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

Chapter 480: If the team that eliminated Pray in the S-series tournament can win the championship?
Both teams appeared to have normal expressions.

Since the finals hadn't fully started yet, no one showed any signs of nervousness or other unusual emotions on their faces.

The live stream switched back to the commentary booth, where several people began their pre-match chat.

"There's a very interesting statistic before today's match!" Guan Zeyuan said with a smile.

"Oh?" Rita was quite curious.

"The team that eliminated Pray in the previous World Championships."

After a slight pause, Guan Zeyuan continued, "The teams that eliminated Pray all won the championship!"

"Huh? What kind of buff is this?"

"In 12, 13, 15, and 16, in the four World Championships that Pray had just participated in, every team that eliminated Pray won the championship!"

Following Guan Zeyuan's lead, Changmao said with a smile, "So, who eliminated Pary this year?"

“That’s right, it’s LGD!” Guan Zeyuan immediately chimed in.

Many people still choose to believe in metaphysics.

However, when these words came from Guan Zeyuan's mouth...
On the official live stream chat, the comment "Guan Zeyuan, shut up!" has been flooding the screen.

"Alright, let's not talk about these mystical topics anymore."

Although he was at the Bird's Nest stadium and couldn't possibly take out his phone to check the live comments, Guan Zeyuan seemed to sense the current state of the live comments.

Shrinking his neck slightly, Guan Zeyuan said loudly, "Let's hand the camera over to the commentary booth!"

Of course, the camera won't immediately cut to the commentary booth; first, there will be an advertisement featuring the sponsor.

After the Mercedes advertisement, the live broadcast camera focused on the commentary booth.

"Alright, everyone, welcome to the 2017 League of Legends World Championship Finals. Hello, I'm your commentator, Ji De!"

"Hi, my name is Miller."

"Hello everyone, I'm PDD."

For this highly anticipated final, the LPL team arranged for Remember, Miller, and special guest PDD to provide live commentary.

The veteran LPL commentators, Wawa and Miller, who never miss important events, were surprisingly separated for this final.

Perhaps it was because LGD's semi-final match was being commentated by Wawa and Miller.

To avoid viewer fatigue, the LPL official combined parts of the commentary from the two semi-final matches between RNG and LGD.

PDD and Jide were the commentators for last week's RNG vs. SKT semi-final match.

The three commentators were also assembled in the same way.

"Today, we finally welcome the World Championship at the Bird's Nest. After three years, LPL teams are once again participating in the S-series finals!"

After introducing myself, I remember involuntarily making a remark.

“Yes, the last time it was Royal Club from Season 4!” Miller said.

"So, regardless of the outcome of today's final, we certainly hope LGD can win, but if LGD ultimately loses this final..."

"I hope that the audience can take the outcome of this match with a calm mind. After all, the opponent is SKT, and no one can guarantee a 100% victory!"

Miller started by lowering expectations, so that it wouldn't be hard to accept if they actually lost.

Perhaps Miller is genuinely pessimistic, because SKT has yet to lose a best-of-five series at the World Championship.
“Hey Miller, you can’t go on like this! Let’s not talk about our past matches, just this S-series. In the group stage, each team won one game, so I think it’s a 50/50 match!” PDD said with a smile. “Let’s change the subject and discuss the highlights of this match.”

"If we're talking about the highlights of this match, then the first thing to pay attention to is Zhou Shen and Faker, one in the top lane and the other in the mid lane."

"Oh, it's a bit of a pity. It would be great if Zhou Shen and Faker played the same position. I really want to see them face off!" PDD scratched the back of his head.

PDD then added, "The absolute strengths of both sides are in the top lane and the mid lane, but I think the key to this BO5 will actually be the bot lanes!"

It's quite rare that in a meta that favors the bottom lane, when other people mention the key positions of the two teams in the finals, the bottom lane isn't the first thing that comes to mind.

At this moment, Ji De suddenly said, "Okay, according to the information I just received, in the first game, LGD, who had the right to choose sides, actively chose the blue side."

"Both players are ready, and the first game of the finals' draft phase is about to begin!"

The live stream camera shifted.

At this moment, the director zoomed in with a wide shot.

