The screen switched to the commentators' seats. Doll, Mille, and three familiar faces appeared in front of everyone.
"Wow …" Doll uttered a familiar auxiliary word. "The match hasn't even started, but I can already feel the heated atmosphere in the stadium!"
"The attention on this final match is indeed unprecedented," Remember chimed in.
"One of the teams is YM, who aspires to be the first Quintuple Champion in LPL history, and the other is IG, an ancient powerhouse who wants to return to the top!"
"After three generations of restructuring, IG is finally going to return to its former glory." Mille was filled with emotions as he spoke.
He was considered one of the most experienced commentators in the LPL. He had seen IG's ups and downs and stumbled all the way until they were able to stand on the highest stage of the league.
From the older generation of eSports players like PDD and Sun Yeyou to the Broiler Kakao brothers who led the Gemini Stars into the S5 global finals.
Then, the God of Wandering was transferred to the jungler position to assist Tabe, Rain Emperor, and the others to rebuild the team.
It was only until the arrival of The Sh, King Ning, and Old Thief Sima that IG was truly reborn.
"Without further ado, let's see who will win and which team will be able to lift the Silver Dragon Cup in Nanjing Qing Ao Park!"
As soon as Doll finished speaking, the caster's camera switched to the contestants' seats again.
The ten players and the head coaches of both teams were ready.
Amid the cheers of the audience, a sonorous and powerful sound echoed throughout the entire stadium.
The exciting summer finals had officially begun!
"IG has the priority to choose sides in this finals. They've obtained the blue side for the first round. They've banned Liu Qingsong's specialty, Hammer Stone!"
As the coaches of both teams had made ample preparations before the match, the ban positions in the first round of the finals were carried out step by step according to the tactics formulated by their respective teams.
Therefore, the ban segment proceeded very quickly.
YM chose to ban the Ice Shooter.
In Version 8.16, Eich's strength was high and this was considered a regular ban position. The three commentators were not surprised.
"IG has locked down Bull's Head in the second round …" Remember frowned. "They're really trying to restrict Liu Qingsong."
Seeing this, Red Rice did not hesitate and ordered Mongoose to ban the Troll King.
Su Cheng knew that the direction of the first round's BP script was the same as what the post on the Tieba had predicted.
YM's main goal was to limit IG's offensive capabilities. What IG needed to do was to lock down Liu Qingsong, who was more frequently linked up with Lin Yan and Phyllostachys Pubescens. This was to prevent him from tearing open his wounds and leaving the line to put pressure in the jungle and other lanes.
"The last forbidden spot of the first round, IG gave Brother Ran's Galio." Doll's eyes locked onto the forbidden spots of both sides. "And YM blocked Akali!"
Mille explained, "Brother Ran's Akali's skill is obvious to all, but Rookie and The Shy are not to be trifled with either."
IG's momentum was very strong. Other than their individual strength, their ability to swing was too strong. It was not a problem to switch heroes.
This was in line with the direction of the version.
In the current version of T1, Urgot, Blade Girl, Sword Demon, and Akali could all swing.
Jiang Chenglu and Song Yijin used their deep hero pools to make IG's BP very easy. They had a natural advantage.
Homme, who was in the red side, had to ban Absurd Sting, afraid that the two monsters in IG would swing together.
"IG's one steal on the blue side …"
"Lucian!"
The three commentators were stunned for a moment.
Jin Jingzhu's selection strategy was unexpected.
Before the semi-finals, although Lucian was strong, he was only a bit above T2. He was still a bit away from the real hot spot of the version.
But this time, IG was the first to reveal it!
The three commentators looked at each other. They were well aware of this.
After the semi-finals, IG's understanding of the version had changed.
They just didn't know if this change was correct.
"And Lucian has another advantage." Doll was still talking on the side. "That is, he can swing up and down the lane!"
Because Lin Yan had used Lucian to do a lot of disgusting things two years ago, his fists had weakened the damage of the R [Holy Gun Baptism]. Now a round of big moves couldn't even deal with a wave of short laners.
In the crucial mid lane, Lucian was basically unable to play.
But because the opponents in the top lane were all short handed heroes, Lucian didn't need to use a big move to firmly control the lane, so he wasn't affected that much.
