Chapter 617: But he is the one who died the least

BP hasn't started yet, and the three commentators keep chatting.

"Today's opening match is VG versus EDG, old rivals—the last game of spring is being replayed at the start of summer, which is pretty interesting."

"Yes, and there's something even more interesting to mention: just a couple days ago, VG added an old friend to their roster."

"Haha, Zitai!"

"That's right, Zitai joined VG as a substitute for Marquis."

"These past few days have been quite big news."

"Exactly, with Zitai on board, VG's mid‑lane hero pool is deeper, Marquis is as steady as Mount Tai, Zitai keeps pulling out surprising moves, and with the two bot‑lane AD carries rotating, this VG—I can only say …"

"Unbeatable."

"Although it might be a bit early to say, there really is no reason they could lose!"

"Well, looking at EDG's side, there's also a major change in the summer split——"

Wawa paused deliberately,

"Changzhang isn't even in EDG's starting lineup!"

Wang Ji's tone also became a bit more formal:

"Yes, EDG's starting jungler today is Second Prince Ai Luoli."

"But to be frank……"

Miller lowered his voice, as if whispering, but the mic picked it all up,

"Ai Luoli is under too much pressure facing Jiao Shen today—this is the fierce player who drove Score to meltdown in the MSI finals; I can feel that pressure even through the screen."

Wawa sighed:

"So for Ai Luoli today, it's truly a big test—whether she can withstand the pressure and find her own rhythm will directly set EDG's ceiling for this match."

Miller added a note for EDG:

"But we shouldn't get carried away—EDG is an old‑school powerhouse; Scout's spring performance was obvious, and Meiko needs no introduction, the top‑tier new‑gen support benchmark of the LPL over the past two years. Moreover, this summer patch clearly weakens VG's strong points, so if EDG can secure a good composition today, I still think they have a chance to win."

"But getting back to it, EDG's bot lane is still Zet; fans are likely to be disappointed, since everyone expected him to play in the summer split."

"iboy hasn't even had his birthday yet—he's not old enough. And it's not just him in the LPL; those three strongest teen prodigies are all sitting on the bench."

"Hehe~"

"Haha~"

"Um, are you laughing at gods and demons?"

"Nothing much! Cough! Alright, the director has put out the individual stats comparison for both sides, so let's go ahead and check today's starting lineups."

The broadcast cut to the individual data of both teams' starting lineups with player avatars.

"VG: top lane Flandre, jungler Firrrrrre, mid lane Easyhoon, bot lane SMLZ, support Caveman."

"EDG: top lane Mouse, jungler Fireloli, mid lane Scout, bot lane Zet, support Meiko."

"Looking at the individual stats, VG clearly has a crushing advantage—this is the summer split's opening match, the latest stats aren't out yet, so what we're seeing are spring numbers, and VG's spring record is…… you know what I mean, okay."

"Well, MSI is over, so spring stats aren't really useful anymore, but if you ask whether we can still glean something, we actually can—for example, look at Marquis's KDA: he's second‑to‑last in deaths per game league‑wide, and his assists are double his kills, which shows he's very steady……"

"I'm curious—who has the lowest average deaths?"

"Isn't he right over there?"

He really is, in every sense, right there on the sidelines.

"Ah? Oh… ah!"

Wang Ji stared blankly, glanced toward the red side's player bench, then at the screen, and finally realized,

"Sorry sorry, I didn't see it just now, ha ha ha ha!"

Then the commentary desk suddenly fell into an inexplicable silence for a few seconds.

After that, Wawa spoke softly: "…Actually, looking at it this way… it's pretty scary."

Miller: "It really is scary."

Wang Ji: "As the one who controls the team's tempo and also the main initiator, the champions he picks are mostly damage‑oriented, and even his item builds are pretty aggressive—he basically has no tankiness……"

Miller: "But he dies the least."

Wang Ji took a deep breath: "All I can say is, no wonder he's the World's No. 1 Jungler—Jiao Shen's individual ability is truly off the charts, breaking the heavens, strong!"

Wawa got a cue from the director, suddenly clapped once, and shifted gears:

"Alright! Everyone, the 2017 LPL Summer Split opening match—VG versus EDG—BP has started, so let's hand the screen over to the players' benches and watch them battle it out in ban‑pick on this brand‑new patch."

"Well, EDG blue side, they opened by banning a Sword Maiden… Sword Maiden?"

"This patch's Sword Maiden is ridiculously strong!"

Wang Ji exclaimed excitedly,

"You guys haven't watched the LCK lately? Sword Maiden is practically always either banned or picked these days!"

"Huh? Why?"

"I think it's blown up because of the LCK's top laners—KT's Smeb, SKT'sHuni, and Dragon Pearl's Khan, and even Marin is playing it!"

"No, I'm asking why Sword Maiden is so hot—what's the reason those players pick her?"

"Uh, I'm not exactly sure the specifics—after all, Sword Maiden hasn't been buffed in these patches, and her rework was ages ago. But I heard Khan mention in a post‑match interview that it's probably because she fits the meta and is good at countering control‑tool and tank champions."

Actually, there are many reasons Sword Maiden blew up, but the main one is indeed what Wang Ji said: she suits the current patch and counters control‑type tank champions.

But if we go into detail, Sword Maiden rose because she has three key mechanics: percentage damage, immunity to crowd control, and strong split‑pushing.

In the current patch, the few breakout hot champions—not limited to top lane—are basically all this type.

For example, Prince—his passive adds percentage damage to basic attacks to counter tanks, his long‑range AOE clears waves and consumes enemies in one grab, perfectly fitting the Canyon Vanguard patch; he's unbeatable in team fights and can combo with the popular champion Galio, and his ultimate reshapes terrain to lock down immobile AD carries.

Moreover, Prince's strength has been proven in the LCK.