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

Chapter 437 Top-Tier Sandbag Bug! You can press me all you want, I'll just keep finishing off the fodder!

"So now LGD has picked their top laner first, let's see how Longzhu picks it?"

Subsequently, Dragon Ball selected Kennen and Crystal Maiden on the fourth and fifth floors of the blue team.

"Wow, Dragon Ball has chosen a teamfight-oriented lineup that focuses on charging into the enemy formation!" PDD said. "No wonder they banned Jarvan IV, they were going to pick Kennen instead."

Zhihuan added, "That must have been planned by Longzhu before the start of the third game. Regardless of whether LGD picked Kennen as their last counter-pick for the top lane, they were going to pick Kennen."

"This idea is indeed feasible. In the first two games of the BO5, whether Khan picked a champion like Jayce who is good at laning or a tank champion who is more team-oriented, the top lane had problems."

After a pause, Guan Zeyuan continued, "In this game, Longzhu directly picked Kennen. He has strength in the laning phase and won't be pressured, and he won't be as ineffective in team fights in the mid-to-late game as Jayce!"

"Dragon Ball's character selection is really good!" PDD nodded.

"However, there is one minor flaw: their lineup's damage is too heavily reliant on AP."

"Dragon Ball has three AP champions in the top, mid, and jungle. Varus's damage also includes a significant amount of AP damage. If LGD's Cho'Gath builds up magic resistance, he can still tank a lot."

"Then let's see what LGD's last mid laner picks?" Guan Zeyuan said.

"The Malzahar and Taliyah that Wei Shen used in the first two games, and which worked quite well, are all gone now!"

As soon as he finished speaking, LGD locked in the Earthshaker as their last pick on the red side.

"Old Alistar? So Karma's going mid, and Alistar's playing support!"

Guan Zeyuan exclaimed, "This move by Lao Niu is a bit of a counter to Kennan's entry into the game!"

"It's not just Kennen; all the heroes from Dragon Ball who can engage are countered by Alistar. LGD's move of flexing Karma to the mid lane is quite ingenious!" Zhuan praised.

"A Tristana paired with Alistar, and Karma, plus Cho'Gath and Gragas in the top lane, who are also full of crowd control. You, Dragon Ball, pick a lineup that focuses on charging in, and tell me how to charge!" PDD's tone was very excited.

He then added, "Based on this draft and ban phase, I'm optimistic about LGD!"

"LGD came fully prepared today. In the draft phase of several games, whether it was the top lane picks or the overall composition of the lineup, they had the upper hand."

"Yes, LGD's strategy of starting with a top laner and then ending with Alistar was quite brilliant," Zhihuan said.

"Longzhu probably never expected that LGD would pick a tank support in this version; they probably all thought Karma would be a support!"

After the skill changes, the Minotaur can no longer actively heal.

The most powerful item in this version is Ardent Censer. Although Alistar can't build it anymore, LGD's mid laner in this game is Karma, and Ardent Censer can be built by mid laners, so it's the same.

BP complete, the game is about to enter the loading screen.

The two head coaches walked to the center of the stage, shook hands, and then each entered the players' tunnel.

The live broadcast camera briefly lingered on the faces of both head coaches.

Fatty Jin looked a little uneasy and lacked confidence.

Dgc, on the other hand, had a smile on his face and was full of confidence.

Actually, Dgc was already very restrained; his excitement wasn't fully revealed on his face.

As PDD said, he came prepared.

The selection of characters in this Dragon Ball game fell entirely into his calculations.

Once the lineup was chosen, Dgc was already 70-80% confident of winning the third game.

How could I not be excited at the thought of my team about to defeat the LCK's number one seed 3-0!

Dgc was having a hard time suppressing his laughter.

As Dgc walked to the latter half of the player tunnel, where there were no cameras watching, he couldn't help but chuckle.

In the commentary box.

Guan Zeyuan announced loudly: "Ladies and gentlemen, the draft phase is over. You are now watching the third game of the BO5 quarterfinals between LGD and Longzhu!"

"Although LGD currently holds three match points, this game is crucial. Can I hear your cheers?"

The crowd erupted in another huge cheer that lasted for half a minute.

Playing at home means you can do whatever you want!

After a one-minute loading countdown, the game arrived at the loading screen.

Blue Dragon Ball:
Top lane Kennen, jungle Sejuani, mid lane Lissandra, bot lane Varus and Taric.

Red team LGD:

Top lane: Cho'Gath; Jungle: Gragas; Mid lane: Karma; Bot lane: Tristana and Alistar.

enter the game.

At the start of the game, both sides lined up in a row of ten players along the river, taking defensive positions.

This game is crucial for both sides.

Therefore, their initial choices were all rather conservative, and they dared not do anything rash.

During the minute or so that the jungle monsters were spawning, the commentators were still discussing the lineups of both sides.

