LPL didn't want me? I joined SKT instead!

"Xiao Yan, what do you want to take?" Coach Kkoma frowned slightly. SSG's Malzahar and Sejuani pick did indeed pose a huge threat to the bottom lane.

Xiao Yan stared intently at the remaining ADC heroes on the screen. He pondered silently: if he chose Twitch, his early laning phase would be too weak, and he would be overwhelmed by Ruler; if he chose Varus, his late-game damage output might not be enough.

"Big mouth, huh?" Xiao Yan's voice was calm and firm.

Kkoma nodded and began to speak.

"Okay, Wolf, pick Lulu to protect him. Peanut, you pick Gragas, try to counter-gank bot lane as much as possible in the early game."

"clear!"

With a crisp "click" sound, Kog'Maw's icon appeared on the second floor of SKT. Immediately afterwards, Lulu, the Fairy Witch, was locked on the third floor.

"Koo and Lulu! SKT has pulled out the ultimate four-protect-one composition, the most classic of the Ardent Censer meta!" Miller shouted excitedly. "XiaoYan is incredibly confident! Facing SSG's terrifying engage and crowd control lineup, he still chose this super carry with absolutely no mobility and an extremely low margin for error!"

"This is a double-edged sword," Haihai analyzed. "Kou is indeed invincible in the late game, but his survival environment in the early and mid-game is too harsh. This severely tests Xiao Yan's positioning and the entire SKT team's ability to protect him."

The subsequent business process proceeded very quickly.

SSG locked the big tree and Tariq on the third and fourth floors.

On the fifth floor, in the counter position, Ruler selected Varus.

SKT's last two picks were Gragas jungle and Trundle top lane, to counter tanky champions like Maokai.

The lineups for both sides have been finalized:

Blue side (SKT): Top laner Trundle, Jungler Gragas, Mid laner Ryze, ADC Kog'Maw, Support Lulu.

Red team (SSG): Top lane Maokai, Jungle Sejuani, Mid lane Malzahar, ADC Varus, Support Taric.

"Alright, both coaches shake hands and leave. The first game of the 2017 League of Legends World Championship, SKT vs. SSG, has officially begun!"

As the commentator's passionate voice rang out, the screen switched to Summoner's Rift.

Welcome to Summoner's Rift!

A dignified female voice echoed throughout the venue.

Xiao Yan bought the Doran's Sword and a bottle of red potion, and then controlled Big Mouth to quickly leave the house.

Instead of invading or positioning himself in the river as usual, he cautiously followed behind Peanut's Gragas with Wolf, helping him defend the red buff jungle.

"We're going to have a tough time in the early game," Xiao Yan calmly analyzed the situation in the voice chat. "Varus and Taric have stronger poke than us, and Ambition's Sejuani will definitely be keeping a close eye on the bottom lane. Peanut, you don't need to gank bottom, just help me counter-gank. As long as I stay alive and farm safely until I get two items, we've already won half the game."

"No problem, I'll come to the bottom lane to protect you after I finish clearing the top half of the map." Peanut nodded in agreement.

With the lanes clashing, the first match officially began.

The bottom lane was destined to be the focus of the entire game from the very beginning.

Ruler's Varus played extremely aggressively.

Ruler was very clear about his mission in this game: he had to suppress Kog'Maw in the early game and not let him farm comfortably.

At level one, Ruler crossed the minion wave and attempted to use his Q skill "Piercing Arrow" to whittle down Xiao Yan's health.

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However, Xiao Yan's focus had reached its peak.

Just as Varus drew his bowstring taut and the purple arrow was about to be released, Xiao Yan's control of the giant mouth only slightly shifted its position to the left.

"Whoosh!"

The purple arrow grazed Big Mouth's body and missed.

"Great positioning!" Miller couldn't help but exclaim in the commentary booth. "Ruler's fully charged Q skill was dodged by XiaoYan's extremely precise positioning. If that arrow had hit, Kog'Maw would have had a much harder time in the early laning phase."

But this is just the beginning.

As they leveled up, Varus and Taric's dominance began to show. Taric's E skill "Radiance" combined with Varus's E skill "Rain of Arrows" left SKT's bot lane duo struggling to defend themselves.

Xiao Yan played extremely steadily. He patiently last-hit every minion under the turret. Faced with Ruler's aggressive harassment, he would rather miss a few ranged minions than let his health drop below the danger level.

"That's too steady! XiaoYan is playing incredibly steadily today." Changmao looked at the CS (creep score) data shown by the broadcast director. "Eight minutes into the game, although SSG's bot lane has been constantly pressuring SKT and pushing the minion wave to SKT's tower, Kog'Maw's CS is only three behind Varus! That's an incredibly terrifying level of fundamental skill!"

"Yes, and everyone, look at the minimap." Haihai pointed to the top of the screen, "Ambition's Sejuani has come to the bottom lane three times in the last eight minutes! He doesn't even want his own top jungle anymore, he just stays in the bottom jungle and keeps putting pressure on SKT's bottom lane."

The game time has reached 9 minutes and 30 seconds.

After Ambition's Sejuani cleared the first Water Dragon, she once again quietly crept into the triangular bush next to SKT's bottom lane tower.

He carried true sight wards, clearing SKT's vision, like an assassin lurking in the shadows, quietly waiting for his prey to reveal a weakness.

At this moment, Xiao Yan's health was around three-quarters, and he was farming a wave of cannon minions under the tower.

"They're going to tower dive." Xiao Yan keenly sensed the danger. Although there was no vision, Varus and Gem's sudden aggressive positioning and reckless pushing of the lane had already revealed SSG's intentions.

"I'm here!" Peanut had just finished clearing the Krugs and was hurrying towards the bottom lane.

"Brother Xianghe, can I see this?" Xiao Yan glanced at the middle lane.

"I'll push this wave and then head down." Faker's Ryze was frantically clearing the minion wave with his abilities, while Crown's Malzahar was also pushing the wave desperately, trying to keep Faker pinned down in the mid lane.

Just then, Sect Leader An made a move.

Sejuani burst out of the triangular bush and used her Q skill "Arctic Assault" to pass through the wall and crash into Kog'Maw under the tower.

"SSG has made their move! Ambition is trying to coordinate with the bot lane duo to tower dive and kill Kog'Maw!" Miller shouted.

Just as the pig girl's massive body was about to collide with the big mouth, a glint flashed in Xiao Yan's eyes.

"flash!"

A golden light flashed, and Kog'Maw instantly appeared on the other side of the turret, not only dodging Sejuani's fatal charge but also creating distance between himself and Varus.

"XiaoYan reacted so quickly! That Flash was used very decisively!"

Despite missing his first attack, Master An remained calm.

He unleashed a powerful move, "Extreme Ice Prison," hurling a massive block of ice towards the location where Big Mouth had flashed away.