League: I really didn't tank!

Chapter 355 Incense Burner Vampire!

"Next, the group stage moves on to Group A! Let's wait and see how QG performs tomorrow."

Banbazi looked at the game screen in front of him and felt a pang of regret. He reached out and moved the mouse to turn off the projector.

He then stood up, turned to his team members, and said, "Have you noticed any changes in the pace of the competition over the past three days?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Banbazi turned his gaze to Chen Dongqing.

Chen Dongqing immediately responded in a deep voice: "There have been changes, and significant changes!"

In the first round of the group stage, tanks dominated the top lane, with Cho'Gath, Maokai, and occasionally Jarvan IV appearing.

But since the second round of the competition, the champion pool in the top lane has inexplicably taken a sharp turn!

These heroes that were popular in the first round have suddenly become easy targets, and the top lane has inexplicably become the version of Jayce, Gnar, and Kennen!

Especially Jess.

Ever since Chen Dongqing picked Jayce and crushed GAM in the last game of the first round, the priority of this hero has skyrocketed, even reaching the point where it is a must-ban or must-pick for teams like Samsung and SKT.

As expected.

The tank version is a safe choice for teams during league matches.

When it comes to the World Championship, if you want to win, you still have to play Jayce and Kennen. This is the underlying logic of the top lane regardless of the version.

Regarding this situation, a teammate remarked, "If Jayce gets hot, it'll be a good thing for us!"

When it comes to Jayce, who can compare to QG.ilex?

Chen Dongqing lay on the sofa, shrugging helplessly, "The good thing is, our business plans have become easier to make."

Chen Dongqing understood that if Jess's priority was increased, then he would definitely not be able to select him.

However, if it can put pressure on the opponent to ban a character during the draft phase, it might not be a bad thing.

At this point, Banbazi crossed his arms and said, "If the top lane's status improves, maybe we can consider the red side... but that won't work either, we can't deal with Kalista."

Uzi thought for a moment and said, "If you give me Ashe or Vayne, and pair them with a strong enchanter support, I can actually play Kalista too."

"But just dominating the lane isn't enough," Banbazi shook his head. "It's not that simple."

What are the strengths of the Skateboarder? First, its strong laning phase in the early game; second, its strong lane control after switching to mid lane in the mid-game; and third, its stable damage output in late-game team fights, protected by the Ardent Censer.

Breaking just one small part is far from enough.

Chen Dongqing thought for a moment and said, "I do have a way."

10 month 15 day.

On the final day of the group stage, the matches in Group A finally began.

QG, who played training matches until late last night, are still full of energy. The team slowly made their way to the venue by bus.

While the car was still moving, Banbazi was discussing yesterday's scrim with his teammates, and then they talked about the general draft strategy for today.

"First, pick a strong laning champion to pressure Kalista in lane, and then use other champions to disrupt the synergy between Kalista and the support. That's definitely a solution," Banbazi said. "But we still need to practice that in scrims, so shall we just play normally today?"

"Definitely!" Chen Dongqing said with a smile, "Something like this has to be saved for the semi-finals or finals, to give the other side a big surprise!"

"Okay." Banbazi smiled and then sat back down in his seat, starting to simulate today's draft on his laptop.

The bus quickly drove into the venue, and after the QG team entered, they didn't have to wait long before the first match began.

The first match had nothing to do with QG; it was a match between SSG and GAM. Chen Dongqing just watched calmly, not taking it too seriously.

The situation in Group A is similar to that of the two groups with EDG and FPX.

If there are no upsets in the top two matches, then the focus will be on their game against SSG.

Winning means advancing with a perfect record; losing means overtime.

After overtime, there are two possible outcomes: either you win the overtime and finish first in the group, or you lose the overtime and finish second in the group.

The other two LPL teams completed the two branches of the overtime, but no one managed to achieve the initial branch of advancing with a perfect record.

That hope naturally fell into the hands of QG.

At this moment, the players from both Samsung and Vietnam have emerged from the fountain, and the match has officially begun!

Judging from the first round of matches, Samsung was able to fight QG for 40 minutes and easily defeat GAM and TSM, which shows that this team is not weak, but rather quite strong.

Now, six days have passed, and no one knows how much this team has evolved.

And this match is the best proof of that.

This match lasted forty minutes.

This game still followed the standard Samsung-style operation, and even after a six-day break, this approach became even more extreme.

Their vision has become more discerning, and their lineup has become more well-balanced.

Nowadays, Samsung's mid lane seems to have abandoned mage champions such as Syndra and Orianna. They don't even bother to pick them; they just lock in Malzahar.

As for the top lane, Cuvee was clinging to his Jayce, Gnar, and Kennen and wouldn't let go!

With the bottom lane's Ardent Censer as the core, the mid and jungle players taking on the roles of protection and tempo control, and the top lane focusing on split pushing, this is Samsung's answer to the World Championship based on its own roster composition.

It can only be said that it is very similar to QG, but also different.

