You call this thing stable?

A few days later.

When the V5 team reappeared on the stage, it was already the end of the first week of the regular season, and today they would officially begin their regular season journey.

Contrary to the energetic image most people might expect, the V5 players generally looked a bit listless. This was largely due to Coach Homme's military-style management.

Coach Homme led by example, forbidding players from playing other games during the competition.

Similarly, before matches, he would set strict rest times to prevent the players from being exhausted. However, how many modern young people could fall asleep the moment they hit their beds at night? Most of them preferred playing on their phones and staying up late.

Thus, room checks began.

First room check: Blitzkrieg Poland.

Second room check: Maginot Line.

Nth room check: Battle of Stalingrad.

By now, they had mastered the art of using perfect acting skills to fool Coach Homme during his room checks.

"I told you not to post last night, but you did. Look, now everyone's suffering because of it," Luo Zhen whispered to PPGOD beside him. If this guy hadn't posted lewd images in the six-person group chat last night, would everyone be this drained this morning?

"Damn it, wasn't it you who used my phone to post while I was showering? You're blaming me?"

"No? Just tell me, are you going to watch or not?"

"Watch."

"Then that's that. Take the blame, and next time I'll give you the first pick."

"..."

When you're in a new environment, what's the fastest way to bond with your teammates?

Treating them to a meal?

No, that's too weak.

Friendship between men is simple: share a classroom, hold a gun together, divide spoils, and have sex.

The last two are a bit difficult. They were already a team, but they could still "hold a gun together" through certain special means, like sharing lewd images.

Don't ask why, ask the idol who taught them.

[Here we go!]

[V5 ten-year loyal fan, here by invitation!]

[Incheon people, assemble!]

[I'm different. I really like the player Xiao Yang. True fan, looking forward to his performance on V5. Go for it!]

For most viewers, winning the Demacia Cup was enough to make them recognize V5. However, a significant portion of the audience didn't follow the Demacia Cup at all, so they naturally approached the new V5 with curiosity.

Seeing 369 and Karsa on the same team again was particularly abstract.

"Brother 9, seems like a lot of people want to see you perform today," Luo Zhen said, teasing their top laner as usual on stage.

Currently, V5 had a good-natured veteran leader, a top laner full of entertainment value, and an unlucky support who could be playfully roasted. If they won, it was because he was a genius; if they lost, he had future potential. What kind of debut environment was this?

You could say that teams without a large fan base were truly suitable for new players to debut.

Compared to the unlucky top laners who debuted in traditional powerhouse teams, Luo Zhen's environment was much more comfortable, right?

He could even joke around freely.

"Don't worry, watch me perform today. I'm going to crush the enemy top laner!"

"And what if you get Gragas?" Coach Homme, hearing 369's confidence, couldn't resist asking a soul-searching question that left him stunned.

"Then... should we silence the person who might raise questions first?" 369 said hesitantly, then turned to look at Karsa beside him.

Karsa: ???

Soon, the match began.

Bans:

RA: LeBlanc, Lee Sin, Lucian

V5: Renekton, Caitlyn, Twisted Fate

One side was specifically targeting V5's standout heroes from the Demacia Cup, while the other was purely banning the meta. Regardless, with their raw strength, V5 wasn't particularly afraid of RA's BP.

Picks:

RA: Jinx (first pick) + Lulu, Gwen

V5: Aphelios + Thresh (first and second picks) + Jax

Gwen was picked in the first round because with the new season, Gwen received a small buff and was slowly becoming the dominant top lane champion.

And since 369 was playing again, Coach Homme naturally wanted to give him space to perform. As he himself had transitioned from a top laner to a coach, he understood that the top lane required absolute confidence, unlike the AD position which prioritized stability.

Just trust 369.

As for Aphelios + Thresh, they were one of the few hypercarry AD combinations that could stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Jinx in the current meta, aside from Caitlyn.

