Chapter 81: MSI semifinals (2)

We prepared four picks to counter Behin top.

First was Jax. His E could block auto-attacks, and his Q’s short cooldown made him decent against ranged champions in the mid game. He was a solid pick against Vayne, but the problem was his low base stats. Picking Jax after his repeated nerfs against ranged champions? Even if he landed his E stun, the damage he dealt during the stun duration would be less than the damage he’d take in return.

The next champion we considered was Teemo. He could counter Vayne, who relied solely on auto-attacks, with his Q. Despite his reputation, Teemo had strong split-pushing potential and incredible carry potential. And since Vayne couldn’t take Cleanse in professional play, it seemed like a manageable matchup. However, he was too vulnerable to early jungle ganks, so we quickly discarded the idea.

Our third option was Ryze. As the saying goes, “You can’t catch a Ryze with a ranged champion.” He was a good pick against immobile ranged champions. He also had strong waveclear, allowing him to exploit Vayne’s slow push and roam for advantages. He would have been a better pick in a team setting compared to the previous two champions, but…

‘It’s a shame Park Jin-hwan isn’t good at Ryze.’

Ryze’s ultimate, despite enabling multiple-man teleports, had an awkward range. His waveclear was excellent, but his short range and immobility were significant drawbacks. For various reasons, even when Ryze was meta in mid lane, many pros avoided him.

Ultimately, Park Jin-hwan chose Aatrox.

Despite being hard-countered by Vayne, he chose Aatrox because…

‘He’s confident he can win by landing his Q3.’

As we saw in the previous match, TXG’s top laner usually took Ghost and Teleport when picking a ranged champion. The standard was Ghost and Flash, but with Teleport receiving three buffs, not taking it would put them behind in tempo. Ghost itself had also been nerfed due to the previous hyper carry ADC meta, so Park Jin-hwan believed he could win through the summoner spell advantage.

‘And he’s planning on building Edge of Night first.’

The most annoying skill for top laners against Vayne wasn’t her Tumble, but her E, Condemn. It was Vayne’s only offensive skill, a powerful knockback used after spacing with Tumble. If timed correctly and used against a wall, it could even stun.

But just like how Quicksilver Sash countered Malzahar, there was a counter item against Vayne – Edge of Night. It automatically blocked an enemy ability on a cooldown. Since Vayne’s only damaging ability was Condemn, and the rest of her skills didn’t deal direct damage, building Edge of Night would negate her Condemn and guarantee a kill if he could get in range.

“Uh… is this really going to work?”

“I’m on Lillia, so it’s hard for me to gank top early.”

“I’m on Lulu, so roaming top is difficult for me too. But their jungler is Maokai, so I don’t think they’ll gank much early either.”

Despite picking Aatrox, my teammates were worried.

Even if we were overconfident before, after getting crushed by Vayne top on the first day, picking Aatrox into her was concerning.

But Park Jin-hwan, in his usual serious tone, said,

“I’ll win.”

With that declaration of victory, the game began.

[ARK]

TOP: Aatrox
JG: Lillia
MID: KSante
AD: Aphelios
SUP: Lulu

VS

[TXG]

TOP: Vayne
JG: Maokai
MID: Orianna
AD: Ashe
SUP: Braum

“The game begins. ARK’s Aatrox pick is a bit surprising.”

“They probably know that Vayne isn’t taking Flash and plan to exploit that.”

“Hmm, I still think it will be difficult.”

“Indeed. Aatrox is countered by mobile champions, so we’ll have to see how he deals with Vayne’s short cooldown Tumble.”

[Wow, they picked Aatrox into Vayne.]

[It’s better than picking Aurelion Sol, at least.]

[The 100 CS difference on Aurelion Sol was brutal.]

[Aatrox is actually manageable in this lethality meta.]

[Yeah, if he lands his Q3, it’s lights out.]

“Both junglers are starting with their opposite buff.”

“TXG seems to think their top lane will win on its own. ARK, with Lillia jungle, probably doesn’t expect to gank top early.”

