Nirvana Top Laner, Reborn Tokyo Girl

Chapter 243, Section 240: Returning to LPL to Smash Fish
It can be said that JDG's approach was correct.

Although it has been buffed, there are still very few people around the world who actually use this character. Its appearance rate is close to zero, if not zero.

To put it bluntly, these slight numerical buffs do not solve the fundamental problems of the Vampire hero.

Slow early-game wave clear, low damage, and late power spike mean that even moderate buffs can't save this bottom-tier hero. Even if they slightly increase his pick rate in casual games, his poor stats and inadequate functionality make him unplayable in competitive matches.

At most, in a best-of-five series, during the fifth game, many heroes are quickly eliminated due to the global ban/pick mechanism. As the optimal picks are gradually exhausted, Vladimir might become an option that can be considered.

That's it.

However, during the few days that Shimamura Yuna returned to the competition and played training matches with WBG, she tested the strength of this hero in the competition after the buff.

Ultimately, a conclusion was reached.
It's very strong, definitely worth playing.

For many players, the buff to vampires is merely a superficial solution.

However, this problem does not exist for Shimamura Yuna.

For her, vampires were never a fundamental problem; they were always a viable character.

This significant numerical boost was a huge help to her.

The vampire pick in the training matches these past few days has been incredibly useful.

JDG's banning of this hero was a very effective draft.

But does this mean Shimamura Yuna has no hero to choose from?
The answer is no.

The bad news is that the current version doesn't favor her hero pool.

The good news is that, from the beginning of the year until now, there haven't actually been any favorable developments, and Shimamura Yuna is already used to it.

Because she was used to it, Shimamura Yuna didn't care anymore.

Her individual strength transcends versions and remains powerful to this day.

When her hero was banned, she calmly told the team, "Then let me pick my hero last. You guys pick the ones you want first."

Since she said that, her meaning is quite simple.

On the one hand, she directly compromised on the team's draft picks, allowing the team to avoid investing too many resources in herself and instead directly grab the strong characters of the current version, thus gaining some advantages in the draft.

As the red team, no matter how many heroes are banned, as long as we can still pick a usable hero in the final counter-pick phase...
From the results, it means that she gained enough advantages for the team's draft picks.

I got banned a lot of times, and my teammates got strong heroes, but I wasn't affected that much.

The only problem with playing like this is...
In the draft phase, can Shimamura Yuna really withstand two rounds of hero bans from the opponent, plus the opponent picking one first and still being able to choose a suitable character?

Clearly, JDG wants to exert a lot of pressure in this regard.

Not only did they ban three top lane champions in the first round, but they also picked Wolf Mother for their own top laner.

In the second round, two usable characters, Weapon Master and Jayce, were also eliminated.

Up to this point, almost all the mainstream and usable top lane champions that are geared towards damage output have been removed.

But for Shimamura Yuna, the problem wasn't that serious.

The opposing team banned heroes based on their stereotypes about her.

The characters she played most often were the ones that were banned.

But actually, there's a champion that's not weak right now, and whose pick rate in the top lane isn't particularly low.

After several minutes of drafting and banning (BP) phase, both sides finalized their initial lineups.

JDG drafted a combination of Wolf Mother, Monkey King, Taliyah, Kai'Sa, and Alistar.

WBG, on the other hand, selected a combination of Alora, Pantheon, Orianna, and Rakan.

Judging from the results, JDG's draft pick can be considered a failure.

The current version of Yun Ana is a recognized supermodel AD carry; apart from a few players, most people will win if they get her.

However, JDG had to use a lot of bans to ban top lane heroes and also had to prioritize picking Wolf Mother to limit Shimamura Yuna's hero pool, so they didn't have the time to deal with this character.

As a result, WBG ultimately got to pick up the hero first.

While Ana was being released, Alora didn't seem like a bad option either.

I haven't played this character, Shimamura Yuna, very often.

