Seoul, South Korea,
RoxTigers Club.
As the LCK entered the off-season after the end of the Spring Split, all major clubs except SKT, which was preparing for the MSI, basically took a holiday, but there were a few exceptions.
RoxTigers is one of them.
The club did not have a mandatory requirement to stay at the base, but unexpectedly, apart from a brief trip home during the offseason, several members of the Tigers quickly returned to the club.
At the root of it all there are only three words.
It's hard to accept.
You know, this club was founded at the end of 2014 and it has been two and a half years since then. Since it first entered the LCK league, it has become a dark horse that all clubs are afraid of.
Last spring, RoxTigers took the lead and won the regular season, but lost to SKT 0:3 in the final.
Last summer, RoxTigers made it to the S World Finals as a rookie, but ultimately lost to SKT 1:3.
This spring, ROX Tigers ranked first in the regular season with 16 wins and 2 losses, and will face SKT in the spring finals. The winner will represent LCK in MSI.
The result is self-evident.
In the Spring Finals, the Tigers lost to SKT 1:3 and lost their only ticket to MSI.
It's like a "curse".
It can be said that in terms of strength alone, RoxTigers is by no means inferior to SKT, as evidenced by the fact that they have been at the top of the regular season rankings for two seasons.
However, every time in the finals, every time in BO5, they lost to SKT.
Perhaps for RoxTigers,
SKT is the god of BO5!
It is also the biggest obstacle on their road to the championship!
Therefore, in today's semi-final against their old rival SKT, the Tigers team naturally would not miss the opportunity to watch SKT's BO5 secrets from the sidelines.
But so far today, the progress of the game has completely exceeded the expectations of everyone on the Tigers.
In front of the live broadcast screen in the training room, Kuro turned around and asked Peanut:
"Wanghu, have you heard of this IG?"
"I haven't heard of it. I always thought it was RNG representing LPL?"
"What the hell! Where did this team come from? How could they force SKT into a fifth game?"
You know, this is something that the Tigers, whose hard power is not inferior to SKT, have tried three times but failed to achieve.
In the B05 match against SKT, they only won one small game at most.
"I don't know, but I have some impression of Padre6 from their team. When the international server of Canyon of Heroes was first launched, I remember that he seemed to have been in the queue when he was rushing to the leaderboard. What was his name? Oh, yeah, it's Badman."
"Oh! It's him. Turns out that guy is a jungler."
"That's him, but his team seemed to have some problems in this game, so he switched to top lane."
At this point, Peanut turned to look at Smeb, who was leaning back in the gaming chair with his legs crossed.
Although the Tigers ranked first in the regular season of this year's spring season, they lost to SKT 1:3 in the spring finals and finished second.
But whether before or after the LCK Spring Finals, in any media top lane ranking list of LCK this year, Smeb, one of the Tigers' five generals, has always been the undisputed "LCK No. 1 top laner"!
Thinking of this, Peanut couldn't help but kick his legs and slide the rollers of his gaming chair over, "Brother Jinghao, do you think Badman... No, that Padre6 who switched to top lane, can beat Duke in this game?"
"Of course not." Smeb raised his eyelids without comment.
"Ah? Why?" Peanut was stunned.
Smeb tapped Peanut's forehead and said, "Wanghu, Duke is the man who beat me. If Padre6 can beat him, doesn't that mean he can beat me, too?"
At this point, Smeb raised his eyebrows and asked back in a tone that was so conceited that it was beyond doubt:
"Do you think this is possible?"
Peanut was stunned, shook his head and laughed, "Uh... it seems, it's really unlikely."
“But they’re worth it.”
Kuro suddenly interrupted and said with a smile, "Being able to force the BO5 God into a fifth game in a BO5 is something that even we have never done. I hope we can have a chance to communicate in this summer's World Championship."
"So what?" Smeb shrugged and said, "Whether it's 0:3, 1:3 or 2:3, losing is losing, right?"
After saying that, Smeb turned around and continued training.
Peanut looked at Smeb's straight back, with a thoughtful look on his face.
The recognized top laner of LCK before the game,
But lost the Spring Finals,
Lost the chance to go to MSI.
It seems that even though Brother Jinghao didn't say it, he was still upset in his heart?
Peanut couldn't help but pray.
Hopefully, this summer, the Tigers can break that curse.
At this time, the last game of MSI semi-final B05 was finally loaded on the big screen in the training room.
The final battle...has begun.
…
China's rivers and seas.
At the competition venue of the Sea Crown.
LPL commentary desk.
"The game has already started. Let's take a look at the lineups of both sides. In this game, SKT's upper half is actually a bit biased towards development. The hero Gangplank needs to develop. SKT must focus on the lower half in the early stage. The long-range combination of Caitlyn and Lux must have someone to protect them if they want to suppress the opponent."
