You call this thing stable?

TES's JKL, WBG's TheShy, and their former team IG.

Only by crushing all three of these teams would Rookie truly consider his "revenge" successful.

"What else can I say? We'll just find a way to step on them to climb," Rookie said magnanimously, directly stating his intention to use them to gain rank.

"Then why don't we ask the coach to build a lineup around you?"

"Forget it... I'll just follow the plan. We're just talking for fun, the final decision rests with the coach." Rookie thought for a moment before ultimately abandoning the suggestion.

After such a brief period of interaction, everyone had already been thoroughly impressed by Coach Homme's management. Moreover, Rookie himself was naturally easygoing; asking the coach to change tactics for his own personal amusement was something that would never happen with him.

[I'm fucking Lena!]

[Xiang Zhangmen's story has ended, is it time for Ji Zhangmen's story to begin?]

[369 playing against Shy-ge, I wonder if V5 has hired their psychologists yet.]

[Just kidding, what kind of treatment does 369 get on V5, and what kind does TheShy get on WBG? Are you sure it's not Thsshy who needs a psychologist?]

[What's about to unfold is the LPL 2022 epic drama – The Battle for the IG Perpetual Motion Machine.]

Countless viewers looking for entertainment were already waiting eagerly in front of their screens. On a side note, as the time was close to the Lunar New Year, both the venue and the commentators had incorporated some festive elements into their attire, decorations, and even background music.

There was no choice, given that the LPL was currently dominated by the supreme EDG and the scattered IG and FPX.

Before the match, Coach Homme was giving Luo Zhen and the others final psychological counseling: "Don't rush. Know that their lineup is inferior to ours. WBG as a team, their top lane is responsible for the show and the bullet screen; their jungler is responsible for controlling the odds; their mid laner performs strongly against strong opponents and weakly against weak ones; their bot lane is handled by a normal person to cover; and their support is there to show off. They're a purely chaotic team, so don't feel too much pressure."

If Luo Zhen hadn't experienced it firsthand, he would never have believed that Coach Homme could be such a down-to-earth person.

Of course, this was only because he had transmigrated late.

If he had seen Coach Homme's stream about adjusting the "egg path," he might not have thought that way.

But as it was, his expression was akin to a thesis advisor discovering that their student had submitted a paper with zero plagiarism – utterly shocked. Then he looked at the topic, and good heavens, it was about "The Impact of Wheelchairs with Footrests on Lunar Gravity."

He was greatly surprised.

Of course, they also obediently nodded, indicating that they understood.

Finally—the chessboard was set!

Chapter 14: The Junglers of That Year, Neither Could Break the Other's Moves

Soon, the first round of bans:

WBG: LeBlanc, Lee Sin, Lucian

V5: Twisted Fate, Gwen, Jinx

The bans against V5 remained unchanged, but the BP against WBG was very interesting. Coach Homme had thoroughly studied his opponents. Believing that Huan Feng wouldn't be able to carry late game, he let Caitlyn and Aphelios through, only specifically banning Jinx, whom Huan Feng had been playing well recently.

Before playing against a team, one must first understand their style.

Top lane TheShy would definitely be aggressive, looking for plays and dying for them. Therefore, V5's focus this game would definitely be on "withdrawing money" from the top lane. As for why? Because Sofm was busy farming the jungle and wouldn't be constantly counter-ganking in the top lane like Ning Wang.

Since they were going to play in the top half of the map, according to normal logic, shouldn't the bot lane pick a passive utility player?

Normally, that would be the case, but it wouldn't work against WBG because their jungler was Sofm.

To deal with Sofm, you had to target him like you would Kanavi. You'd push for lane priority in all three lanes. Once you had lane priority, the opponents would be under heavy pressure in lane, and the vision pressure would be even greater. In this situation, if Sofm went to help in lane, his biggest threat – his "bandit" style of play – would be completely nullified. But if he chose to farm the jungle instead of supporting the lanes, then once the waves were pushed, a quick gank from your side in the jungle would also completely cripple Sofm.

The only potential drawback was: could they achieve simultaneous pressure in all three lanes?

Even if it wasn't complete pressure, could they pose a threat to the bot lane, which the jungler couldn't easily support?

Coach Homme studied this. With his own jungler completely focused on the top lane, his own bot lane seemed to have an opportunity to pose a threat. So, they would try!

Thus, the first round of picks:

WBG: Caitlyn (first pick), Trundle, Corki

V5: Alistar, Xin Zhao (first two picks), Samira

Let me explain the Caitlyn system. The strength of the Caitlyn system isn't just in its tower-pushing ability. In terms of pure tower pushing, she's definitely no match for Ziggs. Her strength comes from her synergy with Lux. After the support lands a Q, they can place a trap, and the bot lane duo can perfectly eliminate any opposing bot lane ADC or support.

However, where there's a strategy, there's always a counter.

