LOL: Can’t I play other games professionally?

Chapter 407 Two jungle monsters stolen at level 1?

If they directly pick Graves or even an aggressive Nidalee in the jungle, the resulting change in tempo might be a bit too much, but EDG seems to be that kind of team.

As Miller was pondering, a deafening roar of cheers erupted from the stadium.

He knew the answer immediately.

Only the most novel choices can garner the greatest support from the audience, so what exactly did EDG choose for the jungle position?

That's Graves.

"They chose the wrong opponent. I don't have time to mess around." The arrogant words echoed in the headphones of everyone in the players' seats. Lin Ruo, without any burden, let out a breath and sat up straight.

It's time to put on a show.

"Wow, Graves actually pulled out his item, and with Ryze to enhance synergy, EDG's goal is undoubtedly to cause trouble."

The child, with a "the more the merrier" attitude, thought this choice was very bold.

The current meta for Graves is not like last year's; being able to pick him is already quite an achievement.

With the choice made, KZ was caught in a dilemma, as they were inevitably at a disadvantage in the jungle, and it seemed that the only thing they could do was to get the strongest hero in the top lane.

EDG's first three picks were too targeted.

Therefore, KZ changed their strategy and pulled out two heroes with drastically different directions: locking in Ashe and Swain respectively to strengthen their laning capabilities.

Ashe will definitely push the lane, and while Swain can't push the lane against Ryze, his fighting power will see a significant boost after reaching level six.

Mingkai, sitting on the player's bench, looked at the opposing team's draft and shook his head, his eyes lighting up.

With two extremely strong early-game champions who dominate both lane and lane, it means that KZ has likely controlled most of the early game tempo, allowing Peanut to avoid more confrontations with Graves and focus on his lane.

With EDG locking in Tahm Kench on the third floor for a safer approach, both sides quickly entered the second round of bans.

Karma along with Morgana.

EDG has eliminated two support players to limit KZ's potential dominance in the bottom lane, leaving Lulu as the only viable support option for the two veterans.

This former best partner of Ashe has seen her online combat ability decline significantly after being slightly weakened in the first few rounds.

Compared to the currently strong Morgana and the highly mobile Karma, she is naturally less suitable for front-line positions.

However, this does not mean that KZ's lane dominance will be weak. What EDG is doing is simply minimizing the risks in the bottom lane and team fights.

When Camille appeared on the fourth floor, EDG also increased their bets.

KZ wants to gain an advantage in the early laning phase, while EDG wants to use that advantage to achieve significant results in team fights during the early to mid-game.

The two sides made different choices, but their overall direction was basically the same, with neither side considering the later stages of the process.

The subsequent signing of Lulu confirmed KZ's idea of ​​ensuring dominance in the bottom lane.

Now KZ faces only one problem: which top laner to choose to counter Camille's pressure.

Khan thought for a moment, and the word Fiora popped into his mind. However, picking her in this way was a bit too arbitrary and didn't take into account the team's current synergy.

While their lineup is quite strong, it also lacks the ability to truly initiate team fights.

The probability of success relying solely on Aishe's lottery draws is self-evident.

So after weighing the pros and cons, Khan was forced to take on the sacrificial role and bring out Ornn, a champion he had shone in during the Spring Split but rarely played.

KZ's lineup suddenly looked much more balanced, and Ornn gained lane dominance in the top lane, giving Trundle more room to roam.

The key to victory or defeat shifted to the jungle, making Peanut's early game tempo crucial.

In the final draft phase, EDG opted for Ezreal in the bot lane, pairing him with Tahm Kench to create a stable and resilient combination, denying KZ too many opportunities to exploit their weaknesses.

On the EDG player bench.

At this moment, everyone was particularly relaxed.

Lin Ruo remained calm and asked, "The bottom lane shouldn't feed, right? I won't be checking the front lane much."

"Come or don't come, I'm going to start the game with Ezreal, farming Tahm Kench to gain experience."

Tianye retorted dismissively.

iboy quietly switched the healing to TP instead.

Lin Ruo felt that this scene was familiar. When he first debuted in the Spring Split last year, he faced the pressure from RNG's Ashe and Nami, and his first move was to use Ezreal to take Tianye's Tahm Kench to eat the frog.

He was in favor of it back then, but now he'd be a fool to agree.

Damn it, I'm a jungler now.