"That's right. In comparison, IG's bottom lane is able to withstand pressure, and the top lane has the long-reaching Graves. It depends on whether they can stand up and take over the game in the early and mid-terms. Otherwise, in the mid-to-late stages, I think SKT's lineup is still stronger. If the hero Gangplank develops well, it will be too difficult to defeat in teamfights."
"Yeah, but Brother Fu was forced to play top lane. Although he got the Graves that the jungler used to play, the jungle and top lane positions are completely different games. The details of the laning phase are too different. Facing a veteran like Duke who seeks progress while maintaining stability, I feel it's a bit difficult."
“…”
The commentator on the stage analyzed the lineups of both teams.
In the game competition.
Just after leaving the fountain, Ah Chu, who hadn't played for a long time, found some feeling for playing the game. He turned around and asked Li Fu with some concern, "Brother Fu, you have never played top lane before. Do you want me to gank the top lane more in the early stage?"
Li Fu shook his head and rejected Ah Xun's proposal. "No, you should focus on the bottom lane. The blood exchange ability of Caitlyn and Lux is too strong. If you don't go to the bottom lane, you can't play."
Of course, A Xun knew that Li Fu was right.
But when I thought about my former jungler rival suddenly appearing on the world stage, I felt a bit weird and a bit worried.
Li Fu smiled and said nothing more.
From the moment he entered the game, he opened the "valve" in his body.
Under the effect of [Solidifying Instant], he maxed out the two most critical personal attributes of [Hand Speed Reaction] and [Position Details]. He felt that it was a "wonderful start" that he had never experienced before.
At this time, both sides lined up in a long snake formation.
But SKT's start was still a bit "designed".
Faker's Ryze, with the cooperation of the top and jungle, placed a ward at the entrance of the blue buff river in the upper half of IG at the beginning of the game, even in front of Li Fu's Graves.
Although Axun has not appeared on the scene for a long time, he also knows that "reciprocity is the best way to pay off favors".
Seeing this, he crossed the river and placed a ward next to F4 in the upper area of SKT before SKT had time to go back.
However, this ward position was spotted by Bengi's Sejuani just before it became invisible. He did not place the ward immediately as he had a red scan at the beginning of the game. Instead, he clicked two signals to call Faker in the middle lane.
The next second, when Faker's Ryze came over, Bengi started scanning and did not take any action himself, allowing Faker's Ryze to clear the ward position.
Seeing this, Rookie's Ice Girl had no choice but to walk over and place the only reconnaissance eye on SKT's mid and jungle after they had placed the eyes, before the minion line came up, in order to prevent Ashun from suffering a loss in the jungle.
Miller folded his hands in front of him, rubbing his chin and smacking his lips, "Tsk, SKT's opening design is very detailed."
"Oh? What do you mean?" Wawa immediately joined in the joke.
"The jungler, Benji, brought a red scan when he went out, and Faker even placed a ward in front of Fu Ge, expecting that IG would reciprocate. Benji's red scan was a response to this move, but there are two more details here."
At this point, Miller paused and continued, "One detail is that Benji didn't use the scan to place wards himself, but instead signaled Faker, allowing Faker's Ryze to take the economy and experience from the ward. We all know that in this game, Rookie will definitely push the lane and seize the lane rights with his Ice Maiden, but if Faker's Ryze has a little more experience, it means he can get to level 2 first, which will alleviate the pressure on the mid lane to seize the lane rights to a certain extent."
After listening to Miller's analysis, Guan Zeyuan nodded and added, "And there is another layer. Rookie was forced to use his wards to defend the jungle. In this way, he lost his first line of defense in the early stage. I can only say that Benji's unconventional opening scan really worked."
"Well, now that I think that the experience of the ward position just now should be attributed to Duke in the top lane. Gangplank was fighting against Graves. After all, in the early stage, short-range weapons were fighting against long-range weapons, so there was still a slight disadvantage."
"Well, but I guess SKT thought that Duke would not be under any pressure in the top lane even if the opponent got the long-handed Graves, so they chose to let Faker take the middle lane."
During the break in the commentary and analysis, the director's camera had already turned to the junglers on both sides.
In order to take care of the bottom lane, IG's Achung Troll started with blue buff in the upper half of the map, so that they can clear the map from top to bottom.
SKT's Jigger and Sejuani started the game in a mirrored manner, also starting with the blue buff and brushing from bottom to top.
Obviously, even though we know there is no need to worry too much about the top lane, the hero Graves is playing top lane, and his basic attack mechanism means he will inevitably push the line, so Ben Ji's route is naturally to brush from the bottom to the top to take care of the top lane.
