“Swap?”
“Yes, I’ll go top and pick a counter.”
“Anyway, if I grab exploitation and get w-lvl first, I won’t get pushed too hard, right?”
“The problem is, their jungler picked Nidalee. If their Sion deals with the level-four trading and shuts down the line with Sylas, then they will have the advantage. We have Nocturne.”
Due to Malphite’s base weight and Sion’s repeated nerfs, the matchup was indeed something worth discussing when it came to the laning phase.
The issue here, however, is that the opposing top-laner and jungler are currently active professionals who play in the LPL.
Sion has a strong early game, being able to win against Malphite at level four. If Sion then proceeds to engage in a wild team fight with their jungler, the top lane will inevitably experience a difficult laning phase.
‘It’s bound to blow up.’
Firstly, the fact that our top-laner, Shin Saengnim, predominantly utilizes cerebral play and tries to endure the pressure of freezing lanes against active professionals? The situation seems almost hopeless from the start.
Either the top lane will collapse entirely or the jungler will wander aimlessly without reaching level six their entire life.
One of these scenarios was almost guaranteed to occur.
“So what do we do?”
“I’ll go with Ryze.”
Among the three bald champions of League of Legends, the turquoise-haired Ryze is often mentioned.
Picked late, Ryze was quite a good card against Sion. Ryze’s short reach as a melee champion was not really an issue against a close-range opponent, and stealing Sion’s ultimate was not particularly advantageous either.
Moreover, Ryze didn’t lose much in terms of value in the late game, making it a solid choice.
‘I’m confident in this.’
The champion was one of my strongest from my previous life, adding to my confidence.
Looking at the enemy combination, they lacked any confirmed CC abilities.
It seemed like a game where Ryze could take complete control.
‘It’s about getting ahead of the great calamity by one step!’
“Then I’ll focus on farming until level six?”
Pressure selected Nocturne, a champion who plays crucially after learning his ultimate at level six.
” PARA (Yoon Seohwa), can you hold your own against Tristana in the mid-lane?”
When I directed the question to Shin Saengnim, I received a confident response.
“Then I’ll play at the top lane while managing the lane pressure.”
Using Ryze’s movement speed boosts and the Riftmaker rune, fending off potential ganks would not be too difficult. Given the overall lineup, it was necessary for me to contribute well in the top lane, and everyone agreed on this plan.
“Let’s all do our best.”
“I’ll buy everyone’s survival before I hit level six.”
“Also, the bottom lane might currently be at a disadvantage.”
“Let’s win this game~”
Even in the absence of Hanbyeori, the game began in an unexpectedly harmonious atmosphere.
*
“To the viewers out there, this is vll preliminary caster Kim Dongjin.”
“And this is commentator Yoo Seunghwan. Thank you for joining us.”
[Is it true that Hanbyeori isn’t participating today?]
[? Why isn’t Hanbyeori showing up after grinding hard to hit Grandmaster?]
[I heard she fell and got injured. ]
[A picture has been posted showing her arm in a cast after visiting the clinic. ]
[She’s a legend indeed. ]
[Then does that mean the Arts and Sports Specialty Team will forfeit?]
“First of all, we have to share some information. Hanbyeori, a player from the Arts and Sports Specialty team, can’t participate due to an injury.”
“Ah, Hanbyeori is one of the players whose performance has been improving recently. It’s a pity.”
“They’ve found a substitute player after getting agreement from other teams. Let’s meet her.”
Team – Arts and Sports Specialty Team
Top: Shin Saengnim
Jungle: Pressure
Mid: PARA (Yoon Seohwa)
ADC: Yujin
Support: Prefot
[? Who’s this? Some random fan?]
[If you don’t know Para Nuna, why are you watching vll?]
[Go google her. Don’t blame me if you fall for her.]
[Oh, a challenger-level junior high school girl.]
[Wow, if Para shows up, won’t it cause server balance issues?]
[What server balance? The other teams are comprised of former pros and active challengers.]
“Ah, Para, rising talent isn’t she?”
“That’s correct. She’s the only female to reach challenger tier in the mid-lane, hitting the number one spot. Amazingly, she is only fifteen years old, still in middle school.”
“So, let’s introduce the opposing team, right?”
Team – Is LPL Water?
Top: Actor
Jungle: Manjae
Mid: Kuku
ADC: Bibik
Support: Yerimv
“The Is LPL Water? team is one of the strong contenders for the title.”
“The carry power of the active LPL top and jungle players from just a month ago, along with the Challenger endgame fiends in solo queue, Kuku and Bibik Yerim bot-duo – nothing more needs to be said there.”