Well, Lin Ruo finally understood how Ai Luoli felt when she wanted to cry but couldn't.

The game had just started when there was already one less jungle monster in the jungle. Anyone would be confused if they were in that situation.

"The lineup has been finalized. KZ, the blue side, will field Ornn in the top lane, Trundle in the jungle, Swain in the mid lane, and Ashe and Lulu in the bot lane."

"EDG team on the red side: Camille top, Graves jungle, Ryze mid, and Ezreal and Tahm Kench bot lane!"

"Both sides are ready. Now let's move on to the first highly anticipated match of the 2018 MSI Mid-Season Invitational. Who will emerge victorious and take the lead in the group? Let's wait and see!"

As Miller's words fell in a high-spirited tone, cheers erupted from the crowd, and the small number of cheers did not dampen the enthusiasm of the European audience.

Under the melody of battle, the ten people on both sides quickly entered Summoner's Rift.

"Prepare for invasion."

At the start of the game, Lin Ruo told his teammates his idea for the game with a very aggressive statement: they should not let the opponent have an easy time in the first minute, as this was their best opportunity to gain an advantage.

The reason is simple: they have Tahm Kench, which guarantees they won't be at a disadvantage in a level 1 duel.

Moreover, KZ would likely have a hard time predicting their intrusion methods.

"Lin Shen always manages to find the strangest angles to appear in the most suitable places. This intrusion location is really hard to imagine."

As the commentator watched the screen, the smile on his face deepened.

Lin Ruo, who was controlling Graves, learned the E skill for the first time. He walked along the top lane to the river and quickly passed through the wall to enter the triangular bush next to the blue team's top tower.

They set up a surprise ambush point.

Completely unprepared for this, Khan then entered the river from the Ueno area. After encountering Camille later, he left spies at the river mouth to prevent intrusion.

They then returned to the bottom lane and headed to the river in the mid lane, where Peanut's Trundle was ready to scout the vision around the red team's jungle entrance. The time was slowly approaching one and a half minutes, and KZ still hadn't realized Graves' location.

At the same time, what they did not expect was that Tianye Tahm Kench's position was active in the area behind the mid lane tower from beginning to end, rather than in the so-called bottom lane or river position.

This undoubtedly makes it very clear what EDG might do next.

As Tahm Kench circled around the wall into the river in the jungle, deliberately avoiding the vision left by Troll Warlord in the outer area of ​​the F6 camp, an invasion was imminent.

Unexpectedly, KZ's top and jungle players returned to the jungle one after the other and came to the blue pit to make a move. Little did they know that Tahm Kench, who was using distance control, was following closely behind from behind the three wolves below.

With Scout's Ryze providing cover in the mid lane, BDD showed no intention of heading towards the jungle.

Then, Camille's figure suddenly and blatantly entered through the entrance of Ueno.

Peanut, who had just hit the blue monster, finally sensed something was wrong.

Before he could react, a large tongue from the other side of the wall licked him directly, slowing the troll's pace.

Startled, Khan stared blankly at Tahm Kench, who had suddenly appeared from the area below them…

Now that the support has arrived, where is the enemy jungler?
It's too late to say.

The next moment, the male gunner, holding the gun barrel, walked out of the toad's mouth as if no one was there. The three-way encirclement made KZ's top laner and jungler feel uncomfortable, especially Peanut, who was slowed down to the point of being unable to move.

After being hit by Tahm Kench's tongue, he also managed to withstand Camille's tactical sweep. Under the double blow, Graves fired a shot with his E.

With his health dropping to nearly half, Peanut had no choice but to use Flash to retreat to the second tower position.

With Ornn providing cover behind him, at least his life is not in danger.

Knowing they had no extra control to keep the troll in check, the three EDG players chose not to pursue the fleeing enemy. Lin Ruo, who had successfully invaded, then turned his attention to the blue monster.

With the help of his teammates, he easily defeated the blue monster and leveled up to level two without even needing to use his Punishment skill.

Tahm Kench recalled to base on the spot, while Camille returned to the top lane.

Helpless Peanut didn't dare to go into the jungle to fight a level 2 Graves. He could only take advantage of the opponent's inattention to go into the jungle and attack the three wolves.

And the so-called toad could only watch helplessly as it became Graves's prey.

Having learned his lesson, Peanut finally understood one thing: why EDG chose Ezreal with TP to go bot lane. It turns out it was because Tahm Kench wanted to invade at level one.