Looking down from the air, on the huge stage in the center of the Bird's Nest, there are two soundproof glass rooms on either side, where the finalists are located.

On the rectangular platform in the center of the stage, the Summoner's Trophy, symbolizing the World Championship winner, is placed.

The overhead camera gradually descended, and eventually the image on the large screen changed to the BP interface.

"Alright, the final battle of the 17 World Championship, the first game of the BO5, the draft phase officially begins, LGD on the blue side, SKT on the red side!"

In today's final, the three-person commentary team remembered that Ji De stood in the center position and naturally took on the responsibility of controlling the flow of the event.

"I've discovered something."

PDD continued, "Now, when LGD chooses sides, it seems they are choosing the blue side more and more often. In the past, they mostly chose the red side and gave the counter pick to the top laner."

"Well... I think that's how it is!" Miller said, "In this version, the blue side definitely has a natural advantage in the draft phase!"

"In the semi-final between LGD and Samsung, Zhou Shen got counter picks in several games, but only managed to make a difference with Fiora in one game."

"Even the Fiora who played well almost lost that game."

"LGD really needs to consider the diversity of their tactics. League of Legends has evolved to this point; how can one person go far?"

Miller's words basically guessed what the LGD coaching staff was thinking.

In top-level matches, relying too much on one person can easily lead to problems.

Zhou Dian is confident of defeating SKT today because SKT has fallen into this unhealthy game mode.

After a month of competition, according to Zhou Dian's observation, this SKT team now only has the illustrious reputation of being a three-time world champion.

Whenever they encounter a slightly tough battle, the whole team can only rely on Faker. No one else can step up.

At the same time, perhaps because they have won too many championships, SKT's head coach KkOma's draft picks have become increasingly stubborn, showing a strong disbelief in the odds.

If you don't believe in bad luck, you can still manage to get the better of your opponent if they're easy to deal with.

But if you run into a tough opponent, you'll only get stabbed!

Therefore, the pre-match strategy devised by LGD's coaching staff was to win through conventional means rather than through unconventional tactics.

Just play a standard, straightforward lineup. Use the conventional tactics to overwhelm him; there's no need for any surprises.

They start by trying to outsmart others, putting themselves in a subordinate position, naturally feeling inferior and hesitant in their actions.

Unexpected tactics are for desperate situations!
So, when LGD won the coin toss the day before and secured the right to choose sides in the first game, the entire LGD team discussed it, and Dgc made the decision without hesitation: they would choose the blue side for the first game. Speaking of this coin toss, LGD won against Samsung in the semifinals and against SKT in the finals.

Zhou Dian had no choice but to order something else.

But as I said before, what's wrong with having a bit of home-field advantage when playing on your own turf?
Moreover, the probability of winning two consecutive coin tosses is one in four, which is not a very low probability.

Securing the right to choose sides in the first game of a BO5 series twice in a row is actually still within the normal range.

In the commentary box.

"Okay, let's take a look at the first round of bans and picks for both sides!" Remember said loudly.

First round of BP.

LGD banned Galio, Rakan, and Sejuani.

SKT banned Kalista, Jayce, and Tristana.

"LGD banned Faker's Galio right from the start. In the semifinals between RNG and SKT, Faker played Galio in five consecutive games. I think he has already won over everyone."

"His Galio absolutely deserves a ban!" Miller said.

"For SKT, besides Kalista, who is a must-ban on the red side, the second ban will be Jayce."

PDD continued, "Banning Jayce on the red side in the first round of the draft is tantamount to admitting that I can't handle your Jayce!"

Seemingly still not satisfied, PDD loudly proclaimed, "People always say that only LCK top laners can play Jayce well, but now I'm telling you, our LPL's Jayce is the strongest!"

These words drew cheers from the audience.

However, the contestants were all sitting in a glass room with excellent soundproofing, and with the addition of soundproof headphones, these shouts were basically inaudible.

After the first round of bans ended, without much hesitation, Zhou Dian immediately locked in Janna on the first floor of the blue team.

"First pick Janna, directly securing the strongest support Janna in the current patch!"

"If you covered up the team names in this ban and pick, I would have thought it was Samsung," Miller said with a smile. "It seems that after the semi-final against Samsung, LGD has absorbed a lot from their opponents."

