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

"Using pick instead of ban! KT's move was brilliant! They knew Xiao Yan's Varus was equally accurate and deadly, so they didn't give him a chance to get it!"

"This is really difficult." CloudTemplar shook his head, his tone full of worry. "Caitlyn is gone, Kalista is gone, and now even Varus has been taken. KT has almost completely shut down the current Tier 1 AD champions. Xiao Yan doesn't have many options left... Ashe? Or Ezreal? But I'm afraid these two champions will have a hard time putting pressure on the Deft and Mata combination."

The chat in the live stream started scrolling wildly:

[Oh no, I'm going to get targeted and killed this round.]

KT's draft was ruthless; they left them no chance at all.

Is this how newcomers are treated? Welcome to LCK.

[Just pick Ezreal to coast along, as long as you don't feed.]

The atmosphere in SKT's voice channel was somewhat heavy.

"Tsk, these guys really value Xiao Yan." Peanut looked at the opposing team's lineup, scratched his head with a headache, and said, "Xiao Yan, how about you get Ashe? Play a utility role? I and Sang-hyeok will carry."

Coach Koma nodded, tapping his pen on his notebook: "Ashe or Ezreal are indeed safer choices. As long as the bot lane holds their own and farms steadily, we'll have a chance in the late game."

Xiao Yan didn't speak; he had already made up his mind.

On the SKT side, in order to counter KT's strong offensive, they made very solid moves in the first few rounds.

In the jungle position, Peanut locked in his signature Lee Sin, eliciting cheers from the crowd.

In the top lane, Huni picked Deepsea Titan to act as a front-line tank.

For the support role, Wolf chose Lulu, clearly in preparation for a safe playstyle.

In the mid lane, Faker locked in Orianna, a versatile choice that guarantees a strong late-game presence.

On the KT side, the lineup is both luxurious and aggressive.

Aside from Deft's first-pick Varus.

Score, the jungler, picked Graves, the outlaw who dominates the jungle.

Mata, the support, locked in Karma, forming a lane bully duo with Varus.

Top laner Smeb picked Rumble, and he was devastating in team fights.

Mid laner Pawn then picked Ryze.

Now, all eyes are on SKT's last counter pick.

That position belongs to Xiao Yan.

"Only one AD carry left." Jeon Yongjun stared at the screen, speaking rapidly. "Faced with KT's incredibly strong poke combo of Varus and Karma, and Rumble and Graves' explosive AoE, Xiao Yan's options are very limited! Ezreal is the safest bet, or maybe Sivir for kiting?"

Within the SKT voice channel.

"Xiao Yan, pick Ezreal." Wolf looked at the opposing team's lineup and felt a chill run down his spine. "Their poke damage is terrifying. If you pick an AD carry without any mobility, you'll get roasted by Rumble."

Coach Koma frowned as well: "Ezreal is indeed the best choice, or Ashe, so that Huni and Peanut can help you counter-gank more."

Everyone felt that, against KT's "unreasonable" and aggressive lineup, the best strategy was to play defensively and farm.

"Coach, I don't play Ezreal," Xiao Yan said calmly.

"So what do you want to play?" Koma paused for a moment.

Xiao Yan's lips curled up slightly, and a fervent light flashed in his eyes.

"Since they want to fight, I'll fight them to the end. The best defense is to kill them all."

As soon as he finished speaking, Xiao Yan clicked the mouse, and an avatar instantly appeared on the big screen.

The hero had blue skin, carried a huge cannon, and had a maniacal grin on his face.

Tristana, the Magnum Gunner!

"I really want to shoot something!"

The sound effect of locking onto a hero struck everyone's hearts like a heavy hammer.

The entire audience erupted in chaos!

"What?!?!" CloudTemplar jumped up from the commentary booth, shouting in a piercing voice, "Tristana?! In this patch?! My God! Xiao Yan locked in Tristana!"

Jeon Yongjun was stunned, his glasses almost slipping off his face: "What... what kind of thinking is this? Facing the long-range poke of Varus and Karma, pick a short-ranged Tristana? Won't she get shredded in lane? And this is Season 7, Tristana isn't even a Tier 1 pick!"

"That's insane! Absolutely insane!" Another commentator shook his head repeatedly, but couldn't hide the excitement in his eyes. "Is this what a rookie is like? A newborn calf isn't afraid of a tiger! He's telling Deft: I'm not going to farm peacefully with you, I'm going to jump on your face and deal damage!"

The live stream chat completely crashed at that moment, with dense text covering the entire screen:

【？？？？？？？？】

[Little Cannon? Am I seeing things? Is this a ranked match?]

