Starting with Zaozi Ge, a dream lineup

Chapter 278 That Demon King! He's back!
There's a saying that goes, "No professional player can refuse SKT." Indeed, SKT has accumulated so many honors, and joining SKT means having the opportunity to win the World Championship, but it also brings immense pressure.

Players like Marin, Duck, and Easyhoon left SKT after only one year, and the immense pressure was definitely a major reason.

Some say that Wolf is SKT's core strategist, Faker is SKT's soul, Bang is SKT's cornerstone, and Kkoma is SKT's brain. These four are the fundamental reason why SKT has remained undefeated.

Of course, Wolf is usually a pretty funny guy. When he's streaming, he'll complain about his teammates non-stop, and when he plays support, he often thinks his AD carry is noob. Wolf and Huni are also among the few SKT members who dare to play any position when they stream.

The most memorable thing about Wolf is his famous quote, "Anyone who thinks I'm not the best support in the world doesn't understand the game," as well as his signature rock gesture and countless witty remarks.

But bringing Wolf into the game at this time is really not a wise move. The Wolf + Bang bot lane duo lost to RNG in S7. Now that Wolf hasn't played for so long, can he still maintain his form?

"Goodness, Skt has summoned a god! Will they lose gracefully or have the veterans reunite?" Upon hearing the commentator mention Wolf's appearance, Xiaoming spat out his sugary drink, his face filled with disbelief.

"It's hard to say. If it really is Wolf, then SKT's strange scrim results lately explain why."

Chris, sitting in the back, looked at the SKT players who had already begun to enter the arena with a solemn expression, and said slowly.

On the field, as Faker led the way out, followed by Bang, then Black and Hanzi, and when Wolf finally appeared, not only did everyone in RNG's training room stand up, but the LCK audience at the scene also stood up in surprise.

Her thin figure revealed a pale face with prominent cheekbones, and she had dark circles under her eyes like a panda. Her messy hair fell loosely, and she was unkempt.

"He's Wolf? I'd believe it if you told me he was a homeless guy under a bridge, okay?"

"SKT suffered domestic violence? Wolf was assaulted?"

"She used to weigh at least 200 jin (100 catties), now she's only about 130 jin (65 catties)? What did she do?"

The comments section was buzzing with discussion, with many seemingly unable to believe that this skinny boy was Wolf, the former brains of SKT.

Even Li Luo was incredulous that someone could sacrifice their body for esports.

In later years, when Wolf retired, everyone learned that he had suffered from four mental illnesses.

First, he suffered from depression, which is common, so he wasn't too worried.

In addition, he also suffers from adjustment disorder, anxiety disorder, and panic disorder, and these symptoms started to appear in S7.

Because of his severe mental illness, he would feel nauseous while playing games, and he would vomit regardless of whether he won or lost the game. His decline in skill was not due to a drop in ability, but rather because he had to retire due to his illness.

Given how utterly exhausted he was, seeing Wolf in this state makes it obvious, without even thinking, what inhuman torture he had endured over the past year.

"They've summoned the gods! This time it's really a divine intervention; the Wolf + Bang duo is finally back. However, Wolf's current condition is very worrying. We don't know if his body can withstand such high-intensity matches. Let's wait and see when we enter the draft phase."

"Yes, we don't know if SKT will bring any surprises to all the fans with Wolf on the field, but right now, SKT can only pin their hopes on Kkoma's draft picks and Wolf's performance!"

They're taking a desperate gamble, so they're bringing on Wolf. The commentators don't know if it's a risky move by SKT or a secret weapon, so they can only wait and see.

With a melodious "dong" sound, the BP interface officially began.

In the quarterfinals of the 2018 World Championship, SKT faced off against C9, with SKT on the red side and C9 remaining on the blue side.

Unlike the first three games, kkoma showed his aggressiveness from the start in this game.

"Alright viewers, welcome back. Today's first day of the quarterfinals has entered the intense fourth game. SKT, who lost in the third game, took advantage of their points to choose the red side, so neither side switched sides! C9 is also in the lead and hasn't made any substitutions!" Guan Daxiao announced the positions and players of both sides at a very fast pace.

"C9 will likely change their ban picks, but it seems the bans from the last game haven't been changed."

"Yes, for SKT, if you don't change your ban picks, SKT won't change them either, and will continue to ban C9's Orianna, Nocturne, and Alistar!"

"Oh my, C9 is really stubborn this game. They're keeping the same bans as SKT from the last game: Galio, Fiora, and Xayah!"

Seeing the intense drafting and banning (BP) between the two sides, both Coach Duo and Coach Ji were shocked. This was SKT's final match, after all. Why were they being so reckless? Were they going head-to-head with C9 in the draft?
"What do you mean? C9 got the first pick? Sure enough, it's the same strategy as last game, they got Kai'Sa first!"

