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

Chapter 419 Huni's Confidence, Zhou Men's Swordplay!

After LGD defeated C9, not only was AHQ eliminated from the group stage two rounds early, but SKT also advanced from the group stage two rounds early.

Of course, SKT wasn't the only team to advance from the group stage ahead of schedule.

"And it's not just AHQ that failed to advance from the group stage; C9 also failed," Guan Zeyuan continued.

"Congratulations to LGD and SKT for advancing to the quarterfinals. The only interesting thing to watch in the remaining matches is who will ultimately take first place in the group."

Currently, C9 has a record of one win and three losses, while LGD has a record of three wins and one loss.

Even if C9 wins their last two matches and LGD loses their last two, both teams will have a record of three wins and three losses.
However, LGD has already defeated C9 twice, and based on head-to-head results, LGD will advance.

Only two matches were played in the second round, and the two teams that qualified for the knockout stage were already determined. This is the earliest time in the history of the S-series that the group stage qualification spots have been determined in advance.

So, apart from the LGD vs. SKT match, the remaining four matches are basically not worth watching.

In the commentary box.

"Congratulations again to LGD and SKT for advancing to the quarterfinals of the World Championship!" Guan Zeyuan announced loudly.

"Next up is the post-match interview. Let's turn the camera to the interviewers."

The MVP of this match goes to imp's female police officer.

Therefore, the post-match interview for the LPL side was naturally conducted by imp.

The other members of LGD went to other regions for post-match interviews.

After only two out of six group stage matches, LGD and SKT have already secured their places in the knockout stage from Group A.

The later matches became somewhat more for entertainment.

This is at least true for C9 and AHQ, who have already been eliminated.

Of course, LGD and SKT are still vying for first place in their group.

But to be honest, apart from the direct confrontation between the two teams, it's hard to say how much interest and fighting spirit the players can muster when facing other eliminated opponents.

The next match is SKT vs. C9.

DaMu is facing his former team again, and Faker has already picked Fizz to have some fun.

Huni, on the other hand, was a bit ruthless when dealing with the seniors.

After DaMu picked Maokai for top lane, he countered by picking Jayce for top lane.

Having already been eliminated from the group stage, C9's draft picks were rather casual, and they didn't bother banning Jayce.

Moreover, Huni's Jayce skills aren't exactly top-tier.

Even so, Huni's Jayce still brutally beat Da Mu's tree, beating it mercilessly.

Da Mu was suffering from being tormented by different players' Jess, which was a bit tough.

By the last day of the group stage, all the teams had realized Jayce's strength in the top lane.

This has caused concern among LPL viewers, as LCK top laners are generally very skilled at playing Jayce.

On the other hand, among the three LPL teams participating in this World Championship, only Zhou Dian knows how to play Jayce.

As for the other two, 957 clearly doesn't know how to play them, and I've never seen him pick Jayce.

Letme had used Jayce before, but his performance was... well, let's just say it was less than stellar.

Don't be fooled by the prevalence of Ardent Censer monsters in this version; it's a bot lane meta.

However, the top lane is always the lane where you can snowball the most.

As long as damage-dealing top laners and warrior top laners are still viable, the importance of the top lane will never be low. Once a damage-dealing top laner starts snowballing, other lanes won't be able to withstand it.

In the past, the LPL didn't pay enough attention to the top lane, and they suffered a lot as a result.

In the match between SKT and C9, SKT easily defeated C9, achieving a five-game winning streak in the group stage.

The next match will be a direct confrontation between LGD and SKT.

Only by winning this match against SKT will LGD have a chance to compete with SKT for first place in the group through a tiebreaker.

With this loss, SKT, like Dragon Ball, advanced from the group stage with a perfect record.

Many LPL viewers still have some confidence in LGD.

Even though SKT at the World Championship was practically a god-like force.

However, LGD has genuinely defeated SKT at this year's MSI and Mid-Season Invitational.

Losing in the first round of the group stage doesn't mean we can't win it back in the second round today.

After a ten-minute break, LGD and SKT began their second group stage match.

The stadium was packed; most of the audience members had come specifically for this match.

This BO1 match between LGD and SKT is the highlight of today's game.

"Alright, everyone, the second round of the group stage match between LGD and SKT is about to begin."

The child shouted loudly, "Whether the suspense of the battle for first place in the group can continue depends on this match!"

