LPL didn't want me? I joined SKT instead!

Chapter 224 Restrictions of the New Version

On the first day of the S8 World Championship group stage, the arena was packed. Brilliant neon lights shimmered and intertwined under the massive dome, accompanied by deafening background music, creating an atmosphere like a powder keg ready to explode with earth-shattering energy.

The opening match of Group B features SKT, the number one seed from LCK, against Vitality, the number two seed from the European LEC region, known for their aggressive and unpredictable playstyle.

As the players from both sides took their seats on stage under the spotlight, the cheers from the entire arena nearly lifted the roof off. Countless cameras and countless eyes were fixed intently on the very edge of the SKT seating area.

Xiao Yan sat in his gaming chair, adjusting his peripherals with a blank expression. His eyes were deep and calm, as if the surrounding noise had nothing to do with him.

"Dear viewers, welcome to the S8 World Championship Group Stage! I'm commentator Wawa!" Wawa's voice, filled with barely concealed excitement, echoed from the LPL's official commentary booth.

"I'm Miller!" Miller, standing to the side, adjusted his glasses, his expression serious. "Today's match is being watched by the entire world. Not just because of SKT's immense popularity, but also because this is Xiao Yan's debut on the world stage since the epic nerf patch known as 'Xiao Yan's Shackles' was released!"

"That's right!" Wawa chimed in. "Riot Games has gone to great lengths to limit Xiao Yan's early-game snowballing ability. The addition of turret plating, the reduction in early-game kill gold, the weakening of jungle experience, and even a nerf to Ignite damage—everyone wants to know if, in this extreme meta, the 'bot lane Grim Reaper' who could once dominate his opponent in twenty minutes can still demonstrate his dominance?"

The business proposal (BP) phase began quickly.

The coaching staff of the VIT team clearly had a very thorough understanding of this new version, and at the same time, they showed Xiao Yan the highest level of respect.

In their first three bans, they didn't hesitate to ban Draven, Kalista, and Lucian—the three ADC heroes with the strongest early-game lane pressure and the easiest to tower dive with the jungler.

"VIT is very smart. They know that tower diving is difficult in the new version, but they don't want to give Xiao Yan even the slightest chance. They banned all the early-game lane bullies directly," Miller analyzed.

Subsequently, VIT first picked Ezreal, an ADC with an extremely high margin for error in the current version, and paired him with Tahm Kench as support. This is a bot lane combination purely designed for survival and withstanding pressure. Ezreal has long range and is agile, while Tahm Kench has extremely abnormal protective abilities. In this version where turret damage is extremely high, trying to tower dive and kill this combination is practically impossible.

In SKT's voice chat, coach kkOma frowned slightly as he looked at the opposing team's lineup.

"They're determined to drag this out. Xiao Yan, what do you want in return?" kkOma asked.

Xiao Yan looked at the remaining heroes on the screen and tapped the mouse lightly twice with his slender fingers.

"Let's get the policewoman."

Caitlyn, the Piltover Policewoman.

"Let's pair the female police officer with Morgana, and perfect their push-line and pressing techniques," Wolf suggested from the side.

The lineup was quickly finalized.

SKT: Top laner Aatrox (TheShy), jungler Olaf (Peanut), mid laner Azir (Faker), bot laner Caitlyn (Xiao Yan), support Morgana (Wolf).

VIT: Top lane Urgot (Cabochard), Jungle Nocturne (Kikis), Mid lane Ekko (Jiizuke), Bot lane Ezreal (Attila), Support Tahm Kench (Jactroll).

"The match begins!"

Accompanied by the sound effects of Summoner's Rift descending, ten heroes transformed into pillars of light and landed in the fountain.

After buying his starting gear, Xiao Yan controlled the policewoman, acting like a ruthless sniper, and headed straight for the bottom lane.

As soon as the competition began, viewers around the world immediately felt Xiao Yan's suffocating pressure.

In the instant the first wave of minions clashed, Xiao Yan demonstrated his extraordinary ability to control distance.

VIT's ADC player, Attila, was controlling Ezreal and trying to use his Q skill to finish off a low-health melee minion.

The moment he raised his hand, Xiao Yan's policewoman seemed to have anticipated his move. She took a step forward and landed a precise auto-attack on EZ. She then immediately retreated, staying out of EZ's Q skill range.

"Snapped!"

A crisp gunshot rang out, and EZ's health dropped significantly.

Attila was startled; he hadn't expected Xiao Yan to react so quickly.

He tried to counterattack with a basic attack, but the policewoman's 650-yard range meant he couldn't even touch Xiao Yan's clothes.

The next three minutes were a nightmare for Attila.

Xiao Yan's policewoman is like a precise machine; every movement, every basic attack, and every Q skill release is perfectly timed to coincide with EZ's last-hitting animation.

If Attila dares to go forward and finish off the enemy, he will definitely take a bullet. If he uses his Q skill to finish off the enemy, Xiao Yan will use his positioning to dodge it and then attack him in return.

In just three minutes, EZ's health was reduced to below half, while Xiao Yan's policewoman was almost at full health.

"That's terrifying! Xiao Yan's laning maneuvers are simply art!" On the commentary panel, Wawa couldn't help but exclaim, "Attila is being treated like a toy, he can't even farm minions!"

However, just when everyone thought Xiao Yan was about to complete the kill in five minutes as before, the new version of "Shackles" began to show its power.

The game has been going on for four and a half minutes.

Xiao Yan pushed a large wave of minions towards VIT's bottom lane turret.

At this point, EZ only had one-third of his health left, and Tahm Kench only had half his health left. In previous versions, Xiao Yan would have definitely called for Peanut without hesitation to tower dive and kill him, then take two tower plates and instantly widen the economic gap.

But now, Xiao Yan glanced at the attribute panel of the defense tower, and his eyes narrowed slightly.

The new version of the turrets has ridiculously high attack power in the early game, and also has an extremely terrifying armor penetration effect. What's more, the turret plating provides a lot of armor and magic resistance in the early game, so it takes a lot of time to destroy a single layer of plating.

"Little Peanut, you don't need to come to the bottom lane anymore. Go help Sang-hyeok counter-gank," Xiao Yan calmly instructed in the voice chat.

He abandoned the idea of ​​climbing the tower.

He knew perfectly well that with the current champion's level and items, if he forced a tower dive, as long as Tahm Kench used his W skill (Devour) to devour Ezreal, the tower's aggro would shift to the tank. Under the current tower damage, the tank wouldn't survive more than three hits. If the tower dive failed and he was killed, his early-game advantage would vanish completely.

No matter how strong Xiao Yan is, no matter how incredible his skills are, he still has to respect the game's underlying numerical logic. He can dodge all of his opponent's non-targeting skills, but he can't dodge the guaranteed laser from the turret.

Therefore, Xiao Yan could only choose the safest approach – suppression.