“Hello, viewers. This is the vll Finals, brought to you by LCK. Commentator Kim Dongjin speaking.”
“Once again, greetings to everyone. This is the analyst, Yoo Seunghwan.”
[The combination of Dongjin and Seunghwan is like a country rice bowl.]
[Lots of progress with the vll, they even called in LCK commentators.]
[It’s LCK sponsored though?]
[Will Para be playing today?]
[Queen Seohwa hi.]
“Then, let’s introduce the players that many people have been waiting to see.”
“Of course, the first ones are the reliable vanguards of the team. The tops! Shin Saengnim and Zenis!”
[???]
[What is that?]
[Shin is cosplaying as Shen, haha.]
[If Shen plays today, it should be fun.]
[He’s guaranteed to be fully released; they’re starting by using three bans on the mid.]
“Next up is the jungle! They are the supreme commanders who command the game with brilliant strategies.”
“Both Pressure and Luca are players with impressive careers.”
“Pressure who held the trophy at Worlds once, and Luca who has claimed four consecutive LCK championships. It will be very interesting to see what they will display.”
[You didn’t win Worlds, lol.]
[Oh, sure sure, even though the elder made a nine-game losing streak against Luca but won Worlds.]
[Even so, isn’t Luca the better player right now? Pressure was forcibly retired two years ago.]
[Ban that overpowered champion.]
“Ah, then following up, we have two players that everyone anticipates.”
“That’s right. Truly deserving of the term ‘super rookie,’ along with a seasoned veteran. I think many people are looking forward to this matchup.”
“Para in mid and Seongho!”
[Whoa, so pretty.]
[She doesn’t seem to have much makeup on. Look how pale her complexion is.]
[First and foremost, based on pure solo-ranked scores, Para’s skill far exceeds that of Seongho.]
[Solo ranking novice. ]
[Still, her pure skills are undeniable, right? lol]
[Didn’t you see the chat? If you mistype a chat message, it’s over.]
[What is this nonsense?]
[Para’s parents are lawyers?]
[Wow!]
“Alright then, now the bottom duo should come out.”
“Also, personally, I think this will be quite an interesting matchup.”
“I agree. How can the team dynamics differ so much?”
“Yujin and Prefot versus Count and Lucia.”
[Hyper carry + Making vs. Garak + Utility God]
[Definitely Count on the ranged marksman, but Prefot’s performance lately has been insane, so who knows.]
[Prefot, the support going in for damage, is a god.]
[For real, the support went in with tank and gank builds but grabbing Rakan made it just golden, lol.]
“Then, let’s go over both teams’ rosters.”
TEAM – Arts and Sports Specialty
Top: Shin Saengnim
Jungle: Pressure
Mid: PARA (Yoon Seohwa)
Marksman: Yujin
Support: Prefot
TEAM – Even After Retirement, Still Good at LoL
Top: Zenis
Jungle: Luca
Mid: Seongho
Marksman: Count
Support: Lucia
“The players of both teams can be seen exchanging fist bumps as they touch their fists together before the game starts.”
“Just watching, it really feels like Shin has come to the stage.”
“The quality is quite good, but isn’t something strange going on with the Arts and Sports Specialty team’s attire?”
[Is that really the uniform?]
[Isn’t there supposed to be no uniform regulation in the vll?]
[Some teams wear what makes them happy.]
“Indeed, Para player really stands out.”
“Among all the male players, she being the sole female does give a surprising look.”
“But in-game, showcasing a different side of her, she is very charming.”
“Let’s see what amazing plays she will show us today. The banning phase has started!”
“Ah… they just banned Shen right away.”
Shin Saengnim’s deep sigh could be heard beyond the headset.
The ban-pick strategy we anticipated today was for them to counter me while using all ban cards on mid.
However, contrary to our expectations, the opposing team banned Shen Saengnim’s champion Shen and Yujin’s Kai’Sa.
“Still, one game will definitely be open.”
But this game would be in a series format—five games, best of three.
In these three games, we could confidently predict that the ban would be dropped in at least one game.
“Then let’s adjust this game’s ban-pick in the same way we did for the semis. First jungle and bot duo, then after that, top and mid.”
“That sounds good.”
“Still, giving the first pick to the elder is clearly leading to doom.”
Everyone agreed to my suggestion, and our team banned the opposing team’s favorite champions, Kalis, Rumble, and Ashe.
“By the way, is choosing the red side okay?”
In League of Legends, the teams are divided into Blue Team and Red Team.
Despite the positional advantages, each team has unique strengths and weaknesses from the ban-pick stage onwards.
The starting phase is where the Blue team takes the first pick, followed immediately by two picks from the Red team, and then subsequent picks fill the slots.
