Chapter 28: Laymen Watch the Spectacle, Experts Watch the Technique

On the stage.

TES, pushed to the brink of desperation, felt quite a strange sensation at this moment.

Known as the "Galactic Battleship," their goal for the year was to make it to the World Championship and secure a respectable ranking. As for this minor Demacia Cup, they had merely approached it as a training exercise—a way to showcase their strength while they were at it. After all, they had invested so much, hadn't they?

Yet, they never imagined that their newly formed Galactic Battleship, before even having a chance to take flight, would be pushed to the edge of a cliff by the very team their former teammate Karsa had just joined.

"He really is something else," Crescent sighed, his gaze drifting toward his players. "Although we don't place much importance on the Demacia Cup, losing to them like this... it doesn't look great, does it? What do you all think?"

JackeyLove and the others nodded in agreement. They were veterans of many years; to put it kindly, they were the middle generation of players. To put it bluntly, if those "old fogies" hadn't retired yet, they would have stepped into those shoes as the veterans themselves. Having seen all kinds of storms in their careers, they weren't particularly nervous, nor was the atmosphere heavy.

They had understood from the very beginning: the Demacia Cup was just a diversion. If they won, everyone would be happy. If they lost, it simply meant they had gained V5 as a great training partner for the future. In an era where strong teams grind against each other and weak teams peck at one another, the more strong teams there were, the better.

But soon...

As the V5 players walked back onto the stage from the backstage area, JackeyLove’s gaze faltered the moment it landed on them.

"What's wrong?" Zhuo, his lane partner, noticed the shift and asked.

"Nothing." He shook his head.

When he looked back at his teammates, his expression had returned to its usual, indifferent, and uncompetitive state. "I just have a feeling the next game might be a bit difficult."

"???"

At the commentator desk, the "New Trio" of commentators felt like they had hit the jackpot. To them, while casting was a job, the prerequisite was a love—or a past love—for the game. On that basis, watching weak teams peck at each other was boring, but a clash between the strong could make their adrenaline spike like nothing else.

"Following three consecutive games of 'unreasonable' Red-side-to-Blue-side, V5 has ended up on the Blue side again. It feels like V5’s tactics are a bit singular. If they keep focusing on the bottom half of the map, TES’s bottom lane is going to be a very difficult problem for them to solve."

"After all, it’s TES. Tian’s arrival perfectly filled the void left by Karsa, and more importantly, Crescent is all too familiar with Karsa’s jungle pathing. That’s a real issue."

"Is there a possibility that V5 suddenly starts playing toward the top side? I mean, I personally think 'WoMeng' is a player well worth building a tactical framework around!"

"He’s worth it, sure, but like I said: V5 just rebuilt. Their tactical reserves and synergy haven't caught up yet. It should be quite difficult for them to switch their playstyle at this stage."

Teacher Guan shook his head at Jiejie’s words. Both were rebuilt teams; the competition was based on player quality. In such a short time, they couldn't possibly be playing with a "my team > your team" level of tactical depth, right? Impossible, absolutely impossible!

Of course, in his eyes, V5 was "promising." Why call them promising? Because the antonym of "promising" is "currently useless."

[There’s a chance! Two games left, V5 only needs to win one to take off!]
[A rebuilt team beating up a veteran powerhouse, a 'Pinduoduo' team taking down multiple Galactic Battleships... damn, why does that actually sound kind of cool?]
[Not just that, it’s the Avengers. Except for the top laner, everyone else is a player discarded by other teams.]
[The top laner isn't simple either. Look at that ID—the Avengers need a savior, right?]

As for this team, the audience was growing increasingly fond of them. Their performance was solid, the players had plenty of memes, and every game seemed to have a legendary or disastrous moment. Isn't that exactly the kind of entertainment the LPL needs?

However, the moment the V5 players emerged from the back, many professional players watching the game off-camera felt their expressions tighten.

"Their aura has changed."

At the EDG club, Ah Bu watched them walk out from the back, his expression turning one of disbelief. If he remembered correctly, V5 was currently leading the series 2-1, right? So what was with this "do-or-die" aura? Had it become a trend to fight like you have nothing left to lose?

"Interesting. It looks like V5 is going to change their tactics this game."

Flandre laughed and patted Ah Bu on the shoulder, saying meaningfully, "Really, I suggest you go for a walk. Otherwise, I’m afraid after you finish watching this game, you won't be able to sleep tonight out of frustration."

