You Call This 'Steady'?

FPX knew full well they had fallen for the trap, but with their final two picks, they could only admit defeat and take Renekton + Viego.

It wasn't because this combo was particularly good, but because Beichuan had no champions left.

Didn't this draft look a little weird?

But once you knew who FPX's coach was, it all made sense.

That's right, Steak.

Hong Mi laughed when he saw the draft. With the final pick, he directly locked in Ornn for Rich. He didn't care whether the thing would get countered by Renekton. Its champion attributes were right there—Ornn was extremely suited to V5's double Big Carry composition this match.

And Ornn had one advantage: even if he collapsed in top lane, he could still make his presence felt in team fights.

At this point.

FPX: Top laner Renekton, Jungle Viego, Mid Lane Viktor, bot lane Jinx + Karma V5: Top laner Ornn, jungler Trundle, Mid Laner Azir, bot lane Caitlyn + Lulu

Only when the final compositions appeared before everyone did they belatedly realize that V5 was actually letting their rookie bot laner directly clash with FPX's World Champion bot lane this match?

Holy crap, was Hong Mi's draft really this bold?

Here it comes, here it comes. Now the bot lanes were really going to fight.

One Support was a Rookie Player, while the other had sixteen straight losses—FPX had a slight edge. One ADC was a Rookie Player while the other was a World Champion bot laner—FPX had a crushing advantage. V5 was done for this match!

Not necessarily. Caitlyn's range could still freely suppress Jinx early on, as long as the Jungler Doesn't Come.

Viego against Trundle? If Viego dared gank bot before Level 6, wouldn't Karsa laugh himself to death?

The Bullet Comments had all sorts of opinions about the coming Bot Lane Matchup, but on V5 side, everyone started teasing Luo Zhen about his condition instead. He looked a little too excited.

"So? You're facing a World Champion bot lane head-on. Want some time to pray and ask for some Hall of Heroes spirit to possess you?"

Brother Ka was both an old Anime Fan and a master surfer of the internet.

When LWX had been on a killing spree throughout the Demacia Cup, there had been a meme online about LWX asking the Hall of Heroes for help, only to receive a response from himself. Of course, LWX during S9 really had been outrageous. Going deathless through the Grand Finals was not something just any ADC could accomplish.

But...

"Pray? There's no need."

The three games of Functional AD had served as a transition, allowing Luo Zhen to maintain a relatively good condition even by the Fourth Game. If an old man's BO5 meant Playing Worse and Worse, gradually tormented by the Old Man Ao Tactic, then his condition had been steadily building up beforehand. At this moment, it was gradually nearing the peak of his usual form.

He was very confident right now!

"Oh? I can tell you're in good form."

"Of course. Compared to that Hall of Heroes stuff, I prefer a line from Sword Wind: don't pray. If you put your hands together, how are you supposed to pick up your weapon and swing it?"

"Then... we'll see?"

"Yeah, we'll see!"

Who Isn't a Pure Love God of War?

This composition had two levels of offensive pressure.

The early-game offensive pressure was on V5. Caitlyn was picked to Fast Push, rotate lanes, and take turret plates. Otherwise, they might as well have locked in Kog'Maw. At least that thing had a passive for pulling off tricks—if it couldn't deal Explosive Output alive, it would definitely explode for damage after dying.

In the later stages of S11, heroes like Caitlyn and Jinx, who lived off Auto Attack, could get picked mainly because of one rune.

Lethal Tempo.

This rune was also known as the last lifeline for ADCs during S11.

Let's look at its effect: attacking an Enemy Hero granted 15% attack speed per stack, 5% for ranged champions, stacking up to six times. At full stacks, it granted 50 attack range, 100 for ranged champions, and removed the attack speed cap.

And it had no cooldown.

For a Long Reach ADC like Caitlyn, who could frequently Auto Attack enemies in lane, this rune was practically a 750-range warning.

Anyone who played the game understood what 750 range meant.

Of course, Jinx could apparently reach 825 after maxing Q and triggering it, which sounded even more insane. But that was late game. During the Laning Phase, Caitlyn could rub Jinx's range into the dirt. Since it was so strong, why didn't FPX pick it?

