Chapter 65: LCK Finals (3)

“Does the concept of a challenge even apply to this player?”

[Para’s visuals are working hard today.]

[Gorgeous.]

[Why didn’t they introduce Para?]

[Here it comes.]

“VLL champion alongside the LCK, 1st place in the CK regular season and promotion, and 1st place in the LCK regular season. A truly dazzling career!”

[Para is insane.]

[For real, unstoppable.]

[She keeps rising without any setbacks.]

[Isn’t it unfair to introduce Para last like this?]

[They introduced Pumpkin last in YK’s intro too, what’s the problem?]

[Seriously lol. Is it a problem to hype up popular players?]

“A player who surpasses any expectations, turning imagination into reality.”

[The Great Seo-ha]

[I can’t even predict what she’ll play today.]

[She’ll probably carry with Yone.]

[She might suddenly pull out Nautilus or Malphite.]

[Seriously.]

“Who would call this player a rookie! A player who deserves to be called a veteran! ARK’s Para!”

[Wow, a close-up shot.]

[They showed the other players’ backs though.]

[Showing the high school girl’s face is the right call.]

[If they didn’t show that face, what would we watch?]

“Let’s head into the match, starting with greetings from the team captains!”

[Take your seats~]

[Even the way Para sits is cute.]

[She’s my wife.]

[Oh, he’s consistent lol.]

“What are your predictions for this set’s picks and bans?”

“The pressure of the finals is immense, so I expect the first set will be about feeling each other out.”

“Feeling each other out… so they’ll ban all the most-picked champions?”

“It’s rare to see the ‘give and counter’ strategy in picks and bans these days… wait, what’s this?!”

[Is YK finally losing it?]

[ARK has blue side and first pick, and they’re leaving Aatrox open?]

[But they banned K’Sante.]

[Yone is open for Para too!]

“They banned K’Sante but left Aatrox and Yone open?”

“There’s no reason for ARK, with blue side and first pick, not to pick Aatrox. It was the pick that took down YK in Round 3!”

“And Yone is Para’s most-played champion… but YK picks Yone!”

“Could it be…?”

[Giving Aatrox and countering with Yone?]

[Haven’t those strategies all failed?]

[Seriously, Aatrox’s base stats are too high for Yone to break through.]

“It seems like they picked Yone to counter Aatrox in the top lane, rather than mid.”

“While Yone’s kit can counter Aatrox, and he’s good at split pushing in the mid-game, things are different now.”

“The so-called Ninja Tabi and Plated Steelcaps received significant buffs. And Aatrox’s base stats have been increased quite a bit.”

“Still, with this level of confidence, they must have something prepared.”

“It all comes down to how they play it out in-game.”

“They left Aatrox open?”

“Do they have a counter prepared?”

“We still have to pick him.”

Contrary to our expectations, the opponent left Aatrox open in the Game 1 draft. We had thought that K’Sante and Aatrox would be banned for sure in the top lane today, but it seemed they had something up their sleeves.

“Let’s first-pick him.”

As we first-picked Aatrox, the opponent chose Yone. While it was a matchup where Yone’s kit could counter Aatrox…

‘Yone isn’t even that good of a champion in teamfights.’

At the professional level, where teams coordinate to focus fire on a single target, Yone’s teamfighting was incredibly difficult. Even if he dashed in with his E, he’d often get bursted down in a second. Irelia was another champion in a similar vein.

“They even picked Sejuani.”

And they chose Sejuani for the jungle, presumably to synergize with Yone. It was an unusual pick in a meta dominated by aggressive AD junglers.

“Their late-game scaling is strong then.”

“Split pushing will be a bit tough.”

“Do you have any preferences, Seo-ha?”

After we picked Aatrox and Lee Sin for jungle, the coach suggested we finalize our top side picks. In this situation, the champions I could pick were…

‘Azir, Taliyah, Orianna.’

Since we had two AD champions in top and jungle, I needed to pick an AP champion. I decided to play it safe since it was the first game of the finals.

“I’ll play Azir.”

As soon as I picked Azir, the opponent picked Orianna, as if they had been waiting.

“It looks like they’ll split Lucian-Nami and Aphelios between bot lanes.”

“I think they’ll pick Lucian.”

“Since they picked Sejuani, they might give it to us.”

Contrary to our prediction, the opponent immediately picked Lucian. Since Jinx and Jhin were both banned, our bot lane picked Aphelios and Lulu, and the opponent took the remaining Nami.

