“Alright, let’s begin the ban and pick for the highly anticipated third set!”
“Viewers here at the venue and those watching online must all be feeling the same way. This is truly a game that’s driving everyone insane, isn’t it?”
“The first set showcased how YK demonstrated their status as the defending champions of the LCK, while the second set revealed how ARK broke through the promotion series after three years.”
[It’s really impossible to predict who will win this third set.]
[Hmm… it’s not easy.]
[YK is now on the blue side, and it looks like they’ll dominate the ban and pick phase and win.]
[ARK has such a diverse champion pool that it’s difficult to suppress them with just bans and picks.]
“For this set, both K’Sante and Lulu are available.”
“However, unlike the first two sets, YK has banned Lulu this time. Since the Aphelios-Lulu combo is out of play now, YK grabs Lucian first.”
“Well then, what will ARK do? Will they take Nyami? For now, they are picking K’Sante.”
“In which case, the ADC role will be… once again Aphelios!”
“They certainly have every reason to be confident, especially after their performance in the second set.”
“YK naturally takes Nyami and also picks Gwen.”
“Since the option of picking Gnar is already banned, and with Gwen also picked, it seems like ARK judged that they would have no way to pick K’Sante.”
[Don’t just keep giving away Lulu-Nyami combos.]
[Can Lulu survive the laning phase in this situation without a shield?]
[Tough, isn’t it;;;]
[Just pick Para early and try to ban and pick your way through it.]
“Will ARK go for a support here? Or will they opt for a top-lane card?”
“At this moment, they choose Xin Zhao. It looks like ARK judged that their AD and Jungle might have issues if they continue, so they’re playing it safe.”
“With YK’s picks of Lucian Nyami and Gwen, the initial picks in ARK are K’Sante, Aphelios, and Xin Zhao.”
[Who will be the support for Aphelios?]
[Right.]
[It seems like their ban and pick is a mess.]
[Okay…]
“YK, keeping Para’s mid-lane presence in mind, uses both of their remaining bans on mid-lane champs.”
“Yune and Azir, both champions that have performed powerfully this game.”
“ARK bans the remaining AD junglers Lisim and Biwago.”
“And now ARK surprises us with their choice!”
“An interesting choice, don’t you think?”
“This appears to be a variation on the classic Jinx support play, but replacing Jinx with Aphelios.”
[What? T’Chen Chi?]
[Is this even a viable Aphelios-T’Chen Chi combo?]
[In theory, it’s good…]
[It’s sort of like the Jinx scout style.]
“One of the advantages of T’Chen Chi is that the early laning phase can be more manageable than you’d expect, and in the mid and late games, they can soak up some poking from Lucian.”
“That’s right.”
“And with AP Aphelios, they will assuredly put a lot of pressure on the Lulu-Nyami pair starting from level 1.”
[T’Chen Chi is actually not bad.]
[Now that I think about it, it could indeed work.]
[T’Chen Chi can handle Nyami well.]
“YK takes Aline and Byai on mid.”
“With the AD junglers out of play, Byai seems like a solid choice. And they have a capable partner with Aline.”
“So ARK’s last position should be a mid-lane role, correct?”
“And it will likely be someone like Akali.”
“The last choice is… Akali!”
[Is Para good at playing Akali?]
[I’ve seen him try it once in CK.]
[It wasn’t bad.]
[Hmm…]
[Is Akali good against Aline? The laning phase might be difficult.]
“So now, is the third set about to begin…? Hmm?”
“Something seems off here.”
“Is the display malfunctioning due to a bug, or was there an error somewhere?”
“Since the match has started without correction, it seems intentional.”
“Can you believe that in a high-pressure situation like this, they would bring out their hidden card?”
“Remarkable. Para was always a player who could pick all sorts of champs in the mid lane, but usually tends to fall back on his usual picks in these kinds of games.”
[I thought they tried bringing K’Sante mid before but abandoned the idea.]
[Yeah, at the start it was pretty weak because they didn’t have enough magic resistance to fight back.]
[But if you dodge all the skills, you can probably win.]
[Putting K’Sante top would definitely be advantageous…]
[Is this real?]
—
Top: Akali
Jng: Xin Zhao
Mid: K’Sante
AD: Aphelios
Sup: T’Chen Chi
VS
Top: Gwen
Jng: Byai
Mid: Aline
AD: Lucian
Sup: Nyami
—
Mid-lane K’Sante.
This is not a pick that many pro players used even in previous seasons.
To be honest, one could say that I was almost the only one using it consistently.
The advantage of this pick?
“Mid push is fast.”
The reason there aren’t many users is because the enemies are unsure how to counter K’Sante mid.
The first time they see it, they might attempt to exploit the range advantage against K’Sante, but that would be nearly impossible.
“Since mage champs are not that strong in the early game right now.”