Alistar excels at initiating fights. Although Samira is a bit out of the meta, her W skill can block Lux's Q. And if the opponent stubbornly picks Lux, and the support misses their Q, then a level six Samira engaging could potentially 1v2 the enemy bot lane. Not to mention Alistar with his Point Target Demolition ultimate.

But if you don't pick Lux, then your Caitlyn pick loses half its meaning.

Coach Homme's classic move was to throw the problem back to the opponent. As for the issue of ADC range... to put it bluntly, after analyzing WBG's historical performance and creating a data chart, he didn't take their ADC, Huan Feng, seriously at all.

His injury recovery being slow already explained a lot.

Second round of bans: Alistar, Braum, Azir, Viktor.

They banned defensive supports to create opportunities for the ADCs to engage, while also banning late-game primary carries to indirectly enhance their team's late-game strength. The strategy was sound.

With the fourth pick, V5 secured Poppy.

What's the most soul-crushing way to kill someone with words? It's to take the all-offensive lineup you're most familiar with and use it to personally understand your present, showcasing my future. I can only say that Coach Homme must have overheard some of the players' conversations when he arrived, and his mischievous side kicked in.

With four players charging in from mid, jungle, and support, this lineup was terrifying not only for WBG but also for the audience and commentators.

What was even more critical was that their fifth pick was a top lane counter.

With no other choice, WBG locked in Xin Zhao and Graves in the last two picks, attempting a counter-strategy. V5's final pick was the classic S11 World Championship matchup of Kennen against Graves. There was no need to consider it further.

Here it is:

WBG: Top Graves, Jungle Trundle, Mid Corki, Bot Caitlyn + Xin Zhao

V5: Top Kennen, Jungle Zhao Xin, Mid Poppy, Bot Samira + Alistar

With the lineups locked in, the match began.

Since Sofm was the jungler on the opposing team this game, it wasn't just Luo Zhen, but even Karsa, who had trouble pinpointing the enemy's positions.

Junglers who survived the S7 era were all mutually impenetrable and had plenty of legendary stories.

For example, Clearlove's F6 camp, Xiang Guo always being in your face, Karsa always knowing where you were, Condi being the chosen Son of the Dragon, and with Sofm, everyone knew he was farming, but you just couldn't figure out who he was betting on winning with his early game.

So, they could only slightly guard their jungle and then proceed with a normal start.

There wasn't much to say about the early game; they just had to endure.

Homme just wanted to apply pressure to the enemy bot lane once they hit level six and dismantle the enemy Caitlyn and Lux combination. The moment the enemy support picked Xin Zhao, their task was already half-completed.

Caitlyn paired with Xin Zhao could push their wave, but they couldn't lower their HP significantly, nor could they pose a major threat to the bot lane turret plating.

Therefore, they had to play defensively without thinking in the early game.

With a 500 range against 650, as long as the opponent wasn't braindead or frantically searching for a centipede's natural enemy all night, they could make Luo Zhen dizzy every time he tried to last hit.

What should they do at this point?

Try to keep up with the opponent's last-hitting rhythm; if they last hit, you last hit too. This way, the opponent wouldn't have the spare time to poke you. Of course, the rhythms of both sides couldn't be 100% synchronized; otherwise, they could just go to Pacific Rim next door and pilot a giant robot. So, during those moments when the rhythms didn't match, they had to endure the auto-attacks and try to use their W skill to dodge Caitlyn's Q skill poke.

What?

You're talking about Xin Zhao?

That short-legged thing, even if Samira only had a short 500-range, Xin Zhao couldn't easily touch her without using Flash. He wasn't even in Luo Zhen's scope of consideration.

"Diao Shen, since we teamed up, why has the bot lane been getting beaten up? They pick a disadvantageous AD for me every game. Am I weaker than the opponent?"

Although new ADCs joining the LPL often had to pay tuition, that kind of tuition was usually for when their raw strength was inferior. But him? This was purely tuition paid for being in a sacrificial role in the bot lane, which was incredibly frustrating.

"You said the same thing during the Demacia Cup. You really were outmatched back then. As for now, I can't say."

Based on the performance in the first few games of the season, Sea Whip Boy's play had been quite good, seemingly paying off debts from that year's BO5. However, this "looks good" needed to be considered in reality.

The opponent was very strong, but Luo Zhen's performance had been equally good since the Demacia Cup, making it difficult to establish a standard for judgment.

But...

"I don't know about anything else, but at least your last hitting is worse than his right now. Where's your Basic Mastery?"

"Don't rush. Don't look at me being a few CS behind the opponent right now. That's just for now. In professional matches where the target is 300 CS for graduation, if my CS is lower than the opponent's, it means I have more room for improvement than him. This wave is for late-game power; do you understand late-game power?"

"Zhuge knows the heavens easily, are you a heaven-defying man or something?"

"Ah, yes, yes, yes. Since you know, why aren't you quickly supporting me?"

"Get lost!"

Chapter 15: V5's Bot Lane Four Turrets

The laning phase in the early game could basically be summarized by a lyric: "At eighteen, standing like a nobody."

