Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Pick phase!
Team Skycrown had no intention of holding back. In this match, they definitely needed to go all out, so they would obviously pick their best champions.
Once Shen was banned, Da Luo didn’t hesitate to pick Jax. The Grandmaster at Arms was his most-loved champion. Jax’s fearlessness and ability to fight against multiple champions at the same time made Da Luo feel like this champion was made for him.
Only Jax could help him chanel his desire for victory and completely release the years of accumulated anger and resentment in his heart!
Meanwhile, their opponents had picked Renekton to hit the top lane.
Renekton had dominated top lanes for a very long time, and it seemed like there were no champions that he was afraid of. Using Jax against Renekton was basically playing at a disadvantage.
Even so, Da Luo didn’t have any doubts in his pick.
It had to be The Grandmaster at Arms—Jax!
***
Lin Dong was always straightforward with his choice. He selected Ezreal, the same champion he had previously used. A play style that used a middle lane Ezreal was popular overseas, but it was considered as non-mainstream within China.
A middle lane Ezreal’s builds are Trinity Force and Manamune, and the first Mid Ezreal built the Blue Build which would be Frozen Gauntlet. However, the disadvantage of less attack damage and kiting capabilities, as well as the slow development of the champion with these items were not suitable for fast-paced games, hence Blue Ezreal became rarer in games.
Since Lin Dong had picked Ezreal and his style was different, then it meant that Team Skycrown’s team fight system would most likely be a duo ADC style!
With Xiao Bei at the bottom lane as the main ADC, Ezreal would serve as the second ADC. Using Ezreal’s W skill to maximize the main ADC’s damage was often able to have a good effect on the overall game.
The main ADC’s pick wouldn’t be a champion with slow build up like Caitlyn or Ashe. To be able to fully utilize Ezreal’s W which would maximize the damage output and his flexibility to bait the enemy, the main ADC had to be a champion like Twitch, Kog’Maw, Vayne, or Miss Fortune who had enough speed to keep up!
“They have picked a Mid Ezreal! If my calculations are correct, Xiao Bei will pick Vayne!” said Xie Yi.
Xie Yi had already done his homework on Team Skycrown. They knew that Xiao Bei’s Vayne had a hundred percent win rate in the pre-season and the LPL. They couldn’t waste a ban on Xiao Bei’s Vayne, but if they let him build her up, they wouldn’t be able to handle her either.
Neither Bai Feng, Guan Lanjie, nor Asmodai could call themselves the county’s best Vayne. No, that title belonged to this skinny brat who was only sixteen years old!
Most of the big shots in the LPL usually play ranked games in the Ionia server, and it wasn’t like they had never played against this number one Vayne before. So, they were well aware that if Xiao Bei managed to build her up, a victory would be difficult to obtain.
“Then, I’ll take it first. Let’s see what else he can use to pair up with Ezreal!” said Guan Lanjie coldly, locking in Vayne as soon as their opponent locked in Ezreal.
Together, Vayne and Ezreal were practically an invincible team. Team Sky was not about to let Team Skycrown have a lineup that included both the King of Kiting and King of Damage.
Guan Langjie sneered.
“If I actually had time to play ranked games, do you think that the title of number one Vayne would still fall to this brat?”
Every strong ADC player held Vayne close to their hearts. It was really a joke that Xiao Bei dared to let himself be called the number one Vayne.
If it wasn’t for the fact that they were divided by divisions and whatnot, more powerful ADCs would surely have been unearthed, and this brat definitely wouldn’t be able to claim the title of being the best Vayne!
***
“Xiao Bei’s Vayne has been taken away, and it looks like there’s some slight hesitation in the pick now. There was a mention before this that Team Skycrown’s Xiao Bei’s Vayne currently has the highest rank within the country.
“With the highest win rate, he is undoubtedly the top Vayne in the country. His ID is Xiao Bei, and I presume that many of the higher-ranking players should have tasted the strength of his Vayne before,” said Hei Hei.
Hei Hei himself was a high-ranking player and he had also played against Xiao Bei’s Vayne before. He obviously admired and respected Xiao Bei’s Vayne.
Suddenly recalling something, Xi Ling said, “Come to think of it, there are many top notch players gathered here today for this match.”
“What do you mean?” asked Hei Hei.
“That Top Jax, his ID is Lone Gull. If I remember correctly, he’s the defending champion that holds the 24-win streak record from almost half a year ago. He played all 24 games with Jax and achieved a 100% win rate in the Ionia server. You have to be amazingly strong to be able to do that in that server.
Everyone definitely remembers how freaky that 24-win streak was. And it seems like no one has been able to take the title of strongest Jax from him yet!” explained Xi Ling.
The strongest Jax in the country!
Da Luo’s Top Jax was really a king, although he hadn’t used it much in the previous matches. It wasn’t that he was intentionally saving his best for last, he had simply been choosing champions who were more compatible with his team.
For this game, Team Skycrown had purposely developed a duo ADC lineup in order to fully maximize the individual strength of each team member. They wanted Da Luo to be able to use Jax to launch his assault full speed ahead without having to worry about the back line.
“Oh, you have the strongest Jax in the country and the strongest Vayne in the country on the same team. It’s a pity that Xiao Bei’s Vayne has been taken by Guan Langjie, otherwise this would have been one hell of a match to watch!” said Hei Hei.
