Chapter 15: VLL preliminary (2)

“Swap?”

“Yes, I’ll go top and pick a counter.”

“I don’t think I’ll be pushed back that hard if I go with Grasp and start with W.”

“The enemy jungler picked Nidalee. If Sylas trades at level 4 and freezes the lane, we can’t unfreeze it. We have Nocturne.”

Malphite’s base stats and consecutive nerfs on Sylas made the matchup somewhat manageable.

The problem was that the enemy top and jungle were active pros who played in the LPL until this year.

Sylas could win against Malphite in the early game at level 4. If he traded at that timing and messed up the lane with the enemy jungler, the top lane would have a hard time.

‘It’s going to be a disaster.’

A Sheen player who mainly plays with his brain versus an active pro trying to endure the pressure of a frozen lane?

Either the top lane would be destroyed, or the jungler would wander around without reaching level 6.

I could guarantee that one of the two would happen.

“Then what will you play?”

“Ryze.”

One of the three blue bald champions in LOL, Ryze.

He was a pretty good counter pick to Sylas.

Ryze’s weakness of having a short range for a ranged champion was not a problem against a melee champion.

It wasn’t particularly advantageous to steal Sylas’s ultimate.

And he didn’t fall behind in the late game, so he was a good pick.

‘And I’m confident with him.’

And I was more confident because he was one of my main champions in my past life.

And looking at the enemy composition, there was no hard CC.

This was a game where Ryze could run wild.

[Stay ahead of the great disaster!]

“Then I’ll focus on farming until level 6?”

The champion Pressure picked was Nocturne, a champion that was important to play around after learning his ultimate at level 6.

“Can you manage to eat while being pressured by Tristana in mid?”

When I asked Sheen, he said he was confident.

“Then I’ll play a bit on the edge in the top lane.”

Using the movement speed from Ryze’s skills and the Phase Rush rune, it wasn’t that difficult to dodge the enemy’s ganks.

Looking at the overall lane composition, it was a game where I had to gain some advantage in the top lane, so everyone agreed.

“Let’s all do our best.”

“Everyone be careful until I hit level 6.”

“The bot lane has the disadvantage in lane priority.”

“Let’s win~”

Despite Han Byeo-ri’s absence, the game started in a surprisingly harmonious atmosphere.

****

“Ladies and gentlemen, we bring you the VLL preliminaries, I’m caster Kim Dong-jin.”

“I’m commentator Yoo Seung-hwan. Nice to meet you.”

[Is it true that Han Byeo-ri isn’t coming out today?]

[? Why isn’t Han Byeo-ri coming out even though she struggled to reach Grandmaster]

[She fell and got hurt LOL]

[A picture of her in a cast just got uploaded LOL]

[Legendary LOL]

[Then is Team ‘Talent’ disqualified?]

“First of all, we have some news to share. Han Byeo-ri of Team ‘Talent’ is unable to participate due to an injury.”

“Ah, she was one of the players whose form I thought had improved a lot recently. It’s a shame.”

“So, with the consent of the other teams, they found a substitute player. Let’s meet them.”

TEAM – Talent

Top: Sheen

Jungle: Pressure

Mid: PARA (Yoon Seo-ha)

ADC: Eugene

Support: Fpot

[? Who is this nerd]

[If you don’t know Para, why are you even watching VLL?]

[Go search for her, I won’t take responsibility if you fall for her]

[Ooh, a pretty middle school girl Challenger…]

[Isn’t it a balance issue if Para comes out?]

[What balance issue LOL The other teams are all former pros and current Challengers]

“Ah~ Para, she’s a rising star these days, isn’t she.”

“That’s right. She’s the only woman to reach Challenger as a mid laner, and she even reached rank 1, a rising star.”

“And she’s only 15 years old, a middle school student, which is amazing.”

“Then shall we take a look at the opposing team now?”

TEAM – Isn’t LPL a joke?

Top: Actor

Jungle: Manjae

Mid: Kuku

ADC: Beebig

Support: YerimV

“Team ‘Isn’t LPL a joke?’ They’re one of the strong contenders for the championship, aren’t they.”

“The carry potential of the active top and jungle who played in the LPL until just a month ago, and the bot duo of Kuku, Beebig, and Yerim, who are solo queue monsters who always finish in Challenger, are a given.”