[This guy's insane! He's absolutely insane! Playing Tristana against Deft's Varus? He'll get a hundred CS down!]

[This is the genius you guys were hyping up? This guy's clearly a free win!]

To be honest, this champion pick is ridiculous. Doesn't the SKT coaching staff want to do anything about it?

[Don't rush! What if there's a surprise? Nobody believed this shrewd policewoman, but what happened?]

[Stop defending her, upstairs. Caitlyn is strong in this patch, but what is Tristana? She's not even a Tier 2 champion!]

[Waiting to get crushed, Deft will teach them a lesson!]

Inside KT's soundproof room.

The moment Mata saw Tristana lock onto the target, he froze, then burst out laughing: "Tristana? Is this kid provoking us? Deft, looks like someone thinks your dominance isn't enough."

Deft pushed up his glasses, a cold glint in his eyes: "Since he wants to jump, I'll break his legs."

Although he acknowledged Xiao Yan's strength, he believed it was limited to only a few heroes. He didn't think Xiao Yan could play other heroes well, such as the Tristana, which he had never used before. He didn't believe Xiao Yan could play Tristana well, and he was also very confident in his own Varus.

Although he acknowledged Xiao Yan's strength, he believed it was limited to only a few heroes. He didn't think Xiao Yan could play other heroes well, such as the Tristana, which he had never used before. He didn't believe Xiao Yan could play Tristana well, and he was also very confident in his own Varus.

On SKT's side, looking at the locked-in Tristana, Coach Kkoma rubbed his temples helplessly. At this point, he could only choose to trust.

"All troops, attack!"

The tranquility of Summoner's Rift was shattered by the solemn system notification sound.

Bottom lane, the minion waves converge.

Deft's Varus and Mata's Karma displayed an extremely strong sense of pressure as soon as they entered the game.

Mata controlled Karma to cross the minion wave, ready to unleash a Q, green energy waves surging in his hand, intending to lower Tristana's health at this level.

"Here it comes! KT's classic suffocating pressure on the bottom lane!" In the commentary booth, Jeon Yong-jun stared intently at the screen. "Tristana's range is short; if she can't dodge this attack, she'll lose health!"

However, the Yordle Gunner on the screen made a move that surprised everyone.

Xiao Yan did not retreat.

He controlled Tristana like an elf dancing on a knife's edge, swaying back and forth at an extremely ambiguous distance on the flank of the minion wave.

The moment Mata made his move, Xiao Yan seemed to foresee the future and gently moved the mouse to the right.

"call--"

Karma's enhanced Mind Flame flew past, almost grazing the cannon's huge goggles, and exploded into a dazzling green light behind him.

Miss!

"She dodged it?! That movement was absolutely perfect!" CloudTemplar exclaimed. "The distance was pinpointed, it was pixel-perfect!"

But this is just the beginning.

The instant he dodged the skill, Xiao Yan instantly learned his E skill, [Explosive Spark].

But he didn't hang the bomb on Varus or Karma's heads, because that would attract the minions' hatred.

He hung the still-ticking time bomb on a melee soldier in the front row.

"What kind of move is that? Is it pushing the lane?"

The next second, Xiao Yan gave his answer.

"Wolf, give him the shield, target that minion," Xiao Yan calmly commanded over the voice chat.

Wolf was puzzled, but his body reacted faster than his brain. He put Lulu's shield on Tristana and used a basic attack to assist her.

The cannon in Xiao Yan's hand roared, once, then twice.

Just as Deft's Varus was trying to sneak in a kill while Tristana was last-hitting minions—

boom!

The explosive sparks hanging above the soldier's head stacked up in layers and detonated instantly!

This not only cleared out that minion, but the splash damage from the explosion precisely hit Varus, who was just about to raise his hand!

At the same time, the death of a minion triggered the passive effect of Tristana's E skill—any unit killed by Tristana will explode, causing area damage.

Double explosion!

Deft felt a jolt on the screen; he hadn't even touched the cannon yet, but his health bar had inexplicably dropped by one bar!

"Damn? Is the splash radius really that big?" Deft frowned and subconsciously took a step back.

"Don't rush, it's not over yet." Xiao Yan's lips curled up slightly.

Taking advantage of Deft's momentary lapse in concentration while he was retreating, Xiao Yan directly controlled the small cannon to advance forward.

With Lulu's shield, he withstood Mata's basic attack, raised his hand and fired a shot at Deft, then took a small step back during the attack's recovery animation, just out of the ranged minion's aggro range.

No-damage blood exchange!

"My God! What kind of understanding is this?" Jeon Yongjun was dumbfounded. "Using the active explosion of his E skill combined with the passive splash damage, he's using minions as 'conductors' to harass Varus? This... is this some kind of geometrically advanced Tristana?"