“I’m sure everyone here is aware that Vulcan, Team Sky’s solo Top, is known as the strongest Renekton. The confrontation between the strongest Jax and strongest Renekton will surely be amazingly exciting!”
With such an exclamation, the arena suddenly cheered loudly, bursting with excitement!
In China, the title King Of Champions referred to a person who had the highest win rate with a specific champion with the highest rank.
Xiao Bei’s Vayne had been elected as a King Of Champions for almost half a year now, and no one had been able to claim the title from him yet. At the same time, ever since Da Luo’s Jax had obtained the 24-win streak, no other player has been able to beat that record.
This clearly demonstrated how deep an understanding the two players had of these two champions.
It was only the first match and both top laners had already picked champions that held the title of King. It was obvious that both teams were not holding anything back!
The strongest Jax and the strongest Renekton were going to face off in a LPL match, just who will dominate the entire battlefield?
Without a doubt, the first contest in the match would be a top lane face off!
***
Both team’s lineups have been locked in.
Team Skycrown had an aggressive lineup, including their duo ADCs. Team Sky had a tank, a burst, and two protectors for Vayne in their lineup.
In terms of ADC, Xiao Bei finally chose The Mouth Of The Abyss—Kog’Maw!
Kog’Maw was an ADC that has almost been forgotten by most players. It wasn’t commonly used, but in late game it was one of the only champions who can match Vayne’s attack speed. The disadvantage of this champion is that it is not flexible and has no repositioning skills.
After entering the loading screen, the commentators started to read the long list of sponsors for the event and repeated the lineups of both teams once again.
“The voting results have also come in, let us have a look!”
“Team Sky has almost seventy-six percent of the support votes, while Team Skycrown is at twenty-four percent. Looks like there are still people who support Team Skycrown, their popularity has definitely increased.
“To be able to grab twenty-four percent of the supporters away from Team Sky, this must be the result of their match against Team Revelation. Team Skycrown really gave the audience a fantastic scare during that match,” said Hei Hei.
“It’s also probably because Blood Eagle is not around. If he was here, the results would most likely be different,” added Xi Ling.
“Indeed, if Blood Eagle was here, Team Sky’s support votes would definitely be as high as ninety-eight percent or more, and the rest would probably just be a mistake in the text messages instead,” joked Hei Hei.
Everyone knew that Team Sky would have absolutely no problem defeating Team Revelation. After all, Team Revelation was the weakest of the top four teams.
Even if Team Skycrown had won against Team Revelation with a score of three to zero, it wasn’t enough to shake the hearts of all the Team Sky supporters.
Blood Eagle’s strength was so strong that he even stood out among the LPL players as a world-class player. If it wasn’t for weaker teammates holding the team back, it would be impossible for Team Sky to not progress past the group stage!
***
“We are entering the game screen! Everyone, what you’re watching now is the domestic LOL Professional League brought to you by Tencent and the many sponsors below. The two teams currently playing are the veteran high profile Team Sky and the rising stars Team Skycrown!”
The image slowly appeared on the big screen, and you could see the five champions of Team Sky—Renekton, Syndra, Jarvan, Janna, and Vayne.
This was one of the most classic LOL lineups, the only thing missing was CC abilities. But as they didn’t have much AOE skills individually, controlling objective points was even more important to them.
Jarvan, their Jungler, could easily close gaps and also be used as an initiate as well as to defend the back line. Even though Renekton was able to dash in to initiate, he may not be able to inflict enough damage, so Jarvan should be used to initiate instead. Meanwhile, Vayne’s safety would be fully entrusted to Janna.
Team Skycrown’s lineup consisted of Jax, Volibear, Ezreal, Zyra, and Kog’Maw.
Similarly, their team composition was based on team fights. The responsibility to initiate would mainly be on Jax and Volibear. Once they were able to drive away the opponent’s back line and deal sufficient damage, they could let their duo ADC dispatch the remaining opponents and their front lines.
In fact, just from their lineups, you could tell that both teams had similar play styles. Now, it was all down to whose front line would be able to hold out for longer and whose back line could inflict more damage. That would be the winning team!
That was why the development of Jax and Renekton was the most crucial point for both teams.
Jax’s build was more towards damage output, but a really strong Jax would be able to completely distract the opponent’s back line for a long time. When paired with a Volibear who would be a nightmare with his tank build, these two champions would ensure that their own back line could safely attack from behind.
However, the main confrontation in this match would be the strongest Jax against the strongest Renekton. It was hard to say which one of them would be able to get the upper hand all the way into mid game and play the vital role in their team.
***
As both teams were focused on farming in their lane, there were not many team fights happening…
The moment they reached their lane, Team Sky chose to immediately swap lanes, disappointing the audience. With Vayne and Janna switching to the top lane, it was obvious that they intended to put pressure on Jax to affect his laning phase and farm, giving Vayne more time to develop.
“What a pity, we won’t be able to see the confrontation between the strongest Jax and the strongest Renekton. But this lane swap was indeed wise, because the combination of Vayne and Janna is slightly weaker, and it would be hard to come out on top against Kog’Maw and Zyra’s explosive teamwork at the bottom lane…”
“Ohh, Team Skycrown is very clever too. They seem to have expected that Team Sky would swap lanes and have also done the same early on.”
The camera changed angle, and the once quiet crowd now burst into explosive cheers upon what they saw.
With both sides swapping lanes, it was just a change where the top laners were now at the bottom lane. So they would still get to see the exciting confrontation between the strongest Jax and the strongest Renekton!