But when Benji finished killing the blue and reached level 2, he remembered the position of the opposite Ice Girl who went to the grass in the upper river. It was likely that she went to add a ward after he cleared the vision. Suddenly, an idea came to his mind, and he said, "Duke, be steady. I will help Xianghe catch a wave first. They have no vision in the lower half of the river."
"I'm actually fine." Duke smiled as he was on the road.
Although Graves attacked fiercely at the beginning and exchanged blood with him twice, Duke had not used up his blood potions yet. After reaching level 2, the Captain could eat oranges to recover his blood, so he really didn't feel any pressure.
The stupid chicken was delighted when he heard it!
That’s fine!
After reaching the second level of blue, Pig Girl directly used Q to pass through the wall and moved towards the middle. This abnormal movement was instantly locked by the director's camera.
"Eh? Stupid Chicken seems to have some ideas about the middle lane."
"Catch him from below? He should have guessed that Rookie didn't have a ward below the mid lane, and the Ice Maiden would definitely push the lane and grab level 2 from level 1."
"But why don't you clear the lower half first? Wouldn't that be more efficient?"
"I guess by the time Sejuani clears the bottom half of the zone, the mid lane Ashe will have learned E at level 3. Sejuani will come to catch Ashe and just use E to leave. Now, maybe she can even force a flash. Usually Ashe won't learn E at level 2 in order to steal the lane."
"It seems to be true. Oh, Piglet has already entered the grass! Is there any chance this time?"
The tone of the commentator on the stage suddenly became higher, and the gank that started the game under the director's camera also attracted the attention of many viewers.
But at this moment when everyone was paying attention, without any warning, the director's camera suddenly cut to the top lane.
What the hell?
Everyone was slightly stunned.
The next second, their eyes widened at the same time.
In the picture, all we could see was the level 2 Graves with half health chasing the level 1 Gangplank with very little health into the tower.
Captain, flash!
But the man was shot dead in the air!
A classic scene of "flying corpses in the air" was staged!
???
Almost subconsciously,
Someone looked up at the time in the upper right corner of the game screen.
2 minutes and 48 seconds!
Less than three minutes...solo kill in top lane?
And it was the Graves who killed the Captain alone!
Doesn’t it mean that…
In this game, IG's "fake top laner" who was forced to take on the challenge, killed Duke, a well-known SKT top laner who is both steady and aggressive? !
"What the hell!? Is this true?"
At this moment, even the person in the backstage waiting room sat up in shock again, his eyes suddenly widened.
Yes, in the last game, when I saw Duke teaching how to use his backhand to grab Gangplank, his posture was really infuriating.
He also imagined that Li Fu would fight for him in this battle and teach the opposing Duke a lesson.
But the posture is also clear.
Fantasy is just fantasy after all.
Would you choose to believe that a veteran who was a substitute in the top lane many years ago was suddenly forced to take the lead and beat Duke, the starting top laner of the dynasty team SKT who is in his prime?
To be honest, do you believe this?
It’s better to believe that he is like Qin Shi Huang!
But at this moment,
This situation.
Although I don't know what happened,
But all this,
It really happened!!!
"IG-Padre6 killed SKT-Duke!"
"First Blood!"
The shocking first blood prompt resounded throughout the venue!
Countless audiences at the scene, including the Korean commentator from the LCK region, were struck by lightning. They stared at the big screen with a look of confusion on their faces.
Is this an illusion?
When the director's camera passed through the top lane, although the Captain was hit twice by the Graves who crossed the line of soldiers, this was just the normal suppression of the long-handed against the short-handed at the beginning of the game. It would not have to get to the point of flashing and moving the grave!
The director seemed to realize his negligence and didn't care about the gank in the middle lane. After all, he could only use the flashing jungler to gank. He directly cut out the replay of what had just happened without hesitation.
Playback footage on the big screen,
At this time, there were only two ranged soldiers left on both sides of the top lane.
However, since the passive basic attack mechanism of the male gun is to fire four shotgun shells with each attack, the health of the ranged soldiers on both sides is different, and the health of the ranged soldiers on Li Fu's side is obviously lower.
However, neither side seems to be focusing on this.
Li Fu's Graves learned E at level 1 and crossed the line of soldiers to attack someone. The Captain's health was only about two-thirds left, while Graves held the line of soldiers and the Captain's return Q, which was only slightly higher than the Captain's health.
At this point, it was obvious that Duke's focus was on his health, and he was trying to equalize the score by pulling and exchanging blood.
Because as long as he can catch up, he can eat oranges to recover health later, and he has a bottle of blood potion on him, so he actually has a blood volume advantage. If he controls well before level 6, it is not impossible for him to kill the male gunner.