“We’ll see a close matchup in bot lane. Lots of bush control even before the minions arrive.”

“Aphelios Lulu can take a lead with Crescendum’s range and Lulu’s early game strength, but Ashe Braum is also a dangerous combo.”

“The so-called ‘Freljord’ combo.”

[Iceborn!]

[Isn’t Braum a bad matchup for Aphelios?]

[Aphelios Lulu should win no matter what.]

[Not really.]

“Some people think Braum is a passive champion, but that’s only in teamfights. He can be very aggressive in lane.”

“That’s right. And if he combos with Ashe? If you get hit by either Ashe’s W or Braum’s Q, the other one is guaranteed to connect. That can be a real headache.”

[Ashe Braum is surprisingly strong in lane.]

[The problem is that even in the late game, Braum can block things like Aphelios’ ult, so it’s awkward.]

[Why isn’t Para wearing twintails today?]

“The solo laners are approaching level 6, and we haven’t seen any kills yet.”

“It’s an awkward timing for either team to make a play. They probably both prefer to scale safely.”

“Normally, we’d see Para getting a solo kill at this point, but Orianna is playing passively against KSante to prevent that.”

“However, ARK is securing vision control around the dragon and the Rift Scuttler thanks to their mid lane priority.”

“Why force a solo kill? Pressuring the opponent and creating a favorable game state is what defines a strong mid laner!”

[Isn’t Orianna playing too passively, even for avoiding solo kill opportunities?]

[But if Para loses even a little bit of HP, they’re so good at finding gank opportunities.]

[Don’t talk unless you’ve experienced the legendary EWR (Q3 charged) combo.]

[Seriously, it’s insane how KSante can EWR someone out from under their tower and then instantly use his Q3.]

[Vayne isn’t pushing as aggressively because of the mid lane disadvantage. Won’t she lose lane priority once Aatrox builds Edge of Night?]

“Vayne doesn’t seem as free as she was in the first match.”

“That’s because Para picked Aurelion Sol back then, intending to scale.”

“While we do see it occasionally in matches between scaling-focused teams, Para is at her best on champions like this.”

“Being able to play KSante mid, like an AD bruiser, is a huge advantage for ARK.”

“Seo-ha, let’s quickly push bot and clear vision around dragon.”

Kim Do-jin, while taking the Rift Herald, suggested we secure vision control.

With KSante having two items, as long as Vayne didn’t come down, I wasn’t in danger of getting one-shot.

After confirming that Orianna was still stuck under her tower, I quickly pushed the wave and cleared the wards around the dragon pit.

I waited in the bush.

“They’re here!”

Aphelios, moving towards the dragon pit through the mid lane bush, got caught by Ashe’s ultimate.

I tried to join the fight, but Aphelios was already dead, and Lulu had used all her abilities and summoner spells.

“At least I landed my ult and chunked them.”

Aphelios, with Infinity Edge, managed to hit three enemies with his Infernum ult, significantly lowering their HP.

“Let’s go!”

Kim Do-jin, seeing the same opportunity, called out urgently and flashed, landing a Q and ulting for a multi-man knock-up.

This was a perfect setup for KSante.

[I will endure no longer!]

I ulted towards Braum, who was slightly out of position, landing behind the enemy lines.

They were clearly surprised to see a fed KSante suddenly appear.

Maokai tried to buy time for his team by using his W root on me, but it was too late.

I shrugged off the root with my W’s unstoppable effect and finished him off with auto-attacks and Q. What followed was a one-sided massacre.

“Is Vayne coming down?”

After cleaning up the remaining enemies, Vayne was nowhere to be seen.

Both Lillia and I were low on health, so I was worried Vayne might come down and clean us up, but…

“Vayne is in this bush!”

As Park Jin-hwan shouted…

[An enemy has been slain!]

…the “Ace” notification popped up.

That meant Aatrox had killed Vayne top.

As my teammates expressed their surprised admiration…

“I told you, I’ll win.”

“…He’s been watching anime with Lee Yoo-chan in the hotel; it’s messed with his head.”