Starting with Zaozi Ge, a dream lineup

Chapter 34 Uncut Jade
Netizens say that RNG threw away S8, and that S8 was their most promising year, but that's not actually the case.

With the departure of the Ardent Censer patch in Season 7 and the removal of the jungle experience compensation mechanism, Xiangguo's fasting playstyle was nerfed and rendered useless.

Xiaohu will also have little chance to showcase his unique skill set like he did in S7.

With the arrival of the ultimate idiot coach Hart, the entire RNG team turned into a morbid four-protect-one strategy, picking four tanks to protect Uzi's Ezreal. Hart is capable of doing things like this.

In the S8 World Championship patch, top laners such as Aatrox, Fiora, and Darius were buffed.

It's quite clear that Riot Games' trend in changing top laners is to elevate the status of carry-type top laners, enhance the counter-ability of damage-dealing top laners, and indirectly weaken the dominance of tanky top laners.

To enhance the competitiveness of the top lane, Riot Games specifically buffed two tank counters: Darius and Fiora.

Using these tank killers to maintain the "ecological balance" of the top lane is a big blow to some top laners who can only play tanks.

Therefore, strictly speaking, RNG was actually a team that went against the meta in the S8 version.

Therefore, the responsibility of carrying the team fell to Xiaohu. However, Xiaohu couldn't abandon the team and farm up to carry the team like other mid laners.

Hart's core tactic was very clear: protect the bottom lane and ensure Uzi's development in the bottom lane.

This is where the problem arises. The team's requirements limit Xiaohu's use of TP. Players who enjoy watching matches know that Xiaohu always uses TP for team fights and would never use it to farm other lanes.

Eat Letme's yarn? Letme is a blue-collar worker, miserable as hell, and you'd actually eat his yarn?

Eating Uzi's lane? What? Tiger General can eat Uzi's lane? If he can't carry, then the public opinion will explode, and everyone will be shooting at Xiaohu.

Moreover, Coach Hart said to protect the bottom lane, and you misused TP to farm instead of providing support, so that's your big fault.

The little tiger, bound by various chains, was like someone confined in a zoo, being watched by everyone.

Xiaohu's lane dominance is not weak (refer to Syndra), but he is very steady and will not go up to pressure people without knowing the jungler. During his live stream, the most he said was: "I don't know the jungler position, so it's better to play it safe."

Xiaohu isn't very aggressive. Whenever he's at a disadvantage in ranked games, he quietly looks for opportunities to make plays on his own. If he succeeds, he communicates with the jungler; if he fails, he simply surrenders. He plays very Zen-like, which is why he's very accepting of a 4-protect-1 strategy.

Xiaohu's playstyle is very flexible. Sometimes he resolutely supports the team with the same hero, and sometimes he focuses on laning. Moreover, he doesn't play in a toxic way.

In ranked games, he clearly knew he could take the jungle monsters to carry, but he still gave up the carry after the AD gave him a signal.

Xiaohu is extremely dependent on the jungler's rhythm. During his live stream, he will abandon the early minion wave just because the jungler asks, "Can we come?", even if the jungler whispers, "I don't think we can win."

So there's a reason why RNG dropped Xiangguo and bought Karsa in S8.

Xiangguo's playstyle is actually going against the meta, completely disregarding Uzi's interests, which clashes with Hart's philosophy. Only Karsa is adapting to the meta.

Mata and Hart were Xiaohu's benefactors, but also the culprits who ruined him. They gradually eroded the ferocity in Xiaohu's heart, and they turned him into a tool-like mid-laner.

Lacking the experience of being the dean, Xiaohu is a bit too selfless, both in terms of mentality and playing style.

As an APC (Action PC) and ADC (Aggressive Competitor), Xiaohu is largely only capable of handling AP (Action Portal) roles, not C (Carry) roles.

Besides regular ganks, Karsa prefers counter-ganking to help Xiaohu and the bot lane.

Like Pawn, Xiaohu is an extremely stable player in lane and is not easily caught.

Many times, when the opposing team is eager to open up the game from the middle lane, it gives Xiaohu and Karsa an opportunity to take advantage.

This is why, in many situations, Xiaohu can play scaling heroes but still help his team gain an advantage by being hard to kill.

Because Xiaohu's development ability is poor, when the enemy mid laner chooses a hero with a strong laning phase, he will definitely not choose to pick a development-oriented mid laner.

