrifying."

"Ten minutes, $120?"

Miller rubbed his eyes. "No, where did JM find so many minions to farm?"

"There's a wild monster!"

Bella, her eyes fixed on the Sword Saint who had once again darted into the jungle, began to explain:

"Master Yi's Alpha Strike has a certain chance to trigger additional magic damage when attacking minions and jungle monsters. If it can be triggered once or twice when jungling, the rhythm of last hitting in lane and clearing jungle camps will basically not conflict."

Upon hearing this, the audience members all showed expressions of sudden realization.

Thinking about it carefully, it does seem to make sense. When the physical damage and attack speed of the physical damage Master Yi are not fully developed in the early game, his jungle clearing efficiency is only average. When the AP Master Yi is not fully developed in the mid lane, his solo kill ability is also relatively limited, and he can only rely on frequently using his Q skill to clear minions to make up for his development.

But if we combine the advantages of both...

Sacrificing some jungle economy, the mid-lane Master Yi builds AP items and focuses on jungle resources instead – this strategy sounds like it would be extremely effective.

Jiang Ming was unaware of the commentators' thoughts on stage. The strategy he was currently employing was merely the prototype of the future jungle carry master.

By acquiring double resources in the jungle and lanes, one can quickly gain a large amount of experience and gold for AP Master Yi, who is extremely reliant on items.

With twelve minutes remaining in the match, a magnificent completed item suddenly appeared in the Blademaster's pouch:

The Lich Bane!

At this time, the Lich Bane cost 3,000 gold and had the following stats: 80 ability power, 7% movement speed, 10% cooldown reduction, and 250 mana bonus.

His stats were only average compared to the overpowered items in Season 3; his true strength lay in his bug-like passive ability.

Unique Passive: Spellblade: After casting a spell, your next physical attack will deal bonus magic damage equal to 75% of your base attack damage (+50% ability power).

Cooldown time: 1.5 seconds!
Compared to the Lich of later generations, which only had 150% base attack power and 60% spell power bonus, with a cooldown increased to 2.5 seconds and lacking both cooldown reduction and mana, it was far more powerful.

The original Murloc gradually became a roadside blob, largely due to the Lich's nerfs.

……

After completing the Lich Bane, Jiang Ming continued to quietly farm lanes and jungle camps, not in a hurry to show off. With three squishy heroes on the blue side, he wasn't worried about not being able to deal AOE damage in the mid-to-late game. His priority right now was to continue developing his character.

Fifteen minutes into the game, Juggernaut once again upgraded his Sorcerer's Shoes and CD Book.

"We can't wait any longer. The Sword Saint has also taken the monsters that the Sword Demon had. His development speed is terrifying." Fear was evident in Fumando's eyes.

Yes, AP Master Yi has weaknesses in professional matches, such as being vulnerable to crowd control when entering the fray and having a very difficult time farming.

But when those two problems are no longer problems, all that's left of AP Master Yi are advantages.

How long until the opponent can make Hellfire, three minutes or four minutes?
Putting everything else aside, if you throw Deathfire Touch on his Sona in a team fight, an Alpha Strike will definitely take her down. If one Q isn't enough, then at most you can add a basic attack with Lich Bane.

"Let's force a team fight at the Dragon pit. Before the enemy team's items are fully completed, let's use the Miss Fortune and Sona combo to make a move."

Miss Fortune is the kind of hero who needs to stay in place and unleash her skills. If you drag her out, it's obvious that the duo will only be a tool for Master Yi to refresh his skills.

However, before SKT could make a move, the Master Yi, who had been quietly farming, suddenly launched an attack.

Bottom lane!

Just a moment ago, he was harmless, and the Sword Saint, who was farming minions under the tower, suddenly activated Highland Bloodline.

Master Yi, swords in hand, charged toward the Dragon Girl with his distinctive, small, quick steps.

Damu:? ? ?
Dude, I'm a pure tanky Shyvana with Sunfire Cape, what do you mean by using your ultimate to target a tank like me?

Da Mu's doubts did not stop the Sword Saint from moving forward. Even though Da Mu had many doubts in his heart, he still activated W and ran away immediately out of respect for JM, a terrifying and powerful enemy.

However, this small step backward cost the Dragon Girl her life.

"Drink!"

After a loud shout, a purple vine flew out from the jungle and hit the retreating Dragon Girl.

[Chains of Corruption!]

"Maru spicy!"

Alarm bells rang in Da Mu's mind. His dragon girl was indeed pure tank, but she was currently in a state where she had no magic resistance at all.

As luck would have it, Varus and Blademaster both had tons of spell damage abilities on them.

(End of this chapter)