I just turned eighteen, and you want me to make a comeback?

Amidst the rising cheers from the audience, the big screen was frozen on the draft phase of RNG vs. SKT. Commentator Miller adjusted his headset, his Adam's apple bobbing with a hissing sound: "RNG's Jayce pick... is too clever."

The voice of the doll then exploded: "That's right! There are only a handful of people in CPL who can play this hero in a flash! If Ray of Flash Wolves and GodV get it, it will be an absolute 'swinging nuke', but Looper..." He deliberately dragged out the last syllable, and the camera cut to the RNG coaching staff's seat at the right time. The white screen reflected Looper's knuckles turning white as he gripped the tactical board.

A few soft laughs rippled through the SKT coaching staff's area.

Faker twirled his silver-gray SteelSeries mouse, the blue light from the screen shattering into starlight on his glasses. This mid-laner, famous for Jayce, was tapping his index finger on the table, the cuff of his dark-patterned suit sleeve sliding down to reveal half of a black wristband—emblazoned with the SKT logo, gleaming coldly under the light.

"Jayce is really not afraid of Counter."

Miller brought up the hero data panel, and the lines of the mechanical arm flowed on the Jayce model. "Dual form switching, long-range suppression in the cannon form during the laning phase, and top-notch killing ability in the melee form. He can suppress Renekton in the top lane and counter Azir in the mid lane. SKT will have a headache."

Before the words were even finished, RNG's second pick suddenly lit up with a scarlet light—Jhin, the Virtuoso's golden pupils slowly opening on the screen.

There was a brief moment of deathly silence in the venue, followed by a tidal wave of discussion.

The director quickly switched to the audience seats, where a boy wearing Uzi's team jersey was clutching a support banner, his fingertips trembling: "This...this isn't Uzi's hero!" The camera panned across the SKT bench, where Bang took off his headphones, tilted his head, and whispered to Wolf, the curve of his lips making everyone's heart sink.

"Uzi's Jhin... has a career appearance rate of less than 5%."

The doll's voice trembled slightly as the stats on the tactical board displayed a glaring win rate curve for Jhin. "But don't forget, with Caitlyn banned this patch, Jhin's wave clear speed and four-hit kill potential, combined with Lulu or Janna's protective setup..."

He suddenly fell silent because SKT's champion selection box had already locked onto Lee Sin, and Lee Sin's Golden Bell effect exploded on the screen, creating a screen full of golden ripples.

RNG coach Heart's Adam's apple bobbed violently.

His tactics notebook lay open on his lap, the latest page repeatedly marked with red pen: "Lee Sin counters Jayce, invade the jungle in the early game, flank and engage in team fights in the mid-game..." The pen tip bleeds ink over the words "Uzi Jhin," and he suddenly remembered the training match three days ago, when Uzi took off his headphones and his eyes were red: "Give me a chance, I can practice this champion."

"SKT's Lee Sin pick was too ruthless."

Miller stared at the jungle resource distribution map, the dragon pit icon was flashing, "Bengi's Lee Sin can turn the pace into a perpetual motion machine. Now the key is RNG's three picks—" His voice stopped abruptly because Lulu's Fairy Witch icon appeared on the screen, with pink petal effects, Lulu was holding a teddy bear and smirking.

The audience erupted in laughter. "RNG is going to nurture their ADC!"

Front-row spectators held up homemade "Four Protect One" light boards. SKT's fourth pick was surprisingly quick; Viktor's Mechanic appeared, and the overloaded purple light in the skill bar seemed to foreshadow the team fight's destruction.

“Faker’s Viktor…” Wawa gasped. Viktor’s 92% win rate over the past three months appeared on the tactical board. “Once this champion is fully built, his teamfight damage output is devastating. The key is his E skill’s ability to divide the battlefield. RNG must target him as their last pick!”

The stadium lights suddenly dimmed, leaving only the spotlight in the center of the stage.

RNG's Nexus model slowly rotated in the light and shadow, with the last champion select box swallowing all eyes like a black hole.

Heart pushed up his glasses, and the tactical notebook was turned to the page with the yellow sticky note, which read in a mess: "Kennen, Thunderclap, enter the field."

"Kennen!" Miller's roar pierced the microphone. "Is this a double-TP flanking strategy? Looper's Jayce is responsible for the front line to draw enemy attention, Uzi's Jhin is looking for a good position to deal damage, and Kennen flashes and uses his ultimate—"

His voice was interrupted by SKT's final pick, Alistar's Minotaur's roar, as the Savage Charge effect vibrated in the champion selection screen, sending shivers down the spines of the audience.

The moment BP ended, the roar from the stadium dome almost lifted the roof off.

