Chapter 106: Finals (2)

{The Golden Road, I… no, we will stop it.}

[Kyaa!]
[The Great Seo-ha.]
[Sigh… we have to stop them, right?]
[The fact is, if they don’t stop them, LCK will truly become a 4th division league.]
[It’s already 4th division.]

“That was a truly spectacular teaser video and performance fitting for the finals!”
“And now! It’s time to meet the protagonists of today!”
“ARK’s Caster, Lesser, Para, Plea, KAI. VXG’s Spread, Plumber, HUN, Aqua, and LIN!”

ARK
Caster, Lesser, Para, Plea, KAI

VXG
Spread, Plumber, HUN, Aqua, LIN

“As the players enter, the Seoul Sangam Stadium is filled with loud applause!”
“Audience count: 45,000! Including unofficial invited guests, nearly 50,000 people have gathered here!”
“Isn’t this a finals filled with so many stories! For some, it’s the final step towards the Golden Road. For others, it’s a chance for revenge from MSI and to become Worlds Royal Roaders!”

[Will Para cry if they lift the championship cup?]
[I can’t imagine Para crying.]
[I heard she cried in the locker room after losing the MSI finals~]
[Don’t fabricate.]
[Fact is, in pure skill, Para is higher than HUN.]

“Then, let’s begin the ban-pick!”

“Now is the time to calm your trembling hearts and make rational judgments. The finals have already begun, and ban-pick is also part of the competition.”

“The good news is that ARK starts on the blue side, having won the coin toss.”

“However, the blue side in the finals is different from previous matches. No matter how many tier picks are open, the pressure of the finals stage makes you gravitate towards familiar cards.”

“ARK simply bans Orianna… And VXG bans Para’s Yone, which can be considered a familiar card.”

“It’s good that they’re using a ban on a card that only Para plays in this Worlds.”

[Para Yone <<< This guy is a definite ban.]
[But if they get smacked by something like Azir in Set 1, they have no choice but to leave it open…]
[Absolutely do not give Plea Varus.]

“With standard cards banned by both sides, it’s VXG’s final ban. Are they planning to give Plea Varus?”

“They’ve left Varus open!?”

“There’s no reason not to pick him then. ARK’s first pick is Varus.”

“VXG takes K’Sante and Azir in mid.”

“Based on when their power spikes, they’ve got good top and mid champions. They can even apply pressure in lane depending on the pilot.”

[HUN is good at Azir though.]
[What are they doing giving K’Sante?]
[Come to think of it, VXG banned Gwen, so they were planning to play K’Sante anyway.]

[ARK]
TOP: Gnar
JG: Taliyah
MID:
AD: Varus
SUP:

vs

[VXG]
TOP: K’Sante
JG: Xin Zhao
MID: Azir
AD:
SUP:

“In the second phase of bans, they target the remaining support champions rather than Para.”

“Looking at ARK’s Gnar, Taliyah, and Varus, they feel slightly lacking in guaranteed CC, don’t they? It seems like they think there won’t be any variables if they just ban the guaranteed CC supports.”

“Since the enemy mid laner is already picked, Para will probably pick her champion this turn.”

“Indeed… wait, here?”

[?]
[What is it?]
[Para’s going big! Did you see her eyeing the trophy?]

[ARK]
TOP: Gnar
JG: Taliyah
MID: Tristana
AD: Varus
SUP: Alistar

vs

[VXG]
TOP: K’Sante
JG: Xin Zhao
MID: Azir
AD: Ezreal
SUP: Karma

“Let’s play well~”

“We’re planning a path to bot lane.”

“They’re definitely going for a 3-camp clear and gank bot, so we need to think about that.”

“I’m Alistar, hyung, I’ll show you.”

My pick for Set 1 was Tristana.

It was a situation where I needed to pick an AD champion in mid, our ADC was Lethality Varus, and the enemy Azir’s laning strength was also significantly lowered.

Moreover, we lacked guaranteed CC, so I picked Tristana because her jump was good for utilizing judgment calls.

‘Since mid lane plates are important in this patch.’

The current patch had significantly lower health for mid lane turrets compared to top and bottom.

Winning the laning phase and taking mid lane plates was important.

However, nothing major happened in the early laning phase.

‘He’s playing too safely.’

The more items Azir got, the more his value as a solo AP champion would increase.

Even considering that, the enemy Azir was almost only last hitting, not the kind of play I knew from HUN.

‘Is he thinking that as long as I’m contained, there won’t be any variables?’
If that’s the case…

[Be careful of the top side!]

I’ll just bring the service to him.

At the moment I hit level 5, I jumped forward towards Azir, who was halfway up the mid lane.