“How will they deal with the strong top-jungle carry synergy that is expected to show destructive power, that seems to be the key point.”

“Para seems to be the ace of the changed members, so I expect them to play a mid-focused roaming game.”

“Now, it seems that they’re ready. Let’s take a look at the draft.”

In the following draft, as everyone expected, Sheen’s signature champion was quickly banned.

And then, a Malphite first pick and a counter pick of Sylas.

[Ah LOL If you pick Malphite first, you have to expect Sylas, right?]

[Unleashed! Unleashed! Unleashed!]

[Sheen will just play old man champions LOL]

[Your ultimate is amazing LOL]

[Malphite’s specialty is just stacking armor and getting one-shot by Sylas on the side while his ultimate gets stolen LOL]

“Ah~ Actor often used top Sylas in the league. I wonder what Team ‘Talent’ is thinking.”

“I think so too. I wonder how they’re going to stop Sylas using Malphite’s ultimate… Oh! Ryze, Ryze is picked.”

“He’s a champion that doesn’t appear often in mid after several nerfs… I wonder.”

After the draft was over, each champion went to their respective lanes.

TOP: Malphite

JG: Nocturne

MID: Ryze

AD: Jhin

SUP: Rakan

VS

TOP: Sylas

JG: Nidalee

MID: Tristana

AD: Lucian

SUP: Nami

“Hmm… I’m a little suspicious of that Ryze.”

“Do you think so?”

“Yes, there were many other champions they could have picked for mid.”

“Then let’s see how it plays out.”

The game went as the casters expected.

Malphite went to mid, and Ryze started running to the top lane.

“Oh! It’s real?”

“Yes, considering Para’s champion pool, there were many other good champions.”

“Ryze against Sylas, what do you think?”

“It’s a counter. He can win trades in the early game, the ultimate favors Ryze, and he doesn’t fall behind in the late game.”

“The item choice is also interesting?”

“These days, it’s common to buy Tear of the Goddess at level 1 and look to the late game, but Doran’s Ring. It seems like Para knows her role well.”

“I see. As soon as the minions arrive, Para goes forward and pressures him hard!”

[The mind games are crazy from the start LOL]

[But isn’t it too arrogant to do that against a pro?]

[Ah LOL So have you ever been rank 1 in solo queue?]

[Solo queue fans, get lost]

[Ooh, Seo-ha]

[We, the LOL Gallery, support Queen Seo-ha’s VLL debut]

[Don’t feel a sense of belonging in the gallery]

****

‘Why isn’t he backing off?’

As I blocked the minions to burn experience, Sylas used his E to trade.

But I chose the Bone Plating rune, so I didn’t lose much in the trade, and I followed him with my W’s slow and showed him some auto-attacks to take the lead.

“The enemy jungler did a full clear.”

Judging from the mid laner’s briefing, there was a 100% chance that Nidalee would gank when Sylas hit level 4.

I needed to push the entire lane before that.

“Be careful bot, I’m going now.”

Just as I was about to finish pushing the lane, I heard our jungler say he was skipping the scuttle crab and ganking bot.

Of course, I expected good news from that side, but.

[(Lucian) First Blood!]

The enemy bot duo’s surprise kill potential led to our support dying after going in too deep.

“Ah… I’m sorry. I miscalculated the E cooldown.”

“No, I used my Q wrong.”

With the bot lane gank failing, Nidalee ate both scuttle crabs.

And naturally, Nidalee started to counter jungle.

If it went on like this, it would be a smooth loss.

“I’ll buy Corrupting Potion and Tear and TP back.”

I saw Sylas backing outside the turret with a loose recall timing.

The cannon minion was about to be killed by our turret, which was a shame.

“I’ll look for an angle to kill top.”

The enemy jungler and laners were all shown at dragon, and we had already taken out Sylas’s flash.

Then.

[Stop it!]

I used my remaining flash to close the distance and unleashed my full combo.

Ryze’s main skill, Q, had its cooldown reset when he used W and E.

Using that, you could use Q at least three times in one combo.

[You have slain an enemy.]

The enemy Sylas had no choice but to fall while being rooted.

“Nice.”

“I’m about to hit level 6.”

“If the enemy pushes forward, we should look for a fight?”

“Good job on the solo kill, top.”

To boost the team’s morale, I spoke as calmly as I could.

“I’ll carry this game.”