Second round of bans: Xin Zhao, Viego, Jarvan IV, Rek'Sai

Coach Homme knew what the enemy jungler would pick without even thinking about it. But it didn't matter, because it was Karsa, so they also had a jungler that could annoy the opponents. At the start of the season, with no pressure from points, there was no need to always pick conventional champions.

So, for their fourth pick, V5 brought out Nocturne.

"Nocturne?"

"Is this a mid-jungle flex for V5? No, Nocturne seems a bit weak in the mid lane this patch, so it must be the jungler."

The S12 new mythic item version.

Due to the updates to strategic points and Elemental Dragons, the general understanding was that the team's dual carries should be late-game hypercarries, allowing them to press their advantage when ahead and make comebacks when behind. But here, the mid laner hadn't even been picked yet, and they were already picking Nocturne. This didn't seem right.

RA's coach pondered for a long time before finally locking in Qiyana + Azir.

That left V5 with simple choices. Their fifth pick, Corki, was taken directly!

And so, RA: Top lane Gwen, Jungle Qiyana, Mid lane Azir, Bot lane Jinx + Lulu

V5: Top lane Jax, Jungle Nocturne, Mid lane Corki, Bot lane Aphelios + Thresh

V5's composition was very late-game oriented, but it would be invincible once they scaled. This BP style stemmed from Coach Homme's own pursuit of the strongest meta. You have to understand that he was a coach who would even steal strategies from the LCK next door to learn. Thus, he had also stolen that favorite setup of Coach KkOma.

The strategy was: If our players are strong, we'll pick a late-game composition for a counter-attack, and then see what new things you can come up with.

Once you reveal your fancy new strategies, I'll copy them that very night, and the next day, I'll let the opponents understand what TX speed means.

"Play freely this game, but don't go too wild. Karsa, you need to keep an eye on the team's tempo." Even after the BP ended, Coach Homme maintained his mother hen persona, constantly reminding Karsa to pay attention to the in-game strategy before heading off stage.

"Don't worry, Coach. I can't say for sure about other things, but I can definitely keep 369 in check and stop him from playing silly games."

Karsa's words were full of confidence. He had plenty of experience "torturing" 369. Of course, 369 didn't refute him, as his rebellious phase was already mostly over, and he could handle this little jab.

"As for Xiao Zhen, don't get too heated, and don't play silly games, okay?"

"Absolutely, Coach. You can rest assured. Besides, I'm naturally afraid of snakes, so I wouldn't play silly games."

"Really?"

"Because I think snakes are very strange. When I was little, I saw a female snake living in the same nest as a scorpion. And this snake didn't eat meat; it liked gourds. There was an old man who grew a lot of gourds, but this female snake tricked both him and his gourds into its nest. Isn't that bizarre?"

V5 members: ???

Chapter 6: Have You Ever Witnessed Rift Relativity?

In the early game, Nocturne's jungle clear would definitely be slower than Qiyana's. The main reason was that Qiyana had a dash, while Nocturne didn't. So, Karsa was in the classic weak early-game jungler position, needing to avoid the enemy as much as possible.

Looking at the team compositions, Leyan would likely focus on the bot lane as an escape route. That made things simple.

By placing two wards in the river, they could best protect the bot lane and the bottom jungle vision in the early game. Then, Nocturne would start from the bottom side and move upwards, looking for an opportunity to give 369 some advantage.

As for the bot lane?

That was the scaling lane, and he had great faith in his AD's steady nature, so there shouldn't be any major problems.

"Brother Ka, no need to say more this game. Come bot lane often. As long as you come bot, not only will the kills be yours, but you can even take the minion waves." Before the minions even spawned, Luo Zhen was already painting a rosy picture for Karsa.

"No problem, but I'll need to be level 6 or find an opportunity. And if I come, the enemy jungler will likely come too, so we'll have to see about a 3v3."

"It's fine. As long as the enemy AD isn't comfortable, and we're both underdeveloped, my impact will definitely be greater than the enemy AD's."