The V5 duo, huddled under their turret, watched the minion wave being slowly frozen by WBG not far away. They dared not advance and couldn't retreat. Moreover, because they had just rotated once in the previous match against RA, their account was still temporarily banned, so Luo Zhen couldn't pack his bags and blast "The Me You See" with a speaker. Otherwise, facing those two, how could they possibly be a match for him in his "Big Brother mode"?

Samira was a relatively simple hero; it mainly depended on how quickly she could get S-rank with her ultimate and her engage opportunities.

Before level six, there wasn't much special about her playstyle.

Luo Zhen vaguely remembered feeling a strange familiarity when this hero first came out. She had two guns, her melee attacks were stronger than her ranged ones, she could briefly prevent herself from taking damage, and her ultimate shot her guns around wildly... Samira, did you also play Overwatch?

Then, upon closer inspection, he realized, oh, it was Templar.

V5's main early-game tempo relied on Poppy hitting level six. After all, their mid laner was known for being a "corporate slave" who stayed in lane. Rookie's roaming would definitely be ten to twenty steps faster than the enemy mid laner. The key was the early game.

In the early game, WBG's bot lane had priority. Zhao Xin, being a melee champion, couldn't contest the more aggressive Trundle in the early game. Also, the top lane Graves couldn't easily gank because their own laner was Kennen. Therefore, both junglers focused more on farming before level six. Since the focus was on farming, the jungle absolutely could not be invaded by Sofm.

So, the support had to go into the jungle to place wards and help before the enemy pushed the minion wave completely under the turret.

At this point, Luo Zhen was truly left to suffer alone under the turret.

"Don't worry, I'm just going to place a ward. They won't be able to dive you," PPGOD said, trying to give the ADC some courage before leaving. It was understandable; with Xin Zhao as the enemy support, he wouldn't dare to actively Q forward even if given ten times the courage.

Since someone was destined to suffer in the bot lane, why couldn't it just be one person? Thus, PPGOD shamelessly ran off.

What could Luo Zhen say to that?

The divine giant transmits light in the setting sun. The human knight resists destiny in the heavy rain. The united warrior continues hope amidst the blazing fire. The solitary swordsman inherits heroic spirits under the full moon. And the noble noble lineage doesn't need teammates during the laning phase.

Right, meaning LOL isn't like CF where you can accidentally hit allies, otherwise, once he farmed up, he'd definitely spin around and mow all these people down.

As for now... he'd just have to endure.

"Xiao Zhen's ability to withstand pressure seems to be getting stronger and stronger. Coach, is this also part of your plan?" XLB glanced at Samira, who was stuck under the tower in the game, and couldn't help but admire her. Under such heavy pressure from Caitlyn, she had managed to maintain over half her health and was only about ten CS behind. This was a terrifying performance in the early laning phase.

"Actually, I didn't think that far ahead. It's just that the meta isn't focusing on the bot lane right now, so I had him take on a sacrificial role," Coach Homme answered honestly. "But his progress has been so significant that it's hard for me to understand."

In S10, he thought that an anomaly like Genshin Bro was the peak of prodigies.

But then in S12, after seeing Luo Zhen, he changed his mind once again.

It wasn't about raw strength. Strength is sufficient as long as it's enough. The difference in strength between professional players, excluding the top lane, isn't that large. Even in the top lane, it's due to how easily it snowballs. As long as the BP is done well and the player doesn't throw, it would be difficult for even a peak TheShy to kill a passive player who has become one with the tower.

What surprised him was Luo Zhen's mentality.

Despite being only 18 years old, Luo Zhen often displayed the mindset of a corporate slave who had been beaten down by society. He retained the youthful idealism and passion of a teenager while also possessing the shrewdness and forbearance of a corporate drone, which was quite perplexing.

Though he couldn't understand it, it was ultimately a good thing for the team.

"So, you had him play Samira this game purely for him to be a sacrifice?"

"Not entirely," Coach Homme assessed the current game situation and suddenly smiled. "While my intention for the bot lane to take on a sacrificial role is true, I also believe that this pick for the bot lane can pose a threat to the enemy bot lane."

"Huh!?"

Not much major action occurred before level six. Since Luo Zhen had PP GOD go to the jungle early to protect Karsa, Sofm couldn't do anything about V5's jungle, no matter how many ways he tried to invade.

What else could he do? They had more people.

Your bot lane has lane priority, which is good, but this is my jungle. And my AD's HP under the tower is good, and they still have their summoner spells. So, I don't need to worry about being turret dived or anything, and I can provide support faster.

This is where Samira's advantage came into play.

When a fight truly broke out, Samira could quickly clear minion waves in her melee form. And due to its large area of effect, it was much more practical than Caitlyn's Q skill. Under pressure from the enemy, WBG didn't dare to invade too aggressively in the early game, and both sides maintained a degree of rationality.

But it was precisely because of this that Huan Feng felt increasingly stifled the more he played.