Of course, this approach is absolutely correct in the LPL. When there is a dominant player in the team, Xiaohu avoids the opponent's strength, picks a utility player, and gives the resources to the dominant player.

At this time, RNG used this strategy to win the championship in all the major competitions of S8, winning seven championships in one year, which made everyone lower their guard.

In the World Championship version, if Uzi's bot lane falters, the problem immediately becomes apparent. Xiaohu lacks lane dominance, so in the final draft phase, the counter picks reserved for him often end up being either utility champions or well-rounded Ryze.

This choice completely fails to achieve the intended purpose of counter.

The mechanics of Ryze can amplify Xiaohu's strengths in team fights and roaming, but similarly, when at a disadvantage, it can also amplify Xiaohu's weakness in farming.

So if you fall behind in the early game, sorry, you won't see me for 35 minutes. You'll just have to wait for Uzi to carry without any strategy.

Or, like EDG, they could drag the game into the late game, until everyone has six items, and then RNG could have their signature late-game team fight.

Few can win a team fight against RNG when both Xiaohu and Uzi are at full power, which is why Xiaohu has such an incredible team fight ability.

As for his ability to develop new hero pools, let's not even talk about it. Xiaohu is utterly terrible, with absolutely no ability to develop new heroes. After all, the inherent nature of RNG's team doesn't allow Xiaohu to explore or experiment with new heroes.

It's not that Xiaohu lacks the ability to carry, it's that there are many limitations to his ability to carry.

To be more precise, Xiaohu is practically an overpowered template for a mage top laner: A in mechanics, S in awareness, S in damage output, and S in positioning. The first two attributes correspond to laning kills and gank prevention, while the latter two correspond to team fights.

Xiaohu is a flawed player, possessing all-around abilities in mid-to-late game damage output, split pushing, and ganking.

However, he lacks lane dominance and the ability to develop independently. Therefore, he can only team up with Xiangguo to support the jungle.

In crucial games, RNG's top laner plays a support role, constantly being instructed by Hart to withstand pressure. Naturally, he lacks the confidence to choose a carry champion to help Uzi share the burden.

As for Xiaohu in the mid lane, Hart was unwilling to pick a strong, suppressive hero for him, because such heroes could not alleviate the pressure on Uzi in the bottom lane.

This led to a situation that everyone was happy to see: two utility players in the top and mid lanes, forcibly creating a four-protect-one system.

Hart often made the mistake of suddenly picking two utility champions for Xiaohu and Letme during the draft phase, putting all the pressure on Uzi in the bottom lane. This flawed approach led to their elimination in S8.

Xiaohu is a mid-laner who excels at supporting others and dealing damage in late-game team fights, but his laning phase pressure is not strong, making him very easy to be targeted during the draft phase.

RNG is particularly helpless against teams where the top, mid, and jungle lanes are very strong, but the bot lane can withstand Uzi's pressure.

Tiger Master is a mid-laner who has had a smooth career, always accompanied by helpful people throughout his professional career.

Unlike the chickens in Season 5 who were suppressed by Buddha, he became the dean in Seasons 6 and 7, eating grass and producing milk.

Unlike Doinb, whose mid-jungle split led to his near retirement, making him a perpetual orphanage director, a relegation-preserving tool, a mid-lane champion novice, and Rookie's true son.

Without going through these processes, the quality can never be determined.

Therefore, Xiaohu's future is entirely in Li Luo's hands, just like needing to change jobs when you reach a certain level in DNF.

You can switch to a support-oriented class like Sword Master, or a damage-dealing class like Berserker or Ghostblade.

It can also be transformed into a blind person with a strong ability to crush noobs.

Whether he transitions to a support role or a carry role, Xiaohu has the foundation to do so.

Xiao Hu has now reached the level 15 threshold for job advancement, and the direction of his job advancement will be decided entirely by the team's main DPS, Li Luo.

After all, with Uzi, RNG has become a team with its own system, so some of RNG's problems still need to be discussed with Uzi and Li Luo.

Therefore, Li Luo is indispensable in determining Xiaohu's future development in S8.

Xiaohu and Doinb are only lacking the experience of being the head of an orphanage. Moreover, right at the start of S6, the team had two world champions and one world runner-up.

Fortunately, in this parallel universe, Xiaohu became the captain instead of Xiangguo, so this problem can be temporarily suppressed.

After S7 ends, we must properly polish Xiaohu, this rough gem, so that he can become the perfect gem of the LPL.

(End of this chapter)