The broadcast cut to the player tunnel, where Uzi was adjusting his headphone cable, the silver team logo bobbing on his chest. Looper, behind him, patted him on the shoulder, the Korean top laner's Chinese carrying a unique accent: "Jhin's fourth shot, I'll create space for you to deal damage."

The big screen began displaying a comparison of the two teams' lineups. RNG's Jayce, Kennen, Lulu, Jhin, and Thresh faced off against SKT's Viktor, Lee Sin, Alistar, Jhin, and Ashe.

Wawa suddenly lowered her voice: "Look closely, SKT's Ashe has Exhaust, clearly targeting Uzi..."

The stadium lights turned blood red. The players filed onto the stage, Faker's black team uniform whipping up a cold wind in the aisle.

Uzi paused on the steps, and when he looked up, he met Faker's gaze. The eyes of the two top AD carries collided, and the sparks that flew seemed to ignite the air.

"This will be a draft game that will go down in CPL history," Miller's voice crackled with energy. "RNG used unconventional picks to break SKT's predictable strategies, while SKT's counter picks remained flawless. Now, let's enter Summoner's Rift—"

Amidst the deafening explosion of the Nexus, the roar of cheers from the audience pierced the ceiling. No one knew that this draft battle revolving around Jayce and Jhin would completely reshape the tactical landscape of the CPL over the next 40 minutes.

Now we can see from RNG’s two choices that they have chosen very strong heroes online, and they can gain a good advantage in the laning phase.

Now that they have got Lee Sin, who is very capable in the early game, it will undoubtedly make their BP seem too comfortable.

This will be a huge test for SKT's online pressure.

The competition has now entered the real knockout stage.

While SKT acknowledges their own strength, ultimately, it all depends on both teams having evenly matched champions or laning combinations that offer an advantage.

Currently, RNG has chosen relatively advantageous combinations for both the top and bottom lanes, putting them in a passive position. If the jungler also falls into a passive position, then the game will be in a very passive position from the very beginning of the champion selection phase.

SKT was definitely unwilling to accept such a result, and in the end they locked the hero Lee Sin without hesitation.

From this analysis, it can be seen that Lee Sin's choice is indeed very wise.

With junglers Nidalee and Elise both banned, Lee Sin still has a lot of room to shine. As for their third pick, SKT chose Ezreal.

In professional matches, the 2-star version of the DD (presumably a character class) is the best choice for supplementing the character's abilities.

When unsure which AD carry to use, Ezreal becomes the best alternative. As Riot Games' favored child, Ezreal's performance is consistently stable regardless of the patch.

Choosing this champion is a rather extreme decision, as it severely tests SKT's early and mid-game tempo. If they fail to establish a strong rhythm in the early and mid-game, Ezreal will have almost no room to perform in the late game.

This choice is actually quite risky at the moment.

However, SKT's performance in every position is currently outstanding, so choosing Ezreal is understandable. In their next pick, SKT didn't hesitate at all, locking in Rek'Sai for jungle and Zyra for support. The Rek'Sai pick wasn't surprising, but the Zyra support pick was somewhat unexpected.

Zyra paired with Caitlyn has always been a good choice, but the Jhin-Zyra combination is a first. It's clear that after some hesitation, RNG decided to use a few tricks in the tenth game. SKT responded effectively to RNG's willingness to make this change.

Currently, they still have two lanes left to choose from: top and mid. In their final two picks, SKT chose Poppy and Viktor. Poppy has always been used to counter Jayce, and it has proven effective in previous matches. However, it's also a pick that heavily relies on the player's individual skill, requiring a high level of individual mechanics.

Although Poppy wasn't very active on the court, every time she appeared, she managed to deliver a performance that wasn't lacking.
In the LCK region, Poppy has always been used to target Jayce combinations, so the current situation is still a big test for Looper.

As for Viktor, he has always been a favorite in the LCK region. This champion has a very good wave clear ability, especially after upgrading Hextech, which makes him exceptionally terrifying.

Almost an entire wave of minions can be wiped out with a single E skill.

The current mid lane choice poses a very big problem for RNG. The most advantageous point for SKT is their mid lane.

On the big screen, SKT's mid laner Faker's Viktor was locked in, and the purple light of the Mechanic Herald flowed across the tactical panel, as if foreshadowing the impending storm of destruction.

Commentator Miller's Adam's apple bobbed, and a static crackled through his headset: "Xiaohu's counter pick... this is RNG's last chance."

The doll's fingertips unconsciously tapped out a rhythm on the commentary stage: "SKT's Viktor pick is too ruthless."

