NOVEL NEXT WORLD Chapter 449
Traditionally, if you ask mid laners what counters Sandra, you’ll likely get a couple of answers.
First, an assassin champion that can dodge Sandra’s skills and take her out.
Second, a champion with superior range that can dominate the laning phase against Sandra.
In this classification, Pizhu definitely falls into the first category.
He’s a champion who can dive in and assassinate the relatively squishy Sandra while dodging her key abilities.
That’s Pizhu for you.
‘But still, Pizhu isn’t really a great pick right now…’
Objectively speaking, Pizhu’s early laning phase isn’t that strong.
Even if Pizhu is considered a counter pick to Sandra, that’s mainly true in a solo queue context where he can’t apply strong pressure.
In a team game, can Pizhu really withstand the early laning phase against Sandra?
Isn’t it more likely that the mid jungler combo will completely fall apart due to jungle plays?
‘Hmm.’
That’s why I thought that Baek Seong-an’s recent practice with Jerastu would be a much safer pick, but Baek Seong-an chose Pizhu instead.
High risk, high reward.
Honestly, it wasn’t a choice I preferred either, but the pick was already made.
‘All I can do is trust.’
If a jungler doesn’t trust his mid laner, who can he trust?
Of course, looking at Baek Seong-an’s recent performances, I was a bit, no, very anxious though.
[Pizhu]
In the second pick, Pizhu was selected, and now it was time for the ally’s third pick.
[“What do you want to do, Yujin?”]
The options were limited.
Since our mid is the melee champion Pizhu, we need a strong pick that can compensate for his early laning weaknesses.
A pick that can handle Sandra if she uses mid lane control to invade our jungle with Jarvan.
“I think Lee Sin would be good.”
When the opposing Jarvan III uses mid lane control to invade our jungle, Lee Sin can chase him off with sheer strength, and we can dominate a 2v2 skirmish in mid-jungle.
It might be a bit of a cliché pick, but cliché picks are usually solid.
[“Alright. I’ll go with Lee Sin.”]
The ally’s third pick was determined.
[Lee Sin]
And…
Finally, the ban/pick phase was over.
+
[OLZ / SCV]
Top: Aatrox / Jason
Jungle: Lee Sin / Jarvan III
Mid: Pizhu / Sandra
Bot: Kalista / Caitlyn
Support: Renata Glasc / Lux
+
The overall ban/pick structure looked to be quite intense.
When we picked Kalista first, the opponents finished their bot lane duo with the Caitlyn-Lux combo, indicating they wouldn’t be losing in lane.
Additionally, Jason in top lane also brought strong laning prowess, showing their intent to overpower us with the strong team SCV.
‘But… if we can just get past the extreme early laning phase…’
Then, with a strong mid-jungle combo of Lee Sin and Pizhu, we could completely seize control over the river and objective priority.
From that point onward, the game’s momentum would naturally shift in our favor.
Of course, a team like SCV would definitely be aware of this, so they wouldn’t let us get away with an easy early laning phase.
[“Everyone, fight hard.”]
[“Do well.”]
[“I’ll carry.”]
“Let’s do our best.”
The game officially began.
*
-Wahhhh!!!
-OLZ! OLZ!
Through noise-canceling headsets, I could feel the vibrations coming from the booth.
I couldn’t quite make out what the fans were shouting, but it was easy to tell it was a cheer of support.
-Welcome to Summoner’s Rift!
Finally, the match officially started, and Baek Seong-an stopped his brief meditation and opened his eyes.
Well, I mean, it was called meditation, but to be honest, I’d just been resting my eyes for a moment due to fatigue from excessive practice.
My eyes felt heavy and tired.
Still, as soon as the game started, I felt a surge of energy coursing through me.
[“Go go.”]
The early invade phase began with all five members of OLZ gathering together.
OLZ usually plays defensively during the invade phase, but with both team compositions, our side had enough strength to find an edge in the invade fight, looking to create variables early and overcome the trials of the extreme early laning phase.
[“Let’s go.”]
The champions of OLZ headed straight into the enemy blue side.
A bold entry.