Miller was the commentator for the LGD vs. Samsung semi-final a week ago, and he still vividly remembers all the details of that match.

When it was SKT's turn to pick, they chose Varus and Gragas on the first and second floors of the red side, respectively.

"A very solid two-pronged approach. LGD should be picking AD carry and jungler next," PDD said.

The camera lingered briefly on imp, while Dgc spoke to him from beside him.

Then, LGD locked down Xayah on the second floor of the blue side.

“Xayah! I really like this ADC!” PDD continued.

"Although Rakan has been banned, Janna is the strongest support in the current version. I think she's not much worse than the Xayah-Rakan combo when paired with Xayah!"

Then, LGD instantly locked in Malzahar on the third floor of the blue side.

"They picked Malzahar mid first, but not jungle!" Remember said. "Then in the second round, I think SKT will likely ban the remaining jungle champions they can choose from!"

"Not necessarily. I think SKT will definitely ban top lane champions again in the second round."

Miller continued, "It feels like keeping the jungler and top laner in the second round of picking is probably because they want to use Zhou Shen's absolute strength to draw fire and make it easier for the other teammates to pick their heroes."

It has to be said that as Miller has commentated on LGD's matches more often, his understanding of LGD has also deepened.

This prediction of the draft picks is basically the same as LGD's pre-match strategy.

After much hesitation, SKT made their final pick in the first round, locking in Lulu on the third floor of the red team.

The strongest support in the current version besides Janna.

Of course, there's also the possibility that Lulu could be moved to the mid lane, echoing LGD's initial mid lane Malzahar pick.

However, it may only be a possibility.

Having Faker play Lulu mid lane is a clear attempt to weaken Faker's influence in the game.

Based on Bang's performance recently, it's probably not worth Faker playing Lulu mid to protect him.

As for Lulu in the top lane, just like Zhou Dian's Karma in the semifinals, that's utter nonsense.

Does Huni have that ability?

As the saying goes, the weirder the top laner is, the faster they'll lose!

Of course, Zhou Dian is an exception!
LGD has already assumed that SKT's Lulu is the support pick.

The first round of business matching (BP) has ended.

We've moved on to the second round of draft picks.

SKT banned Fiora and Shen.

LGD banned Syndra and Taliyah.

"Just as Miller said, SKT banned two top lane champions in the second round!" Remember said. "LGD banned two mid lane champions."

"Basically, it looks like SKT will be attacking in the first game!"

PDD continued, "SKT directly banned Fiora and Shen, two top lane champions: Fiora, who excels at split pushing, and Shen, who excels at roaming."

"Yes, in the fourth game of the semifinals between LGD and Samsung, after Zhou Shen's Fiora, his Fiora should be like Faker's Galio, at least in this version, someone that all teams need to respect!" Miller said in one breath.

In professional League of Legends matches, respecting someone's champion naturally means banning that champion.

"Then, LGD will definitely need to relieve some pressure on Wei Shen," Miller continued, "and they will definitely need to target Faker's lane."

"They banned Syndra, then Taliyah."

"Taliyah has a long reach, and she's a point where it's relatively easy to set the pace in the mid-game."

Remember nodded and said, "That's how the ten bans were for both sides in the first game. LGD banned three mid-lane heroes, and SKT banned three top-lane heroes."

"In a meta where the bot lane is the core, the fact that this kind of draft situation has occurred shows that Zhou Shen and Faker are receiving the highest level of treatment!"

In the second round of player selection, it was SKT's turn to pick first.

He continued, "In the second round of offense and defense, it's also important whether the top laners on both sides can secure counter-picks."

Before the words were even finished, SKT locked in Gnar on the fourth floor of the red side.

"SKT still chose to save their last counter pick for their mid laner!" PDD immediately said. "So what champions can counter Gnar in the top lane now? Camille? Fiora?"

"No, no, no, Fiora has already been banned." PDD realized his mistake and quickly corrected himself, "So banning Fiora also had Gnar waiting in the wings, but I have faith in Zhou's champion pool."

On LGD's side, Zhou Dian did not expect SKT to choose Gnar for the top lane.

However, he guessed that SKT would pick their top laner first on the fourth floor of the red side!
(End of this chapter)