Just by clearing wave with Doran’s Shield and Wind Bind, while leveling up K’Sante’s Q, you can easily counter almost any mage champ.
Especially with the tank item buffs, K’Sante is incredibly potent in the mid-game.
“Hey, let’s aim for the Rift Herald.”
“How’s the top-lane going?”
“Gwen’s doing decently. When she hits level 6, I think I can set up a kill.”
“Keep her from getting down there. I’ll deal with the camps.”
Moreover, there’s the psychological game you can play with this pick.
In this round, we threw out K’Sante mid to bait out their response with Gwen, and countered them effectively by picking Akali.
‘That’s why I trained Akali in addition to art.’
After clearing all the camps, as I was about to return to mid-lane, a sudden call from the top-lane came.
“Hey, help needed! There’s a gank coming!”
While Akali at level 6 isn’t easy to kill, her only spells are Teleport and Ignite.
The mid lane would only lose one regular lane push if I joined.
After evaluating this, I decided to join the team and ran to top lane with the jungler.
“I’ve got a 2-second Veil ready! Uh, oh—he got Byai’s ultimate.”
Before I could use my Veil to flick, Akali took a full ultimate from Byai and blew up.
Aline was effectively out of danger, and with 2v2 numbers and the opponent’s ultimates spent, we prolonged the fight.
[No more patience!]
I used W briefly to close in on Byai and unleashed my ultimate.
The opponent tried to resist, but Byai without his ultimate was almost as vulnerable as a tin can.
Even though Gwen was hitting me from the side,
‘Ohmage Cloak.’
My tanky items already mitigated most of the mage’s damage.
Even though Gwen hit me hard early after using her ultimate, it would take her a while to kill me.
Meanwhile, I managed to take out Byai and with the support of Xin Zhao’s coverage, we secured another kill on Gwen.
And with that, mid-lane concluded.
—
The game reached the 22-minute mark.
“This round, let’s take the dragon.”
With two dragons given to the enemy, I commanded that we engage in the dragon fight.
“Our side has 6 camps cleared. Isn’t it better to just concede the dragon and push the top lane or blow the midlane with Rift Herald?”
“I’m absolutely certain we can win this fight.”
“Our bot lane has been pushed back. The enemy Lucian has reached two cores.”
“But I’ve also reached two cores thanks to the kill I took from the top lane earlier. Let’s just blow the herald into midlane and then see how the fight goes.”
I was so confident because I had hit two cores.
Two cores on K’Sante?
I am invincible, and the opponent’s long-range attacks feel god-like.
—
“Here comes the third dragon fight!”
“ARK’s K’Sante and Akali are showing some solid growth, huh?”
“On the other hand, YK’s Lucian with high-range cannon has a powerful poking ability!”
“Right as you said that, here comes Lucian’s first dash! But T’Chen Chi counters it perfectly and eats up Aphelios!”
“The follow-up from Lucian’s ultimate is blocked by K’Sante’s back. He’s a mountain, indeed.”
[K’Sante is not dying.]
[He’s taking no damage at all?]
[It seems like Zhaohu and Sante are about to dominate this.]
[If we can just take out half of Aphelios, the fight looks manageable.]
“Next, a surprise finish from Xin Zhao, rushing into Lucian without his dash!”
“Nyami reacts with her ultimate! Xin Zhao uses Moonlight Savior to tank in front!”
“Meanwhile, K’Sante’s Q with Flash! Pulling in the whole backline! And kidnapping Lucian with his ultimate!”
“Can Lucian survive being kidnapped? He manages to blink out with Flash!”
[Oh, ARK is being outclassed in every fight!]
[The one ping pong from Lucian was quite costly!]
[Alright…]
[Everyone is getting pushed back!]
“While Lucian retreats with Nyami’s buff…”
“No, Para! Let’s hand over Lucian once more!”
[?]
[Wow, EWQ all used in such a quick combo to kill him!]
[That’s even a champion?!]
[Huge…]
“Too late! Gwen arrives, but the remaining ARK players are already being finished off by the rest!”
“Absolutely incredible! There were certainly good K’Sante players in the past, but none could pull this off in the mid-lane like this!”
“Amazing…Is this person really in their first year?”
[Where are all the haters who were trashing ARK and Para only two games ago?]
[I mean, ARK didn’t even play two bad games. The haters just disappeared after Para carried.]
[This champion has 4700 HP, 329 armor, 201 magic resistance, can’t be stopped, has a shield, can jump over walls…]
[With a whirlwind air skill, a 1-second cooldown, carries only 15 mana cost…]
[And on top of that, his W resets upon transformation, dealing fixed damage with passive abilities, and gains spell haste with each level-up and each Q skill…]
[Damn… this needs a ban!]
[Congratulations to ARK on the win!]
