Chapter 61: Playoff Round 2 (4)

“They left both K’Sante and Aatrox open again.”

“DH is on the blue side this time, so they have the choice. What will Bon pick…?”

“Huh? They skipped top and first-picked Lucian?”

“It seems that way. They’re telling us, ‘You choose.’”

“What do you mean?”

“It seems after playing Aatrox, they realized, while he has high carry potential, he’s somewhat vulnerable to Lucian’s poke. And it looks like Bon wants to play K’Sante.”

“Then he should just pick it.”

“But Caster has frequently shown he can dismantle K’Sante with Gwen this season.”

“Ah, I see.”

[But ARK is on red side, so they have last pick, right?]

[They’re probably planning to ban Gwen in the second phase and pick K’Sante.]

[If they ban Gwen, they’ll ban K’Sante too.]

[Then they can just pick Aatrox lol.]

“What will ARK choose…?”

“They finally pick Aatrox. And they pick Lulu to counter Lucian-Nami.”

“Then there’s no reason not to pick K’Sante, right?”

“Bon’s K’Sante is a powerful pick; he completely destroyed YK, the 2nd place team in the regular season.”

“Back then, K’Sante was truly… a long thing… itself.”

[Drafting level ㄷㄷ]

[DH prepared well.]

[It’s clear they’re willing to do anything to win.]

[Bon’Sante is here.]

[It feels like Aatrox would have been better for carrying…]

“In the second ban phase, they’re banning the top-tier AD junglers.”

“Are there any viable AD junglers left after those bans?”

“ARK picks Taliyah again.”

“If they’re banned, it means they’re high-tier. DH goes with Ahri and Vi.”

“What will ARK’s final pick be…? Gwen?”

“What’s this, ARK! Gwen, after already picking Aatrox!”

“Aatrox mid, Taliyah jungle, and Gwen top? They’re truly masters of the draft.”

[?]

[Now even Aatrox mid ㄷㄷ]

[I’m going crazy I’m going crazy I’m going crazy I’m going crazy]

[Can Para even play Aatrox?]

---

---

TOP: Gwen
JG: Taliyah
MID: Aatrox
ADC: Jhin
SUP: Lulu

VS

TOP: K’Sante
JG: Vi
MID: Ahri
ADC: Lucian
SUP: Nami

---

---

“What are your thoughts on the Aatrox mid pick?”

“Honestly, I don’t think it’s that good. While Aatrox has a simple kit, the difficulty of teamfighting with him varies greatly depending on the timing of his engage.”

“His performance in teamfights definitely changes based on his timing.”

“Since mid laners generally have less experience with this type of champion compared to top laners, we’ll have to see how it plays out in-game.”

[Para’s champion pool is similar to a veteran’s.]

[Even veteran mids don’t play Nautilus.]

[Mid Nautilus was shocking even in hindsight.]

“Then let’s see the game!”

“Let’s contest this Rift Herald.”

Eleven minutes into Game 2, Kim Do-jin called for a Rift Herald fight. Since we had already secured three, the opponent would also contest it aggressively this time.

“I’ll push top and then rotate down.”

Due to recall timings, Gwen was in mid lane, and I had teleported to top. I pushed the wave and, mindful of the enemy team, started rotating down through the bushes instead of taking the direct path.

“Everyone group top.”

“Suddenly?”

“The enemy is in this bush.”

“Did you check with an ability?”

“If I go there, I’ll die. How am I supposed to check?”

“Then how do you know? There aren’t any wards there. If we waste even a little time, we’ll lose Rift Herald.”

Kim Do-jin questioned how I knew the enemy was there when they weren’t visible, but it was complicated to explain mid-game.

“I’ll explain after the game. Just come quickly.”

“If you say so. Gwen, quickly push and join us.”

After confirming Taliyah and Gwen were almost there, I used my ultimate and headed towards the bush.

“K’Sante and Vi are here!”

As if waiting for me, Vi charged at me with her Q. However, I anticipated it and dodged. K’Sante tried to grab me, but I used QE backwards and blocked it. Moreover, Vi’s ultimate was on cooldown, so she didn’t have enough burst to kill me quickly.

“Let’s fight!”

The enemy team realized something was wrong, but our team had already arrived and blocked their escape route. Their only option was to fight, but without her ultimate, Vi was useless.