"Forget it," Ah Bu brushed his hand away. "Me, unable to sleep? I’ve been an esports manager for so many years; what kind of storms haven't I seen?"

"Then... let's wait and see."

***

Soon, as the fourth game of the series began, both teams' pick-and-ban phases headed in a direction even the audience couldn't quite follow.

On the V5 side, Nofe’s strategy was clear. He wouldn't ban JackeyLove’s Draven—because the Draven system was both a signature move and a vulnerability for the opponent. Instead, he continued to target the mid-lane utility heroes and Tian’s champion pool. As for TES, while they finished their bans with meta picks, they dismantled the "Double Ring" system by removing Xin Zhao.

Thus:
V5: Top Aatrox, Jungle Volibear, Mid LeBlanc, Bot Ashe + Braum
TES: Top Gnar, Jungle Diana, Mid Lee Sin, Bot Draven + Thresh

They completely abandoned the current meta.

When it came to a do-or-die game, TES trusted their "Vici" unconditionally, while V5 shifted entirely from a scaling composition to an aggressive one, intending to confront TES head-on, even bringing out a "Ten Thousand Proverbs" top lane pick.

"Aatrox top, Lee Sin mid, Draven for the AD."
"In this game, both teams' players are extremely confident in their picks."

The moment the lineups were finalized, even the three commentators on stage subconsciously sensed that something was off. This was only the fourth game, right? Why did it feel like... both sides were treating this as the final, life-or-death game of a BO5?

Especially TES’s lineup—the Lee Sin and Diana combo. If they had pulled this out during S11, it would have been fine. The problem was that after patch 11.13, AD bruisers were nerfed by the designers, and now that they were at the end of the patch cycle, they were still pulling this out?

At this moment, another weakness of TES was fully exposed: if they hadn't been pushed to the edge of the cliff, they wouldn't have pulled out the Draven system. But since they did, and given that they had three new players, they hadn't had time to update their tactical configuration. Even in the following S11 Spring Split, during their January match against EDG, they had brought out the exact same setup, with the only difference being the top laner changed to Dr. Mundo, the meta pick of that time.

It was truly a "one trick to rule them all" approach.

"This game, I'll have to trouble you, Photic."
"The Draven system is TES's proudest setup. Our jungler won't be paying too much attention to the bottom lane this game. So, I don't ask for a flawless performance, just try your best to stall their development."

With that, Nofe closed his notebook. After the draft, he didn't have much time left, and the staff were already urging him, but he still struggled to add one last sentence: "No matter what, remember to trust your teammates, just as you have trusted each other throughout this Demacia Cup journey."

On the big screen, as the coaches exited, the fourth game officially began.

In this game, Luo Ji was finally not countered in the opening.

In fact, on this patch for the Demacia Cup, he had many more suitable top laners to pick, such as Renekton, Graves, or Jayce. But in the end, he chose his "bottom-line" signature.

Since he had transmigrated and chosen the path of a professional gamer, despite having economic plans for the future, he still harbored a desire to change certain regrets during his career. As a "reborn" individual without a system, his greatest advantage compared to others was his ability to peek into future patches.

It wasn't a detailed knowledge of specific stat buffs, but a clear, intuitive understanding—for instance, knowing exactly which top laner would dominate the S12 World Championship.

Aatrox!

Based on that, even if his proficiency was average before his rebirth, it didn't matter; he would just practice like a madman after his rebirth. Even if the champion's synergy was unstable, it didn't matter—you can still quench your thirst with a twisted melon.

The moment his signature champion was selected, the lingering hesitation about winning or losing vanished, replaced by an overwhelming confidence that he could defeat anyone in the world.

Moreover, he no longer had to divide his attention worrying about being ganked.

Solo queue top laners are like escorts; you never know what kind of jungler you’ll get next. Even if you get matched with one, you’re helpless, and after it's over, you have to pack up your emotions and face the next one. Professional top laners are more like mistresses; you know what kind of person your jungler is, and you know that if they say they’re coming, they likely will—unless some "force majeure" occurs.

So, you just need to align your timing.

At level one, relying on Braum’s passive advantage, V5 chose to aggressively invade TES’s jungle. Diana was a farming-heavy champion; unless there was a golden opportunity, she had no ganking ability before level six. Invading level one to place vision would, in all likelihood, map out Diana’s farming route until her first recall.