Everyone is more optimistic about LGD's chances.

This isn't about stance, but rather because LGD's draft picks were genuinely much stronger than Longzhu's.

"LGD's lineup in this game is basically a four-protect-one strategy," Guan Zeyuan said.

“The three AD carries from our LPL who are participating in the World Championship this time—Uzi, Mystic, and Imp—are all good AD carries, and they are all worth the effort for teams to build around them with a four-protect-one strategy!” PDD added.

"imp is rarely protected by four guards here, which can only be blamed on Zhou Shen in the top lane being too dominant. Naturally, the draft resources are more tilted towards the top lane!"

As he spoke, he gave a strange chuckle.

"Indeed, before Zhou Shen joined LGD, LGD used the 'four-protect-one' strategy quite often," Guan Zeyuan joked. "Zhou Shen really has to take the blame for that!"

"To be fair, Zhou Shen can not only carry with damage-dealing heroes, but he also does an excellent job as a support top laner who serves the team!"

PDD continued, "That's what I admire most about him. He can play a strong champion in lane and carry the jungler in a 2v1 situation. Many top laners can do that, but when it comes to putting them under pressure, they can't."

"However, on the other hand, there are too many pure support top laners in our LPL, what we lack are top laners like Zhou Shen who can carry!"

“Yes!” Zhihuan nodded. “Getting off topic, back to this game, imp’s Tristana brought Cleanse, which was quite wise.”

Every time the conversation at the commentary booth went off-topic, hallucinations had to bring it back on track.

"Dragon Ball's lineup looks strong in terms of charging into battle, but actually they only have one point control ability: Ice Maiden's ultimate and Tristana with Cleanse. It's not as easy for Dragon Ball to engage as it seems!"

Generally speaking, a charge-based lineup is more effective against a "single-core" lineup like the four-protect-one strategy.

Because once your only core is destroyed, the rest are just tools, which are of little use.

However, nothing is absolute, and specific situations require specific analysis.

Comparing the lineups of both sides in this game.

Since Dragon Ball lacks point control and strong entry skills, if Imp focuses his attention and his teammates provide adequate protection, it will be very difficult for Tristana to be killed.

However, bringing Cleanse inevitably sacrifices early-game laning ability.

There's nothing we can do about it; you have to give up something to gain something!

Fortunately, the support player in this Dragon Ball game was Gem, and his lane dominance wasn't great either.

If you're playing a support like Lulu, then the early laning phase will be very difficult.

The first round of monster spawns.

On the Dragon Ball side, Cuzz's Sejuani chose to start with blue buff, with Kennen helping out in the top lane.

In this game, Cuzz chose to farm from top to bottom, ignoring the top lane for the first few minutes.

After all, LGD chose a four-protect-one lineup, so they still need to put some pressure on that "one".

As for Khan, if he can't beat Cho'Gath with Kennen, he might as well quit playing.

Immediately afterwards, Longzhu's mid laner BDD also reported that the enemy Gragas was starting from the F6 camp.

The barrels also spawn from top to bottom, so they definitely won't be paying attention to the top lane in the early game.

The "one" in your own team's "four-protect-one" strategy still needs to be protected. Both junglers focused their efforts on the bottom lane this game.

Khan breathed a sigh of relief, immediately feeling much less psychological pressure.

It's time to vent the frustration from being tortured in the first two games!
Zhou Dian didn't seem to care about this.

The big bug will definitely be pressured when fighting Kennen.

But without jungle assistance, they can't suppress the enemy much.

The Doran's Shield and a few minor talents in the talent tree that increase resistances and regeneration.

In addition, there's the passive healing from the giant bug.

Hehe, I'll let you, Kennen, tap a few more times, it's nothing special.

Anyway, Zhou Dian was determined to play like a turtle in lane this game.

Once Cho'Gath has two magic resistance items in the mid-game, he can become incredibly powerful.

On LGD's side, Eimy enjoyed a dominant start to this game.

While Wei Shen's Karma was helping Gragas open the F6, Zhou Dian's Cho'Gath had already started taking down the red buff.

After quickly clearing out the five raptors at F6, the top laner then quickly took down the red buff.

However, after seeing that Cho'Gath was released later than Kennen, Dragon Ball guessed that Gragas should have an Emperor-like start.

So we can roughly estimate where the barrels will be in the next minute or so.

However, even if Dragon Ball knows Gragas's specific jungle route, it's useless for them.

My Gragas cleared the bottom jungle before you, putting pressure on your bot lane first.

This also falls under the category of an open strategy.

You know what I'm doing, but you can't stop me!

Of course, the emergence of such a local advantage due to non-operational factors must have come at the cost of sacrifices made in other areas.

It's a game of strategy regarding the allocation of team resources.

The effect of this trade-off is invisible, not as obvious as a direct exchange of blows or a kill in a lane.