Because picking it would be too much of a gamble.

Since this was a New Team, no one had put in enough games of Specialized Training with this setup. Even Hong Mi had to pair it with Azir before daring to draft his own composition like this, let alone Steak.

And compared to Caitlyn, Jinx's advantage was that with the same Four Items, Jinx had a much easier time Taking Over the Game.

Once Luo Zhen understood that bot lane had the early advantage this match, and that neither side's compositions were likely to invade at Level 1, his path to lane became clear. He walked straight down lane, took a small detour into the brush below the river, and began AFKing there.

"What? You think they'll come?"

PPGOD followed beside him with some confusion. As a Soft Support, unless he had a special task, he generally never left the ADC's side. PPGOD was very obedient this match—wherever Luo Zhen went, he followed, looking like the ADC's seventh item.

"It's just a feeling."

"They won't come. How could they be dumb enough to run over here and Sneak Attack us? We're profes—holy crap, they really fucking came?"

PPGOD had just been about to lecture Luo Zhen using his abundant Pro Scene Experience, but before he could finish, Jinx + Karma really did appear by the Enemy Tri-bush.

And they were targeting this brush too, seemingly planning to hide here and ambush them.

With the first move against a Backup Plan, Luo Zhen wasn't about to be polite.

The instant the Enemy Bot Lane Duo approached the brush, he unleashed a quick Auto Attack-Q combo. At Level 1, if neither bot lane was prepared at all, Karma with Empowered Q was definitely stronger than them.

But things were different now.

First, they knew where the enemy was, while the enemy didn't know whether anyone else from V5 was nearby. FPX's bot lane wouldn't dare fight.

Second, this was a fucking brush!

Caitlyn's headshot passive meant one shot in a brush counted as two. In other words, she could fire a headshot once every three Auto Attacks on average. As Everyone Knows, in League of Legends, any passive that triggered a special effect after three attacks—

In a Sense, could be called invincible!

"Wow, FPX's Level 1 setup was directly Seen Through by V5 here."

"The marker looks like it was AK who saw through it. From the moment he left base, he seemed to have predicted the enemy would play like this. But the question is... how did he guess their Level 1 plan?"

The Commentators couldn't understand it.

If he were a veteran, that would be one thing. Someone experienced might occasionally have a brilliant read.

But you're a Rookie Player—how the hell did you predict that?

X-ray Vision. This guy definitely had X-ray Vision on!

This ADC would absolutely be an experienced Old Six if he played FPS. His instincts were ridiculous!

Hey, there was no vision in the brush. How about throwing down some smoke? Smoke.

That was how it went when a Sniper occupied favorable terrain. If only they could give Jinx a flashbang, she would've charged right in. Unfortunately, they couldn't.

That Level 1 prediction directly crushed the enemy's dirty intentions.

Even PPGOD was a little won over by Luo Zhen.

They were both Rookie Players, yet an ADC like him could catch the coach's eye the moment he debuted, while PPGOD could only suffer through sixteen straight losses. There really was a reason for it.

"Your game sense is no simple matter. May I ask who Your Excellency is?"

"I am the renowned double agent of Wudaokou Men's Vocational School and Yuanmingyuan Vocational Technical College, codename: Pangolin."

"Hiss~ So you are a great master of Wudaokou. I've long admired you."

"You flatter me, you flatter me. From Your Excellency's tone, you seem to know our school quite well. It appears Your Excellency's background is no simple matter either. Forgive my disrespect, forgive my disrespect."

V5's Top Mid Jungle: ...

You two were putting on a crosstalk act over here?

Jokes aside, this read still made the coaches watching below the stage let out a huge sigh of relief. Jinx + Karma's Level 1 Sneak Attack depended mainly on Karma. If it succeeded, Caitlyn would definitely lose Lane Control early.

If Caitlyn lost Lane Control early in bot lane, this strategy would be half dead already.

"Still, daring to ambush us at Level 1 means they really don't take us seriously."

"Right, right."

"They might not know that I myself believe in Christianity. When I see something beautiful, my first reaction is usually to start praying."

"Right, right—ah, no, no..."

"What's wrong with that? The lane is up to you now. World Champion? Old Man beats World Champions!"

