Chapter 208 What if I can’t use my skills?

5 month 13 day.

The first game of the MSI semi-finals kicked off.

In the commentary box.

Jide, who just won the Best Rookie Commentator Award of the Spring Season, finally got this hard-earned commentary opportunity and shared the stage with Colonel Guan.

Next to him is Mlxg, who also won the Best Newcomer Award in the Spring Season.

But looking at Mlxg as the guest, remembering that it was his first time on such a big stage, he was still a little confused, so he asked quietly before the competition started.

"For such an important game, why not invite the most famous LPL player to be the guest?"

"Where are Zzitai and Uzi?"

"Isn't the Pig-Dog War quite famous?"

When the colonel heard what he had remembered, the corner of his mouth twitched suddenly.

Which pot is not open to mention which pot!
Do you really think the authorities don’t want to invite you?

The problem is that it’s impossible to invite them!
There is no need to talk about Uzi. The two sides had a grudge as early as the spring season.

You let him come here as a guest, are you afraid that the matter is not big enough?
When the invitation came, Uzi declined on the grounds that he was looking for a new team, so everyone tacitly looked for other people.

As for the factory manager...there is no conflict between him and VG.

Before the spring season finals, the factory manager trash-talked too early and got hit by a boomerang.

Obviously, before studying the opponents of MSI in advance, we still have to study the opponent in front of us, VG, first.

The factory manager felt somewhat embarrassed and had to settle for the next best thing and let head coach Abu take over.

As for the effect, it’s really good.

However, he really couldn't say this directly, so the colonel could only find an excuse to deal with it.

"VG is a team that is centered around the jungler. Having other junglers help with commentary will also allow the audience to hear the game's understanding from the players' perspective and other top junglers in the LPL."

Seeing the players of VG and SKT coming on stage in the center of the stage one after another, as if they were afraid to remember to continue asking, the colonel quickly changed the subject, aimed at the camera, signaled the director to start the broadcast quickly, and then began to read the opening remarks.

"Good evening, dear audience friends, welcome to the 2016 Mid-Season Invitational semi-finals."

"I believe everyone has been waiting for this game for a long time. Yes, today's semi-final will be between our LPL region's VG team and the LCK region's SKT team!"

"Today's game will be explained by Ze Yuan, Jiede and Xiang Guo teacher."

"The format of the semi-finals is Bo5, with a best-of-five format. The previous draw has already determined that in the first game of Bo5, VG will be on the blue side, facing SKT on the red side."

"As we all know, for both sides of the game, the blue side has the right to choose the position first, but the price is the loss of a counter position."

And Jide who was standing aside immediately spoke up.

"But for VG, this shouldn't be a big problem."

"Because in the group stage, VG performed very well when they were on the blue side!"

"Especially the Minotaur-Rat combination in the bottom lane, which not only takes into account team battles, but also has a strong ability to find opportunities."

"And if they are on the blue side, VG can actually select the position for the mid laner first. After all, Leng Shao is very good at playing the hero Leblanc, and Leblanc is a jack of all trades in the mid lane most of the time. She is easy to play against anyone except Ryze."

"Now it depends on what the two sides will do."

"Okay, let's take a look at the BP situation of both teams first."

"VG chose to ban Ryze, Chrono, and Kindred."

"VG is still the same as always, still using the strategy of targeting SKT's mid and jungle. It is obvious that they don't want to give Faker room to perform. However, what is different from previous games is that this time, VG did not choose to ban the Tsar."

"Similarly, SKT did not choose to ban VG's Leblanc."

"On the contrary, SKT chose to start from the bottom lane in this game, banning VG's previously well-performing Alistar, Twitch, and Ekko."

Having said this, the colonel was suddenly stunned and said subconsciously.

"SKT's Bp... feels a bit interesting."

"It's very different from the BP when SKT played Bo1 before."

"What do you think, Mr. Xiang Guo?"

When this matter was suddenly mentioned, Mlxg, who had been silent for a long time, subconsciously glanced at SKT's Bp and then said.

"The problem with Rat and Minotaur is actually not that big. It should be that SKT's strategy for Bo5 has also changed. They should no longer think of using the bottom lane as a rhythm breakthrough point, but instead switch to full rhythm operation."

"In simple terms, SKT should want the bottom lane to play a greater role in teamfights rather than laning."

"But...banning this Ike is a bit strange."

"Because the hero Ekko is not T0 in this version, whether it is mid or top, generally speaking, there is no need to ban him."

"unless……"

at the same time.

In VG’s voice.

