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

Chapter 69 The Real Origin of LPL's Strategic Dilemma!
The historical origins and strategic dilemmas of the "bottom lane core" tactical system in the LPL region actually stem from the last two years.

During Season 2, the pace of the game was generally slow, and the top, mid, and jungle meta was dominated by support-type heroes. After Kassadin was nerfed into a Void Crawler, there was a lack of effective ways to kill squishy heroes in one hit. Basically, by the time team fights started, AD carries were able to build their attack speed, armor penetration, and attack damage items.

Furthermore, WE, as a pioneer, won the IPL5 World Championship with a playstyle centered around the bottom lane. Coupled with the visual impact of WeiXiao's far superior understanding of AD carries during the early days of esports, successors naturally rushed to imitate him.

This tactical understanding continues to permeate from professional matches to the grassroots ecosystem, with a large number of beginner tutorials generally recommending AD as the starting point due to its relatively low operational threshold; in the ranked environment, 70% of the games feature a strategy that prioritizes resources in the bottom lane.

Then, when Royal Never Give Up (RNG) unleashed the ultimate four-protect-one strategy at the S3 World Championship, it marked the peak of LPL's reliance on the bottom lane.

With the entire region's competitive focus concentrated in the lower bracket, the players unanimously found themselves embroiled in a "dark forest" game of strategy—

Imagine you're in a region where the bot lane is insane, and the opponent's mid, top, and jungle constantly gank your bot lane. What's the best solution?
The answer is simple—just join in the magical clash and that's it.

For a long time, the strength of an LPL team depended on the level of its bot lane!
With the arrival of Season 3, assassins became rampant, like a dimensional reduction attack, directly dismantling the tactical foundation of the LPL.

The decline in AD carry status has naturally had a huge impact on LPL's competitiveness. Even with subsequent version updates, the bot lane's status has always been relegated to the sidelines. This strategic mismatch makes it impossible to win a championship by relying solely on the bot lane.

Jiang Ming's decision to pick Jayce for top lane ahead of time reflects his desire to change the regional habits and unbalanced playstyle.

Tell these teams that there are many ways to win the game, and it's not just about mindlessly protecting the bottom lane and waiting for team fights.

"Centaur, Mantis!"

Jiang Ming saw through LGD's tactical thinking at a glance. After realizing that they couldn't win the top, mid, and jungle matchups, they were hoping to drag the game out in the late game by relying on Kog'Maw in the bottom lane.

Since you guys like playing AD (Attack Damage Carry), I'll show you some fancy ways to withdraw money from AD.

The blue team's best option is to protect Kog'Maw from being stolen by Lulu. Now, they're just paired with Sona. The mid-jungle duo of Hecarim and Kha'Zix can make Kog'Maw so badly he can't even farm minions.

LGD's last two picks were Rumble and Ryze.

"Hey, it's Fire-Breathing Poppy!"

Jiang Ming patted his forehead, realizing he had overestimated the drafting skills of the professional teams in front of him.

When he saw Kog'Maw and Sona, he thought LGD wanted to play a four-protect-one composition, but because Lulu was picked by their own team, and they wanted to add some initiation, they had no choice but to give up on picking Sona.

Now that the fire-breathing Poppy has appeared, Jiang Ming has completely lost his composure.

This isn't a four-protect-one situation, is it?
Ryze needs to farm, Kog'Maw needs to farm, Rumble needs to farm, so who should the jungler help?
Most importantly, LGD's lineup lacks any synergy; it offers neither protection nor initiation.

"AD picks Graves."

"You can pick the stones as you see fit; the top and bottom lanes are not difficult to break through."

"Okay, Ming-ge."

Jiang Ming didn't hesitate much, and in the end, he added Graves to the team on the fifth floor to supplement burst damage.

The lineups of both sides are determined:

Blue side LGD: Top lane Rumble, Jungle Volibear, Mid lane Ryze, Bot lane Kog'Maw + Sona.

Red team NXG: Top lane Jayce, Jungle Hecarim, Mid lane Kha'Zix, Bot lane Graves + Lulu.

When the matchup between the two teams was displayed on the big screen, viewers at the venue and in the live stream started a new round of discussion.

Why did NXG pick such a useless champion like Jayce?

[The left-side melee team? How will they fight them once the bear gets tanky in the late game?]

[The champion has been nerfed so badly, why are they still picking him? Why are people praising this team online?]

[The blue team clearly won. The tanky Volibear held the front line, and Sona and Rumble's ultimates were devastating, while Ryze and Kog'Maw reaped the rewards from behind.]

Harvesting?

You're probably just daydreaming.

Players with a slightly higher level of game understanding scoffed at this. Although NXG's lineup wasn't fully understood yet, it was definitely stronger than the combination on the right that relied entirely on flash-ultimates for initiating team fights.

"Write it down, hurry up and write it down. JM has come up with so many game strategies, top lane Jayce might be another great way to climb the ranks."

……

While LPL viewers and commentators were still focused on whether the lineup was reasonable.

OGN region, CJ team base.

As a leading team in the Korean region, CJ's training room doesn't feel as cramped as other teams'.

MadLife, the team's support and strategist, sat solemnly in front of his computer, watching the live stream of the ongoing LPL preseason match.

"Jayce has long-range damage, and Kha'Zix could have a similar effect if he evolved into W... Oh right, Graves' ultimate should also be included."

As his thoughts gradually became clearer, MadLife's brow furrowed even more deeply. "The blue team lacks initiation tools... and once their condition drops to a certain level, Hecarim can immediately charge in, and Kha'Zix can finish them off."

pass!

That makes sense!

"So that's it!"

"What do you mean, 'like this'?" Shy, sitting not far away, took off her headphones and asked curiously, "Minki, you've been talking to yourself in your seat the whole time. What are you looking at?"

"Is he watching some kind of adult video?"

"of course not!"

"Shang Mian, come and take a look at this." MadLife pointed to the computer. The two were about the same age, and there was no distinction between them as senior and junior.

"NXG?"

"That name sounds familiar." Shy tried to recall the details. "Is this a match from the LPL next door?"

"Yes, we talked about this team earlier. Their mid laner—or rather, the owner—defeated the entire WE team in ranked games and became the number one player in the LPL region's Chinese server."

"I remembered."

Young people might not be very interested in other things, but if you add the keyword "WE", they will instantly wake up.

He vividly remembers the scene from last year's Dragon Tiger Cup where WE's bot lane dominated them, creating a 1v3 highlight reel.

Oh, and those idiots from KT, they actually pushed the enemy's high ground while their network was down and got slaughtered and turned the game around.

Unlike the LCK region in later generations, which generally looked down on LPL teams, at this point in time, many OGN teams treat WE as their hypothetical enemy.

"That JM is playing professionally now?"

Shy's eyes lit up. He had heard of this freak who dominated ranked games and crushed professional players from the other region.

"I don't think so. He started his own team and is playing in the LPL."

"Wow, you're your own boss? That's impressive."

MadLife was speechless. How did they end up talking about this? "I need you to take a look at how NXG uses this hero. You're a professional top laner. Without considering team fights, what do you think of the effectiveness of playing him in the top lane?"

"Jace?"

"Going to the top lane to fight melee is no problem at all, hey, that's a great idea."

"Range poke, melee duels... there aren't many top lane champions with high burst damage."

Shy, whose eyes lit up, pulled up a chair and sat down next to MadLife.

(End of this chapter)