“Both K’Sante and Aatrox are available for the second set.”
“This time DH has the blue side setup, so they do have the option to choose. I wonder what their selection will be…”
“Huh? They skipped the top laner and picked Lucian in the first pick.”
“It seems to be that. You guys choose.”
“What does that mean?”
“After testing Aatrox, it’s true that while it has high carry potential, it is somewhat vulnerable to Lucian’s poking. They seem to want to play K’Sante.”
“Well then, can’t they just pick it?”
“However, didn’t we often see the caster showing how Gwen can shred K’Sante this season?”
“Oh, that’s why.”
[Anyway, isn’t red ARK stuck with last-pick since they’re red?]
[Looks like they’re planning to cut Gwen in the second phase ban and pick K’Sante.]
[If they cut Gwen, they’ll likely cut K’Sante too.]
[Then picking Aatrox would be fine, haha.]
“Let’s see what ARK decides…”
“Apparently they’re going with Aatrox and picked Lulu to counter Nyami.”
“Then there’s no reason not to pick K’Sante.”
“It’s a powerful card for YK when they were running second place in the regular season. K’Sante decimated them.”
“He was truly massive in that game.”
[Ban phase skill level ㄷㄷ]
[DH has clearly prepared a lot.]
[I can already see them aiming to win by contorting everything.]
[K’Sante is here.]
[I feel like Aatrox would be better for carry…]
“The second-phase bans have neatly cut away the top-tier AD junglers.”
“With so many cut, are there even any AD junglers left available?”
“ARK is trying Taliyah again.”
“With these bans, they’re showing their tier superiority. DH is heading for Arin and Byai.”
“So ARK’s final pick… Gwen?”
“What is this, ARK?! You already picked Aatrox and now Gwen?!”
“In mid Aatrox and in the jungle Taliyah, and on top Gwen? Truly a magic ban and pick phase.”
[?]
[Mid Aatrox now too? ㄷㄷ]
[I feel like I’m losing my mind, I’m losing my mind, I’m losing my mind!]
[Para can also play Aatrox?]
TOP: Gwen
JG: Taliyah
MID: Aatrox
AD: Zeri
SUP: Lulu
VS
TOP: K’Sante
JG: Byai
MID: Arin
AD: Lucian
SUP: Nyami
“What do you think of the mid Aatrox pick?”
“To be honest, I don’t think it’s that great. Aatrox is a champion with simple skill sets but the difficulty of team fights varies greatly depending on the timing of their entries.”
“Indeed, the performance in team fights does differ depending on timing.”
“Mid laners generally have less experience with such entries compared to top laners, so we’ll have to wait and see the game situation.”
[Para’s champion range is similar to what you’d expect from a veteran.]
[Even veteran mids don’t play Nautilus.]
[Playing mid Nautilus is still shocking when you think about it.]
“Then let’s watch the game!”
“This round, let’s do Yuchung.”
The second set begins, and at the 11-minute mark, Kim Dojin called for a Yuchung fight.
Since we had eaten 3 already, the opponents would definitely come out strong for this one.
“I’ll go and push the top.”
Due to the tower timing issue, Gwen was in the mid lane, and I was teleporting to the top lane.
After pushing the entire lane and being mindful of the opposing team, I planned to move down not in a straight line but curved through the bush to avoid detection.
“This thing, everyone stick together at top.”
“Out of nowhere?”
“There’s the enemy in this bush right here.”
“Did you verify it with skills?”
“How can you verify when you’d die just by going in?”
“So no ward either… how did you know that? If we turn even a second slower, the Yuchung fight will slip away.”
Kim Dojin asked how he knew the enemy was there unseen, but explaining this during the game would be complicated.
“I’ll tell you after. Just quickly gather.”
“Once you give the order, we have to follow. This thing, Gwen, quickly push and stick together.”
After confirming that Taliyah and Gwen were almost there, I used my ultimate and moved toward the bush.
“There’s K’Sante and Byai!”
Like they were waiting for me, Byai launched his Q skill and charged.
But since I had anticipated, I could evade, and when K’Sante tried to kidnap me, I used QE backward to block.
Moreover, Byai’s ultimate was on cooldown from being used a while ago, so they couldn’t muster the damage to burst me down.
“Everyone, let’s fight!”
The opponents realized something was wrong, but our team was already arriving and blocking off the escape routes.
The opponents had no choice but to fight, but with Byai’s ultimate gone, they were almost useless.
“Nice.”
