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

Chapter 96 Who can outdo him in marketing?!

Jiang Ming took off his suit jacket, revealing the NXG esports team uniform underneath, which was covered with various sponsorship advertisements. The logos of Logitech and Panpan Foods were clearly visible on the chest.

The director was very astute, immediately giving Jiang Ming a close-up shot of him changing clothes.

Accompanied by the music that preceded the start of the competition, it seemed as if the organizers had specially prepared the entrance background music for the man in front of them!

[Let's get hyped, let's get this party started! Imagine the iconic entrance of the God of Gamblers here!]

[Hey handsome, are you crazy? Give me your spot, I want to go up and have some fun too!]

[Make way, JM is about to show off! The head coach is warmed up, now it's time for the invading attack!]

[Pfft, the clothes are covered in sponsor logos, NXG must be raking in the money.]

Let him earn it!!

[Ahhh, a pretty girl even took his jacket! Jealousy is making me twisted.]

Behind the contestants' stands, Chen Muxin, who had been hiding in a blind spot of the camera, took Jiang Ming's jacket with both hands and then disappeared from the scene at lightning speed.

Even so, his figure was still accurately spotted by sharp-eyed LOL players.

Pretty young ladies as human clothes hangers?

Holy crap, envy has already caused my plasmolysis!

The NXG sponsors watching the live stream burst into laughter, and a series of goose calls filled the air.

The person in charge of Panpan was holding the computer with both hands, his eyes were bloodshot, and he was breathing heavily through his mouth and nose!

close up!

This is a close-up shot that could be played countless times in the future.

made money!

Make a lot of money!
The 100,000 yuan was well spent... It was totally worth it.

You know, there are plenty of people who take the money but don't do the work, but this is the first time he's seen a partner who's so afraid the sponsors will lose money that they're desperately trying to give them special exposure.

On the other hand, NXG not only spends money to get things done for you, but also maximizes your emotional value.

My God, JM is a marketing genius.

"Jiang Ming and his NXG are flawless!"

However, just when the heads of several sponsors thought it was over, the camera in the LPL live broadcast suddenly switched to the audience seats.

Unlike when the LPL first started, today's LPL venue was completely packed. Not only were the original seats full, but even the extra seats were filled to capacity.

Even so, many viewers who were unable to buy tickets complained online, wondering why the venue for the first LPL tournament was a warehouse.

In one area captured on camera, spectators sitting together raised up their support items, such as small banners with NXG printed on them, small blue and white folding fans, and of course, many small claps used to replace applause.

The captain of NXG's exclusive support team stood up, the veins on his right arm clearly visible. He easily gripped the heavy flagpole in his hand, then swung it powerfully from side to side. At the same time, his deep voice once again drowned out the sound equipment scattered throughout the venue.

"NXG—" "Go for it!"

"NXG—" "Go for it!"

"..."

Jiao Yang shouted, and the audience behind him echoed with a cheer.

At first, many audience members felt embarrassed, but once a group of people started speaking, the atmosphere became infectious, and they no longer needed to worry about anything, shouting out incredibly loudly.

Looking back more than a decade later, this might seem like a rather immature act, but for these young people in the 13 years since, it was just right.

The moment NXG's cheers ended, the "IG fan group" followed suit.

While not as grand as NXG, it's not as pathetic as the Royal Family and WOA's Dawnwing a few days ago.

Wang Sicong: "Nonsense, I spent thousands of dollars to hire a support group, how could they not be enthusiastic!"

"Damn it, even hiring people can't compare to NXG's support. Jiang Ming is really weird."

Wang Gongzi, who had quietly come to the audience seats with a hot dog bun, thought to himself.

……

"Thank you to the audience for cheering for our players. The game is now loading, let's enter Summoner's Rift together." Influenced by the atmosphere, Miller's tone became a bit more cheerful.

In-game.

The IG team quickly headed towards the junction of their own jungle and the river. Ever since the emergence of the old silver coins NXG, no team has dared to linger at the starting point in a match.

If you're even a step slower when you leave the house, at best you'll lose your vision, and at worst you'll lose the first kill right at the start of the game!

Even with all the attention, when watching the replay, it was still noticeable that NXG was consistently two or three seconds faster.