In that case, it's undoubtedly safest for EZ to go solo in the bottom lane; he just needs to stay behind and keep his distance so Kuku can use his Q.

Even if you're caught off guard and get badly damaged at level 1, having a TP teleport back to base will ensure you don't lose too much experience in lane.

"That was a brilliant plan. Lin Shen directly took two camps of jungle monsters from the enemy's jungle for free. Peanut was completely wiped out in less than two minutes at the start of the game."

Miller was amazed.

The tactics implied here show that EDG made thorough preparations before the match.

That's a restriction on Peanut, allowing him to freeload the top jungle at level 1, while forcing Trundle to only go to the bottom lane and not pay much attention to the top lane.

This also ensures Camille's healthy development to a certain extent; at least in the early stages around level four, GimGoon doesn't have to worry about the trolls potentially coming to his aid.

In that case, it doesn't matter if you're suppressed by an Ornn who has a strong early-game laning phase.

Khan can't suppress Ornn's CS by much. Once Camille gets past level six, she will only pressure Ornn in every way, and she won't be at a disadvantage in pushing lanes.

"Shiba, their invasion idea is really well-conceived."

In the KZ lounge.

Coach Sin felt deeply empathetic and distressed.

If Trolls are turned into Miracle Walkers, it goes without saying how much it will affect their lineup choices, since this lineup relies on Trolls to set the pace.

The result is very unfavorable now, and what's even more unfavorable is that trolls may not even be able to become miracle walkers.

Lin Ruo returned to the jungle, cleared the F6 camp, and then headed towards the bottom half of the jungle without looking back.

Because he was 100% certain that his good brother Peanut would never willingly endure such terrible suffering.

It doesn't matter who it is; most junglers wouldn't just give away two junglers to the enemy without doing anything.

So all they could do was quickly switch directions and exchange jungle camps.

At this moment, Peanut ate the red monster in the bottom jungle, and then, taking advantage of the pressure on the bottom lane, went into the blue side's jungle and attacked the blue monster.

Naturally, Lin Ruo wouldn't let him succeed. He arrived at the perfect moment to drive them away, and the nearby field toads provided support from under the defensive tower.

Peanut, having only lost 1/3 of its health, was forced to retreat back into the river, where it could only bitterly attack the river crab, which had nowhere else to go.

He simply couldn't handle that blue monster, even though the bot lane had lane priority.

But should we give up if the chances are slim? Obviously, that's absolutely unacceptable.

So the next moment, the KZ duo, who were pushing the lane, felt the situation and once again cooperated with the troll to invade, preparing to take advantage of the numerical advantage to directly take down the blue monster.

iboy was clearing minions under the turret and couldn't come to support him, so only Tianye's Tahm Kench could harass him from the side with his tongue sticking out.

Lin Ruo, who turned back again, stood calmly in the path behind the Blue Monster Wall, with the Blast Fruit right in front of him, which he could jump on.

Lin Ruo planned to use this large displacement to jump into the blue pit and fight the little peanut that was being pulled towards the outer edge when the blue monster's health was low.

With the timer ticking down, Graves jumped into the blue buff pit, used his E skill to dash towards the jungle entrance, and casually used his A skill followed by Smite to steal the blue buff that was delivered to his mouth.

Suddenly, the scene erupted with shouts from the European audience, reviving the long-dormant atmosphere.

Lin Ruotai's performance amazed them.

"Lin Shen calmly secured the blue monster, and the troll didn't gain any advantage. This start is absolutely disastrous!"

As the commentator observed the difference in CS between the two junglers, Peanut, who was only two levels high, had only managed to farm the red buff, the three wolves, and the river crab.

Lin Ruo, on the other hand, has two buffs plus a toad, and also F6, so the difference is obvious.

Peanut, who was still fighting and retreating, felt a lump in his throat involuntarily. He had only one thought in his mind: "MMP," but he didn't know whether he should say it.

Lin Ruo's hand was too steady, which resulted in him losing everything and having to turn back to eat the most difficult stone beetle.

Lin Ruo, on the other hand, started farming the toads nearby. Next, he could go and fight the three wolves, and then return to the top jungle to kill the red buff monster. The level difference between the two junglers would only widen.

Because Peanut has no jungle monsters to farm, while he has plenty of jungle monsters.

(End of this chapter)