Although I let K’Sante, who ulted away to the back, escape, we won the skirmish and secured the Yuchung, widening the gap significantly.
“How did you know?”
“The enemies in the bush?”
“Huh? You didn’t spot it with a ward.”
“When Yuchung timing came up, the mid bush was not cleared for 20 seconds. It was missing, yeah?”
“Is that all?”
“The most important part is that when I use the movement ability while passing through the bush.”
Movement ability: When you click a destination on the map, it automatically moves you there.
This system always chooses the shortest path, so if there is an enemy team or object around, the movement angle changes.
If there’s nothing in the bush, the white path marker would be a straight line showing the movement route, but if something’s there, the white marker will bend.
“So is this a bug?”
“I don’t think it’s a bug.”
This was a feature Riot didn’t fix when I went on 10 losing finals streaks.
In my previous life, I asked a developer friend, and they said it was a chronic problem of quarter-view games or something.
Anyway, it’s closer to a trick than a bug.
“Are you just someone who eats and plays League all day? I thought I knew a lot, but…”
“Let’s talk after we win.”
“Yeah, that is important.”
.
.
.
“It seems like the opponent’s morale is shot.”
“Did they just charge into our bottom side?”
As we kept winning the small skirmishes, we could sense the opponent’s momentum breaking.
Whereas in the first set, we were primarily holding on, believing in the carry potential of the main player, now the opponent’s jungle and bottom lane were showing more aggressive plays.
Or perhaps, they were just recklessly throwing the game.
“Even Ace tried to stop them.”
Unlike the previous set, our main player was showing a KDA of 0 2 0.
However, since K’Sante was not falling too behind against Gwen and opportunities still existed,
It seemed that the opponent already thought the game was over and were playing aimlessly.
“Let’s keep the good work in the next round.”
“Everyone’s doing great. Cleanly end the game in the next.”
“To lose is to…”
“Recognize that crazy save with the ultimate earlier?”
That’s how we aimlessly ended the second set.
The third set that followed showed no differing results.
When Ace, our main player, got focused and started shaking, the rest of the lane just collapsed.
A common ending for a one-man team carrying the whole squad.
“Are we going to end this?”
“Be careful with Orianna’s ultimate.”
“If we go in with the bottom lane, the opponent won’t be able to stop us.”
After defeating DH, the next playoff third-round opponent was YK.
A 3-0 clean victory saw YK move to the finals and the losing team into the loser’s bracket.
As the opposing team’s Nexus exploded, I took off the headset that was frustrating me, and the sound of roaring fans filled my ears.
[LCK’s storm won’t stop here!]
[ARK advances to the finals without losing a single set, moving confidently!]
[ARK is strong!]
[YK showcased nearly perfect ban-and-pick this season since their only loss, but they were blocked by ARK’s guardian, Para.]
After shaking hands with the opposing team and heading to the neutral bench, I bowed.
Not so long ago, the neutral bench had more of our opponents’ uniforms than ours.
Now it was filled with our team colors.
“Everyone was truly the best.”
As we gathered our gear and headed inside the waiting room, our excited coach praised the team without hesitation.
Advancing to the finals was reason enough for celebration.
“Can you believe we’re heading to the finals?”
“I’m not feeling it yet either.”
“I’ll make sure I get MVP in the finals.”
“What kind of melody is MVP? The royal support deserves it.”
The teammates were also composed in front of the fans but showed unrestrained excitement in private waiting rooms.
“Are you not excited?”
“I’m glad, too.”
Kim Dojin approached me, observing the team as he spoke.
Of course, reaching the finals in our first year in the LCK is a big achievement.
Only,
‘In my previous life, I made it to the LCK finals 7 times.’
And I failed in all of them.
“Still, we haven’t won the championship yet.”
“That’s true…”
“I’ll celebrate when we win the championship.”
“Is that so? Who do you think will be our next opponent?”
As for the rival group, the loser’s bracket match between YK and RG will determine the finals contender.
Although on paper, YK has the advantage, RG is a strong team with a great deal of momentum.
“I think YK will make it.”
“Why do you think that?”
“Even though we went 3-0 today, it wasn’t a one-sided match, was it?”
Indeed, YK did not get one-sidedly dominated compared to the scoreline.
They secured a few fight victories and put up a good fight in both top and bot lanes.
‘Still, RG seems to be performing quite well…’
However, who the opponent will be is not particularly important.
No matter the team we face, the only goal is to win.