"Damn it, these guys couldn't have planned out the route from the fountain to the jungle beforehand, could they?" This was Xiaoxiao's rant while he was staying up all night researching how to defeat NXG and losing hair like crazy.

"Stand up, Erzi, don't go straight up there, go stand in the middle first."

"We absolutely cannot let NXG take us seriously on the road!"

"Shadow, you go too. Our level 1 team is stronger, let's push them out."

From the moment the game started, Xiaoxiao's commands never stopped. She kept marking locations on the map, saying things like, "Here, here, kid, don't miss any spots. That bastard JM led people to squeeze this way during his livestream."

Jiang Ming was right. The Karthus and Kog'Maw resurrection duo wasn't the only option; Xiao Xiao had also prepared a lane-swapping tactic for them.

Switch Karthus to the top lane to lane against Shen, then move Jax to the mid lane to beat up Zed.

After all, Karthus really can't beat Zed. They don't even need to be at the same skill level. Even if they are two ranks apart, as long as the player controlling Zed knows how to use WEQ for burst damage, Karthus won't be able to play at all in lane.

His weakness in the laning phase is why, in later generations, Karthus disappeared from the lanes and went to dominate the jungle, even without many skill changes.

Conversely, if it's Jax facing Zed, it's like a father beating his son. Jax will mindlessly leap and dash into your face, his W and A combos are longer than yours, and his E will stun and poke you. Kid, you can forget about farming in lane.

Furthermore, Karthus can easily dominate melee champions, using his long range to bully short range champions.

"Hey, hey, hey!" PDD laughed like a pig from the players' seat. "You, Cube Dragon Ghost, have the most ideas. Weapon Master against Kid Zed, I'm afraid I can knock JM's brains out."

Just imagining it in his mind, the scene was simply too wonderful.

He single-handedly defeated JM, brutally crushed JM, and stole all of JM's fans, thus reaching the pinnacle of his life.

The Block Dragon's ingenious plan brings peace to the world!

Hey—takeoff!
Xiaoxiao wasn't as optimistic as PDD. He said that NXG's adaptability was very strong when JM wasn't playing, so there's no reason why they would lose their ability to play the game after their strongest player joined the team.

"Shadow, pay close attention. If possible, focus on supporting the mid lane in the early game."

The shadow nodded briefly, saying, "Okay."

IG had just set their grand plan, and NXG, on the blue side, naturally didn't just stand there doing nothing.

"Stone, don't start with blue buff, go for red buff and then counter-gank me in mid lane."

Shi Zhenyu nodded without hesitation, indicating that there was no problem. However, Pang Ran, who was the team's second commander, took the initiative to ask, "Why, Ming-ge? Spider starts with blue buff, Shen tanks the pressure in the top lane, and then helps us open up the situation in the bottom lane. Shouldn't pushing quickly be the optimal choice?"

Jiang Ming, who was very satisfied with the team's players' ability to think independently, patiently explained, "What you're saying is the normal situation, but what if the other side switches lanes?"

"Ah, lane swap? Kog'Maw and Janna are going to top lane?" Pang Ran's mind went blank for a moment, then he quickly said, "Then let's switch to top lane and gank the laner."

“No rush. I’m not talking about the duo swapping lanes. Even if they do, we can still get the jungler or even the mid laner to help push the first tower quickly when we can’t catch them. In the early game, the team that gets Caitlyn won’t mind pushing towers quickly.” Jiang Ming tagged IG’s Karthus, who was putting on a terrible performance in the mid lane. “What I mean is, their Jax will swap top and mid lanes with Karthus later.”

"Hiss!" For some reason, Song Yuan's body suddenly trembled.

"Should we switch with him? Domino, you can't beat Weapon Master, can you, Zed?"

"No need. You haven't practiced how to deal with opponents who actively switch lanes and when you're at an early disadvantage in your matchup. If you get into the opponent's rhythm, you'll easily lose minions and experience. Just follow my rhythm later."

Jiang Ming was not arrogant in his response to IG's series of targeted tactics, but rather acknowledged that lane-swapping and misalignment tactics have certain strict requirements.

If facing an LCK team whose operational system has been basically mature since S5, Jiang Ming would not dare to be so headstrong. But the problem is that IG has not even mastered the most basic minion wave management, let alone any extra training in the basic skills of switching positions and laning.