And the bottom lane was Lucian's usual playstyle. Old Thief Sima's proficiency was also guaranteed.
"YM chose Boulogne and gave the other position to Zhao Xin!"
Remember tried to make an analysis. "The main reason for taking Boulogne is to break up the partnership between him and Lu Xian. After all, the support in the bottom lane is now mostly banned. The remaining combination is difficult to fight against Lu Xian and Boulogne. YM can't do anything. If they don't want their own duo to fall into a disadvantage, they have to choose Boulogne."
"But this brings about a problem … That is, YM can't have a magic core hero in the bottom lane," Remember said. "The Sorcerer and Boulogne pairing in the bottom lane can only be described as neither fish nor fowl."
After all, other than Security Door, Bloom's core skill was the passive [Concussive Slam] that could trigger a stun effect by stacking his normal attacks. Since the Sorcerer's attack speed was too slow, it was quite difficult for him to cast a Concussive Slam. The two could not be used together at all.
In other words, after YM got Boulogne, they had determined that Jack had to use an ADC.
Jin Jingzhu scratched his chin with the black notebook in his hand, showing a thoughtful expression.
"… Ning, you take Qing Gang Yin. Bao Lan, you take Luo."
He didn't want to expose the result of Lucian's swing. He planned to hide it until the opponent chose a hero.
This time, Yefu was sure.
Red Rice thought for a moment. "Jin Gong, what hero do you think is better to use to fight Lu Xian?"
Although IG didn't reveal that Holy Spear Ranger would definitely be in the top lane, Red Rice was still prepared.
"Lucian …" Jin Gong frowned and kept scrolling, trying to find a character in his hero pool that was easy to deal with.
But it was difficult.
Lu Xian's strength was that he had an advantage against most of the solo heroes.
Although in theory, the tank wouldn't be so hurt when facing Lucian after making a small anti-armor.
But the problem was that the small anti-armor wasn't something that could be brought out when going out. It was very difficult to transition the time before the equipment was made.
If the tank had a small anti-armor and Lucian was destroyed, then what was the point of playing?
"Burning Pot, your game …" Xi Ba turned his head to ask his mid laner, wanting to get some help from him.
After getting a positive answer from Lin Yan, he said, "Let's go.
The other heroes aren't that good. "
Jin Gong didn't want to choose his signature captain. If IG really got Lucian into the top lane, he was afraid that the captain wouldn't be able to blow up the barrel at all.
If Jess used his backup to fight Lucian, he would still be suppressed in the lane. But choosing other heroes would be a big disadvantage. Second Battalion Commander Piltworf's hands weren't short, so he could still finish off the lane. He would at least have some ability to fight back against Lu Xian.
And more importantly, Jin Gong knew that Lin Yan would come to help him in this game.
If Jess had an advantage in the early game, then Lu Xian would be very uncomfortable.
After seeing that YM had chosen Jess for the third time, The Shy's eyes lit up.
"Lu Xian, give me, give me!" He said in broken Chinese. "The opponent is Jess, don't use Lu Xian this time. Throw coins!"
Jin Jingzhu didn't want The Shy to play so freely, but seeing his enthusiasm, he didn't say anything to stop him.
"If you use Lucian, you have to play well in this game. Do you understand?" Jin Jingzhu communicated with his top laner in the team voice chat.
He still wanted to establish his authority as a coach.
"Understood, understood!"
Don't worry, "The Hy replied in Korean, grinning as he said," Don't worry. "
"In this round of BP, YM has targeted the middle lane and sent Little Temptress and Zooey to the ban position." Remember to raise your voice. "And IG has banned Sword Demon and Knife Lady!"
Su Cheng, who was sitting in the front row, saw this and felt that IG wanted to send Lucian to the top lane.
Otherwise, there was no need to ban both Sword Demon and Knife Lady. After all, The Shy was very familiar with these two heroes.
"We'll choose Kesha for Jack first. Lin Yan will be the last to choose the counter position." Red Rice arranged everything.
Although IG had invested a lot of ban positions in the bottom lane, Jin Jingzhu was afraid that Liu Qingsong would be released early and roam to support the other members of YM. Therefore, the banned heroes were all support heroes. Jack had a lot of heroes to choose from.