Seeing an Ekko suddenly appear in SKT's ban position, everyone was stunned at the same time.

The sudden ban of Ekko, who was a weak character in this version, really caught everyone off guard.

Lin Dong’s idea is actually the same as Mlxg’s.

"Under normal circumstances, Ekko will definitely not be banned. Ekko is not that strong."

"Unless... the lineup that SKT is going to choose is not good enough to deal with the hero Ekko."

Hearing Lin Dong's words, Hongmi shook her head and said.

"Ekko's laning ability is average, but he can withstand pressure. He can also play solo in the mid-to-late game. There are many heroes that he can restrain, and it's basically unpredictable."

"Just follow your own ideas."

"Since the opponent didn't ban Leblanc, let's take Leblanc in the middle lane first."

"But looking at SKT's BP, my previous guess was correct. Their bottom lane may really be preparing to mess around."

"Although Skateboard Shoes and Lucian are on the outside, after picking them, if we can't end the game in the early stage, we will be a bit weak in the late stage. Although Twitch has been banned, we can still get a more functional ADC, Jhin will do."

As soon as the words fell, the blue team locked in the first floor with Enchanter.

Seeing that VG had locked down Ahri as he expected, Kkoma knew that his plan was half successful.

So he spoke without saying anything.

"Let the midfielder take it first. We need to set the pace in this round."

"Let's have Fizz in the middle and Spider in the jungle. Let's just fight in the middle and jungle."

"Whether it's Spider or Fizz, they can dodge the mark. When it comes to mid-jungle battles, we have the advantage."

So, very quickly, SKT's first and second floors immediately locked down Spider and Fizz.

When seeing SKT taking down Fizz, Redmi didn't react at first.

"Huh? Fizz in the top lane."

But Lin Dong and Leng Shao on the side had already realized that something was wrong.

"Coach, something is wrong. This Fizz may not be the top laner." Leng Shao took a deep breath and said, "I feel like this Fizz is used to hit me!"

"Hmm? Faker can play Fizz, but in this version, Fizz isn't very good in the mid lane, right?" Hongmi frowned and asked. "It's not a question of whether it's good or not, it's a question of hero restraint." Leng Shao shook his head. "Actually, it's a 50-50 chance for LeBron to play against Fizz. The problem is... once I go to the mid lane, I can't take the initiative, because when LeBron and Fizz are in a laning match, whoever takes the initiative will lose."

"I go first, and if I use W, Fizz will definitely dodge my E. Not only will it be difficult to trigger the mark of his Q, but Fizz can even use the second part of his E to step on my return position and then stick to me. If my E hits, he can use his Q to increase the distance with the help of minions. If my E misses, he will directly use his Q on me."

"Similarly, if Fizz takes the initiative and wants to steadily deplete my health, he must use Q first and use the QAW combo. However, Fizz cannot use E during the Q. If I use E at this time, it will be a 100% hit. If he wants to use E to pull me away, I can follow up with W."

Lin Dong on the side also nodded and said.

"Whoever strikes first in the laning phase will lose, so SKT chose this combination in order to have a wave of attacks in the mid and jungle."

"The problem is that Fizz has a passive damage reduction, but Leblanc doesn't! And Spider is a natural counter to Leblanc. The mark will be blocked by Spider flying in the air, and the E skill will be blocked by Spider..."

"SKT's mid-jungle combination is obviously designed to restrain Leblanc."

"It will be hard to win this round between the midfielder and the jungler!"

After hearing what the two said, Hongmi finally reacted.

But at this time he was also helpless and replied.

"The problem is...Enchantress can't waver!"

"The blue team doesn't have the last counter position, so this situation is bound to happen."

"Let's see if there is any good way to deal with it."

"Let's take the top lane first. Since there's a Fizz on the opposite side, we'll take a support that can protect and block skills."

"We can actually use Morgana, but if the opponent doesn't choose a hard support in the bottom lane, we won't have an advantage if we use Morgana as a support."

"Besides, Morgana and Jhin don't work well together."

"Let's take Jhin and Braum first."

"Honestly, I didn't expect the opponent to choose this strategy to counter Leblanc."

"Isn't this much better than the tactics used by RNG?"

However, the speaker has no intention, but the listener has intention.

After hearing Hongmi's words, Lin Dong was stunned.

Yup!

RNG is most afraid of Leng Shao. I don’t know if it’s because of their incompatibility, but Xiaohu, who is very strong against other opponents, instantly loses his ability when facing Leng Shao.

So when playing in the semi-finals, RNG tried every possible way to counter Leng Shao's assassin mid laner.