Tian didn't like the feeling of being watched by the enemy jungler, just as people from the south can't accept the communal, fully-exposed bathhouses of the northeast.

It was... quite uncomfortable. But there was no helping it; he had no choice.

In a level-one team fight, the existence of Braum was too broken. Even if he missed his skills, his passive alone was enough to increase the team's chance of winning the fight by 30%.

Meanwhile, V5’s full-team invasion was also meant to force the enemy top laner, Gnar, back. With such a massive presence displayed, no one could afford to be distracted and drop out of position. Seeing Gnar reappear on the map, Luo Ji finally broke away from the team and sprinted back to the top lane.

Nothing to say. Melee vs. Ranged—whoever takes the brush first wins half the lane. By the time Zoom reacted, Aatrox had already firmly occupied the middle of the three top-lane bushes. If he walked over, he’d get hit. Unless he wasted his trinket ward in that bush—maybe he would have done that in ranked, but in a tournament game, that definitely wouldn't fly.

"This level of execution... is this really a newly rebuilt team?"

As a member of a rebuilt team himself, Zoom felt a genuine curiosity about this V5. But it was fine; looking at the champions that guy had played in previous games, his playstyle wasn't particularly aggressive. So... this Aatrox game should be similar to the ones before! Everyone in the top lane should just play nice and make money.

Zoom understood deep down that as long as nothing went wrong in the top lane, and he could open up the rhythm in the bottom lane, he could easily win this game by "lying down."

Just as he was thinking this, he saw the Aatrox in the bush walk out to last-hit the first melee minion. Then, in the next second, Aatrox released his second Q, sweeping up the other two low-health melee minions simultaneously.

*He pre-cast the first Q in the bush?*

Seeing this, the experienced Zoom immediately became alert.

"This guy's Aatrox proficiency might be higher than I imagined."

"Huh?" Tian, from the side, looked at the top lane with curiosity. He had assumed they had traded blows and ended up at half health, but when the camera shifted, he saw two full-health top laners and immediately felt a headache.

Feeling Tian’s seemingly distrustful gaze, Zoom quickly explained: "I’m repeating, I’m not joking."

"Ah, I understand, but you should be able to handle it, right?"

"......"

There's a saying: laymen watch the spectacle, experts watch the technique. Proficiency in a champion isn't just about the KDA; that’s the most superficial metric. True proficiency is reflected in every skill combo, ensuring that each release brings some positive or implicit advantage.

Seeing this, Gnar, who had the advantage of range and hit level two first, didn't dare to step forward easily to harass Aatrox with auto-attacks.

It’s worth noting that while Gnar is a common top-lane pick in tournament play, he is rarely played in ranked. It’s not that there’s a huge difference in the champion, but in tournament play, Gnar almost abandons lane dominance to focus on team-fight utility. The reason is simple: Gnar is truly garbage in the early game.

Especially against Aatrox. Gnar’s auto-attack range is exactly equal to the outer edge of Aatrox’s Q. With the first Q being a straight line and the second being diagonal, and with Mini Gnar’s slow movement speed, his damage output isn't as high as Aatrox’s passive-empowered auto-attack. If you’re at the same skill level, you’ll die a miserable death; if you’re at a lower level, you’ll die even worse.

The only strong point before level six is right when he’s about to hit level three, usually when he turns into Mega Gnar—Q slows, W speeds up, E has two parts—and since he’s a ranged champion who doesn't use mana, he can suppress most top laners. Stalling for that timing to trade is usually profitable.

But...

A little while later, just as Zoom tried to step up for an auto-attack, Aatrox’s Q came flying in again.

*Here it comes!*

The moment Aatrox pressed forward, the "Top Lane Aatrox Manual" started playing on a loop in Zoom’s mind:

"Q1, dodge to the left; Q2, dodge forward/backward; Q3, dodge to the side..."

*Bam!*

The first Q hit!

"Q2... forward/backward."

*Bam!*

He got hit by a predicted diagonal EQ again.

"Q3..."

Aatrox used the Q to pick up the low-health minions, but the sheer terror of hitting those two Qs in a row scared Zoom so much he burned his own E ability.

Only after retreating to a relatively safe position did he let out a breath, looking at his opponent with a mix of shock and terror.

This... was this guide actually meant for people playing *against* Aatrox, or was it a piece of misinformation leaked by Aatrox mains on purpose!?

Is this even right?