During his time as CFO, this was a role that HongQ, the mid-laner, really liked to play.

Since Alola has already been chosen, it will generally be given to HongQ to play, and it won't be Shimamura Yuna's turn.

However, Shimamura Yuna's Alola proficiency is actually very high.

Or rather, she simply doesn't have much skill with this kind of hero.

It's just a long-range AP player picking off people online, right?
What's the difference between this kind of hero and a vampire?

Isn't it just that one has a higher early-game burst damage, stronger suppression, and makes it easier for long-range characters to dominate short-range characters, while the other is weak in the early game?
what differences are there?

At least for Shimamura Yuna, there was no difference.

All she needs is attack range.

As long as she has sufficient attack range and deals a certain amount of damage, she can exert dominance in most matches.

She can even suppress a weak top laner like Vampire, let alone Alora.

Even before the match started, everyone could already imagine how brutal the scene would be.

[Oh my, Shimamura-nee's long arms are really taking on short arms, I'm really enjoying this.]

Can Xiaoxu withstand the long-range vs. short-range tactics of Shimamura, one of the two FMVPs? This is an even more aggressive long-range vs. short-range tactic than TheShy's back in the day.

[Her aggressive playstyle probably isn't as aggressive as TheShy's; Shimamura's playstyle is actually much more conservative than TheShy's. But I think her playstyle makes it easier to win.]

[While Shimamura Yuna's visuals may not be the most violent, her attacks on weaker opponents are definitely the most ruthless and least likely to backfire.]

It's been a long time since we've seen Yuna Shimamura play, especially in the LPL, so everyone's expectations are at their peak.

People will inevitably draw parallels to Shimamura Yuna's performance in the LCP at the World Championship, and will believe that such a performance can be replicated in the LPL.

If we use this as a standard, then the scene of Xiaoxu facing off against Shimamura Yuna would definitely be a disaster.

Even top laners like Doran, Zeus, and Kiin get crushed when they play against Shimamura Yuna. How can you not get crushed?
Don't tell me that's what the audience thinks.

Even Xiaoxu himself thinks so.

As an ordinary player who has struggled in the LPL, even joining a so-called "top team" like JDG is now a responsibility that "exceeds his initial imagination."

He cherishes the opportunity to play for JDG.

At the same time, I also really want to prove myself.

So far, in the group stage of the third stage, his performance can be described as mediocre.

On a ship as dilapidated as JDG, his performance could even be considered outstanding.

Even though he lost the game yesterday, many people still consider him to have tried his best.

He was happy to be recognized.

I'm happy that as a player, I'm not being slandered.

But
When he faces a player who is known as "the best top laner in the world," he still inevitably feels pressure.

He had watched the match and knew how Yuna Shimamura performed.

He respected this formidable player. No, it wasn't just respect.
It should be said that this emotion is almost 'fear'.

He desperately wanted to convince himself.

No matter how impressive they talk, they're still just mortals. How impressive can they really be?

But
Soon, Shimamura Yuna's actual performance in the match shattered his self-comfort.

The pressure felt by the other party is different.

Shimamura Yuna returned to the arena after a long absence, with only a subtle feeling that was difficult to describe in words.

That's just how I feel.
Returning to the competition after two months feels like switching from everyday life to something extraordinary all at once.

It was a subtle feeling that was hard to describe in words.

One second she was a normal stay-at-home girl.

I enjoy my daily life with my sister and friends, experiencing a peaceful and stress-free routine.

But in the blink of an eye...

He then returned to the field.

It was only a month or two, but the cheers, the stage, the spotlight—it all felt like I'd been away from them for ages.

Re-experiencing these things made me feel a little unfamiliar and uncomfortable.

However, I wasn't nervous.

Having honed her skills through two world championships and two stages of regular season competitions this year, she is no longer nervous about competitions of this level.

She could only sigh with emotion.