Of course, RNG didn't win either.

But it doesn’t mean that the routine is completely ineffective.

After all, Leng Shao was really disgusted by RNG at that time.

Among them, what impressed Lin Dong the most was Xiaohu's mid-lane Malzahar!
Malzahar, a mixed-race mage, can clear waves very quickly and has a crucial ultimate skill that can suppress the enemy first and force a team fight!
The key is that Malzahar's ultimate skill has a suppression effect, which cannot be removed by purification. Only Mercury's Band can remove it!

The Mercury's Band is not only worth 1350, but it can only be upgraded to an AD-attributed Mercury's Scimitar later. So it can be said that the hero Malzahar can almost restrain all AP assassins!

The question is... where will Malzahar go in this game?

The mid laner and support have already been decided, and neither Leblanc nor Braum can be wavered.

The only one left is Ueno.

Could it be that he should learn from Sofm and reward SKT with a Malzahar jungler?
If it were any other lineup, Lin Dong might dare to do so, but in this game, Lin Dong did not dare.

How did RNG lose in the first place?

Apart from being countered by the Barbarian King chosen by Leng Shao, the biggest problem is that the damage is not enough!

In this game, SKT was clearly aiming for the rhythm of the mid and jungle. They chose Malzahar, but he couldn't hold on and the damage was not enough. Wasn't that courting death?
Therefore, this Malzahar can only be reserved for the Holy Spear guy in the top lane!

So now there is a new problem.

What kind of jungler should I play to counter SKT's mid-jungle combination?

At this moment, SKT finally showed their true colors and revealed their subsequent killer moves.

When seeing these two heroes, Hongmi's eyelids suddenly twitched wildly.

"Bad, top lane troll and support nurse?"

"The top troll's ultimate can steal resistance, and with the recovery of the nurse, we can't pull it back at all, because our damage can't kill the opponent, but our front row will be knocked down first by the opponent's front row!"

“So the top laner can’t choose the front row anymore.”

"It's not a good idea to choose the top laner who starts the fight, because the E skill of the nurse has a silence effect. Whether it's the top laner of the ice maiden or the top laner of Kennen, it's easy for them to flash into the field but not be able to use the ultimate skill at the first time. Even if they use the ultimate skill, they will definitely be weakened at the first time."

"Unless you play top lane Rumble or Gragas, you can start a teamfight from a distance."

"But the problem is that Gragas can't beat Troll in the laning phase, and Rumble will definitely push the lane. SKT has already chosen Sorcerer in this game, so the bottom lane will definitely be in chaos, and the jungler will most likely go to the top lane to gank. Isn't choosing Rumble courting death?"

Just when Hongmi was having a headache, Lin Dong finally spoke and said.

"Coach, how about Malzahar in the top lane?"

"I remember that Brother Saint Spear should be able to play this, right? This thing doesn't require any skills, it's not difficult."

Hearing Lin Dong's words, Hongmi frowned slightly and replied.

"Malzahar on the top?"

"This hero has a long-range clearing speed, so at least he won't be caught as easily as Rambo."

"And the ultimate skill can suppress and restrain the opponent's Fizz."

"It just so happens that the opponent doesn't have a life-saving support like Morgana or Tam in this game."

"With Malzahar's ultimate, the opponent's Fizz might not even be able to use his E skill and will be killed instantly!"

“This idea is indeed feasible!”

"But... if Malzahar is on top, it will only make the teamfight tempo a little easier. The key is the tempo of the mid and jungle."

Having said that, Hongmi looked at Lin Dong.

But what Redmi didn’t know was.

Just as Lin Dong reminded him, his answer also reminded Lin Dong.

Especially when Hongmi said, "Fizz may not even be able to use his E skill," Lin Dong's eyes immediately lit up!
Yup!

Fizz and Elise can indeed use their skills to dodge LeBlanc's burst.

But what if you can’t use your skills?

As long as the two players are unable to use their skills, Leng Shao's Ahri can complete a set of skills first and trigger the Q skill mark. In this way, although the mid-jungle fight may not necessarily have an advantage, it is at least a balance!

So the only problem now is that Lin Dong must also bring out a jungle hero with control, and it must be the kind... that can prevent Fizz and Spider from using their skills!
It’s better to use a specific skill, the kind that the opponent can’t dodge!
As luck would have it, Lin Dong happened to know of such a jungle hero in his hero pool!

An old version of a jungle hero that has hardly ever appeared in LPL!

That's right!

Fiddlesticks, the messenger of doom!

Abbreviated as...Scarecrow!

(End of this chapter)