Here, the Blue team enjoys a particular advantage.
In a game with no duplicate champion selection, it was guaranteed that strong champions would fall to the opponent’s hands.
Alternatively, the Red team’s advantage is getting two picks in a row, allowing combinations like Top/Jungle, Jungle/Mid, or Bot Duos.
Added to that, the late pick counter option as well.
However, in most games, the Blue team’s win rate was overwhelmingly higher.
Because making counters after receiving strong picks tends to feel more effective than simply obtaining a favorable one itself.
Yet our team chose Red for a specific reason.
“There, they’re immediately bringing out Jhin.”
The opponent’s signature marksman champion Jhin, currently well-regarded within the current meta, was handed over.
“Then, let’s get Leona.”
The rationale was that if our support partner, Leona, gets brought out, it would allow us to comfortably manage our ban-pick phases.
“Can we go with Lucian on marksman?”
“Jhin wouldn’t be the worst option, but without Runa’s synergy, the game could lack some excitement.”
“Alright, let’s directly pick Lucian.”
Pressure, without further ado, selected Lucian for the marksman role.
So far, the ban-pick phase was Jhin versus Lucian and Leona.
The opposing team would likely pick their support and jungler next.
“Holy cow, they’ve just straight-up taken Rumble for jungler and picked Maokai as support? They’re just forcing everything down!”
“Then, what jungler should we pick?”
It was now our third pick, and it was my turn as the midlaner.
“What do we want to do? Honestly, I think it could be viable to drop down and fill some value?”
“I can go AD or AP, really, so feel free to pick what suits you.”
“Then, let’s go with Lisim. We need to keep the tempo against Rumble.”
After the order of picks was complete, we entered the next banning phase.
Their bans were Yune and Malphite.
Our bans were Poppy and LeBlanc.
“Let’s pick top first?”
“Seohwa, it seems like letting you have the last pick would be good. Take Oriun.”
Shin Saengnim picked Oriun.
From their side, they chose Gwen to tear apart Oriun and picked Arin for mid.
“Probably they believe Gwen can handle Oriun.”
In this situation, I had to pick an AP champion.
I ran through the possible options in my head.
“Give me Sylas.”
“Sylas? Won’t the laning against Arin be tough?”
“I think I can withstand a bit of disadvantage.”
Among the opposing champions, the ultimates of Arin and Maokai are quite decent.
Especially Maokai’s ultimate is highly valuable.
No wonder he’s known as the essence of clicking!
TEAM – Arts and Sports Specialty
Top: Oriun
Jungle: Lisim
Mid: Sylas
Marksman: Lucian
Support: Leona
VS
TEAM – Even After Retirement, Still Good at LoL
Top: Gwen
Jungle: Rumble
Mid: Arin
Marksman: Jhin
Support: Maokai
“Alright, that’s how the ban-pick phase has concluded.”
“Yes, viewers, everyone thought Seohwa’s Shen would go un-banned, but given that this is the first game, it seems like they are just feeling each other out.”
“Shen is pro-level even without being played. They even have that saying, don’t they?”
“Right, actually, he took a test for our team before I retired, though we couldn’t play together due to champ diversity issues.”
“That’s an interesting behind-the-scenes story.”
[Shen not being unbanned? What a joke.]
[Of course it’ll be out in the five games. But this is 3-deck. They’ll definitely curb stomp.]
[What’s this five games talk? It’s a clear 3-deck situation where they’re gonna destroy.]
[The retired team is just overhyped, isn’t it?]
[Great Seohwa’s Sylas, impressive.]
“The game hasn’t yet started as it’s still loading.”
“Then, let’s take a moment to look at our audience.”
“There are about 600 seats here at Sangam Stadium. All tickets were sold out within 30 minutes of opening, reflecting great public interest.”
“We see people attending solo, with friends, and some with cheer phrases too.”
[What just happened?]
[I saw someone really pretty.]
[What did the cheer phrase say?]
[It mentioned something about Para. Is that from someone she knows?]
“Now it is confirmed that the game preparations are complete. The first set of this match begins!”
[Something big is coming! Something big is coming! Something big is coming!]
[Whoever wins, the mid-lane gap <<< It's set in stone!]
[Go! Go! Go!]
[What’s this rune build by Sylas?]
"The game just started, and we notice an interesting detail."
"Exactly, Sylas's runes. He seems to be using Overgrowth with Conqueror and Unflinching. What does this mean? Maybe it's a declaration: if you're gonna come at me, bring it on!"
"Typically, players select Electrocute for smooth laning or Conqueror for small skirmishes, which are trending. Anyway, what will he show us? Let’s find out right now!"
