Double C had top-tier frontline-shredding capability. Whether paired with the jungler or mid laner, top lane had extremely strong tower-diving potential. As long as bot lane did not run into trouble, DK could steadily secure the Early Game Tempo with their stronger Upper Jungle.
With the final pick, Hong Mi began to make his move.
Jungler Hecarim, locked in!
In patch 12.17, Hecarim received a massive round of buffs. Almost every ability apart from his ultimate had its damage increased, while his W skill also granted him additional Dual Resistance, making him much harder to kill. He had become a jungler who could initiate team fights, control the map, and carry. However, patch 12.18 gave him another small nerf, which was why he returned to T1 rather than T0 shortly after becoming popular.
Still, his win rate remained around 47% whenever he was picked.
And thus:
DK: Renekton top, Jungler Wukong, Taliyah mid, Varus + Karma bot
V5: Ornn top, jungler Hecarim, Ahri mid, Caitlyn + Lux bot
In terms of composition, both sides had drafted around Map Resources. However, DK's lineup had higher early-game damage and greater mobility, while V5 had stronger poke and much longer range.
And with that, the match began.
It was worth mentioning that across the three minor patches from 12.15 to 12.18, popular junglers like jungler Trundle, Wukong, and Poppy had all received slight nerfs. Wukong, for example, had his base Movement Speed and Attack Speed reduced, indirectly lowering his jungle-clearing and support efficiency. Broadly speaking, the nerf hurt but was tolerable. Yet in practical details, it was practically telling you that if you picked Wukong, you had better not stir up trouble at level one. Otherwise, if anything went wrong, the enemy would not even need to do anything. You would simply collapse