You promised a top lane tutorial, but you're just using Worlds as material for your videos?

Chapter 367 IG makes a rare two-man substitution! Give Duke a proper makeover!

"Congratulations again to LGD for tying the score."

"This game ended even faster than the first game that IG won. Where do you think IG lost this game, Mr. Zhihuan?" Guan Zeyuan asked.

Upon hearing this, Zhihuan said, "I think IG mainly lost because they couldn't stabilize the situation. Vayne has inherent weaknesses when playing top lane, so there's no need to rush the game!"

"However, to be fair, LGD played with a lot of confidence in this game, fully displaying the style of MSI champions, and bringing out all sorts of amazing plays."

"When IG's players are manipulated by their opponents, they inevitably get a little carried away."

Guan Zeyuan nodded, then asked, "So, Teacher Zhihuan, who do you think will get the MVP in this game?"

"The MVP will probably go to Zhou Shen's Vayne. Actually, all five LGD players played exceptionally well in this game. It was a complete stomp, so I think it doesn't matter who gets the MVP."

"But if I had to choose one, Zhou Shen's Vayne had the best stats in this game, with a solo kill against her lane opponent and a double kill in a 1v2 situation. Giving the MVP to Vayne would be more appropriate!"

"Alright, let's see who gets the MVP in this game!"

At this moment, Zhou Dian's image appeared on the large screen at the scene.

"As expected, the MVP of the second game went to Zhou Shen, whose Vayne achieved a score of 6-0-5!"

"Now, let's take a short break, everyone. We'll bring you the third game of this BO5 series shortly."

Backstage area of ​​the venue, LGD's lounge.

Zhou Dian and his four teammates filed into the rest room.

Dgc stood at the door of the rest room. Every time a team member came in, he would pat them on the shoulder and say, "Well played!"

Dgc was quite satisfied with the confidence his team members displayed in the second game.

This is the real LGD!
As this year's LPL Spring Split champion, MSI champion, and undefeated team in the Summer Split regular season.

If you're stronger than your opponent, then you should definitely dominate them!
Time was of the essence. Zhou Dian and his teammates had just sat down and taken a sip of water when Dgc began discussing tactics for the third game with them.

In the third game, LGD had the right to choose sides.

After some discussion, LGD decided to choose the red side.

Choosing the red side is actually very rare in recent versions of the game.

Even LGD, who used to love picking red buff, has basically stopped doing so in recent versions.

Because the red side faces too much pressure from bans.

In this match, LGD decided to actively choose the red side.

Naturally, the red team should reserve the fifth-floor counter position for Zhou Dian.

Zhou Dian didn't really need the counter position.

Because in recent versions, tanks have been rampant in the top lane.

Generally speaking, in a match where both top laners pick Cho'Gath and I pick Maokai, giving the top laner a counter pick isn't that meaningful.

However, if LGD chooses the red side in the third game of the upcoming BO5, there will be a very simple way to win.

Because LGD's opponent in this semi-final BO5 is IG.

During this year's LPL Summer Split, IG had a well-known habit.

That is in the use of the two top laners.

In a match, whether Duke or TheShy starts, if IG wins, they continue playing; if they lose, they switch to the other player.

It is foreseeable that in the upcoming third game, IG will replace TheShy with Duke.

This approach is truly bizarre.

The summer split is almost over, and IG still doesn't have a stable starting lineup.

I have no idea what IG's coach is doing!

IG is a team notorious for having a lot of incompetent coaches.

Take Chris, for example, who left IG this May.

Despite Chris's many years in the LPL, it doesn't change the fact that he was one of the earliest "takeout" coaches in the LPL.

Yes, it's the same Chris who said, "Chris, close the iron gate downstairs."

After Chris left, the coach IG hired for the Summer Split was also a bit of a mess.

Of course, the chaos within the IG team is inextricably linked to IG manager Su Xiaoluo.

Returning to this BO5 series, IG will definitely bring in Duke in the third game.

Duke's current level is significantly lower than when he won the S6 World Championship last year.

On IG, TheShy can only pick tank champions like Cho'Gath, but on Duke, he can only pick tank champions.

If everyone plays tank heroes, it's hard to say how well Zhou Dian can get Duke.

However, after securing the counter position, Zhou Dian felt that he needed to properly arrange Duke's ranking!

"Alright, everyone, welcome to the LPL Summer Playoffs."

"What we are about to bring you is the third game of the BO5 semifinals between LGD and IG. The first two games are tied one to one."