The matchup details are different for each lane. How much of your strength can a top laner bring if they switch to the mid lane?

Furthermore, his pre-arranged jungle assistance was actually to counter the special attention from the IG players. After all, the early-game champion counter-picks are there, and if Jarvan IV manages to get caught out once or twice, he won't even need to secure a kill or use summoner spells; once his health is low, he'll basically have no chance to lane against Jax.

"Okay, we can see that the jungle monsters have now spawned, and both junglers are starting their first jungle clear with the help of their teammates."

"Hey, but why is Karthus helping Jarvan IV take down the stone statue on IG's side?" Xiao Lou blinked, not quite sure, and said, "Mid and top lane swap?"

Joker's eyes lit up, knowing it was time for him to shine (show off). He immediately praised IG, saying, "Very clever. IG knew that Karthus couldn't lane against Zed in the mid lane, so they simply moved Karthus to the top lane and Jax to the mid lane."

"In this way, whether it's Karthus playing Shen in the top lane as a melee champion or Jax playing Zed as a fighter, they can both gain an advantage."

"Judging from IG's moves, they might have already planned to swap mid and top lanes when they were picking champions. They deliberately picked Karthus first to give JM a false sense of security, and then had PDD pick Jax to counter Zed in the mid lane."

【! ! ! 】

[Alright, alright, you're starting to play mind games, aren't you?]

[Stop! You're not the IG I know.]

[(Humorous) This is so IG, right? XiaoXiao in the bot lane is always a master with a ton of ingenious ideas.]

[It's over. The late emperor passed away before his great undertaking was even halfway done. Will JM die in his LPL debut?]

I can already picture Zed getting brutally beaten by weapons...

[Haha, what goes around comes around. Serves you right for marketing all the time. NXG is the team I've ever seen that has no championships but talks the most nonsense.]

[Head coach warming up? Head coach got KO'd in seconds!]

[Yo-ho! Look at the prince's jungle clearing route, he's going straight for a level 2 gank in mid.]

[Xiaoxiao: Hehehe, familiar with level two arrest? My idol learned it from you guys.]

Back online, the blue and purple minions clashed in the mid lane.

Jiang Ming kept Shadow Master motionless behind the ranged creeps, showing no intention of attacking them.

The difference in physique between assassins and warriors is obvious, not to mention that the opponent is a weapon master who can dominate the entire league with just a lamppost. Therefore, you must try your best to avoid being whittled down in the early game, especially at level one.

Zed's Q has a relatively short cooldown at level 1, but his combat power is not high without his shadow, since he is missing a passive ability before the opponent is at half health.

In fact, at level 1, Zed should not touch the minion wave regardless of the champion he is laning against in the mid lane. He should only use his Q skill to last-hit minions. He should poke the opponent if he can, but he should not try to disrupt the minion wave if he cannot.

Once Zed reaches level three and gains the ability to use his shadow to deal double damage with QE, that's when he can truly shine.

As Jiang Ming expected, PDD, who came to the mid lane, was like other LPL players and did not have any awareness of minion waves. Instead, he thought of quickly farming minions in the top lane to get level 2 and take the initiative.

"So cowardly!"

PDD muttered to himself that as a top laner, he had never faced Jiang Ming in ranked games. Now that he had suddenly switched lanes to the mid lane, he couldn't help but feel a bit of contempt for Jiang Ming, seeing that Jiang Ming only dared to use his Q to last hit from a distance.

"Should I come again?" Shadow asked, glancing at the location of the route in his eyes.

"Come on, go around and take a look. Help me reduce his health so he won't have to finish this game."

Having reached level two, PDD, now embroiled in a counterattack, is eager to make his move.

"It works!"

Coincidentally, the Spider Queen, who had quickly farmed to level three with the red buff, was also heading towards the mid lane.

Shadow stepped into the mid-lane bushes without hesitation. The moment the weapon's big hand initiated with a lightning-fast jump, he simultaneously used his EQ combo on a position slightly behind Zed.

"IG's lane-swapping strategy has been quite effective. Karthus in the top lane has suppressed Shen with his long range, while PDD's Jax in the mid lane has forced JM to stop farming minions."

"I think NXG needs to come up with a solution, at least to get the lanes back or something, otherwise the mid and top lanes are useless, and if only the bot lane has an advantage, it will be very difficult to win the game..."

