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

Chapter 498 Blank replaces Peanut, a substitution for the sake of substitution!
After Malzahar, it's time for Gnar at the peak of the week.

Gnar's damage is slightly higher than Faker's Ryze.

LGD's three carries accounted for the top three damage outputs in this game, which reflects SKT's overall poor performance.

Bang's Varus only dealt half the damage of Xayah, which is somewhat unreasonable.

Of course, Huni's Yasuo, picked in the fifth counter position on the red side, also only dealt half the damage of Gnar.

That's even more unacceptable!

"For us, leading 2-0 in the finals means we're just one step away from the Summoner's Cup we've always dreamed of!"

Guan Zeyuan continued, "SKT is now on the brink of elimination, down 0-2. They are probably the team with the most comebacks from a 0-2 deficit in the world."

"Even so, as I said before, in the history of the World Championship, no team has ever been able to come back from a two-game deficit."

As soon as he finished speaking, the MVP of the second game was announced on the big screen.

"The MVP of the second game goes once again to Zhou, our God Zhou, in the top lane!" Changmao shouted.

"In this game, Zhou Shen's Gnar was heavily targeted in the early game, but his perfect Teleport and perfect team fight control showed us the potential that a Gnar should be able to demonstrate."

Rita nodded and said, "I think today's match will be quite a challenge for Huni!"

"I think it will be a big challenge for anyone to go up against Zhou Shen!" Guan Zeyuan suddenly interjected. "In terms of this, let's go back to what we said after the first game!"

"How can SKT solve the problem of being crushed in split pushing now?"

"SKT's solution for this game was to pick a counter-pick champion, but the result was that even with the counter-pick, the problem remained unsolved. What are you going to do?"

Guan Zeyuan's words were already quite tactful; he meant that even though Huni picked a counter-hero, he still couldn't solve the split-pushing problem.

To put it more bluntly, someone might say, "If you can't even beat a laner with a counter-attack, what are you even doing playing?"

At this moment, Long Hair received instructions from the director through his earpiece.

"Alright, for the next game, LGD has chosen the blue side, so we'll see LGD on the blue side and SKT on the red side for the third consecutive game!"

"Well then, let's take a short break, and the exciting match will be back soon!"

At this moment, on Chinese internet platforms related to League of Legends, netizens were in an uproar.

Leading SKT 2-0 at the World Championship Finals was something no LPL viewer had ever imagined.

But now it has happened.

It happened so naturally, so naturally.

So much so that some viewers even felt it was a bit unreal.

In the last few minutes, there is one thing that has been repeatedly emphasized in the explanation.

That means that in the history of the World Championship, there has never been a comeback from a 0-2 deficit to win 3-2.

It was emphasized so many times that even viewers who rarely watch games remembered it.

Even though today's opponent is SKT, many people online are already celebrating in advance.

Various "If LGD wins the championship, I will do XXXX" flags are flying everywhere.

The entire LPL-related community is slowly becoming filled with excitement and anticipation.

Once LGD destroys SKT's base crystal once more, all emotions will be completely unleashed and released.

Of course, all of this can only be described as being closely related to today's match.

The only real participants in today's match are the two teams on the field.

Unlike those involved who were filled with various emotions, the parties involved remained relatively calm at this time.

In terms of emotional management, the players from both LGD and SKT are at least competent.

Meanwhile, in the SKT rest room, everyone was chatting animatedly about the upcoming third game.

After falling behind 0-2, the atmosphere was actually better than when they were down 0-1.

Perhaps it is only when you are truly on the edge of a cliff that you have the courage to let go of everything.

KkOma then stretched out his hands and pressed down lightly, instantly silencing the rest room.

His authority within the SKT team is evident!
Immediately afterwards, KkOma told Peanut that he would be sitting on the bench in the third game, and Blank would be playing jungle instead.

Little Peanut smiled helplessly and nodded to indicate that he understood.

Peanut knew he hadn't played well in the first two games.

But he didn't think Blank would perform better than him.

