ctnovel Training matches begin on February 021st.
Training matches begin on February 021st.
"Today's practice match is more formal. It's a best-of-five series, and you can't just give up easily, or you'll be penalized. You can treat it like a real professional match."
Li Zhixing began by saying, "As for the draft phase, I already have an understanding of your hero pool, so I'll handle that. If you have any ideas, feel free to share them."
Mata listened to this and hesitated, as if she wanted to say something but then stopped.
Fine.
This guy is serious about playing a BO5 official scrim with SKT's first team.
Meanwhile, at the SKT base, a few streets away.
Kkoma stood behind the team, sternly instructing them: "Today's BO5 scrim was specifically requested by the opposing team. You should know what that means, right?"
Ahead, the SKT first team members looked at each other in disbelief.
At first, I thought it was just a training match for fun because the opposing team was an amateur team. I didn't expect them to be serious.
Do you look down on people so much?
"The opposing team has five players with very high rankings; all five are in the top ten."
Kkoma said seriously, "I want you to treat this training match like you would an OGN match. Take it seriously, and you can't afford to lose a single game!"
"Hey, it's no big deal," Bang said calmly, reclining in his chair. "We can't lose."
As a professional team that has been established for more than half a year and has rich experience in competitions of all sizes, they can be said to be on a completely different level from amateur teams.
Ranking points? If high ranking points were useful, they wouldn't be competing in the OGN Winter Tournament.
"That's good." Kkoma nodded, then glanced at the IDs of the five people opposite him one last time.
These five people are all the people he wants.
He's the kind of player who doesn't need any further tryouts; as long as the other party agrees, he can sign with SKT on the spot.
Unexpectedly, these five people have now collectively ignored the recruitment offer from SKT and formed their own team.
Is he planning to fight his way up from NLB to OGN?
That's way too arrogant.
Wolf, now eager for a fight, wiped the potato chip oil from his palms with a tissue: "Come on, come on! Let's teach those young guys over there a lesson!"
A training match that will determine Rice's future has begun!
Li Zhixing looked at his team's blue side and said softly, "Ban Orianna, Renekton, Lee Sin."
There wasn't much to say about the draft phase in this era, because it still followed the ranked system: each side banned three heroes in the first round, and then the two sides took turns choosing.
On the other side, the opposing team also banned Zed, Lee Sin, and Alchemist very quickly.
Clearly, the opposing team came prepared, banning everyone's signature moves.
Li Zhixing thought for a moment, then asked, "Hengshuo, if you don't have alchemy, what else can you use?"
"It will be all right."
Looper, named Jang Hyung-seok, said confidently, "Shen? Jax? Rumble? I can play any split-push champion."
Li Zhixing thought for a moment, then asked, "Sang-hyeok, this time I'm asking you to create an advantage in the mid lane, is that okay?"
"Can."
Demanding an advantage without any preconditions is simply unreasonable, but Lee Sang-hyeok did not say much and gave a positive reply.
"Okay," Li Zhixing said softly, "Let's choose our weapons first. If possible, we'll focus on the top lane this game."
These words displeased Kim Hyuk-kyu.
"Huh? Not going to bot lane?"
Kim Hyuk-kyu doesn't know much about the professional rhythm, but he hears Lee Ji-hyung talking about the "half-lane principle" every day, so he can understand that when the top half of the lane is the main focus, the bottom lane can only choose a late-game carry to withstand pressure.
Li Zhixing said helplessly, "Hey He, the opposing team is a professional team's duo. You two have almost no teamwork, so it'll be tough for you."
The biggest difference between professional teams and casual teams in the laning phase is in the bottom lane.
After all, other lanes are all about solo play, and even if a professional player is well-trained, if their laning ability is average, it's common for them to lose to random players.
The bottom lane is a different story.
When a professional duo team plays against random players, they can really push the experience zone out of the player's range in three minutes.
Even if he trusts his younger brother completely, it would be difficult for him to hand over power to him from the very beginning.
Even Mata quickly chimed in, "Actually, bro's right. The bot lane should focus on late-game champions. Anyway, today's a formal scrim, so you'll definitely have a chance to shine if you pick late-game heroes!"
Mata was genuinely afraid that Lee Ji-hyung would switch to playing bot lane because of something Kim Hyuk-kyu said.
Little brother, you don't know the situation, so don't talk nonsense!
Upon hearing this, Kim Hyuk-kyu scratched his head and could only nod in agreement.
"Don't be discouraged, Hyukyu."
Li Zhixing smiled and said, "Calm down and study hard. You'll have your chance to shine today."
Kim Hyuk-kyu knew his older brother wouldn't lie to him, so he nodded: "Okay!"
As they were talking, the opposing team had already made their choice, locking in Prince and Clockwerk.
The opposing team didn't rush to pick a top laner, but instead chose a mid-jungle combo that was popular in previous World Championships.
Li Zhixing merely chuckled when he saw the two options.
Clearly, the opposing team didn't even understand the key to today's victory or defeat.
The opposing team is positioned on the red side and has the final decision-making power. If they are smart, they should reserve the final counter pick for the mid lane to target Lee Sang-hyeok.
Because of the natural advantage in the bottom lane, the opponent only needs to maintain lane dominance in the mid lane to easily control the entire bottom half of the map and thus gain control of the dragon.
While this version of Orianna is a strong mid-lane champion, it's a pick that comes first, so its strength is naturally a bit lower.
"Sang-hyeok," Lee Ji-haeng said, "what do you want to play? Tell me."
Li Zhixing was well aware that Li Xianghe had come to this training match with hatred in his heart...
After all, his previous experience trying out for SKT wasn't very good.
Therefore, he doesn't mind creating a stage for his younger brother.
Mid lane is a natural star lane; it's the place where so-called competitive experience is least important. The only thing that can dominate mid lane is talent.
"Can I take the little fish?" Lee Sang-hyeok asked.
"No way." Li Zhixing shook his head. "What I need are heroes who can participate in fights and who can beat Kennen in the side lanes."
"Then how about Sion?" Lee Sang-hyeok offered a bold choice.
He still remembers how Li Zhixing used Sion to completely dominate his Orianna in a previous training match.
From then on, he added Sion to his arsenal.
"Okay." Li Zhixing smiled inexplicably, and then chose the Mantis, which had only been released in the last few versions, as a partner.
(List of recently released heroes)
Sion in the mid lane is a pseudo-carry, whose main role is to push lanes and roam. He can deal considerable damage while also providing front-line tanking and crowd control, somewhat similar to the later mid lane Renekton.
The best match for this type of mid-laner is a jungle carry.
At this point, SKT continued their strategy, locking in Kennen to counter the weapon, and then taking down the marksman, the plane.
Both Yordle champions selected by SKT are quite strong in the laning phase.
Facing an amateur team, they didn't even consider following the half-zone principle; they wanted to dominate from all four sides.
Li Zhixing's smile widened, and without a second thought, he locked onto the duo of Sivir and Lulu.
SKT locked in Thresh as their last pick, and the lineups for both sides were now finalized, officially starting the scrims!