This is the stage where I wanted to prove myself countless times in my past life, to make a difference, and to get noticed by strong teams through my performance.

Now, however, it is so insignificant to me.

It's not that I need the LPL to prove myself.

LPL needs to salvage its popularity itself.

It's not about proving your worth through LPL results.

It's because of its own value that LPL wants to participate.

Many things that were once highly sought after are now so easily obtained, or even insignificant.

These thoughts that came to mind made her feel somewhat wistful.

But after laughing it off, I realized it wasn't such a big deal.

Today, it has many different meanings for many people.

For WBG, this is an important sign to verify whether their substitutions are effective.

For LPL viewers, this is a suspenseful question: will the addition of an internet celebrity like Yuna Shimamura to the team result in a legend or a joke?

For the LPL officials, this is a crucial match for a popular player to generate buzz in the first game of the league.

But for Yuna Shimamura, today's significance is quite simple.

It was just a long-awaited chance to get back into the swing of things.

just
It's simply about winning a game that you should have won anyway, in a very simple way.

She proved her point with the actual content of the competition.

Despite not having played in a competition for a long time, she didn't feel much pressure in the laning phase when she faced off against xiaoxu.

Long-ranged players naturally have an advantage in the laning phase against short-ranged players.

Building on this foundation, Yuna Shimamura's control over the sense of distance is also world-class, almost unmatched by anyone.

Even though Xiao Xu is already considered a decent player in the LPL.

Even though he had seen many other people playing Alora in the LPL,
However, when facing Shimamura Yuna's Alola, he still felt pressure beyond his limits.
In just a few waves of minions, Xiaoxu and Shimamura Yuna showed a clear difference in both last hits and health.

The most obvious feeling whenever the director focuses the camera on the road is...
These are not even in the same league.

It's always been human nature for those with longer reach to dominate those with shorter reach.

However, this level of exaggerated suppression is clearly outside the realm of common sense.

Anyone could see that Shimamura Yuna played Xiaoxu with complete ease, without any pressure whatsoever.

Even when the camera occasionally pans to the bottom right corner, you can see that Shimamura Yuna always has a smile on her face.

It makes sense. For a phenomenal top laner like Shimamura Yuna, who has just won two world championships and an FMVP, it's reasonable for her to show such a huge gap in performance against a mid-tier LPL top laner like xiaoxu.

This is what her fans expect of her, and it's also the height that her haters praise her to the point of ruin.

However, at first, everyone thought that since she hadn't played for so long, it would take some time for Shimamura Yuna to return to her peak form.

However, unexpectedly
No time or preheating required.

The strong are the strong.

Once they step onto the field, when facing weaker opponents, they absolutely crush them in terms of both momentum and tactics.

After only about three minutes of laning, Xiaoxu was already drenched in sweat.

'So competitive.'

'Incredibly strong. Even though he hasn't played in so long, he's still so strong.'

Worship, awe, fear.

A variety of complex emotions arose in Xiaoxu's heart.

Before the match even started, he had already made up his mind about something.

That is, he is not as good as Shimamura Yuna, and he is a weaker player than Shimamura Yuna.

The actual match results so far have largely confirmed his ideas.

I am indeed weaker than Shimamura Yuna.
We are weaker everywhere.

It's not as good as anywhere else.

He began to subconsciously want to rely on his teammates for help.

Whether it's switching lanes or ganking.

Regardless of the method, I now need a certain level of assistance in order to be able to stand on equal footing with Shimamura Yuna.

However, for Shimamura Yuna now, JDG's current coordination and tactical coordination are simply not enough to pose an effective threat to her.

Before this, were there no other teams that wanted to limit her?

Before this, didn't any other teams want to gank her?

The most effective way to deal with a team's strongest core player is, of course, to target them, both tactically and in terms of specific game execution.

But Shimamura Yuna is not afraid of this level of targeting.

For her, playing against JDG was just a simple smurfing match.

(End of this chapter)