You Call This 'Steady'?

"Then bot lane."

"Huh?"

Hearing that he was involved, Luo Zhen snapped out of his daze and looked at him with confusion.

"Judging by their Group Stage performance, LNG's bot lane has been very stable, but also very conservative. Our bot lane shouldn't face too much laning pressure. Still, LNG is a very strong team, so we can't rule out the possibility of the series being dragged into a fourth or fifth game."

Just as his teammates had comforted him yesterday.

Luo Zhen didn't need to step forward in the Group Stage because it was BO1 and the opponents were too weak. Their veteran players alone were enough. If he didn't show something, he'd be letting down the high salary the V5 Boss had paid him.

But BO5 was different.

With veteran players on both sides, once a series dragged on, the key factor affecting its direction would become each team's core carries. If one looked closely, they would find that in many of LNG's BO5 series, Deng Huang was rarely given a Functional AD.

"Once the match is dragged into the fourth or fifth game, you will become the team's absolute core."

"There is no second option."

As an old hand who had coached for years, Coach Homme was quite skilled at encouraging Rookie Players. Words that Luo Zhen would have mocked as cheap chicken soup in his Previous Life still ignited his fighting spirit when they were directed at him.

Watching the figure in the center of the room, looking as though he had been pumped full of Chicken Blood, Rookie and Karsa exchanged a tacit glance. Their lips curled into matching, subtle smiles as they sighed inwardly.

Being young really meant being so damn easy to fool!

One day later.

Inside the Magic City Sports Arena, as the members of both teams once again appeared in the sports center venue, the LPL Live Room cameras finally found their targets for the night.

First time watching a match. Is mid today an Internal Match between the Chosen One Hua Zi?

Today's about deciding the glory of Chinese people, Song Sheng versus Ya Sheng. Is this really not going to end with one getting rubbed under the other's turret?

Which Champion Skin did Doinb and Rookie get? I'm new and want to buy one. Also, which skin belongs to champion ADC Uzi?

The match hadn't even started, and Pantheon was already ulting?

Demacia Cup viewers were not like World Championship viewers. Having gone so long without high-quality games, they had become restless enough to throw memes around everywhere. Now they were eagerly waiting to gorge themselves on a Visual Feast.

At this stage, some Netizens had extremely complicated backgrounds and were highly aggressive.

Their mothers might have been learning things on Douyin, their fathers were probably pulling off flashy tricks on Quick Hands, their older brothers might have been playing Key Immortal on Tieba, their older sisters could have been practicing boxing on Weibo, their younger brothers were likely watching anime on Bilibili, and their younger sisters might have been meeting Xiao Zhan at the airport. As for themselves, they surfed one bizarre Group Chat after another, serving as group admins for virtual avatar streamers. Every last one of them had a bright future.

As for their tempers?

Hmph.

Only winners deserved good tempers. Losers, meanwhile, were destined to become toys for their self-amusement.

Looking at LNG's confident appearance Not Far away, Luo Zhen suddenly thought of something and fell into contemplation. Yesterday, the coach had only told him that the team would play around him later on. He hadn't said what Luo Zhen should do in the earlier games.

Oh, no... he had said something.

He seemed to have said Deng Huang wasn't very good during the Laning Phase, so Luo Zhen's bot lane pressure shouldn't be too high.

If he interpreted that statement on its own, did it basically mean the Enemy Bot Lane was trash during the Laning Phase, and he could just do whatever he wanted down there?

Got it!

He completely got it!

Coach Homme had definitely been hinting that bot lane needed to shoulder the burden and order off the enemy menu. Thinking of that, Luo Zhen's eyes grew brighter and brighter. The excitement and joy in his heart even made his entire body tremble slightly.

"What, nervous?" Rookie sharply noticed Luo Zhen's slight trembling. After all, mid and bot sat right next to each other on stage, so they could observe one another far more closely than the others. "Don't worry. We're here. Just treat it like a normal scrim and don't put too much pressure on yourself."

Rookie assumed he was nervous and smiled as he comforted him.

Except...

"No, I'm not nervous. I'm just a little excited. By the way, Rookie Brother, can I ask you for something?"

"Go ahead."

"If possible, could you keep an eye on the enemy Mid Laner's movements? I have a feeling today might be my lucky day!"

"That confident?"

Rookie looked surprised. Nothing had happened just now, so why had This Guy's confidence suddenly swelled up?

"Of course. And if things really don't work out, won't you guys be there to help me?"

After grasping the coach's meaning, Luo Zhen realized that his chance might really have arrived. Even after rising from the LDL to the LPL, he had no doubts about his Laning Ability.

And if he really couldn't beat them... didn't he still have his four Big Daddies to cover for him?

