Chapter 129 Don’t know how to play, or don’t want to play?
Of course, in addition to Jhin, there is another hero's change that has also had a huge impact on the top lane ecological niche in Season 6.

That is the greatly strengthened Ekko in version 6.6.

In particular, the cooldown time of the E skill has been reduced, allowing the hero Ekko to move frequently. Combined with his own three-ring acceleration and the slowing effect of the Ice Vein Gauntlets, it can be said to be extremely disgusting.

As a result, top lane Ekko quickly replaced top lane Raven and Karthus and became T0 in the top lane win rate list.

The point is... as a tank, Ekko's ability to push the line during laning is far stronger than the three phantom gods in the old version of the top lane because of his Q skill and three rings.

Of course, probably few people know that the strategy of top lane Ekko was originally intended to restrain top lane Poppy!
Because Poppy's ultimate can hammer away the opponent, once the top laner is hammered away, the team will lose a front row player and become a situation of outnumbering the enemy. In this case, team battles will be very disadvantageous.

And Ekko's ultimate can just return to the position a few seconds ago, which is equivalent to directly invalidating Poppy's ultimate. The most important thing is... the displacement effect of the second part of Ekko's E skill is actually a teleportation effect.

In other words, the first part of Ekko's E skill can be blocked by Poppy's W skill, but the second part cannot be blocked.

However, Lin Dong had nothing to say about this routine.

After all, the tank-based Ekko play style is no longer a secret.

Whether it is the Chinese server or the Korean server, it has become popular a long time ago.

It just depends on who plays Ekko better in the top lane of each team.

Seeing that Sima Laozei has gradually become accustomed to the way of playing with Doran's Ring, Lin Dong no longer cares about it.

Go back to the computer and continue to slack off.

Of course, while slacking off, he did not forget the task assigned to him by Hongmi.

I watched the playoffs of all the major teams carefully to see how everyone performed.

In fact, Lin Dong didn't have much hope for several teams at the beginning.

It wasn't until he saw the match in Group A that Mlxg directly used Ekko as a jungler in order to compete for a qualifying spot.

This made Lin Dong's eyes light up.

After all, the reason why Ekko was able to play jungle later was entirely because the designer adjusted Ekko's damage to wild monsters, so the jungle could be cleared quickly and without any damage.

But in the S6 version...it is very difficult to play Ekko as a jungler, just like playing Karthus as a jungler.

And Ekko's performance in the jungle position did not surprise Lin Dong.

Jungling is very harmful.

For this reason, Mlxg specially upgraded the reusable potion to hunter potion in the early stage, which was a rare upgrade, and barely ensured the status of jungle clearing.

This was even when the opposing jungler chose Graves, who was not very good at invading the jungle, and we were able to barely fight the opponent on equal terms.

If we switch to a jungler with stronger invasion ability...

Thinking of this, Lin Dong shook his head.

"Even with Slag, Jungle Ekko is still unplayable."

"Even if you want to let Quinn roam in the top lane, there is no need to move Ekko to the jungle position. Ekko in the mid lane is also fine."

"Oh, I almost forgot, Xiaohu is not very good at playing this."

……

Soon, the day of the spring season semi-finals is approaching.

The qualifying lists of groups A and B were also within Lin Dong's expectations.

RNG played two consecutive Bo5 games in Group A. Although it was a bit bumpy, they still won and broke through the siege.

As for Group B...it was unsurprisingly the biggest mistake of the spring season.

When QG played against EDG, all kinds of weird operations emerged in the team. The conflict between Doinb and the coaching staff broke out completely, and they started to gossip on Weibo. Then Doinb was voted out. The QG management was blinded by their own greed and wanted to take the opportunity to let the Emperor, who was not registered in the QG player list at the beginning of the season, play in the game. They even made QG's substitute mid laner "break his hand" overnight. They thought that this way they could coerce the official, but they were directly rejected by the official.

Thus, the fastest Bo5 in LPL history was born.

QG was unable to continue the game due to the absence of its mid laner, and ultimately gave up and was directly declared the loser.

So EDG inexplicably avoided a tough battle and successfully advanced to the semi-finals.

Of course, Lin Dong has little say on the conflict between QG's mid and jungle.

But the operations of QG management are indeed a bit against the will of heaven.

"Unregistered players also want to play in the competition?"

"If that were possible, Ah Shui would have been on the field a long time ago."

With the semi-final list confirmed, it also means... the semi-finals are about to begin.

4 month 18 day.

The 2016 League of Legends Spring Season semi-finals officially kicked off.

The venue was packed with people.

This was in stark contrast to the sparse attendance in the audience at the beginning of the season.

When Lin Dong passed by, he even found his own light sign.

Of course, Lin Dong's attitude towards these fans who came to support him seemed very cold.

There was no way. After experiencing so many things that happened later, Lin Dong had already seen everything.

Fans can backfire and have both the fan and the hater sides.

Now that the results are good, all the fans are praising you, but when the results are bad, they will start to criticize you.

It is better to focus on the game and, like Sima Laozei, draw a clear line with the so-called fans as soon as possible to avoid being ruined in the end.