The main reason was that this version was slightly deformed. Other than Eich, the other archers weren't very strong.
Dusk and Kesha were the rare ADC cores in this version. Jack chose Lady of the Void to increase the team's bargaining chip in the middle and late game.
"IG has chosen Sindra for the fourth pick. This is also Broiler's signature." Remember wasn't surprised. "Let's see how IG chooses the last pick …"
Before he could finish speaking, Bao Lan had already decided on the team's last pick!
"Death Song!"
Mille revealed a smile. "This is also Old Thief's signature hero. He didn't choose any less this summer!"
"If it's like this, then IG has decided to put Lucian in the top lane. They're letting The Shy use him to face Gongzi Bro's Jayce!"
IG's lineup was all confirmed. There were excited shouts from the dogs in the stands!
In their eyes, The Shy's Lucian was definitely trustworthy!
"Now only Brother Ran hasn't chosen a hero." Doll looked at his two partners. "But there aren't many strong characters left in the mid lane …"
Sword Demon, Knife Lady, Akali, Enchantress, and Zooey were all in the ban position. As for Sindra, it had been taken by Broiler.
"How about Urgat?" He threw out his own thoughts first.
He followed Doll's words and assumed that Lin Yan would choose Urgat as the last counter. Then he considered the lineup of both sides.
He felt that it wasn't right, but he didn't directly refute Doll's words. Instead, he changed his method. "I just noticed something that everyone ignored before."
"What do you mean?" Mille was on the side.
"Even Crab and Crow weren't taken seriously," Remember said. "In this final, we can see that Frost and Troll, who can kite and pull, were banned in the first round. However, both sides didn't plan to touch these two heroes at all. They didn't even ban or select them in the next round!"
"That really is ….." Mille fell into deep thought.
"In the semi-finals three days ago, YM first proposed a solution to Urgat. They wanted to use a laner to suppress the lane and use a lineup with speed reduction or acceleration to pull the team."
Doll and Mille heard their partner's words and nodded in agreement.
In that match, YM used Lucian as the top laner and Troll as the jungler to completely restrict Letme.
Yan Junze's Urgat at the time couldn't enter the arena at all. Even with Chiwil's ultimate and his own Righteous Glory, it was useless. Before he could rush in, he was interrupted by Troll's pillar.
"Trolls are indeed the best characters to deal with Crab and Raven, but Tronder isn't necessary to restrict Urgat," Remember said. "Take YM's lineup for example. The support and jungler heroes they chose have a certain amount of defensive abilities!"
Boulogne's [Glacial Fissure] and Zhao Xin's [New Moon Guard] were very effective in stopping Crab's advance.
"In my opinion, YM's Lucian + Troll combo can be developed out of the lineup and become a universal strategy!"
Memories was someone who had been a Lightning Wolf analyst before. Even though it was a long time ago, his thinking was still much more flexible than many analysts.
"The long laner suppressing Crab is actually using a strong top laner or a jungler to suppress Urgat. As long as Urgat is given some pressure, as long as Crab doesn't have an advantage in the first 15 minutes, it won't be possible for him to solo kill Urgat."
"In the middle and late game, when facing Crab's charge, you don't have to use Troll. In reality, most heroes are more flexible than Urgat. As long as Crab can't enter the arena, this hero won't be of much use."
Memories finally gave his conclusion. "As long as the team doesn't have a forced lineup, taking Urgat from a strong team is definitely not a good choice."
According to Memories' theory, only a forced lineup would allow Crab to enter the arena. If the entire team only had Urgat as the starting hero, it would be very easy for the opponent to kite him.
The stronger the team, the more obvious this kind of pulling technique was.
For teams at the level of YM and IG, pulling and pulling in team battles was a basic skill that was necessary for them.
Against strong teams, Crab's usefulness was limited.
If Crab couldn't do anything in the mid game, then he wouldn't be of much use in the side lane. He would just be a toy for heroes like Sword Demon and Knife Sis.