Gragas had a dominant start in this game, clearing jungle camps faster than the enemy Sejuani, naturally to protect LGD's bot lane's development.

The price they paid was that LGD's mid and top laners came online later than their opponents, and their lanes were pushed by the opponents. In the early stages, LGD's mid and top laners had no lane priority.

In the top lane, Khan, who was online first, did not choose to let Kennen push across the minion wave to exert pressure.

Instead, they started pushing the lane quickly.

Kennen is a ranged champion. After quickly pushing the lane into the tower, he can continuously harass enemy melee champions who are trying to last-hit under the tower.

And this barrel of wine definitely won't be served anytime soon.

You can bet on Kennen without worry, bet on him however you like!
Zhou Dian's attitude towards this is: you can pressure me all you want, I'll just keep attacking!

Cho'Gath with Doran's Shield as a starting item has incredibly strong lane sustain.

Kennen spammed attacks in front of the tower, but Cho'Gath's health bar barely dropped.

When the second wave of minions arrived in the top lane, Kennen pushed the wave into LGD's top tower.

But by the time the third wave of minions with siege engines was finished off by the Cho'Gath under the tower, it was too late.

Even after taking many hits from Kennen while trying to last-hit the enemy champion under the tower, Cho'Gath's health was still close to two-thirds.

This is also why Zhou Dian chose the big bug instead of the big tree in this game.

While the big tree is more effective in team fights, it's really weak in lane.

You can bully any hero who can deal damage.

So in the previous game, LGD specifically banned Cho'Gath, and Khan actually picked Maokai as a punching bag.

When used as a punching bag, a big bug is much better than a big tree; it's much more durable!

If Longzhu had known earlier that LGD would pick a tank top laner for Zhou Dian to play in the top lane, they would most likely have banned Cho'Gath.

Just looking at how the hero Cho'Gath is handled.

In the second and third games of this BO5 series, LGD completely outclassed Longzhu in the draft phase for the top lane position.

However, the advantage in the draft phase largely depends on the players' hero pool.

In the first two games, Longzhu's choice of Jayce for the top lane was perfectly fine, and the Maokai pick later on wasn't a big problem either.

However, they never expected that Zhou Dian would suddenly pull out the champions Tryndamere and Darius.

This is the advantage in the draft phase that comes from having a large hero pool.

Back to the game.

After the top lane minions were pushed back from LGD's top tower.

Khan pressed the tab key and discovered that Cho'Gath was only one less CS than his Kennen.

This is such a waste of time!
The enemy's health wasn't reduced, and neither were the last hits.

Khan's mood became increasingly impatient, and he wanted even more to suppress the giant worm.

The more anxious you are, the less effective it will be.

Although many times it forces the big bug to be unable to finish off the enemy.

However, Kennen himself missed quite a few attacks because he pushed too far forward.

The result was that Kennen could never gain a significant advantage in last-hitting compared to Cho'Gath.

But Khan doesn't need to rush at all.

Kennen is not like those ranged top laners who are half-useless if they don't have an advantage in the laning phase.

Kennen is actually a very strong champion if he can develop normally.

Zhou Dian could tell from Kennen's eagerness to suppress others that Khan's mentality was probably in trouble and he was on the verge of exploding.

It's fortunate that Eimy completely ignored the top lane in the early part of the game, otherwise Khan would most likely have been caught and killed again.

Zhou Dian had a clear understanding of what he should do at what time in this game.

His overall demeanor during the game was one of unhurried and relaxed.

We've already carried the team twice; it's time to trust our teammates.

After clearing the lower jungle, Eimy's Gragas went to the lower river and started taking the Rift Scuttler.

Because Gragas had a strong start with mid and top laners helping him clear the jungle, and the F6 raptors weren't taken, his jungle clearing speed was much faster than Sejuani's.

At this point, Sejuani had just finished clearing the red buff, and there was still a group of Krugs in the lower jungle that hadn't been cleared yet.

Instead of farming the Krugs, Cuzz controlled Sejuani to walk behind the Dragon Pit and stepped on the Blast Cone to enter the pit.

His goal is also to censor!

According to Cuzz's estimate, although Gragas has a strong start, he will have to clear one more jungle camp than Cuzz.

At this point, the lower jungle area should not be cleared yet, so Sejuani can quickly take down the river crab.

However, Cuzz didn't anticipate that the F6 skill on the barrel only refreshed halfway, without hitting the big bird.

It was this missing half a jungle camp that caused Gragas, who Cuzz had originally planned to arrive at the bottom river a step behind Sejuani, to actually arrive at the bottom river a step faster.

As soon as Sejuani activated the Blast Cone and bounced into the Dragon Pit, Cuzz saw the barrel outside the Dragon Pit attacking the River Crab.

The crab had very little health left and was about to be taken down by the barrel.

Cuzz instinctively wanted to rush forward and snatch it.

(End of this chapter)