If he won, he could play Xiao Yan and stage a comeback. If he lost, he could be An Lan and cling to a Carry. Either way, there was always a script that suited him.

The Rookie Player benefit period was just that damn tough!

Homework

As soon as the two teams began their Mind Games, both sides' BP immediately shocked every Audience member.

First Ban Phase:

LNG: Caitlyn, Samira, Twitch

V5: Aphelios, Jinx, Lucian

Six Ban bot lanes right from the start. Both coaches seemed convinced that the enemy ADC's Champion Pool was shallower than their own. That was normal. LNG looked formidable and stacked with Veteran Players, but their bot lane Deng Huang, Light, was famously a breakthrough point. It was only natural for Coach Homme to target the Enemy Bot Lane.

Coincidentally, LNG saw V5 the same way.

Fine, I'll count Mid-Jungle as you finding a huge bargain. But who the Special Meow is this Rookie Player ADC in your bot lane? No matter how bad Deng Huang is on my team, he isn't someone a Young General freshly promoted from the LDL gets to challenge, right?

With that thought, the two coaches immediately clashed from across the room.

"This Match, we'll continue with our usual Top Mid Jungle strategy. With the enemy ADC bans like this, they'll probably pick either Ezreal or Jhin. A Zhen, play freely. Pick whatever you feel confident on." After committing their overall strategy, there was no room left for Coach Homme to allocate resources to AD, so he Might As Well let Luo Zhen play for himself.

Anyway, the ADCs still available—Jhin, Ezreal, Xayah, and Kaisa—were all garbage utility champions. As long as bot lane held steady, that counted as success.

"Jhin and Kaisa are both fine. I'm pretty accurate with a Sniper."

"Then why is your ID called AK? Wouldn't AWM be better?" Diao Shen, PPGOD, asked in confusion. In his mind, an ID like AK should be more than a tribute to Uzi—it should reflect the player's personality. Yet after spending so many days together, he really hadn't felt any AK-like qualities from Luo Zhen.

"You don't get it. If I pick a sniper, I only get One Shot. If I miss, it's over. But if I pick AK, I can empty an entire magazine. Even if All missed, I can still proudly and confidently tell my teammates: the Enemy is critically low HP!"

The other four of V5: ???

First Pick Phase:

LNG: Xin Zhao (first pick), Jhin + Leona

V5: Lee Sin, Rakan + Kaisa

A very standard counter. With several hypercarry ADCs banned, the remaining Functional ADs would be heavily restrained by Xin Zhao's ultimate. Meanwhile, V5 had secured the Meta Strong Lee Sin and the roaming-specialist Rakan. They were clearly planning to compete with the enemy in Mid-Jungle-Support tempo.

Just roam. Roam the hell out of them.

Second Ban Phase: Galio, Twisted Fate, LeBlanc, Corki

No one gets to play roaming champions, and no one gets to play Meta Strong champions either. Coach Homme's BP was simple: force both sides into the same lane and let the players perform freely. This was real practice.

With the Fourth Pick, Coach Homme directly grabbed Mid Lane Sylas for Rookie, completely shutting down Doinb's One-trick Ace champions and leaving the counterpick for Rich.

LNG immediately Couldn't Hold It.

Sylas was a champion entirely dependent on whether the enemy team's ultimates were useful. There was already Xin Zhao's ultimate to steal. If Doinb then picked Renekton mid, not only would it be difficult to pressure Rookie in lane, but team fights would also become dangerous.

But if they specifically picked Ryze just because of this damn Sylas, their composition would look strange.

Helplessly, LNG took Akali + Jayce with their final two picks.

LNG: Top laner Jayce, Jungler Xin Zhao, Mid Lane Akali, bot lane Jhin + Leona

It had damage when it wanted damage, output when it wanted output, and could barely be said to have some durability. Its only flaw was that it had absolutely no late game.

Seeing this, V5 stopped hiding their final pick and locked in Wukong directly, playing with pure confidence.

And so—

V5: Top laner Wukong, Jungler Lee Sin, Mid Laner Sylas, bot lane Kaisa + Rakan

Viewed separately, neither composition seemed to have any major problems. But when the two were put together, it somehow felt like everything was a problem. Still, considering this was the First game of the Demacia Cup Quarterfinals, the Audience respected the teams' BP despite their confusion.

The match began.

At the start, the ADC had to make the first decision of the game—not about item builds, but about the Jungler's pathing.

If a Jungler were compared to a dashing scholar from ancient times, then the map had four roads and he could go wherever he pleased. Bot lane, on the other hand, was one of four famous courtesans. You feared he wouldn't come, feared he would Mess Around if he did, and also had to worry that customers you didn't like would sneak over.

It really wasn't a role with much initiative.

Considering that their composition focused on Top Mid Jungle, and the level-one formation showed that the Enemy had no desire to start trouble, XLB chose the Lee Sin "Subject Four" clear, first observing the enemy tactical setup.