After a period of synergy building, everyone had come to understand Luo Zhen's naughty habit when playing AD. Except when facing top-tier ADCs like JKL or LWX, where he would inexplicably play very steady, Luo Zhen would go all out against any ADC of similar or lesser skill.

This included, but was not limited to, calling for ganks, mutual destruction, and kamikaze tactics.

Luo Zhen had a point, though. He wasn't inherently inclined to annoy others; it was because he had experienced the rain before that he wanted to flip over others' umbrellas and then pour some boiling water on them.

Since the ADC role was so difficult this patch, why not make it difficult for everyone!

In the early game, facing the Jinx + Lulu combination, trading would definitely put them at a disadvantage, as they had two ranged champions. Moreover, Lulu's Q had wave-clearing capabilities, helping the ADC quickly reach level 2. But it was okay, Aphelios had Red Smite early on, so it wasn't entirely unacceptable.

Laning details?

Just focus on last hitting. As long as Lulu didn't play erratically, this combination wouldn't initiate fights.

The V5 laners had a simple task in the early game:

"Prepare minions and tame horses, awaiting the opportunity to strike." +1 point.

"Avoid their sharpest edge, temporarily endure and yield." +1 point.

Whether it would turn into "Boyue, I am beyond saving."

That depended on the situation.

However, since it was the AD position, and it was a clash of hypercarries, one naturally had to know some things about the AD position, such as poking and trading.

Simply put, before fighting, you need to figure out your damage, their damage, who loses out if you hit them with a combo and they hit you back with one, who your support is and what they can do for you, who their support is and what they can do, and what skills you need to dodge.

It was like playing King of Fighters in the arcade back in the day, relying entirely on calculations.

Or playing card games, where both sides secretly lay down cards at the start, gambling that the opponent would fall for the bait of first strike.

The idea was simple, but because everyone usually played games for entertainment, they tended to get brain overload and play based on instinct, so it was natural to suffer losses. In such situations, playing free-for-all would be more recommended, as that was truly brainless fun.

Alright, back to the main topic.

On V5's side, the bot lane is Aphelios + Thresh. So when can they actually fight the opponents?

It's simple: when Thresh's hook lands on Lulu.

If Thresh can hook Lulu, they can fight. If he hooks the ADC, it's just a poke trade and that's it. If they keep fighting, their side will definitely lose because Lulu is a lane bully in the support position early game; you can't out-auto her.

As for Aphelios's last hitting?

You should watch videos to learn that; it's hard to explain in text. It's not that difficult anyway.

"This is why I hate this kind of meta, it's pretty boring," Luo Zhen complained while last-hitting minions, his hands never stopping.

Aphelios has a range of 550, and his turret form can reach 650. The enemy Jinx has 525, and her Q in cannon form at level 1 is 600. Only at level 3 can she match the range of turret form. Before the turret form ends, Jinx can't pressure his range. If you only need to pay attention to the support, you can basically play without thinking early on.

He glanced at the trinket ward in the river.

Since their bot lane was slightly pushed, RA's jungler Leyan, as expected, chose to invade at level 3. On one hand, it was to protect their hypercarry Jinx. On the other hand, they had lane priority in the bottom half of the jungle anyway, so invading was a free opportunity.

However, as soon as he entered, he saw the completely empty bottom jungle and immediately guessed Nocturne's position.

It's just that the ping was a bit late.

The moment the level 3 Nocturne appeared in the top lane, visible from the river, Cube was completely stunned. Only when Nocturne was almost on top of him did the jungler's MISS pings start appearing on the minimap.

Cube: "What the hell!"

Seriously.

Didn't V5 just gain a promising new AD? Didn't they pick Aphelios to go late game against them? Didn't they say the new season's dragons were especially strong, so the macro style would lean towards bot lane?

Then what the heck is Nocturne doing in the top lane at level 3?

Is 369 really getting prince treatment wherever he goes?

Cube desperately wanted to curse them out on the spot because he was truly the type of top laner who would die if you ganked him. And Gwen's W was completely useless against Jax and Nocturne, those scoundrels.