Moreover, because of Crab's skill mechanics, other than Urgot's E Flash, he couldn't coordinate with the jungler to gank people. Although [Fear Beyond Time] had a slow effect, in the eyes of pro players, as long as there was a bit of distance between them, they wouldn't be hit. They could just twist their waist and dodge.
This meant that if the top laner chose Urgat, their own jungler wouldn't be able to help.
Not to mention, even if he helped, it wouldn't be of much use since it was just a Crab.
If they wanted to raise a top laner, wouldn't it be better to raise Knife Sis or Sword Demon?
Urgat was more like a character that was forced to pick when the top laner couldn't get help from his teammates.
This was the reality. That was what Red Rice and Jin Jingzhu thought.
As the understanding of the version deepened, Urgat, who had been extremely strong at the start of the playoffs, gradually lost popularity. His weakness was too obvious. If he was picked first, it would be easy for him to be countered by the long hands. At that time, he would be paralyzed by the Money Stealing Rune.
If he was picked later ….. There were so many better counter heroes, why would he play an idiot Crab?
The two coaches had a tacit understanding and threw Urgat into the cold palace in the first round of the finals.
He remembered that when he explained his thoughts, Lin Yan had already discussed his choice with his teammates and had Liu Qingsong lock him down.
A man with a low hat that covered the upper half of his face appeared in YM's last hero selection box.
In his hand was a red card that represented fate.
"Card!"
The three commentators said at the same time. They couldn't hide the shock in their voices.
"Is this real?"
At first, Doll wanted to question if Liu Qingsong had changed his choice of Lulu from Lulu to a card. Then, he realized that Tearing The Wound had already confirmed his choice!
"He really picked it!"
She couldn't believe it. "How long has it been since we've seen Card appear on the professional stage?"
Miller, who was next to him, received a message from the backstage director. He adjusted his headset and said loudly, "That's right.
"The last time Card appeared on the LPL stage was February 27th, 2018. The player was Xi Ye!"
This meant that after six and a half months, Drizzt had reappeared on the LPL stage!
The spectator stands were also seething like boiling water!
Even the bullet screen was flooded like a tidal wave.
[Is this YM's hidden move?]
[Can the card's ability withstand Sindera's attacks?
If he can't roam, he'll become the school belle.]
[But Brother Ran is really brave. He even dared to pick Card in this kind of situation!]
[I think Card isn't as good as Ike. Brother Ran, Ike is pretty strong. Why don't you take him out to fight Sindra?]
The commentators calmed down and began to objectively analyze the lineup.
"In the end, YM chose Card for Brother Ran. This way, he can protect their top laner, Jess, and at the same time target The Sh!"
As everyone knew, Card was the strongest character in the mid lane. He was even more terrifying than Galio.
As a result, Jesse and Lucian, who were facing each other on the road, had their offensive and defensive poles reversed at this moment.
The lineups of both sides were confirmed.
The blue IG: top laner Lucian, jungler Qing Gang Ying, mid laner Sindra, bottom laner Death Song + Law.
The red YM: top laner Jess, jungler Zhao Xin, mid laner Card Master, bottom laner Kesha + Boulogne.
"Both teams have shown their unique understanding of the BP choices in the first round of the finals," Doll commented. "Obviously, after the semifinals, their views on the version are different. Now, it's time to see who can seize the initiative in the finals!"
In the IG players' seats, the head coach Jin Jingzhu was still giving instructions to his players.
"Remember, you must guard against Card's roaming after reaching six. Set up your vision along the way to get first-hand information about his roaming!"
Then he patted Broiler on the shoulder. "This game is mainly up to you. If you can restrict him to the middle lane, we'll win half the game."
Song Yijin nodded solemnly. He was used to having a simple and honest smile on his face, but now he was very serious.
In this game, the focus was indeed on the middle lane.
As long as he could block Lin Yan's roaming, the top laner, The Sh, would crush Jin Gong's Jess.
Once Jayce and the cards were useless, the entire YM team would collapse.
After drinking a mouthful of ice water to stimulate his body, Broiler checked the situation of his runes again. After confirming that there were no mistakes, he communicated with his teammates about the game's response plan.
At the same time, the two head coaches took off their headphones and left the player's seats.
According to the requirements of last night's rehearsal, the two stepped onto the Summoner's Canyon in the center of the Green Ao Park Stadium stage.