The opponent had already used one soldier stack. As long as the jungler didn’t intervene, I would definitely win the trade.

‘And I just saw the jungler in the bot lane.’

After applying the bomb, I continued auto-attacking.

Perhaps because the lane was starting to push and losing the trade would force him to lose all the minions, the opponent didn’t retreat this time and traded back.

‘Got him.’

“Oh, oh? Azir, who has been playing passively until now, isn’t backing down and is trading back?”

“The moment he backs down here, he has to give up that entire wave. It makes sense for him to be bold and trade evenly, betting on his jungler coming.”

[Isn’t this a loss for Tristana?]
[What is Azir’s shield amount?]

[Who thought of increasing E cooldown by 3 seconds and buffing the shield?]

[But Tristana still has potions.]

“No, here, Azir’s sudden level up!”

“And the follow-up to…ss?”

[?]
[What the?]
[???]

“We’ll need to see the replay, but it looks like he dodged it by taking a step back in that short amount of time?”

“Really? Wasn’t Azir’s ult supposed to be quite forgiving in its hit box?”

“In Azir vs. ranged matchups, if they’re trading at maximum range, it’s theoretically possible to dodge it like that.”

[The Great Seo-ha.]
[Too slow.]
[You dodge Azir’s ult by seeing it ㅇㅇ…]

“And jumping again!?”

“Isn’t her E skill still on cooldown, so she can’t apply the bomb right away? Auto-attack, auto-attack, now she’s applied the bomb… but she can detonate it…”

“Azir senses something is wrong and immediately flashes!”

“But before that, Tristana’s Flash auto-attack ultimate! Could he really die!?”

“Indeed… Bang! It exploded! Did she calculate all of this?”

“Looking at the fact that she used Flash without hesitation at the end, it seems she calculated that he would die.”

[God Seo-ha.]
[Azir held out well for 6 minutes and then threw it at the end.]

“For those who might be wondering about Azir’s decision just now, I’ll explain.”
“The replay is conveniently showing it!”
“At the 6-minute mark, before the Rift Herald appears, it’s common for mid laners to recall and buy items. But Para pressured the opponent. She told him not to go home.”

[God of lane management.]
[Azir playing too safely was ironically a poison.]
[Para’s laning trait: If you keep doing it, your minions will be frozen under the enemy tower.]

“In the end, Azir had no choice but to trade forward, and clearly, HUN timed it well, didn’t he? He hit level 6 first and immediately aimed for a toss trade.”

“But she dodged it.”

“Yes, that’s where it ended. She already knew the opponent would use his ultimate and turned back.”

“If I don’t do this now, I’ll lose my rage!”

Game time 28 minutes, our team had unilaterally secured three dragon stacks.
The opponent seemed determined to force a fight here, abandoning all side lanes and gathering in front of the dragon.

‘Are they trying to force a fight because going to the side lanes would be disadvantageous anyway?’
In the K’Sante versus Gnar matchup, Gnar had the advantage. In the Azir versus Tristana matchup, it was a skill matchup, but since I was more ahead in scaling, Tristana had the advantage.

“How long until Alistar’s ult is up?”

“I have 7 seconds!”

“Let’s do it when Alistar’s ult is up! If Alistar dies, we have no front line!”

“My rage is gone!”

The opponent positioned K’Sante and Xin Zhao in front, securing the area with Ezreal and Azir’s range.
Our only front line after Gnar’s rage wore off was Alistar.
In a standoff, even with Varus, we were losing in sustain due to Karma’s shields on their carries.
Ultimately, the decision I made was:

“I’m going to flank!”

Going around alone through the bush above the dragon pit.
I had already confirmed through prior vision control that the enemy had no wards there.
The risk of flanking was that my team could be wiped out before I arrived.
However, my teammates, upon hearing my call, gave up the dragon and retreated.

“Fight now!”

My teammates and I simultaneously jumped on the enemy team, who were recalling, satisfied with taking the dragon.

“Karma’s down, no shield!”
“My rage is up, I’m flashing!”
“I’ll lay down some bricks so Azir can’t toss!”

The enemy also resisted fiercely. For a moment, Azir saw an opportunity to toss our entire team, but he was stunned upon dashing due to Taliyah’s laid-down ground.
He stood still and died, and the team fight ended in a one-sided victory for us.

“Nice!”
“Nexus, fast!”
“Finish it! Finish it!”

And as I took off my headset, the cheers of the crowd echoed in my ears.

[The winner of Set 1 is ARK! Who said they were the favorites? Who said it would end 3-0? The winner of Set 1 is ARK!]