VLL Finals (3)

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"Hello, everyone. Welcome to the VLL Grand Finals, brought to you in partnership with the LCK. I'm your caster, Kim Dongjin."

"And joining you once again today — analyst Yoo Seunghwan."

"All right — the players you've all been waiting for. Let's meet them."

"First up, the team's rock-solid vanguard. Top lane! Shinsaeng and Zenith!"

"Next up — jungle! The supreme commanders who pilot the game with pure brainpower."

"Pressure and Luca. Both of them carrying massive careers."

"Pressure, who lifted a single championship trophy at Worlds, and Luca, a four-time LCK champion. Can't wait to see what they bring today."

"Ah~ and next, the two players everyone has been waiting for."

"That's right. A super rookie who more than lives up to the title, and a battle-hardened veteran. Plenty of people are hyped for this matchup."

"Mid lane — Para, and Seongho!"

"And next up should be the bot lane duos, right?"

"This one's personally one of the matchups I find most interesting."

"Agreed. How do two teams end up with such completely opposite styles?"

"Yujin and Fpot, versus Count and Lucia."

"Then let us summarize both teams' rosters."

"Before the match begins, we can see both team captains exchanging a fist bump."

"From here, it really does feel like Shen himself walked into the arena."

"The quality is genuinely impressive. By the way — Arts & Athletics' outfits look a little strange?"

"Para really does stand out, doesn't she?"

"One girl among a bunch of grown men — it's a rare sight, honestly."

"But then again, the completely different person she becomes in-game is probably the real charm."

"What kind of plays will she show us today? Ban/pick starts now!"

"Ah... they banned Shen right off the bat."

Shinsaeng's deep sigh came through the headset.

The ban/pick we'd expected today was them locking every ban card onto mid to keep me in check. Instead, the other team banned Shinsaeng's Shen and Yujin's Kai'Sa.

"We'll get it open for at least one game, though."

Today's match was a best-of-five series. Across a minimum of three sets, I could guarantee ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Shen would be available at least once.

"Then let's adjust this game's ban/pick the way we did in semis. Grab jungle and bot duo first, then drop down and pick top and mid."

"Sounds good."

"Yeah, giving hyung first pick is just asking for a disaster."

Everyone agreed with my suggestion, and our team banned the enemy's most-played champions — Kalista, Rumble, and Ashe.

"By the way... us picking red side. That's fine, right?"

Legend of Legends split teams into blue and red. Even setting terrain advantages ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠aside, each side came with its own inherent strengths and weaknesses starting from ban/pick.

The first phase order went blue once, red twice, then the remaining picks filled out. Blue's advantage was simple: in a game ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠where the same champion couldn't be selected twice, you got first crack at the best cards, no questions asked.

Red's advantage, on the other hand, was the ability to pick two in a row — letting you lock in a top-jungle pair, a jungle-mid pair, or a bot duo exactly the way you wanted. Plus the last-pick counter on top of that.

Still, blue side won the overwhelming majority of games. Taking a good pick and countering it was harder than just taking the good pick yourself.

And yet our team had chosen red, because—

"They're just snatching Ziggs."

Even if we handed over the enemy ADC's signature champion — currently one of the strongest in the meta —

"Then grab Leona."

—if we could secure his partner support, Leona, we'd be free to navigate the rest of ban/pick comfortably. That was the call.

"ADC Lucian work?"

"Against Ziggs it's not bad, but if it's not Lucian-Nami it's just boring, so..."

"We're picking it."

Pressure locked Lucian into the ADC slot like he had no interest in hearing another word.

Ban/pick so far: Ziggs versus Lucian-Leona. The enemy would almost certainly grab support and jungle next.

"Whoa. Just slamming Viego into jungle and Maokai into support? They're trying to run us over, huh?"

"So what do we pick for jungle?"

It was our team's third pick — mid, my turn to lock a champion.

"What do we want to do? Honestly, I think we can drop down and fill value and still be fine."

"I can play both AD and AP, so just pick whatever's comfortable for you."

"Then take Lee Sin. We need to match tempo against Viego."

Once both sides finished their picks, ban phase came around again. The enemy banned Yone and Malphite. We banned Poppy and LeBlanc.

"Should we grab top first?"

"I think it's better to give Seoha last pick. Lock in Ornn for me."

Shinsaeng's champion was Ornn. The enemy picked Gwen to tear Ornn apart in top, and a safe Ahri in mid.

So they figure Gwen can just handle Ornn, then.

That left me needing to pick an AP champion. I ran through the available cards in my head.

"Give me Sylas."

"Sylas? Lane phase against Ahri is going to be rough, no?"

"Even if I take a little bit of a loss, I can hold."

Among the enemy champions, the ones with worthwhile ultimates were Ahri and Maokai. And of the two, Maokai's ultimate ranked among the highest-value ults in the game. They didn't call him the essence of one-button gameplay for nothing.

"And that wraps up ban/pick."

"Yes — I'm sure every viewer out there expected Shinsaeng's Shen to be open today. But given that this is Set One, I think both sides are still feeling each other out, which is why the ban went through."

"There's even a saying, isn't there? Shinsaeng on Shen is pro-level."

"That's right. In fact, before I retired, he even came in for a tryout with our team. Of course, champion pool issues kept him from joining us."

"What a hidden story."

"Looks like they're still loading — the game hasn't started yet."

"Then let's take a moment to look around at today's crowd."

"Sangam Arena here seats about six hundred, and every single ticket sold out within thirty minutes of going on sale. The interest has been incredible."

"We've got people who came alone, people who came together, and even some who brought handmade cheer signs."

"We've just been told both teams are ready. Set One of the VLL Grand Finals begins now!"

"Something unusual jumps out the moment the game starts."

"Yes — Sylas's rune page. First Strike, with Second Wind and Overgrowth. Is that a 'come at me if you dare' kind of message?"

"Normally you'd see Electrocute for a comfortable lane, or Conqueror — which has been trending back for skirmish-heavy games. What kind of performance will we get? Let's find out right now!"