From the perspective of the audience, they seemed to have left the blue and red bases.
The two followed the middle lane and walked to the center of the Summoner's Canyon.
In the middle of the blue and red towers, there was a pedestal with a silver dragon cup on it.
Red Rice and Jin Jingzhu shook hands to show their friendliness, but they both kept a straight face and did not talk much. They turned around and left.
It was a long way to go, and it took half a minute to go back and forth.
After the two coaches left, the director switched the camera to the audience.
When they realized that their faces had appeared on the big screen, the audience was once again greeted with a tsunami of screams and cheers.
Against the backdrop of these voices, the unique sound effect of the Summoner's Canyon rang throughout the stadium!
Ten heroes from both sides were born in the spring.
The equipment grid under the data panel kept jumping, and the players quickly bought one equipment after another. When the spring gate opened in 15 seconds, they rushed out of the high ground and went straight to the jungle.
The director took advantage of the time before the two sides met to show the rune configuration.
"Brother Shy still chose to attack in this round, instead of using Jin Gong's version of Lucian's Steal Money in the semi-finals …"
Jiang Chenglu had his own understanding of the game. In the interview before the finals, he publicly said that he would never use the Steal Money rune.
He was very confident in his ability to suppress the opponent. As long as he could completely suppress the opponent, the gold coins that Steal Omen brought were nothing.
In comparison, attacking in a strong way increased Lucian's burst power significantly.
"Brother Ran is the standard [Secret of Unsealing]. The small rune is the perfect timing, minions, and time distortion tonic. The secondary type carries the taste of the dominator's blood and the ultimate hunter!"
The secondary type rune provided the lane recovery, and the latter provided the cooldown reduction of ultimate skills. It was very important for cards.
The three commentators watched as Liu Qingsong took the lead and led the four teammates behind him to cross the river and enter the upper half of IG's jungle.
"YM is relying on their Boulogne and cards. Their first team is very strong and has launched an attack on the upper half of the jungle!"
Lin Yan commanded in the team voice chat. "Let's chase Qing Gang Yin out. Don't let her touch the top lane before four minutes!"
YM had studied Ning Wang's video in advance. Moreover, Gao Zhenning was their former teammate, so they had some understanding of his playstyle.
Lin Yan knew that Ning Wang was a pure brute. The ferocity of his gank was no less than that of the Spicy Saucepan.
Therefore, his choice was to use the strength of their first team to chase Ning Wang out of the upper half of the jungle.
As long as Qing Gang Yin couldn't reach the top lane, Jin Gong would face less danger in the early stages.
The plan was very successful. IG's lineup couldn't compete with YM at the first level.
"This way, Ning Wang can only start from the bottom half of his own jungle. This will greatly hinder his rhythm!"
For Gao Zhenning, the bottom lane was definitely not easy to catch.
As long as there were minions in the lane, the damage of Old Thief Sima's Death Song would be weakened a lot. YM's duo was not as easy to catch as it seemed.
1 minute and 25 seconds later, Lin Yan was sure that IG didn't plan to forcibly defend the jungle before returning to the middle lane.
Broiler habitually clicked on his equipment column. His facial muscles instantly stiffened.
Straw Sandals plus four health potions!
Have you been possessed by Potion Bro?
You like to buy potions so much?
With these four health potions, plus the endurance recovery from Taste of Blood, Lin Yan was obviously going to stay in the lane until level 6!
Song Yijin knew that if he continued to exhaust him, he was afraid that his own mana would be drained before he could finish Lin Yan's health potions.
Moreover, the combination of the potions and the Time Distortion Tonic would provide an acceleration effect. Coupled with the movement speed of Straw Sandals, it would allow the card to better avoid Sindra's Q [Shadow Ball] during the lane phase.
Broiler's brain was spinning rapidly, thinking about his next lane strategy.
Lin Ran also furrowed his brows.
After the rune was revised, he felt that the card had been weakened.
Previously, Drizzt could add movement essence to the rune to ensure his running speed and catch up to the enemy with a yellow card to stop them.
The rune also had the Thunder Lord's Decree and damage burst.
However, it was no longer possible.