"That's incredibly precise! Absolutely incredible!" CloudTemplar exclaimed, slamming his hand on the table. "Everyone, look closely at Xiao Yan's positioning! He's consistently staying just outside the maximum range of Karma's Q skill, yet perfectly positioned to use the explosive sparks to hit Deft's location. This distance control is practically flawless, as if it were measured with a ruler!"

KT's bot lane duo was clearly also having a hard time with this move.

They were supposed to be the ones dominating the minion wave, but now the minion wave is being pushed forward by the minion using its explosive charge, and Deft's health is inexplicably at a disadvantage.

"This kid's skill level... is off." Mata abandoned his initial contempt, his expression turning serious. "Hekki, be careful, he's trying to take second place."

"I know." Deft gritted his teeth and began to try to push back using Varus's range advantage.

But Xiao Yan didn't give him a chance at all.

Whenever Deft tries to farm minions, Xiao Yan will precisely kill a low-health minion, using the passive's explosive splash damage to deter Deft.

The feeling was like Deft was defusing landmines, and Xiao Yan was the one planting them.

"This isn't just a small cannon, this is a demolition genius!"

The tone of the live stream chat changed instantly:

[Holy crap?! You can play this with a cannon?!]

This is textbook perfect! Utilizing mechanics to compensate for range disadvantage!

[Deft is speechless: My arms are longer than yours, why am I always the one who gets hurt?]

[That movement was so smooth! Mata's Q hasn't hit a single time yet!]

Wolf: I'll just give him a shield; the rest is up to the AD carry to show off.

As the second wave of minions arrived, the light in Xiao Yan's eyes grew even sharper.

"Wolf, get ready."

"Understood!" Wolf, being an old partner, instantly understood Xiao Yan's intention.

Just as the third melee soldier fell, a golden light simultaneously shone on Tristana and Lulu.

Upgrade! Level 2!

Almost at the same millisecond that the upgraded lighting effect lit up, Xiao Yan instantly learned the W skill [Rocket Jump].

Without any hesitation, without any preparatory steps.

Before anyone could react, the Yordle carrying the giant cannon suddenly leaped into the air!

"I really want to shoot something!"

W! Rocket Jump!

The target—Deft's Varus!

"He's insane! He jumped right in front of us?!" A heart-wrenching roar came from the commentary booth.

But this is not mindless blaming.

Xiao Yan landed in an extremely tricky spot, right between Varus and the support Karma, slightly behind Varus.

This position not only allows them to deal damage, but also blocks Deft's escape route!

Use E in mid-air, land and auto-attack, Lulu provides speed boost and Pix assists in the attack.

Deft reacted extremely quickly, using his E skill to slow down the enemy and try to create distance.

But Xiao Yan's cannon was like a piece of chewing gum, sticking to Deft by using his movement skills.

One, two, three!

The bombs overhead grew increasingly red, like a countdown to death.

Mata's Karma wanted to protect the shield, but Wolf's Lulu used a precise Polymorph to turn her into a small animal!

"Oh no! Mata's been turned into a sheep! Deft's forced to use Flash!"

Xiao Yan was faster, even using Flash before Deft. Although Deft used Flash, he didn't create any distance.

boom!

The explosion was triggered by sparks from four layers!

The massive damage instantly wiped out Deft's remaining health.

First Blood!

SKT Xiao Yan kills KT Deft!

The entire venue fell silent for a second, then erupted into a deafening roar of cheers!

Xiao Yan blew away the non-existent gunpowder smoke, controlled the little cannon to refresh its jump with a W, and gracefully jumped back to a safe position.

He turned to look at the dumbfounded Wolf beside him, a faint smile playing on his lips:

"This is the right way to use the little cannon."

"Did you learn it?"

…………

Watching the screen turn into a chilling gray-white.

Deft's fingers hovered stiffly above the keyboard, and behind his signature round-framed glasses, his once calm eyes were now churning with unbelievable turmoil.

The "First Blood" sound effect coming through the headphones was like a loud slap in the face of this top LCK AD carry.

he died.

Moreover, he was killed in the line.

At the most basic level two time point, they were literally blasted to death while riding right in front of him.

"call……"

Deft let out a long breath, took off his glasses, and gently wiped them with the corner of his clothes, trying to calm his somewhat disordered heartbeat.

"My problem."

He said in a low voice over the voice chat, his voice a little hoarse, "I was careless. I didn't expect his burst damage calculation to be so precise, even taking into account the passive splash damage."

He took back what he said earlier; Xiao Yan's skill with the cannon was no less than that of his policewoman, probably a hidden trump card.

PS: Please continue reading!