Today's commentary lineup for the last three BO1 group stage matches will be Wawa and Miller.

At this time, these two are still the mainstays of LPL commentary, and they are always arranged to commentate on important and highly watched events.

"Here it comes! The battle everyone's been waiting for today!"

After Miller finished speaking, the screen on the big screen switched to the BP interface.

SKT has made a roster change for this match.

After securing their place in the knockout stage, KkOma opted to bring in substitute jungler Blank, replacing Peanut.

In the middle of the BP interface, the director showed the live camera to the ten players from both sides.

It's clear that the players look very relaxed, after all, they've already qualified for the knockout stage.

The team members were chatting and laughing together.

The camera then panned across the audience, many of whom were holding up light sticks supporting LGD.

However, there were also quite a few people holding up light sticks related to SKT.

SKT is really popular in China!

Or rather, SKT is extremely popular worldwide.

Ultimately, esports is all about results.

Everything related to grades is tied to performance.

In the first round of the group stage, LGD was on the blue side and SKT was on the red side. In this game, the roles have been reversed, with SKT on the blue side and LGD on the red side.

LPL viewers suddenly gained a boost of confidence.

As everyone knows, Zhou Dian, who plays on the red side, is almost invincible when he has a counter-position.

Both sides were very quick in banning and selecting players, which showed that they were quite relaxed.

That's normal, although both sides need to win this match.

However, given that both teams have already qualified from their groups, this isn't a do-or-die battle, so a more casual approach to the draft is understandable.

If you have some special strategy prepared for a best-of-five knockout stage, there's no need to use it in this kind of competition.

Although the draft picks are casual, the players will definitely give it their all in this match.

Because the audiences in both regions care about the result of this match.

If they lose, although there won't be any real loss for the team, the viewers in their own region will definitely give them a lot of flak.

The pressure from public opinion has a very real impact on the players' mentality.

Of course, Zhou Dian is completely indifferent to outside opinions, letting public opinion dictate his life.

He is, after all, someone who has had a second chance, and his mindset is inherently different from others.

Public opinion didn't affect his performance. In this match, regarding the bans, LGD banned three mid-lane champions besides Kalista, which is a must-ban on the red side.

Faker still needs to be targeted.

Judging from the previous group stage matches, SKT's bot lane duo has been in a lot of ups and downs, sometimes good and sometimes bad, and they certainly don't have the ultimate stability they had when they won two consecutive World Championships.

SKT's two junglers, Peanut and Klose, are also a bit of a mystery.

Aside from Faker, among SKT's players in this World Championship so far, the one who has performed relatively consistently is probably top laner Huni.

In fact, it was evident from this year's LCK Summer Split that starting in June or July, this SKT team was completely being carried by Faker, so it was no surprise that they were utterly crushed by Longzhu in the LCK finals.

Actually, making it to the LCK Summer Split finals was already beyond most people's expectations.

To defeat the current SKT team, just focus on Faker; the other players rarely step up.

SKT, on the other hand, only banned Jayce as their top laner.

It seems Huni is very confident in herself today and wants to have a good showdown with Zhou Dian.

Huni is probably a little resentful about losing to Zhou Dian in their previous encounter.

Huni's victory in the first round of the group stage boosted her confidence when facing Zhou Dian.

Actually, if we're only talking about the World Championship, Huni has only faced one LPL top laner in the World Championship before, and that was Zz1tai.

Back then, Huni was still playing in Europe. In the S5 group stage, FNC played against IG twice, and it was all Huni's individual show. Zz1tai was completely beaten by Huni.

Huni immediately had the thought, "Are all the local top laners in the LPL this bad?"

It wasn't until two years later, at this year's MSI, that I was severely taught a lesson by Zhou Dian, and I began to slightly change my opinion.

However, he only acknowledged Zhou Dian's skill level; he still looked down on other top laners in the LPL.

Now, at the S7 World Championship, Huni feels that once you reach the S-series, you're in SKT's territory!

With the victory against LGD in the first round, Huni's confidence soared.

With SKT already advancing from the group stage, he felt he needed to put up a good fight against Zhou Dian in this match and get revenge for the crushing defeat he suffered at MSI.

On LGD's side, Zhou Dian did not request a counter-pick in this game.

Zhou Dian deliberately reserved the fifth-floor counter-pick position for Wei Shen in the mid lane.