Compared to QG in 16, Samsung's support is not a hard support, but a soft support that focuses on protection.

Compared to QG this year, Samsung's mid laner is more inconsistent.

And most importantly, Samsung's approach is extremely standardized and scientific.

Samsung used to be a simple turtle, only focused on defense and didn't know how to win games.

But now, with the top lane role changing from tanks to split-pushing champions like Jayce and Gnar, everything is different.

They seemed to have found a winning formula, and they slowly calculated it step by step, eventually arriving at the solution to victory.

Accuracy is the only requirement, not speed!

After 43 minutes, thanks to Ruler's steady output and Cuvee's split-pushing and kiting, Samsung easily took a point!

QG looked at the scene with a somewhat solemn expression, but they didn't have time to think for long before it was their turn to go on stage.

This time their opponent is TSM.

QG displayed their usual strong offensive capabilities, with all three of their carries working together to take down three of the opponent's towers in just fifteen minutes.

Within 22 minutes, Chen Dongqing's Kennen made a perfect flanking maneuver and, with a series of powerful attacks, completely dismantled TSM!

Twenty-six minutes later, I clocked out.

During the handshake, the senior brother, who had already been eliminated, seemed somewhat downcast and didn't say a word.

In the end, Chen Dongqing said, "It's okay, see you next year."

In the third match, TSM and GAM, the two losers, took to the stage. After a brief clash between the two weak teams, the match quickly moved to the fourth game.

Now, the main event is finally here.

Chen Dongqing takes to the stage again, leading his team to face Samsung!

The ultimate showdown in Group A has finally arrived!

The commentators, including Wawa, Miller, and Guan Zeyuan, first assessed both teams. Then, Wawa, adjusting his headset, announced, "Okay, we've received word that both teams are ready. The fourth game's draft phase will begin soon!"

The BP panel quickly switched to the screen, and Wawa immediately added information: "Because QG exercised their side selection right in the first round, according to the rules, the side selection right will be given to SSG in the second round! Therefore, in this match, SSG has chosen the blue side for themselves!"

Not only did they choose the blue side, but SSG also made a very targeted move in this round of ban/pick.

Of course, Fiora is indispensable. In addition, they chose to ban Jayce and Kled, and directly locked in Kennen!

Their strategy was clear: there were too many champions to ban in the bot lane, including enchanter supports like Karma, Janna, Lulu, and Rakan, which QG could all pick, making it impossible to ban them all.

In that case, they might as well not ban it and give the ban slot to the top lane!

Furthermore, the first round of three bans wasn't enough; they chose to ban Camille and Gnar in the second round as well, resulting in a total of five bans for top laners, showing the utmost respect!

At this moment, countless comments in the LPL live stream room were already filled with question marks.

You know, banning the bot lane is useless, but banning the top lane is effective, right?

How many times has Tree Bro been banned as a top laner? When has he ever backed down?

As a last resort, Banbazi asked Chen Dongqing, as usual, which champion to pick against Kennen.

In that instant, countless answers came to Chen Dongqing's mind.

He suggested things like dog heads and stone men, but quickly rejected them.

Nasus is indeed good against Kennen, but not against a 3-star Kennen, because both of these champions are too passive.

Against such a turtle-like team, you still need to choose a top laner who is more proactive.

"Give me a vampire," Chen Dongqing said, and Banbazi nodded in complete agreement. The lineup was now set!

Blue side SSG: Top lane Kennen, Jungle Rek'Sai, Mid lane Malzahar, Bot lane Xayah and Rakan.

Red team QG: Top lane Vladimir, Jungle Jarvan IV, Mid lane Galio, Bot lane Tristana and Lulu.

Looking at the lineup, Banbazi nodded, patted Chen Dongqing on the shoulder, and said, "We'll definitely focus on protecting the bot lane this game. You just need to farm with that Kennen in the top lane, and we'll wait for you to shine in the late game!"

The QG team certainly believed in Chen Dongqing's vampire, especially Deft, who was watching the game in the hotel at the time and had a vivid memory of it.

He still remembers the scene of Chen Dongqing, that vampire with a score of 0-2, instantly killing his super-fat Sivir!

This match is getting interesting.

The match began quickly. The vampire's starting outfit was truly unique.

An extraction tool and a red bottle—it's like they've written "disdain" all over their faces!

Cuvee was filled with shame and indignation. He played extremely aggressively in lane, trying to suppress this arrogant vampire.

Unfortunately, that's simply impossible.

Chen Dongqing's near-perfect distance control made it difficult for Cuvee to exchange blows, while Cuvee was frequently targeted by vampires at the same distance!

Even if Cuvee manages to seize a rare opportunity to steal a bit from the vampire, he will inevitably be retaliated against by the vampire AQ, so he won't gain anything at all!

After a few back-and-forth exchanges, it turned out that the vampire had managed to get a few more hits on Kennen!

This scene drew sighs from the audience members on stage, making them exclaim, "This is truly TOP1!"

In this laning phase, Tree Bro is truly someone who never gives anyone a worry!