———————————————————————————————————————————————————————-

TOP: Aatrox
JG: Lee Sin
MID: Azir
ADC: Aphelios
SUP: Lulu

VS

TOP: Yone
JG: Sejuani
MID: Orianna
ADC: Lucian
SUP: Nami

———————————————————————————————————————————————————————-

The game began. The early game proceeded without any major incidents. Since it was Game 1, both teams played cautiously, carefully considering even simple trades. Then…

“Let’s have top lane back off. I think their jungler is there.”

“Ah, I think I’m dead.”

As soon as Kim Do-jin spoke, Sejuani appeared from the top lane bush. Aatrox had already used his QE forward, leaving him with no escape.

“I’ll rotate down and take the dragon.”

Kim Do-jin gave up on Rift Herald since our top laner died and moved towards the bottom lane.

“I can’t survive against Sejuani’s ganks.”

That’s why the Yone-Sejuani combination was so strong. Sejuani’s W-Flash followed by Yone’s Q-auto attack guaranteed a lockdown.

“I secured the dragon, so let’s play it slow. Can you look for a counter-gank opportunity in mid?”

“The melee synergy is definitely strong.”

“He predicted the flash and used W-Flash instead of Q-Flash, then froze the opponent from a distance with his E and followed up with Q for the knock-up. Very clean.”

“Caster will probably be disappointed about giving up first blood to Yone.”

“Fortunately for ARK, they secured the dragon, and Para is holding her own in the mid lane.”

[That was just unlucky for top.]

[Did you know that one kill for Yone is equivalent to two kills?]

[Top can’t side lane for the rest of the game now.]

[But why is Para winning against Orianna with Azir?]

[Seriously, who is this person?]

“Wasn’t Azir only a strong laner in the past? Now that the popular build is maxing W instead of Q for poke, doesn’t he lose lane against mages?”

“That’s right. And Orianna is a traditionally strong laner, but Para is actually ahead in CS.”

“Usually, when facing a losing matchup, it’s standard to ward the enemy’s raptors to track their jungler’s position early on. But Para isn’t doing that.”

“She’s saving her ward and using it around the time the enemy jungler finishes their first clear, then aggressively taking control of the mid lane. I believe this is the core of ARK’s top-side strength.”

“That ward placed at 3 minutes, instead of 1 minute, is crucial.”

[Honestly, wards or whatever, she’s dodging every Orianna ability, so how is she losing lane?;;]

[The reason Para is good against Orianna is because she plays with the mindset of dodging every skillshot.]

[Oh, so you win if you dodge everything?]

“But look what makes that possible! Dodging every single Orianna ability with movement? Is that even possible?”

“When the mid laner wins lane like this, it makes the jungler’s job so much easier, and that allows them to help the struggling top laner!”

“Para perfectly embodies the saying, ‘A strong mid laner leads the game to victory.’”

[The Great Seo-ha]

[But it won’t be easy.]

[YK is strong overall.]

[Seriously, Hunter’s form is insane. He’s the king of the jungle right now.]

“Huh? It looks like Sejuani is waiting for an opportunity in the mid lane bush.”

“Are they looking to pick off Para?”

“Since there are no objectives up, it seems they’re trying to find an opportunity before she recalls.”

“Even just forcing her flash would prevent her from playing aggressively at the next Rift Herald.”

[Orianna’s acting is good.]

[Is she intentionally giving him an opening to dive the tower and bait out his dash?]

[Yeah, it’s a mind game. She can escape with flash anyway.]

[Isn’t it a loss for Orianna if both mid laners use flash?]

[They seem to be prioritizing shutting down the mid laner.]

“Wouldn’t you want to engage when an immobile Orianna like that gives you an opening in front of your tower, Para?”

“It looks like Orianna is trying to bait out Para’s dash, then escape with flash and use Command: Shockwave.”

“Let’s see…”

“She went for it!”

“Pumpkin flashes out and uses Command: Shockwave as if he was waiting! Hunter dives in immediately!”

“What… what an insane play! She dodged the Q knock-up with flash and pulled Sejuani into the tower, killing her!”

“Did she judge that she had enough health to survive? She tanked the Command: Shockwave and dodged Sejuani’s Q with flash, turning the gank around!”

[She’s playing on a different level.]

[Wow, she knew she wouldn’t die even if she got hit by Orianna’s ultimate, so she tanked it, dodged Sejuani’s Q since she didn’t have flash, and then used the tower to kill her.]

[That’s insane.]

[Para is just good at League lol.]

[That must be tilting.]