"Just received news that IG has made two personnel adjustments."

After a pause, Guan Zeyuan continued, "First, let's talk about the top lane position. In the third game, IG sent out Duke to replace TheShy."

"This substitution was actually something that everyone had guessed after the second game, since IG has been substituting their top laner after every game they lose almost all summer!"

"But there's another adjustment I really didn't expect!"

"Oh? How so?" Rita echoed Guan Zeyuan at just the right moment, uttering a question.

"IG also changed their jungler. In the third game, IG chose to replace Ning with Kid."

Upon hearing this, Zhihuan, who was standing next to him, immediately made a not-so-funny joke.

"Could it be that Ning didn't turn off his ultimate when playing Jarvan IV in the last game, causing his teammates to die, and the coach couldn't stand it anymore?"

That's a bit sarcastic!
Of course, it wasn't just the commentators and viewers who didn't expect IG to change their jungler in the third game.

LGD was completely caught off guard.

However, IG's decision to bring in Kid instead of Ning is ultimately a good thing for LGD.

Kid hasn't played in a match for a while now, I don't know what the IG coaching staff is panicking about.

Although Ning made a stupid move in the last game, the score is only 1-1, there's no need to rush to change the jungler as well.

Most importantly, even the child god's strength is not as good as Prince Ning's!

When Zhou Dian heard that the IG coaching staff had made such a decision and made such a terrible move, he just laughed.

I can't say for sure about other things, but at least he'll have a very comfortable time in the top lane this game.

It seems that choosing the red side in this game was definitely the right decision.

As everyone knows, Kid is a jungler who only helps mid laner Rookie!

Eimy laughed too, but her laughter was a little unkind.

The player known as "Kid" in the game, nicknamed "Kid God," joined the IG team during Season 2 and was a teammate of Sun Yalong and PDD.

Initially, Kid's position in the game was ADC.

As a well-known carry in casual games, he is proficient in all positions and can easily climb the ranks. He is considered one of the earliest all-rounders in the Chinese server.

But when it came to actually playing, things were a different story. KidGod made many outrageous plays during the game, and overall, his performance was far from satisfactory.

At first, some people thought that Sun Yalong was too incompetent and dragged the children's team down.

However, after Sun Yalong retired and IG changed their support player, Kid's performance in the game became increasingly outrageous.

In Season 5, Kid's "peak" arrived.

There's a bizarre game in the LPL where a Vayne player only dealt 443 damage throughout the entire match, and in the World Championship, she was even more ridiculously bad.

Sivir had her E skill, but Tristana used her E to knock out both of her summoner spells and send them to the mid tower.

Jinx's face-checking of the bush with wards allowed her to feed a low-health Darius with Bloodrage, leading to IG's defeat.

While it can't be said that he single-handedly caused IG to be eliminated in the group stage during the S5 World Championship, he can certainly be considered the number one culprit.

Back in 15, after bringing in Rookie and Kakao, the owner of IG, Wang Sicong, famously declared, "If IG doesn't make it to S5, I'll eat shit."

Ultimately, Rookie was incredibly strong that year, managing to drag Kid, Youshen, and Zz1tai into the World Championship, thus saving face for the boss.

After being eliminated in the group stage of S5, Kid couldn't continue playing as an ADC, so he switched to jungle.

The problem is that after KidGod switched to jungle, his performance in the game wasn't great.

His jungle strategy is simple: protect mid laner Rookie at all costs.

Even so, in the year Kid switched to jungle, which was the entire S6 season, Kid was IG's starting jungler, his position remained unchanged and extremely secure.

In S7, which is this year's Spring Split, the other half of the former IG duo, Zz1tai, transferred to Snake Esports in order to get playing time.

Kid remains IG's undisputed starting jungler.

That's why they say the kid who's a god of war was once Wang Sicong's atomic bomb!
It wasn't until Ning joined IG that Kid started spending more and more time on the bench.

It's a bit strange, but Ning and Kid are both players who transitioned from ADC to jungle.

In the commentary box.

When Guan Zeyuan and Zhihuan were discussing the reason why IG replaced Kid with Youshen, they both said they didn't understand after a while.

"Alright, enough chit-chat, let's turn our attention back to the match. The draft phase for the third game is about to begin," Guan Zeyuan said.

"In the third game, LGD, who had the right to choose sides, actively chose the red side. It's quite rare for them to actively choose red again now!"

Zhihuan said, "LGD probably wants to better utilize Zhou Shen's strengths. If I'm not mistaken, LGD will give the fifth counter pick to Zhou Shen in this game."