“Nice.”

Although we missed K’Sante, who escaped using his ultimate backwards, we won the fight and secured the Rift Herald, widening the gold gap significantly.

“How did you know?”

“That they were in the bush?”

“Yeah, it wasn’t even warded.”

“They didn’t take the mid lane bush at the Rift Herald spawn timing, and they weren’t visible for about 20 seconds.”

“Is that it?”

“The biggest clue was that I use the movement command when I pass through bushes.”

The movement command automatically moves your champion towards a clicked location on the map. This system always chose the shortest path, so I used the change in movement direction to detect enemy champions or objectives. If there was nothing in the bush, a straight white line would indicate the path, but if something was there, the white line would bend, revealing their presence.

“Isn’t that a bug then?”

“I don’t think so.”

It was a feature that Riot didn’t fix even until my tenth consecutive runner-up finish in my past life. When I asked a developer friend about it back then, he said it was a fundamental problem with quarter-view games or something. In any case, it was more of an exploit than a bug.

“Do you seriously only eat and play League? I thought I knew a lot about this game.”

“Let’s talk after we win.”

“Yeah, that’s more important.”

.

.

.

“I think they’re tilting.”

“Their bot lane is just inting.”

After winning several skirmishes in a row, we could feel the opponent’s momentum waning. In Game 1, they were holding on, trusting in Bon’s carry potential, but now, their plays were reckless at best, and straight-up inting at worst.

‘Their ace is behind, though.’

Unlike Game 1, Bon’s K’Sante had a KDA of 0/2/0. However, he wasn’t that far behind Gwen in terms of gold, so it wasn’t like they had no chance. Despite this, the enemy team continued to make questionable plays, as if they had already given up.

“Let’s do well in the next game too.”

“Everyone played well. Let’s finish it cleanly in the next game.”

“Yes, sir.”

“That insane save with your ultimate was amazing.”

Game 2 ended rather anticlimactically. The following Game 3 wasn’t much different. Their ace, Bon, was heavily focused and pressured, causing him to falter, and the remaining lanes simply imploded. It was the common fate of a team relying on a single carry.

“Should we end this?”

“Just be careful of Orianna’s ultimate.”

“If we push with bot lane, they won’t be able to stop us.”

After winning against DH, our next opponent in Round 3 of the playoffs was YK. We secured a clean 3-0 victory in a match that would send the winner to the finals and the loser to the losers’ bracket. As I watched the enemy Nexus explode, I took off my suffocating headset and heard the roar of the crowd.

[The LCK storm doesn’t stop here!]

[ARK gracefully advances to the finals without dropping a single set!]

[ARK is so strong.]

[YK showed near-perfect drafting after their regular season loss, but they were blocked by ARK’s gatekeeper, Para.]

After shaking hands with the opposing team, I walked to the analyst desk and bowed. Until recently, the analyst desk was filled with more jerseys from other teams than ours, but now, it was awash in our team’s colors.

“Everyone was truly amazing.”

As we entered the waiting room with our equipment, the excited coach showered the team with praise. Reaching the finals was a huge accomplishment.

“Are we really going to the finals?”

“I can’t believe it either.”

“I’m going to get the finals MVP.”

“What kind of ADC gets the finals MVP? The royal support should get it.”

The team members, who had maintained their composure in front of the fans, were now brimming with excitement in the waiting room.

“Aren’t you excited?”

“I’m happy, of course.”

Kim Do-jin approached me as I watched the team. Being promoted to the LCK and reaching the finals in the same split was a significant achievement, of course. However…

‘I’ve been to the LCK finals seven times in my past life.’

And I had lost all seven times.

“But we haven’t won yet.”

“That’s true, but…”

“I’ll celebrate after we win.”

“Is that so? Who do you think our opponent will be?”

Our opponent…

The losers’ bracket match to determine the other finalist was between YK and RG. YK was the favorite, but RG was also a strong team known for their resilience, so it was hard to predict.

“I think YK will advance.”

“Why do you think so?”

“Although we won 3-0 today, it wasn’t a complete stomp.”

YK hadn’t been completely dominated by us, despite the score. They had won a few skirmishes and put up a good fight in top and bot lane.

‘RG seems pretty good too, though.’

Honestly, it didn’t really matter who advanced. I was determined to win, no matter which team we faced.