Right now, everyone knew what cards the other side held, but no one knew how the Opponent planned to play them. Watching their ideas first could provide plenty of data for Follow-up jungle pathing.

Once Luo Zhen knew Lee Sin was clearing from bot to top, he had a plan.

This pathing meant he didn't need to forcibly contest Lane Control in bot lane. Of course, forcing it with this matchup would be dangerous anyway. In other words, he could play defensively and concede a little Lane Control, because they had no need to worry about an early jungle invade from the enemy jungler.

Since that was the case, there was no pressing need to race for level two.

The three essentials of ADC: awareness, mechanics, Wave Management.

Awareness could be Understood As prediction, mainly used to avoid danger. This concept emerged because the ADC's living environment had worsened by the day. As the Current Version's ranged damage position, situations like this happened easily: say you Kited Xin Zhao for half the day, and then he clipped you with one punch for 1500-plus damage and shattered you. Avoiding that instakill punch in advance required the help of awareness.

There was no need to explain mechanics. The Kiting mentioned earlier was the fundamental skill that ran through everything: treat Auto Attack as a skill with Cooldown. Auto Attack when its Cooldown was ready, and reposition and Kite when it was not. No matter how things changed, the principle remained the same.

As for the minion wave...

For the first wave after reaching lane this game, Luo Zhen directly kept the minion wave at roughly equal HP with the enemy ADC.

If the Enemy went for level two, he went for level two.

If the Enemy went for Last Hits, he followed with Last Hits. In fact, he was even more extreme. Since Kaisa's early Last Hits were definitely smoother than Jhin's, many times he did not Last Hit the instant a Soldier reached low HP. Instead, when the Soldier was low HP and an enemy Soldier had already fired an Auto Attack at one of his low-HP Soldiers, with that Auto Attack still flying through the air, he would slowly fire his own Auto Attack.

At this point, the Galio One-trick Ace called XX Ekko had to be mentioned.

Time for the classic phrasing.

As long as the Enemy reached level two, Leona would definitely look for an opportunity to push forward. Their level two would only be A Trace slower. If the Enemy recklessly came forward, then shortly after Leona flew in, they would reach level two. The enemy Soldiers would attack their Soldiers, while their Soldiers attacked enemy heroes, and the minion wave would push over, allowing them to hold it firmly Under Tower.

This was called maintaining a balanced wave state.

As for whether they would get tower-dived by the Jungler, that depended entirely on enemy jungler Tarzan's courage.

And, of course, on whether their Own Jungler XLB revealed his position.

Alright.

By now, you had learned mechanics—the basics of Kiting; awareness—preventing Sudden Death; and Wave Management—how to play defensively, freeze the wave, and be a coward.

Now, as homework after reading this chapter, hurry into Ranked Match and practice your laning against Uzi if you happen to meet him.

This Fucking Rookie Player?

Laning against pro players had long been part of Luo Zhen's anticipated schedule. Unfortunately, every team he faced in the Group Stage had been full of deadweights—simply put, Experience Babies. He had Failed To encounter any worthy Opponent.

Deng Huang was the first LPL-level ADC he had faced.

As for the laning Senses... they were actually pretty average.

Among the many LPL ADCs, Deng Huang had never been known for laning mechanics. He was even frequently ordered off the menu by those Operation Monster ADCs. His only real strength was Teamfight Damage Ability. In lane alone, Luo Zhen even felt that he could outplay him a little.

But actually getting something out of it was difficult.

"Diao Shen, based on your experience getting beaten up for sixteen straight rounds, can you share the enemy Support's engagement habits with me?"

"No... Brother, can we not bring up those sixteen straight losses first?"

PPGOD was practically about to kneel to him. By seniority, he should actually count as Luo Zhen's Predecessor. But in terms of results, Luo Zhen had dominated the LDL while he had been dominated in the LPL. It was truly a pairing of getting wrecked and wrecking others. The only question was whether they could eventually become a duo that wrecked everyone.

With such a difference in results, he really couldn't put on any veteran airs.

"What's so embarrassing about it? It was only D-tier bounty. Look at the Shanghai Dragons—they lost forty-two in a row, then achieved Nirvana afterward, didn't they?"

While controlling Kaisa and Kiting, Luo Zhen continued chattering with his own Support. Of course, it wasn't that he could multitask perfectly. In truth, he often didn't even hear Diao Shen's replies, but whenever he had something to say, he would unconsciously say it aloud.

Chatting to ease his nervousness was one of his defining traits when he played AD.

In short: a stage chatterbox.

Fortunately, after spending these past days together, V5 had gradually become accustomed to his style. Even Rich, their top laner, would sometimes imitate him and mutter a line or two himself.