At this time, the next wave of lines connected in the river channel.
In the slow-motion playback, the audience can obviously perceive more details.
For example, when the red team's low-health ranged soldiers were being focused on by the blue team's ranged soldiers, suddenly, Li Fu's male gun began to move to the edge of the wall grass in the upper lane, moving in an S-shape and slowly approaching SKT's Captain.
At this time,
Both parties are still level one.
And there was no finishing move.
The next second, Graves went up again and hit Gangplank twice. Gangplank responded with a Q, and the two sides exchanged blood again. After Graves finished his two attacks and reloaded, he turned around and walked towards the bushes to block the view.
But the moment the male gun entered the grass, a ray of light emerged from his body!
"Oh! The male gunner has reached level 2!"
"Yes, the blue team's ranged soldiers killed the red team's last wave of low-health ranged soldiers. Brother Fu reached level 2 experience faster than Duke!"
"Eh? Why is Duke still moving forward? He looks like he wants to finish off that attack and level up to level 2?"
"No way? Brother Fu is in the bushes nearby. The male gunner is already at level 2. Isn't the captain playing with fire? Doesn't he know that the male gunner is already at level 2?"
"I know! It's the vision! Brother Fu went into the grass the moment he reached level 2. Duke didn't immediately know that Graves reached level 2 first, so he also wanted to kill the low-health ranged soldiers in the previous wave to get to level 2!"
The commentator on the stage had not yet finished speaking.
The next second, in the replay, before the Captain approached the low-health soldier, a W smoke bomb suddenly fell.
"Turn off the lights!"
The next moment, the second-level Graves, who had reloaded with bullets, slid out from the grass and used his E skill immediately!
Since E was used to cancel the afterswing of W, the male gun at this time was like a beast out of the grass, and his movements were extremely smooth and fluid.
In the playback footage,
It can be clearly seen that although Duke's vision was blocked by W, he probably felt a sudden shock in his heart, knowing that Graves had reached level 2 before him.
Then what's the point of him forcing the last hit?
Without hesitation,
The captain immediately turned around and walked back.
But at this time, the benefit of Li Fu learning W instead of Q when he was promoted to level 2 was revealed.
W has low damage, but slows the enemy down.
After using E to pull the captain's face and firing two basic attacks, Li Fu replaced his bullets and chased the captain, attacking him all the way.
In the blink of an eye, we arrived in front of the tower!
At this time, the captain's health was almost gone.
But you should know that every time a bullet from the male gun's basic A shotgun hits the target, the CD of the E skill will be reduced by 0.5 seconds, and the E skill [Quick Draw] can load a bullet into the shotgun while rushing forward.
Under the red team's top lane tower,
Duke's move almost coincided with the moment when Li Fu was reloading with his E skill, and he closed the distance and flashed directly behind the defensive tower.
That’s right, he wanted to use the defensive tower to block the last shot. After all, Graves is the only shooter hero whose basic attack can be blocked.
At that time, even if Graves chose to flash into the tower and kill, the level 2 Graves could not withstand a few hits from the tower, so he would not lose out in this one-for-one exchange.
I have to say,
Even though he made a misjudgment in the fight for the second spot, Duke still showed the calmness and attention to detail of a top laner at this moment!
But the next second,
A jaw-dropping scene appeared.
Almost at the moment Duke appeared,
Li Fu, who had just released the E skill and flashed forward, also flashed, but he flashed in place, visually interrupting the slide of E.
But at this moment, a fatal bullet suddenly appeared in Li Fu's empty magazine!
At the moment the captain appeared...
Blast out!
Bang--!
It’s like a scene replay!
At the end of the replay, the captain once again staged a scene of flying corpses in the air!
However , at this moment, countless viewers who watched the replay opened their mouths as wide as the mouth of a box and were stunned for a moment.
The three commentators at the LCK commentary desk swallowed two or three times, as if their throats were dry. They looked at each other and were unable to utter a word for a while.
Damn it!
What the hell is this?
Flash to reset normal attack?
However, the LPL audience remembered the opening lyrics of a ghost song that Xiaodian made for PDD last year.
"I am the most naughty pig in the entire League of Legends!"
"I can flash and change bullets!"
Is it really the flash that resets the normal attack?
Even Wawa and Miller at the LPL commentary desk looked at each other in bewilderment.
However, Guan Zeyuan, the "king of big talk" standing aside, suddenly got a start and remembered something in his mind.
He immediately shouted at the top of his voice:
"Oh my god! It's E-flash-A on the spot! Brother Fu's wave is the ultimate seamless continuous shooting of the male gun, E-flash-A on the spot!"