"That should be it!" Guan Zeyuan nodded. "After all, LGD has often done this before!"

"So, will IG's roster change bring us a completely new lineup and playstyle, or will LGD, like in the last game, take advantage in the early to mid-game and then win the match in one fell swoop?"

"Let's look at the team compositions first and see how both sides drafted their opponents!"

At this moment, the BP interface appeared on the large screen below.

Blue side IG, red side LGD.

First round of BP.

IG banned Kog'Maw, Jayce, and Rakan.

LGD banned Kalista, Elise, and Gragas.

LGD gave the ban slot originally intended for Rumble to Kalista.

With TheShy not on the field, there's no need to ban Rumble; Duke's Rumble was a bit lacking.

Immediately afterwards, IG picked the big tree on the first floor of the blue side.

"Huh? Stealing a big tree? That's unnecessary!" Guan Zeyuan said.

Next, LGD picked Jarvan IV on the first floor and Twitch on the second floor.

Both sides selected a hero that could be played in the top lane or jungle on their respective first floor.

Following that, after IG picked Tristana on the second floor of the blue side, they didn't pick a support on the third floor, but instead picked Cassiopeia.

In the first two games, LGD banned Cassiopeia in the second round of the draft, so IG picked Cassiopeia directly in the first round of the champion selection.

Cassiopeia is also one of Rookie's signature champions, and she is an extremely strong champion in the laning phase.

Besides the concern that LGD would ban Cassiopeia later, another reason is that IG's jungler for this game is Kid.

With the constant protection of the mid laner, Cassiopeia could confidently and aggressively pressure her opponent in lane, which is why Rookie dared to pick Cassiopeia so early.

Seeing IG confidently take down Cassiopeia on the third floor, Dgc suddenly laughed, and GodV also laughed.

IG banned Rakan as their third pick.

In the first two games, Taliyah was banned in this position.

Your Cassiopeia is incredibly strong in lane, so I'll just avoid laning against you!
Cassiopeia's early-game wave clear is weak, making it difficult to limit Taliyah's roaming.

IG had considered that LGD might pick Taliyah to counter Cassiopeia, but IG's coach felt that LGD, in the third position, was more likely to pick Lulu or Janna to pair with Twitch.

Then IG can ban Taliyah again in the second round of the draft.

Unfortunately, things did not develop as the IG coach had predicted. After a slight smile, Wei Shen locked in Taliyah for himself on the third floor of the red team.

After LGD picked Taliyah, the director focused the camera on Wei Shen, who was seen shaking his head in his seat, seemingly quite excited.

"Wei Shen seems to be in a good mood, after all, he hasn't played Taliyah in a competition for a long time," Guan Zeyuan said.

Zhihuan continued, "Choosing Taliyah to counter Cassiopeia is a good choice, as it avoids Cassiopeia's strongest lane matchup."

"However, if LGD doesn't pick a support in the first round, then Lulu and Janna, who are most suitable for Twitch, might not be available!"

"Since you picked Twitch for the AD position, it's best to pick a support who can build Ardent Censer."

Second round of BP.

LGD banned Rek'Sai and Sejuani.

IG banned Lulu and Janna.

"As expected, IG has taken down both Lulu and Janna," Zhihuan said.

LGD gets to pick first.

LGD first revealed a Troll Warlord on the fourth floor of the red team.

"Troll? This troll might be used as a support."

"Troll Warlord's keystone rune with Stoneborn Pact can trigger Ardent Censer, but it's definitely not as direct as with enchanter support champions," said Illusion.

"Either I pick Taric, there aren't many other good heroes to choose from, but I've hardly ever seen PYL use Taric in matches."

At this moment, PYL was communicating with Dgc in the LGD team voice chat.

From a laning perspective alone, imp thinks both Troll Warlord and Taric are viable champions.

Then we need to consider the team aspect.

Gem is stronger in team fights, but Troll can counter the front line.

LGD banned so many junglers to force IG's first pick, Maokai, into the jungle. This way, IG basically only has two front-line heroes in the top and jungle, making it easier for Trundle to perform.

Just as they were having some trouble deciding, Zhou Dian said, "Let's choose Gemstone. Dan-ge, you can take the Prince to jungle. Don't worry about him taking the front line."

Gemstone is a better fit for the Ardent Censer than Troll Warlord, making the game much more comfortable for Twitch.

As for the issue of IG's front line being too tough, he has his own solutions.

(End of this chapter)