He never really thought much of Blank.

Even when he was still with ROX last year, he was defeated by Blank's SKT in the semifinals of S6.

But the team that defeated Peanut was last year's SKT.

In that best-of-five series, Blank was completely dominated by Peanut.

It was only after Bengi was brought in as jungler that SKT was able to turn the tide and win, advancing to the S6 finals.

KkOma is probably thinking back to last year's semi-final match against ROX.

So even though he knew in his heart that Blank might not necessarily perform better than Peanut, KkOma still decided to change the jungler in the third game.

Hopefully, Blank can do what he did several times before when he brought in Bengi and ultimately saved SKT.

This idea also shows that KkOma has absolutely no good way to deal with today's match and LGD.

This jungler change seems to be just a change for the sake of changing players.

If SKT brings a substitute player to this World Championship who is not a jungler, but a top laner, an AD carry, a support, or anything other than a mid laner, KkOma will probably substitute the player in that position.

This substitution is filled with the helplessness of "I have done my best as a coach".

After Peanut nodded, KkOma turned to look at Blank.

Blank, however, seemed hesitant to look at his head coach, his eyes darting around.

It's clear that Blank himself lacks confidence in himself.

This moment reminded Blank of last year's S6 World Championship, when SKT played both of their best-of-five series in the semifinals and finals, going the full distance.

Two best-of-five matches, a total of 10 games, Blank played in three of them.

Three games on the Blank, all lost!
In the two best-of-five series in the semifinals and finals, SKT lost a total of four games, and he alone lost three of them.

All six of SKT's wins were achieved when Bengi played.

Blank's mental fortitude wasn't great to begin with, and after his experience at last year's World Championship, coupled with SKT's current dire situation of being down 0-2, it's quite a feat that he didn't refuse to play.

As soon as KkOma saw Blank's evasive eyes, he knew the kid was scared.

What else can be done?

We've got no choice but to force them into this situation!
Even if you don't want to, you have to do it.

KkOma has considerable confidence in the professionalism of their LCK players.

Once they're on the court, it's unlikely they'll tank on the field.

KkOma already had a plan for the upcoming third game. He understood that in this top lane matchup, no matter how many tactics were designed around Huni, no matter what heroes were picked, and no matter how much help was given, it was basically impossible to break through LGD's top laner Zhou head-on.

With a significant tactical bias, Huni could potentially match Zhou Dian's performance.

However, it's definitely impossible for Huni to win the top lane today and thus gain the advantage in split pushing.

But if the performance is merely average, then why invest so many resources, which could cause problems in other areas?

After realizing that his own top laner was no match for him, KkOma had no choice but to give up on the top lane.

Giving up here doesn't mean completely ignoring it, but rather no longer investing a lot of resources and just playing normally once you get started.

Although in the past, SKT's system relied heavily on the split-pushing of their top laner.

But in this current Ardent Censer meta, KkOma knows very well that the bot lane's carry potential is actually stronger than the top lane's.

It's time to devise tactics around Bang.

We haven't done this before, partly because KkOma is a rather stubborn person.

Secondly, Bang's condition is indeed not good, and KkOma doesn't quite trust him anymore.

He has witnessed Bang's performance since the start of this summer season, and as the head coach, he is also aware of Bang's meditation training.

The team is now on the brink of collapse. KkOma looks around and it seems that only Faker is someone he can trust.

But Faker has done all he could.

To achieve more, others need to step forward.

KkOma decided to entrust this task to Bang, and it was the only one he could do!
KkOma gathered the team members around him and explained the tactical details for the third game, then began to give them a pep talk.

What do you mean, "Don't give up!"

What do you mean by "believe in yourself"?

We, SKT, have accomplished many comebacks from 0-2 down to 3-2 in the past, and we're sure we can do it again this time!

After a long speech of encouragement, most of the team members were motivated.

Only Bang remained half-dead, seemingly indifferent to everything.

Perhaps after winning two consecutive championships, Bang has lost all motivation and interest, and now he just wants to lie down and relax.