At this time, Faker was, without exaggeration, a mid laner who would be absolutely crushed if he didn't pick a counter-pick champion, and even if he did, it would only be a 50/50 matchup.

There are even frequent instances where Faker counters and completely dominates the opposing mid laner.

As for the cricket huni, you don't need a counter-attack when fighting it.

Let's leave the counter spot to Wei Shen.

Therefore, in the second round of ban/pick, LGD directly revealed Camille on the fourth floor of the red side.

His Camille pick, with its ultimate ability targeting Faker, was designed to counter Faker.

Zhou Dian didn't actually care what Huni chose in this game.

In Zhou Dian's opinion, Huni does have some skill.

However, they are clearly not as good as Khan and Smeb, who are currently the top top laners in the LCK.

It's not as good as Samsung's Cuvee.

Huni is simply a master at stomping noobs; his previous market value was entirely due to his dominating Zz1tai in the World Championship.

Throughout this year's international competitions, Huni is just waiting to completely destroy his market value.

When Zhou Dian selected Camille, the audience erupted in cheers.

As viewers, regardless of your stance or which team you support, you ultimately want to see more entertaining matches.

For most spectators who are just there for the spectacle, the entertainment value of the match often comes from the appeal of the heroes.

The visual appeal of Camille is self-evident.

In the commentary box.

"Wow, Camille!" Miller exclaimed.

"After Jayce was banned, Zhou Shen didn't hesitate and immediately picked Camille."

"As everyone knows, Zhou Shen has several signature damage-dealing top laners: Jayce, Camille, and Fiora."

"That first move with Camille is going to get countered by Huni!" Miller said with some concern.

"LGD's counter pick in this game was ultimately reserved for their mid laner to counter Faker," Wawa added.

On SKT's side, Huni was immediately displeased when he saw that LGD had picked Camille on the fourth floor.

Good grief, you're even going to use Camille first? Are you kidding me?

I must take you down head-on today!

Huni immediately told coach KkOma that he wanted to play Fiora.

You're supposed to be the world's best Fiora, aren't you?
This year, I'm going to use Fiora to take you down!
Fiora is a counter to Camille.

Moreover, Fiora has been subtly buffed in recent patches.

Increase it little by little each time, and after several times, the increase will be quite significant.

The current Fiora is much better at countering Camille.

Coach KkOma has always respected the players' choices in the draft phase.

Or rather, unless it's a life-or-death situation, he rarely forces the contestants to listen to him when they disagree with him.

Even if he has that authority.

Moreover, even if SKT loses this match, they still have a chance to play a tiebreaker to try and win the group.

If Huni wants to prove himself, let him be.

If Huni wins this laning phase against Zhou, it will greatly boost his confidence and will definitely have a positive impact on SKT's subsequent matches.

That's what KkOma thinks anyway!
So after SKT picked Orianna for mid lane on the fourth floor of the blue side, they locked in Fiora on the fifth floor.

When Fiora appeared, the cheers from the crowd grew even louder.

Of course, LPL viewers weren't cheering for Huni, but for the upcoming top lane duel.

Camille vs. Fiora!
Even in high-elo casual games, this is a highly entertaining and strategic matchup.

Not to mention that this matchup is about to take place on the stage of the World Championship.

All I can say is that it's incredibly entertaining.

Upon seeing this, Miller immediately exclaimed, "Wow, Fiora! Huni really dares to pick her!"

"I'm a little worried about Zhou Shen now. Fiora is a counter to Camille, and Camille's laning ability is really weak right now. It's not a good idea to pick her first."

"What's there to worry about?" the doll asked with a smile. "I only have four words for Huni: 'Zhou Men Nong Jian'!"

LGD players' bench.

Seeing Huni pick Fiora, Zhou Dian smiled slightly, appearing quite confident and composed.

This scene was captured by the director and appeared on the big screen at the scene.

The LPL supporters at the scene naturally gave an even louder cheer.

Although Wawa often talks nonsense during his commentary, he was right about the phrase "Zhou Men Nong Jian" (周门弄剑).

Zhou Dian does have some insights into how Camille should play against Fiora.

Fiora is definitely a counter to Camille.

Even though Fiora has been buffed recently, it's only somewhat effective against her; she's far from being completely countered and unable to fight back.

This restraint can be completely overcome through skill and understanding of the hero.

(End of this chapter)