Faker has maintained a 92% win rate with this champion this season. The Q skill's shield, the E skill's death ray—it's like a perpetual turret in team fights. He suddenly lowered his voice, and Viktor's matchup data against various mid laners popped up on the tactical board. "The champions Xiaohu can pick—Aurelion Sol, Cassiopeia, Vladimir… but each one carries the risk of being countered."

The camera panned across the RNG coaching bench, where Heart's tactics notebook lay open on his lap, the latest page repeatedly marked with a red pen.

The pen tip hovered above the words "Dragon King," and the ink blurred along the edge, still bearing the annotations from a training match three days prior: "78% success rate for blocking the road with the ultimate skill, but vulnerable to Alistar's flash-initiated team fight."

Next to the "Vampire" section, there was a crumpled sticky note with version data compiled by the analyst overnight: "When half health is triggered, Crimson Tide can account for up to 35% of damage taken in team fights."

The roar in the arena suddenly subsided as the audience held their breath. The broadcast cut to the SKT bench, where Bang was twirling his earphone cord around his finger, a hint of provocation in the corner of his mouth.

Faker took off his glasses to wipe them, and the reflection in the lenses showed RNG's champion select box—that black hole-like blank area that was now swallowing everyone's gaze.

"I think RNG can give Xiaohu Aurelion Sol as their last pick!" Wawa suddenly broke the silence, and the Aurelion Sol skill effects on the tactical board exploded on the screen. "Do you remember Xiaohu's brilliant Aurelion Sol ultimate to steal the dragon in the life-or-death battle?"
The W skill's sustained damage output, the ultimate skill's strategic significance in sealing off the backline...

Miller frowned and pulled up a map of jungle resources: "But SKT's Alistar + Lee Sin initiation chain is too strong. Aurelion Sol has no mobility, and once he gets knocked up by Alistar's WQ combo, Faker's Viktor follows up with his E skill..."

His voice was interrupted by a sudden burst of screams from the stadium—on the big screen, RNG's champion selection box suddenly lit up with a blood-red light.

"Vampire!!" Miller's roar pierced the microphone, and the phantom of Crimson Reaper appeared on the interface. The blood conversion effect of the Q skill jumped on the tactics panel. "Is this going to be a double front-line system? Looper's Jayce is responsible for kiting, and Vampire flashes R into Zhonya's Hourglass in team fights to create space for Uzi's Jhin to deal damage!"

The audience was buzzing.

The boy in Uzi's team jersey clutched the support banner, his fingertips trembling: "Uzi's Jhin has a front-line protector! But Xiaohu's Vladimir..."

"He hasn't played any scrims lately!" The camera panned across the SKT coaching staff. kkOma pushed up his glasses, and the words "targeting Vladimir" on the tactics book were circled in red.

The doll's voice trembled slightly: "Vampires are indeed tanky and powerful in this version. The Crimson Tide triggered when they are at half health is equivalent to having an extra life."

"But the key is Xiaohu's proficiency..." He suddenly fell silent because SKT's final champion selection box had lit up—Karma, the Aegis effect of the Enlightened One vibrated in the champion selection screen, bringing a screen full of golden ripples.

The stadium lights suddenly dimmed, leaving only the spotlight in the center of the stage.

Heart closed the tactic notebook, and a yellow sticky note tucked in the cover fluttered down, on which was scrawled: "Vampire Counter Viktor, Karma Counter Vampire."

But we're betting on Xiaohu's adaptability. In the RNG player tunnel, Uzi was adjusting his headphone cable, the silver team logo bobbing on his chest. As Xiaohu passed by, he suddenly grabbed Uzi's sleeve: "I'll protect your damage output during your Q skill's healing animation."

The big screen began displaying a comparison of the two teams' lineups.

RNG's Jayce, Vladimir, Lulu, Jhin, and Thresh faced off against SKT's Viktor, Lee Sin, Karma, Jhin, and Ashe.

Miller stared at the item bar, the Hextech Gunblade icon on Vladimir glowing purple: "Xiaohu is going to build Hextech Gunblade and Spirit Visage this game. The timing of his entry into team fights will determine everything."

But SKT's Karma's speed boost chain is too flexible, and Faker's Viktor can always create distance to deal damage.

The stadium lights turned blood red. The players filed onto the stage, Faker's black team uniform whipping up a cold wind in the aisle.

Xiaohu paused on the steps, looking up to meet Faker's gaze. The two mid-laners' eyes clashed, sparks flying as if they could ignite the air. He reached into his pocket for a tactical card, on which was written in Korean the combo instructions Looper had taught him overnight: "Team fight R flash Zhonya's Hourglass, wait for Uzi's four shots." (End of Chapter)