But why does Faker, who already has three championships, have a stronger desire to win than all his teammates?

I can only say that people are different from one another!
Meanwhile, in the LGD lounge.

Dgc and his teammates all got up from their seats.

No motivation was needed; everyone's eyes were filled with a strong desire to win.

Without making many tactical deployments, LGD is now simply reacting to whatever comes their way.

Let's wait for SKT to make changes first, then we'll respond accordingly.

One important reason why LGD can do this is that Zhou Dian is too well-suited to the game.

This is the source of their confidence in remaining steadfast amidst change.

After the LGD players gathered in a circle and cheered each other on, Dgc led the team out of the rest room and headed towards the main stage.

"Alright, everyone, welcome back to witness the final BO5 of the 2017 World Championship with us!"

"We've now reached the third game. LGD has been unstoppable in the first two games and currently leads SKT by a significant margin, 2-0!"

The official live broadcast of the event showed many spectators at the Bird's Nest stadium.

The live broadcast camera slowly panned across the audience seats and returned to the main stage.

Finally, it rested on the Summoner's Trophy in the center of the main stage.

The voice of the long-haired man continued to ring out from the commentary booth.

"Wow, the sun is gradually setting, and the temperature is dropping. Everyone should remember to wear an extra layer to keep warm."

"But even though the temperature is getting lower and lower, I can feel the enthusiasm of the audience, which continues to ignite the entire Bird's Nest!"

“Yes, it ignited the passion!” Rita exclaimed.

The camera then shifted from the main stage to the commentary booth.

Rita continued, "I think the players will feel the support from everyone!"

“Yes, we don’t know how the next match will turn out yet, it hasn’t started,” Long Hair said.

"But it could be the end of all the competitions this year, so don't hold back your enthusiasm and remember to give your loudest shouts to the two teams fighting on the field."

Although one of the teams on the field was "one of their own," Changmao Shike remembered to maintain his neutral stance as a commentator.

At least that's how it looks on the surface.

"Okay, before the match starts, everyone can follow the League of Legends esports Weibo account."

What followed was a long string of advertisements.

After a minute of various advertising slogans, the discussion in the commentary booth finally returned to the game itself.

"Yes, the third game is about to begin!"

"So, we have just discussed the trend of the first two games so far."

"For LGD, as long as they can maintain their meticulous playstyle, they have a good chance of becoming the first team in history to sweep SKT 3-0 after this match!"

"Wow, I can't believe it, I really can't believe it!" Guan Zeyuan breathed a sigh of relief and continued, "I think whether you're a member of LGD or a fan of any team, you wouldn't dare to imagine this before the match."

"Perhaps everyone, including our own pre-match predictions, expected a score of 3-2 or 2-3."

"Nobody expected that we would see a 2-0 scoreline right from the start, especially a 2-0 scoreline for LGD!"

"I didn't mean anything by it; I really didn't expect things to turn out this way," Guan Zeyuan quickly added.

As a veteran in the commentary circle, he also showed a strong survival instinct.

"So what's next for SKT might be like, uh, yesterday repeats itself, a moment like this that has happened many times in the past has come again."

"In the moment of crisis, Blank appears!"

At this moment, the director focused the camera on Blank, who had come on as a substitute.

Blank closed his eyes and took a deep breath. You could tell he was under a lot of pressure.

"Indeed, this match is extremely important for him, because his team can no longer afford any more defeats!"

“But…” Guan Zeyuan’s tone shifted abruptly, his voice rising abruptly.

"Today could very well be the day that ends SKT's reign of dominance in the World Championship!"

"For LGD, and for all LPL supporters, we have never been so close to the S-series championship, to the Summoner's Cup!"

"The five LGD players on the field right now are also carrying the expectations of so many people, which is also an immense pressure!"

"What does it all mean if they ultimately defeat SKT?"

"We interviewed LGD's head coach, Dgc. Let's hear what he has to say!"

(End of this chapter)