Thanks to Jiang Ming's helpful explanation, a seed that says "It's hard to win a game if you only have one path to wealth" has begun to take root, from players to commentators.

On stage, the three commentators took turns commenting on the scene.

"Oh, we see that IG has initiated an attack in the mid lane."

Suddenly, Miller noticed the prince's movements.

"The weapon is using Counterattack Storm to jump in front of JM, they're trying to force her into position!"

"Zed's hand speed is very fast. He was not stunned when he pressed the shadow button, but the prince rushed out with his EQ combo, aiming at the landing point of Zed's shadow."

The three of them stared wide-eyed. "But since Zed is close to the turret, this should only be a minor skirmish; we don't even need to use Flash..."

The last word stuck in Joker's throat.

A white, cocoon-like object flew out of the darkness.

It was wrapped around the prince's face with perfect precision!
S3 had not yet assigned the commentary tasks, which meant that all three of them were focused on the middle lane, and the Spider, who had already arrived near F4, was completely ignored by them.

The scene shifts, and Jiang Ming, who has shifted his form but deliberately swallowed the prince's attack, reveals a smile.

Can you dodge being knocked back?

You can hide by making your shadow longer, but how can you attract fish to the hook like that?

In situations where there are hero counters and the skill gap is not significant, he must take into account both minion waves and jungle clearing to break through the cage IG has prepared for him.

"Focus fire on the prince!"

Without much talk, the shadow and the main body moved in unison, unleashing a double Q attack, while simultaneously directing the spider to attack the prince.

[Shadow Technique! Double-Edged Sword] x2
Basic attack!

Isn't Shi Zhenyu the kind of jungler who has a lot of ideas? After hearing the signal from the mid lane, he also pressed both W and Q skills simultaneously.

[Exploding Spider] + [Neurotoxin]!
With a snap, following Elise's transformation, an incredibly ugly beast suddenly appeared in front of the blue team's defensive tower.

The commentators on stage exclaimed in surprise, "Oh no! The Prince's gank was counter-ganked by the Elise, and NXG's mid and jungle are focusing fire on him. The Prince's health is dropping very quickly."

"Weapon Master's Counterattack Storm has already been used, so I don't think it can help the prince now."

In the blink of an eye, the prince's health went from full to half, and then to a third!

boom!
The prince, who had finally awakened from his cocoon, quickly pressed W to create a shield for himself and used Flash to create distance.

"Don't chase!"

Jiang Ming stopped the jungler from continuing the chase. Both of them had used up most of their skills. Even if they could kill the prince, the minion wave had been pulled to their own tower, and chasing across the minion wave would easily result in a counterattack from the fully stacked passive weapon.

By crippling the prince and forcing him to use Flash, they had already gained a significant advantage in the early game.

With such a disparity in jungle matchups, the two IG players who have swapped positions now need to consider whether they are strong enough to be killed by the Spider Queen in the early game.

"I'm going to raid the enemy's territory!"

The obedient Little Stone silently left the mid lane, his eyes showing no desire for his low-health cannon minion in the mid lane.

[Hilarious! I'm dying of laughter. It seems the shadow, that little doodler, has started again.]

[Classic! I single-handedly carried all three lanes to victory!]

[No, you guys are already shifting the blame. Didn't PDD want to engage himself, but his E skill failed to stun anyone?]

[If anyone deserves praise, it's the Spider for her excellent counter-gank, which severely damaged the Prince and forced him to use Flash.]

[Is this the JM you guys were bragging about, the number one top laner in the Chinese server? He's no match for the number one top laner in the LPL. He was so badly beaten that he didn't even dare to go up to last-hit minions.]

[I've already said that casual games and professional leagues are different. People were still saying things like NXG > PE > IG > WE, how naive!]

The ingredients upstairs have been revealed.

Why bother with him? NXG's players aren't particularly strong in the laning phase.

Unfortunately, JM didn't get a kill, and the mid-lane champion didn't suffer much damage either. Zed still couldn't win, and the situation didn't change at all.

Has the situation not improved at all?
Jiang Ming really wanted to tell the players outside the arena that from this moment on, the roles of offense and defense had been reversed.

With the jungler Jarvan IV losing his fighting ability and his Flash ability gone, the bottom lane is the first to be affected.

(End of this chapter)