"Charge!"

After bottling up so much negative energy from resisting pressure over so many games, Luo Zhen and PPGOD were incredibly excited. Of course, excitement was one thing. Whether bot lane could perform well depended not only on the ADC's skill, but even more on the Support's performance.

After all...

How much health could one Auto Attack take? How much health could a Support skill take?

If you ran into a Mage Support or a hard-engage Support like Leona, they could use a Skill Combo, Ignite, and a few Auto Attacks to send your ADC flying On the Spot.

That was also why Luo Zhen dared to face LWX head-on.

A World Champion was no problem.

But your Support was gone. Both sides had newly matched Supports, and compared to their former original partners, their Laning Phase strength would definitely drop by a huge margin.

If Si Shao were still here, Luo Zhen wouldn't dare pick a hero that relied on Auto Attacks to lane against them even if you beat him to death. But your wife had already run off with someone else, and you'd found a new mistress. Then he couldn't be blamed for striking without mercy.

After all...

Who Isn't a Pure Love God of War~

Don't Rush, It's an Attitude

The mind games with LWX in bot lane only truly began in the Fourth Game.

For the first three games, Luo Zhen had chosen Functional ADs according to the team's draft. Heroes like Jhin never intended to contest Lane Control from the moment they were picked, so naturally, he hadn't felt much so-called Laning pressure.

They were all Jail Time anyway. There was no difference.

But after Luo Zhen picked Caitlyn, that subtle gap began to show. If he had to give a simple description of what laning against LWX felt like, it would be... the enemy's laning rhythm was far ahead of his.

What was laning rhythm?

In the same patch, LWX had probably played Jinx against Caitlyn over a hundred times in LPL scrims alone. That didn't even include Specialized Training with Second Team players brought up to practice, including Jinx + Lulu against Caitlyn + Karma, or against other Bot Lane Combos.

Because he had played so many similar lane matchups, LWX could quickly grasp the rhythm of laning with these heroes—when to fight, when to retreat, when to seize Lane Control, and when being aggressive would make the enemy uncomfortable.

The greatest difference between professionals and amateurs often lay in these minute Details.

And what about Luo Zhen?

It had only been a month since he was promoted from LDL to LPL. Even if he went Full Power to adapt during that month, there was no way he could close the gap between them so quickly. The only reason the draft could secure Lulu for the Support and break apart the enemy Bot Lane Combo was that Lulu against Karma was generally a favorable bot lane matchup as long as she didn't get hit by Q.

The current bot lane situation could be said to be Luo Zhen getting suppressed one-sidedly. But because his Support was much stronger than the Enemy Support, they could barely stabilize the lane.

Of course, they were only barely holding it.

"He's still too green." Beneath the stage, V5's Team Leader watched Caitlyn hold a range advantage yet fail to press out an advantage, then anxiously said this to Hong Mi.

"He's a Rookie Player. You need to give him enough patience. Remember, don't rush—it's an attitude."

Hong Mi remained calm as a meditating old monk. He seemed to have expected the situation on the field long ago, and no one could sense any tension from him.

"But if we pick Caitlyn and can't get Lane Control, doesn't that erase the point of picking Caitlyn bot?" The Team Leader didn't understand. By his understanding of the game, picking Caitlyn was one hundred percent about pushing the lane. If they could only barely stabilize things, didn't that mean their draft had been wrong from the start?

"Lane Control? With LWX in this form, how many ADCs in the LPL could take Lane Control from him?"

"But..."

"Shh, look carefully." Hong Mi gestured for the Team Leader to be quiet, then pointed back at the screen. "Watch closely and you'll realize that at this point, it's the enemy ADC who's anxious."

How could Hong Mi, an Old Hand, fail to notice Luo Zhen's weakness in laning rhythm?

But had he done nothing about it?

No, he had.

From the Demacia Cup until now, he had continuously given Luo Zhen Functional ADs precisely so that, match after match, he could personally experience what the offensive rhythm of a top ADC was.

There was an analogy for this.

It was like being in darkness. At first, you couldn't see anything around you. But slowly, you began to make out outlines. Then, little by little, you could even vaguely see the things beside you.