Faced with this situation, Cuvee frowned repeatedly, unsure of what to do.

Within ten minutes, the vampire followed closely behind with his last hits, quickly reaching three digits, and successfully secured the extra gold from the extraction!

The vampire used his ultimate to push the lane into the tower, then recalled to base to replenish his equipment before walking back to lane.

Cuvee habitually pressed TAB, glanced at the vampire's equipment, and his brows furrowed even more deeply.

What kind of approach is this?

At this moment, two pieces of equipment were lying quietly in the vampire's inventory.

One is a pair of CD shoes, and the other is a blazing incense burner!

Incense burner vampire? What kind of story is this?

A question flashed through Cuvee's mind, a sense of bewilderment crossing her mind.

This question also arose in the minds of all the viewers watching the game!

In the Korean commentary booth, the "Roaring Emperor" yelled out loud, sounding just like someone from next door: "Incense Burner Vampire? Not building a Rocketbelt? What is Ilex thinking?"

Meanwhile, the LPL commentators, Wawa and Miller, who were already used to Chen Dongqing's various pranks, remained calm and simply said, "Trust Brother Shu."

Indeed, just believe it and that's it.

Soon, Chen Dongqing showed them how terrifying the Incense Burner Vampire was.

Once the vampire returns, he won't be able to engage in any more drawn-out battles with Kennen.

After going live, Vladimir used Q on a minion to build up stacks, and then, with the speed boost from Ardent Censer, charged straight at Kennen's face!

Kennan wants to switch back and forth? (This last part is a nonsensical, incomplete thought.)

Chen Dongqing went up and used an AQ combo first, then unleashed a barrage of basic attacks. Relying on the attack speed bonus from the Ardent Censer and the solid healing effect from basic attacks, he managed to trade blows with Kennen on par with him, thanks to this special effect alone!

Immediately afterwards, relying on the Ardent Censer, Boots of Speed, and the speed boost from Enraged Q, Chen Dongqing quickly caught up, used Enraged Q to pull out Wind Rider, and directly chased and forced Kennen to use Flash!

Cuvée, caught off guard by the flash, stood under the tower and helplessly pressed recall. In those eight seconds, he reluctantly pressed TAB and glanced at the stats of the Incense Burner.

The buffs include ability power, cooldown reduction, healing bonus, movement speed, and other effects that provide a significant boost to vampires.

Aside from the mosquito-leg-like mana regeneration which is useless, almost all the others are core attributes needed by vampires!

Cuvee has to admit that this item's bonus to vampires is ridiculously large!

And most importantly, this piece of equipment only costs 2300 yuan.

Cuvee had to reconsider the idea of ​​the incense burner vampire.

It has to be said that while other top laners were still holding two random items, Vladimir pulling out an Ardent Censer at this moment was almost a complete game-changer for his opponents!

Of course, it was too late for Cuvee to start taking it seriously at this point.

From this moment on, he is no match for the vampire.

In the next few minutes, Kennen was chased and attacked by Vladimir as soon as he came online. Chen Dongqing didn't even need to consider whether trading health would be profitable, because even if he lost health, he could go back and heal from a minion to trigger Ardent Censer, and a few auto-attacks would restore his health!

This version of Kennen is all built with AP, so he has no sustain in lane and can't play this kind of overpowered playstyle at all, so he can only recall to base frequently!

While the main forces of both sides were locked in a fierce battle in the lower half of the map, Chen Dongqing soloed the enemy's top tower just over eleven minutes into the game, securing the first tower kill bounty.

In the lower half of the map, the Samsung team, who were gathering to prepare for the dragon fight, looked at the disadvantageous situation in the upper half of the map, thought for a moment, and decisively chose to retreat.

These vampires have multiple teleports, how are they going to fight the dragon?

Start retreating!

In the following period, Samsung's strategy began to change drastically once again.

They immediately changed their strategy and began to focus on defense. Ruler and Crown chose Xayah and Malzahar, both of whom are good at defending towers, and they were responsible for holding the line.

Meanwhile, Master An and KouJJ are responsible for limiting the development of the vampire on the side lane.

Their task was to fill in the vision in the half of the jungle where the vampire was located, and to put pressure on the vampire through a patch of jungle, preventing him from crossing the river.

Of course, they also didn't forget to guard against Xiangguo's jungle invasion, and to sneak up on the Crown lane without anyone noticing, using Malzahar's ultimate to reliably control and kill Gao Dewei who was pushing the lane!

Even though QG had a significant advantage, the game inevitably dragged on into the late game.

But this time, QG wasn't in a hurry.

Should we drag out the game against vampires in the late stages?

Let's just drag it out then, who's afraid of who?

If you're a vampire player, you should know that the Incense Burner Vampire build was a really popular strategy back then. The combination of Incense Burner and Binding Orb for double movement speed gave the vampire a lot of combat power.

Although this version doesn't have the Binding Orb, the Incense Burner has stronger attributes, so it's definitely a good thing it's included.

(End of this chapter)