“Of course, the main question is how they’ll respond to the expected destructive synergy of top-jungle carry. With the lineup change, it seems Para might be the ace, perhaps playing more of a mid-centric roaming game.”
“Alright, so with that, let’s see the ban-pick process.”
Following this, as everyone had expected, Shin’s pick was quickly cut down.
The Malphite first pick followed and a counter pick of Sion appeared.
[Ah, when Malphite is picked first, Sion seems inevitable, right?]
[Freedom! Freedom! Freedom!]
[Shin Saengnim will just end up picking a fixed-tier champion.]
[Your ult is really cool though.]
[Malphite, just stacking defenses until Sion uses his ult in side lanes and then gets assassinated.]
“Ah, Actor often utilized Sion in the league. I’m curious about what Arts and Sports Specialty is planning.”
“I think so too. The challenge is, how will they stop the Malphite ult-using Sion… Oh! Ryze, Ryze has come out.”
“After several nerfs, Ryze doesn’t appear much in the mid-lane these days… but interestingly enough…”
Once all the ban-pick phase concluded, each champion found their starting positions.
TOP: Malphite
JG: Nocturne
MID: Ryze
AD: Zoa
SUP: Lamps
VS
TOP: Sion
JG: Nidalee
MID: Tristana
AD: Lucian
SUP: Nyami
“Hmm… for some reason, this Ryze seems a little suspicious to me.”
“Is that what you think?”
“Yes, I don’t see any good reasons why they wouldn’t choose another champion from the mid-lane.”
“Let’s step inside and find out.”
The game began according to the casters’ expectations.
Malphite moved toward the mid-lane, while Ryze headed towards the top-lane.
“Wow! It’s really happening?”
“Yes, considering the range of champion options available to Para, many different and strong champions were certainly an option.”
“Sion against Ryze, how do you see it?”
“I’d say it’s pretty much a counter. Sion can win in early trades, has a stronger ultimate, and it also doesn’t fall behind in the late game.”
“That item selection is also fascinating.”
“In recent times, purchasing Tear of the Goddess at level one with an eye towards endgame is common. However, Doran’s ring? Para seems to understand her role well.”
“Yes, Para puts herself forward and applies immediate pressure upon the minions’ arrival!”
[The tension is high from the very start!]
[Even so, isn’t it a bit arrogant challenging pros like this?]
[Ah, that’s why she ranked top in solo queue!]
[Let’s get rid of those who only play solo queue once.]
[Wha, Seohwa Nuna! Wha, Seohwa Nuna! Wha, Seohwa Nuna!]
[All of us from the League of Legends gallery are supporting Queen Seohwa’s vll debut game!]
[Don’t feel a sense of belonging to the gallery.]
‘Wow, they aren’t pulling this out?’
When I attempted to burn experience by using my body to block the minions, Sion used his E skill to engage in a trade.
However, having selected the Bone Plated rune, I didn’t fall far behind in the trade. Instead, I followed up with the slow from my W skill, landed some auto-attacks and managed to seize control.
“Our jungler took the red buff.”
Considering the briefing at mid-lane, the probability of Nidalee ganking at the moment Sion hit level four was 100%.
Prior to this, I needed to push the lane completely.
“Take care of the bottom lane, I’m going now.”
When our team’s jungler announced they were skipping Raptor and heading to the bottom lane for a gank, most of our lane had been pushed down.
Naturally, we expected a report of a successful skirmish from that side.
[(Lucian) First blood!]
But disaster struck when our ally support fell prey to a surprise kill angle from the opposing bot-duo.
“Uh…I’m sorry. I couldn’t calculate the timing for E-turning.”
“No, I used Q poorly.”
As a result of their successful gank at the bottom lane, Nidalee managed to secure both Raptors.
With the initiative slipping away, Nidalee began comfortably counter-jungling.
This was leading towards an inauspicious losing trend.
“I’ll buy armor and Tear of Goddess, then use Recall.”
At that moment, we noticed Sion taking a slightly loose home timing and returning from outside the tower.
Although it was regrettable to see the siege minion get killed by our tower,
“I’ll look for a kill on top lane.”
Immediately after the opposing jungler and laners were tied up by Baron, additionally knowing that the opposing Sion’s flash was just used,
[Don’t stop!]
I closed the distance using the remaining flash and unleashed a full combo.
Ryze’s primary Q skill could have its cooldown refreshed using W and E skills. This method allowed for at least three uses of Q with a single combo.
[Target Eliminated]
The opposing Sion had no choice but to fall restrained by my binding.
“Nice.”
“I’m about to hit level six.”
“It appears we might need to prepare for a fight if the front dash is used.”
“A solo kill on top would be good.”
I said this as calmly as possible to boost the team’s morale.
“I’ll carry this game.”