Soon, in VG's lounge.

As the performance was about to begin, Hongmi took out a small notebook and began to remind everyone of the precautions.

"Top lane Ekko is very strong, but he doesn't really counter top lane warriors. Poppy counters warriors, but Ekko counters Poppy."

"Anyway, top lane Ekko must be picked or banned. If we are on the red side and can't get Ekko and the opponent takes it, we will just take top lane Gragas."

"Whether it's a team fight or a laning match, Gragas is not inferior to Ekko."

"The disadvantage is... you can't single-handedly carry the team. For example, it's easy to catch Gragas, but it's hard to catch Ekko."

"So in this case, we must ensure that we have enough means to start a team fight so that we can force an opening in the mid-term."

"As for Jhin... for now, it is used to restrain ice."

"Ashe has a slowing effect, which makes her sticky and annoying, but Jhin has a speed boost, which allows him to quickly create distance. Moreover, Jhin is obviously stronger than Ashe in terms of pushing speed, consumption power, and the ability to retain enemies in a teamfight."

"Of course, when Jhin uses his ultimate, the support must remember to help block Frost's ultimate, otherwise it will be interrupted."

"To be honest, in this version, Jhin and Frost don't seem to be that important."

"One more thing is..."

"If we really want to play a bottom lane combination of Jhin + Xerath or other mage-assisted ones, then our lineup will be even more lacking in the means to start a team fight."

"The last time we played against RNG, everyone should still remember how they lost the first game, right?"

Having said that, Hongmi subconsciously looked at Lin Dong.

The implication is also obvious.

If we continue to play Jhin in the bottom lane, Ekko will be snatched away by the opponent's top laner, and we will have to take out Gragas.

Then the jungle position must have a hero with strong team-initiating ability!
after all……

Leng Shao in the middle lane is good at assassin, not Tsar and Ice Girl!

Hearing Hongmi's hidden meaning, Lin Dong subconsciously touched his nose and then smiled.

"A means to start a group?"

"Okay, I'll drive it."

To be honest, there are not many jungle heroes who have the ability to start a team fight.

Because if you want to start a group, there is a very important prerequisite.

That is, the means of initiating a team fight must be relatively stable, and cannot simply rely on luck like Spider's E skill.

Of course, it would be best if you started a team fight so that you wouldn’t be killed instantly.

For example, Sejuani, Jarvan, and Lee Sin.

This also explains from the side... why EDG in the summer season was so powerful with the cooperation of Zhazi and Scout.

At the same time, in the commentary booth.

Wawa and Miller both appear on the stage again.

"Welcome everyone to our Spring Season semi-finals. The next Bo5 match is between VG on the blue side and RNG on the red side."

"Because compared with the previous regular season game version, the playoff version has undergone significant changes."

"So for both teams, the lineup selection for this game is particularly critical."

"But for VG, there should be a small advantage."

"Because RNG has already exposed a lot of things in the previous two Bo5s. During this period, VG's coaching staff must have studied RNG's lineup and playing style a lot."

"It is worth noting that VG once again chose to let the Icon player appear instead of Houye."

"It looks like VG is very likely to play in the early to mid-game." "Okay, without further ado, let's take a look at the BP of both teams."

"RNG chose to ban Tam, Braum, and Ekko."

"RNG chose to target the bottom lane, especially the support position."

Hearing this, the doll next to him laughed.

"The main reason is that RNG suffered losses at the hands of VG before. Tam's protection ability and Braum's E skill's ability to block skills are both effective at critical moments."

"VG should have noticed that RNG chose to ban Braum, so they decisively banned Card. After all, without Braum's E skill, Card's yellow card development space is very large. In addition, VG also banned Alistar and Poppy."

"But this way, Leblanc will be released! And in this round, VG is on the blue side, and Icon is in the middle lane. I feel like VG might just grab Leblanc!"

"Why do I feel like... RNG has forgotten the pain after the wound healed? They had two laning encounters with Hou Ye in the mid lane before, but now they have forgotten everything. Icon is actually a very aggressive laning player with a very strong single kill ability in the mid lane?"

In fact, RNG really didn't forget.

On the contrary, RNG has a very deep impression of Icon!

The reason why Leblanc is not banned is simply because there is no grid for ban.

Just as Doll and Miller said.

Whether it is Braum or Tam, their mechanisms are very special. Basically all strong teams have suffered losses from VG with these two supports.

As for the last pick, Ekko.

nonsense!

Although the top lane Ekko is T0 in this version, don’t forget that Ekko was originally positioned as a mid lane assassin!
And the best thing is to die...

At the beginning of the spring season, when RNG met VG for the first time, Xiaohu was killed by Icon's Ekko in the laning phase.

And rub it hard on the ground.

So at this moment, Fly frowned and cursed in his heart.

"Only three Ban positions? Three Ban positions are not enough!"

"Five positions, there should be five ban positions to be enough!"

"Before Ekko was strengthened, Xiaohu was killed by Icon alone. Now Ekko has been strengthened... If this thing is released, whether it is top or mid, won't it be more difficult to fight?"

So in the end, after weighing the pros and cons, Fly reluctantly released Ahri and chose to ban Ekko.