As expected, knowing that SKT had no way to deal with Kai'Sa, C9 used the same tactic as in the previous game, directly picking Kai'Sa as the ADC to put pressure on SKT's bot lane.

"Wolf is playing this game, and Skt is very likely to get the bot lane duo first. My god, Skt has directly revealed a Sivir + Rakan combination in the bot lane. You know, C9 ADC Sneaky's best champion is Sivir. Skt is really going for this!"

"C9 is still using the Xin Zhao + Lissandra combo. Should we give Faker a tanky mid-laner? These two champions have an extremely high success rate whether ganking together or solo. If SKT focuses their resources on the top lane, the mid lane will be in serious danger."

Although the combination of Lissandra and Xin Zhao was not as overwhelming as the Mordekaiser and Leona combination in the S8 World Championship.

In single combat, neither is as unbeatable as the Captain in Season 5. The combination of these two heroes often results in wins that seem completely unexpected, and losses that are equally baffling.

Just like in the previous game where Malzahar was used to target the top laner, Lissandra's W and R combos can also be surprisingly effective.

"Here it comes, here it comes, SKT's fourth pick! I wonder if the red side will give the counter pick to Faker or Khan in the top lane? They've picked it!"

"The Enchantress!!!"

"It's LeBlanc! Skt and Kkoma got LeBlanc for Faker! My god, how dare they? The last time Faker's LeBlanc appeared on the field was on July 13th, the broadcast already showed the data!"

"It's been over three months since Faker last picked LeBlanc in a match. In the fourth game, is SKT finally waking up from the brink of elimination?"

The entire arena erupted in uproar. Regardless of whether they could win this game or not, just looking at the LeBlanc that Faker was playing, you could clearly smell that SKT's style had changed. Faker had woken up!

"Here she comes, here she comes, it's Brother Li's enchantress!"

"Brothers, Faker is back! This is the real Faker! This is the Demon King!"

The moment the heroine appeared, even fans who had already lost faith in SKT erupted in a thunderous cheer.

Thousands of people at the scene went wild instantly.

To illustrate the difference between SKT and other teams, here's a simple example: Before he became the coach of SN, Chashao mentioned something like this on a TV show:
As the coach, you were planning to pick hero A for your mid laner, but then the mid laner suddenly says to you, "Coach, let me pick hero B. I'm sure we'll win if I pick hero B." What do you do?

Whenever this happens, no matter which option is chosen, the coach's level of trust in the players will definitely decrease.

This kind of thing can happen in any team. No matter which team you choose, once this question is asked, you're bound to fall short of the surgical precision required for planning.

The players have their own ideas now, how can they act like robots? And what about Skt? "Coach, you want me to get A? Okay, getting A guarantees a win." Huh? Switch to B? Switching to B guarantees a win.

At this moment, before the match even started, Skt had already completely overwhelmed C9 in terms of momentum.
The entire arena echoed with deafening shouts of "Skt!" The sound waves penetrated the soundproof booths and could even be faintly heard through noise-canceling headphones. It was as if Skt had returned to his godhood, back to his era as the Demon King!
Forget about home advantage! Seeing SKT's fearless and aggressive play, many casual viewers were instantly won over and cheered wildly!

"Wow, that's incredible!" Xiao Dongbei picked at his ear, feeling the frenzied atmosphere even through the screen. He said enviously, "I wish I could have Faker's treatment someday. With LeBlanc, even if we lose the game, we'll die standing!"

"Holy crap, they picked Viktor for Khan as their fifth pick. Is SKT using this lineup to stomp on weaker teams???"

Just looking at the hero selection, SKT's lanes were completely overwhelmed.

This is no exaggeration.

When it comes to hero counters, it's not that you can't fight without a front line in this version, but the margin for error is extremely low. To be honest, if Viktor is in the top lane against Aatrox, Aatrox can really crush Viktor from every angle, even if it's Khan's Viktor!

With Aatrox's sustained damage and chasing ability, Viktor can't stop him whether he's attacking or escaping. Add to that Xin Zhao and Lissandra's strong ganks in the early and mid-game, and how can you fight them?
Both sides quickly switched heroes and clarified their positions.

C9 (Blue Side) vs Skt (Red Side)

Top Lane: Aatrox vs. Viktor

Jungle: Xin Zhao vs. Lee Sin
Mid Lane: Lissandra vs. LeBlanc
Jungle: Kai'Sa vs Sivir

Jungle: Nautilus vs. Rakan

The opposing lineups are fiercely competitive, both extremely aggressive. Once one side gains an advantage in the early to mid-game, they can easily slaughter the other.

As soon as the game started, countless players left the official live stream and went to the second channel, where Li Ge (Lee Ge) was speaking from the first-person perspective.

It doesn't matter if you don't look at it, you will be shocked when you look at it.