With the bottom laning matchup being extremely critical, they split the lanes to bolster the bottom side.
SCV seemed uninterested in creating variables in the invade fight, retreating without contesting our vision on blue.
[“I’ll rotate the lens.”]
[“Okay.”]
Even though the opponent placed a ward and left, our support had already switched to the lens, so taking vision on the enemy blue side wasn’t difficult.
This not only gave us a significant advantage in the jungle path but also allowed us to somewhat dictate the enemy’s pathing.
For Jarvan III, whose 1v1 capabilities are relatively weak, facing off against the very strong Lee Sin in the jungle is bound to be uncomfortable.
For now, the early situation seemed to be going according to OLZ’s plan.
The question now was how to withstand the upcoming laning phase.
-Minion has spawned!
After the intense invade phase passed, the real laning began.
“……”
Baek Seong-an gazed at AllDay’s Sandra standing across from him.
Just standing there, the pressure felt was nothing short of immense.
SCV’s mid laner AllDay isn’t exactly an eye-catching player.
He’s solid and hefty.
That’s the assessment of AllDay, who, in truth, rather than making super plays or standing out, supports the strong team SCV firmly as a mid laner.
Therefore, among some toxic fans, you’d hear insults like he’s merely a bus rider or a bland mid laner.
-Any other mid could probably do what AllDay does.
-AllDay was simply there; he isn’t really that capable a player.
-AllDay is…
Despite all the countless criticisms, AllDay’s reputation remained unbroken because of one absolute truth in Legends of League.
-A team with a weak mid can never be a strong team.
This has been proven throughout Legends of League’s history, and despite fans’ mixed evaluations, every winning team has had capable players.
So when Baek Seong-an faced AllDay in lane, he felt he was confronting a massive wall, albeit in a different sense than with Rainbow.
While Rainbow’s aggressive playstyle creates intense pressure, it also reveals many openings.
Of course, Rainbow was the kind of player who deliberately created openings to achieve his current status, but the key point is that AllDay is the type of player who doesn’t even reveal such openings.
This type tends to show weakness when the laning matchup is unfavorable due to a lack of variables created but showcases absolute strengths when the matchup is favorable, just like now.
He’s a player who strictly adheres to the flow of the laning phase.
Demonstrating this fact, AllDay’s Sandra never carelessly wasted her E skill against Baek Seong-an’s Pizhu.
It was as if she was determined not to give him any chance to engage.
When Pizhu attempted to trade against Sandra, the fundamental basic was to avoid Sandra’s E skill while initiating the trade.
If Sandra still had her E skill and you awkwardly tried to trade, you’d just end up getting hit by the E and receiving a beating.
Naturally, the early lane control shifted to Sandra, making it so she continued to vanish from vision, putting pressure on Baek Seong-an’s jungle.
“Yujin, I think Sandra is coming to you… I can’t go. Can you escape?”
[“Yeah. I’m fine.”]
If Lee Sin just backs away now, he’ll suffer greatly from the camp deficit.
So, the Outlaw Lee Sin didn’t retreat immediately from Sandra’s pressure but continued to try to clear camps.
In a way, it was a shameless act of offloading the mid lane burden onto his ally’s jungle, but even then, Baek Seong-an didn’t hesitate.
He trusted the Outlaw.
He believed in the jungler of OLZ, who could confidently call himself the best.
[“Sandra is here.”]
After Sandra repeatedly disappeared from vision several times, it seemed she sensed the moment had come as she revealed herself in front of Lee Sin, who was taking down wolves.
Accompanied by the recently joined Jarvan III.
Instead of merely splitting the lane, Jarvan III intended to utilize the mid control to push Lee Sin out, inflicting significant damage.
“I’ll engage right away.”
[“We’re coming too.”]
Though Pizhu and the ally’s bot lane had just started moving to join after soaking up the lane, they were obviously going to be slower to join considering they were heading into enemy territory.
Despite being in a dire situation, Baek Seong-an remained calm.
“Yujin, can you survive?”
Amidst such a calm question, the jungler of OLZ replied.
[“I survived.”]