However, at this time he still did not forget to comfort her.

"It's okay. Although the hero Leblanc is powerful, it's not impossible to deal with her."

"W skill can make Leblanc more flexible, but at the same time... it is also easy for Leblanc to die directly."

"Just find a way to prevent Yao Ji from going back!"

"What do you think? Xiaohu, just take it as we said before?"

Hearing Fly's words, Xiaohu on the side took a deep breath, nodded and said.

"Row."

During this period, RNG's coaching staff was certainly not idle, and they also studied several positions of VG thoroughly.

Everyone quickly found Icon's shortcomings.

In other words, it is not a shortcoming, but a common problem for players with strong single-kill abilities.

I have a strong ability to find opportunities and I also have a strong ability to create opportunities.

Whether it is Wei Shen or Rookie, they both have this problem.

And... because of the existence of the W skill, it is easy to give opportunities to LeBron.

So after watching the game video between VG and EDG last time, Fly suddenly had an idea and found the key to restraining LeBlanc!

That is, take advantage of the moment when Ahri's W skill comes, call someone directly, control her, and then take her away with one move!
For example, the previous Ryze + Lee Sin combination is actually quite effective against the mid-lane Leblanc.

The issue is……

Once the opponent's mid laner finds out that he will be trained, he will definitely bring purification to avoid being controlled first.

So, Fly changed his thinking.

In League of Legends, there is another special mechanism that allows Ahri's W to come over but not go back, and it is not a control and cannot be removed by purification.

That's right!

Ground binding effect!

This effect is extremely rare. In the game, there are only two heroes whose skills can achieve this, and one of them happens to be the mid unit!
Snake girl's W skill [Toxic Mist].

Therefore, for RNG, this snake girl is a secret weapon specifically used to restrain Icon Ahri!
However, everyone in VG was unaware of RNG's research.

After taking a look at the BP, Hongmi did as the other party expected and immediately let Leng Shao take down the Enchantress.

Not only that, there are no problems with the next few selections.

Seeing Leblanc, RNG first selected Jarvan IV as jungler and Thresh as support, while VG added Jhin and Xerath.

It was not until this time that RNG finally showed its true colors and directly locked onto Snake Lady and Lucian.

Looking at the two heroes of RNG, Lin Dong was stunned for a moment.

Hongmi, who was standing by, frowned subconsciously.

"Lucian goes to the bottom lane. Facing a double-cost lineup, it is reasonable to choose burst AD."

"The problem is this snake girl..."

"It seems that the other side has studied us!"

"The mid-lane Cassiopeia is ground bound. Once LeBlanc steps on it, she can't move with her W skill, so there's no way to go back. However, the excavator has both control and burst in the early stage, so it's completely possible to train LeBlanc..."

“This is probably going to be a bit difficult to fight.”

"In the early and mid-term, we must play the mid-term rhythm."

"But the problem is... In this game, it's not just about the mid and jungle rhythm. The support and mid laner didn't initiate a team fight, so your jungler and top laner must come up with ways to initiate a team fight."

However, Hongmi suddenly stopped talking halfway through his words.

because……

There is a jungler hero who can really both set the early rhythm and initiate team fights.

Not only that, this hero is also an evergreen in the jungle position, very popular, and can even be said to be the number one jungler!
Of course, it’s not about how high the win rate is, but the most players play this hero in the jungle position, just like Yasuo in the mid position!
But Lin Dong just doesn’t like playing this hero!
Since the start of the spring season, not even a single game has been selected.

But Redmi is very sure.

Lin Dong will definitely play this!
Seeing Hongmi looking at him, Lin Dong could only shrug helplessly and said.

"Take it."

At the same time, in the commentary booth.

Looking at the lineup in front of them, Wawa and Miller were about to analyze it, but suddenly they saw the director insert a page of data on the screen.

So the two of them explained immediately.

"Everyone should be able to see here that VG's jungler Dong has a very deep hero pool."

"It can even be said that... it is rare to use the same jungle hero on the field."

"The key is that he seems to be good at playing every hero."

"This actually reminds me of the game between LGD and EDG last year! The hero pools of Wei Shen and General Pawn were also like this at that time."

"But...what's weird is this."

"Although he has chosen so many jungle heroes, Dong has never used Lee Sin in any game."

"Logically speaking, the hero Lee Sin should be considered the basic skill for the jungle position, right?"

"Player Dong should be able to play, right?"

However, just as the two of them finished speaking.

On the fourth floor of VG, a bald guy was locked down in an instant!

blind monk!

Speak of the devil! Here comes the devil!
Looking at this blind monk, they were both stunned at the same time.

As soon as he finished speaking, he actually chose it!

But the problem is...

Why didn’t you choose it before but now?

Wawa subconsciously looked at the mid laner Snake Girl selected by RNG, and suddenly a light bulb went off in his mind, as if he understood something, and said.

"Why do I feel like...it's not that he doesn't know how to play, but that he didn't want to play before?"

"Is there such a possibility?"

"The reason why he didn't choose this hero is actually to keep it as a trump card?"

(End of this chapter)