With the rune and talent combined, there was no movement speed support. Instead, it was replaced by the magic power that came with the rune.
However, the card didn't need AP attributes in the early stages, so the magic power didn't improve him much.
This time, it was chosen mainly because of the tactical requirements.
Lin Yan saw that Broiler didn't have any intention of expending blood for a blood swap. Sindra was only hiding near IG's ranged troops, wanting to finish them off.
He also copied this playstyle, but he didn't use Soldier A and let the minions naturally deplete.
Against most heroes, it was more comfortable to control the minions in front of the tower. This way, the risk of being caught wasn't high and they could develop steadily.
However, Broiler didn't intend to let him do as he wished. He took two steps forward and pretended to be Soldier A, wanting to trick Lin Yan into exchanging blood with him.
If Lin Yan used Q [Omnipotent Card] to expend blood, he would definitely scratch IG's minions. This way, the minions' status would become YM's advantage, and the minions' position would naturally move towards the Broiler Tower.
If Lin Yan used a normal attack or W [Card Selection] to expend blood, he would definitely attract the IG minions' aggro.
This way, IG's minions would attack the card, while YM's minions would attack the enemy's minions as usual.
IG's minions would still be at a health disadvantage, and the minions would still advance towards the Broiler Tower.
In other words, no matter what methods Lin Yan used to expend blood, as long as the card dared to touch him, the middle lane of the game would be over.
When the minions were pushed to the front of the Broiler Tower, he could call for a jungler and let Ning Wang come over to catch Lin Yan.
At that time, this card master, who did not have any displacement skills, would be an ATM.
When many players encountered such a situation, they would subconsciously attack Sindra.
After all, the ball girl looked like she was going to use a normal attack minions at this time, and it would be a free trade.
When Sindra reacted, the card could use its movement speed advantage to widen the range of its normal attack.
However, Lin Yan did not fall for it.
He took a step back and widened the distance between himself and Broiler.
Seeing this, Song Yijin hurriedly canceled the normal attack that he was about to make when he touched the minions.
Both sides deliberately did not disturb the minions, which caused the six melee soldiers to be left with low health at the same time.
Neither of them was in a hurry to finish the job. Instead, they waited until the melee soldiers' health was completely low, and even the minions could kill them in one shot before making their move.
This way, they could minimize the interference with the minions' status.
Both sides did not seem to do anything special, but in fact, Lin Yan and Broiler had already engaged in a game.
The outcome had not been decided, but Song Yijin was a little anxious.
Controlling Sindra, he was under pressure to attack.
If Lin Yan was really allowed to smoothly develop to level six, then the card would have the ability to change the situation!
However, no matter how he tried to bait, Lin Yan highlighted a turtle-style play.
Anyway, the card had a passive that could add money to the minions, so it was not a big problem to miss two minions. It was acceptable as long as the experience was not lost.
Just as the mid lane was at a loss, the junglers of both sides had already started their first wave of attacks.
"Ning Wang refreshed to level three and came to the bottom lane to gank. Hook Rope caught the wall and kicked it back!"
The target was Jack's Kesha.
At level two, Old Thief Sima had learned W [Wall of Pain] to slow down the Shiba Inu.
"Liu Qingsong's Boulogne raised the anti-theft door and blocked the damage in front!"
Jack chose to take it head-on.
Even if the wound was torn, the guardian would provide a shield, so he would definitely not die.
"Kesha was sent flying by Luo's grand entrance and followed by control … The damage is indeed not enough!"
Jack drank a health potion and returned to the bottom of the tower with low health, ready to continue to develop. He brought Swift Steps so that he could have a continuous recovery ability.
"On the other side, Xiao Tian also made his move. His E [Fearless Charge] stabbed Lucian, forcing him to slide back, while Jesse flashed and followed up with a Hammer Form Q [Sky's Leap]!"
It was obvious that they were going to dodge. The Hy was unwilling, but he could only hand it over.
If he reacted a little slower and was slowed down by Jesse, then Xiao Tian's Zhao Xin might also follow up and forcefully kill him.
It was better to flash earlier and save his own condition.
Although there were no kills in the Summoner's Canyon, there was tension everywhere.