Faker, who used to switch screens three times a second, actually stayed on screen for a full minute and a half without switching screens, and after the laning phase started, he switched screens very infrequently.

The most noticeable changes are the improved viewing experience for audiences, more online details, and increased intensity.

Just after reaching level three, Lissandra was exploited by LeBlanc's W to pinpoint her position and use QE to whittle down her health. With the two players stealing points in the first three levels, their health differences became stark.

Both LeBlanc and Lissandra started with two Doran's Blades and two health potions. LeBlanc was almost at full health with one health potion left, while Lissandra only had half health left after using up her health potion.

"What the hell? How did he suddenly become so strong?" C9's mid laner Jensen looked like he'd seen a ghost. Even as he spoke, he was caught off guard and poke by LeBlanc.

"And our minions didn't react when he targeted me, that's unbelievable, is that even humanly possible?"

Hearing Jensen's words, jungler Svenskeren also looked over curiously, and what he saw shocked him.

The blue team's minions are practically blind; when LeBlanc targets Lissandra, they don't react at all. Instead, when Lissandra retaliates, she gets attacked by the red team's minions.

"Damn it, his timing was perfect! I'm out of health, time to go home!"

These are all top players in the world championships, so they are naturally familiar with this kind of opportunistic point-stealing. However, it is easier said than done, and very few people can actually apply this skill to laning in the world championships.

Skt.faker killed C9's Jensen.
First blood!
"Oh no, I was careless. He brought Electrocute, the damage is too high." Jensen, who had just finished saying that he was going home, was immediately killed by LeBlanc and looked bewildered.

Is this the same Faker who was focused on supporting others in the last game? How is he so strong!

"Faker secured the kill in his lane. This was a complete display of individual skill. It's hard to believe that after three months, we're seeing Faker's LeBlanc solo kill at level 3 in the World Championship. This is unbelievable!"

Before Guan Zeyuan could finish speaking, he saw LeBlanc stuck in a shadowy area. She used her B skill to enter the shadow, creating a false impression for C9. Then, she and Lee Sin went to the blue side's upper jungle to find Xin Zhao.

Skt.faker killed c9.Svenskeren
“???”

"?!?!"

Before the audience could even cheer in shock, in the next 20 minutes, everyone witnessed what peak SKT's dominance truly meant.

With his dog, Little Black, by his side, Faker dares to go anywhere in the Rift!
SKT, whose lineup was originally scattered and whose tactics were unclear, became much more organized after Wolf was brought in for the fourth game. Sivir was left to withstand pressure in the bottom lane, while Wolf, with Rakan's agility, was everywhere in the Rift!

"This is impossible! They've deployed a three-core strategy. This is a true tactical dominance resulting from overwhelming strength, Skt!"

"We've learned the three-core support tactic!"

Looking at the SKT team on the screen, which was exactly like RNG and even performed better, Chris's expression changed drastically, and his face was filled with fear!
What's even more unbelievable than Faker's recovery is that Skt's tactics are in no way inferior to other teams, and all of this happened after Wolf came on!
The timing of each team's actions is now essentially designed by Riot Games, not something the teams decide on their own.

RNG's greatest strength this year is that none of their players can't pick any meta champions.

The diversity of the players' draft picks can bring about the diversity of tactics. This diversity is reflected in the fact that I don't need to force the top lane to pick heroes like Fiora and Camille, which are so strong that the jungler has to protect them, like SKT does. And I don't need to mindlessly pick tanky heroes in the bottom lane to avoid being targeted.

But now, Skt has also proven with their strength that they are not just a bunch of guys who need to rely on a single lane to survive; they also have the potential to have three strong cores.

At 21 minutes, Skt defeated C9 with a rare tower.

A brutal 23-0 score in 21 minutes made every team still competing on the world stage realize a major problem:

"Skt, you're back!"

"It took Faker a whole year to transform into the team's shot-caller! But now, in just 20 minutes of gameplay, Faker has shown us with his skill that the Demon King is truly unbeatable!"

"he!"

"came back!"

"Wolf's return has relieved Faker of the pressure on the lane caused by the need for frequent commands in the early game. Yes, Faker has now returned to the level of a world-class mid laner!"

I remember that although the teacher was very shocked, he still slowly revealed the current situation of SKT's triumphant return.

"Yes, how could I not have thought of that? As the coach of a treble-winning team, how could Kkoma not have thought of that! How could he not have thought of that!"

"He's been hiding his true abilities!"

Looking at Kkoma's sinister smile in the audience, Chris seemed to recall Kkoma's achievements in S3, S5, and S6, and muttered to himself.

This book has reached 80 words, and the puppy chapter is coming to an end. Thank you all for your support along the way. What begins must end, and I will do my best to make the ending perfect, so please rest assured!

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(End of this chapter)