League of Legends: League of Unknowns

Luocheng was going for a build for Ezreal that focused on mana. That meant he wouldn’t be able to pose too much of a threat during the early-game laning phase. It would be up to Zyra’s long-ranged skills, as well as Ezreal’s superior mana supply, in order to keep the pressure on Vayne and Sona.

(Translator’s Note: I presume a mana-focused build for Ezreal involves getting a ‘Tear of the Goddess’ straight away, which bolsters mana capacity tremendously, but otherwise does nothing to help directly with an ADC’s main function of dealing damage…

… at least until later, when it’s used to assemble a Manamune / Muramana. Gotta love those puns. It’s even funnier when you consider that the base weapon is a pick-axe.)

As before, the main idea was to focus their harassment on a single target. Even if he got a clear shot to hit Vayne with his Mystic Shot, Luocheng wouldn’t take it—it would obviously just be a waste of mana.

“Why’s he building Ezreal for mana?” Charlene wondered aloud. “Won’t that leave him on the back foot?”

Even she was aware that a mana-focused Ezreal couldn’t really hold up well against other ADCs. By investing in items not directly related to dealing damage, even if Ezreal had managed to gain the upper hand early on, he might end up losing out anyway.

The seven hundred gold he’d spent on a ‘Tear of the Goddess’, with just a little more cash, could have gotten him a Pickaxe instead. That would have given him a further twenty-five points of attack damage, which would be a far greater boon to him in this duel.

“It’s true that going for a mana build makes Ezreal weaker at the outset, which means he won’t be able to do much to hamper Vayne’s growth. However, considering the events of the battle earlier, trying to hold back Shallow Dream is probably a long shot in any case. She’s already picked up two champion kills.

“Let’s say Ezreal goes for attack-damage items the whole way: He might be able to deny her a couple of minions early on, but after the twenty-minute mark, Ezreal himself will fall way behind Vayne—and then the game will be lost.” This was Lin Dong’s explanation.

Xiao Bei nodded in fervid agreement. When the topic was about advanced-level considerations in League of Legends, even he would forget to stammer in the presence of a feminine beauty. “Vayne’s strength is in her startling rate of damage during the late game, allowing her to melt away tanks and front-liners,” he added.

“Similarly, a mana build for Ezreal truly shines in the late game, with unlimited poking and kiting potential. Luocheng is probably thinking that since he doesn’t have much hope of holding down Shallow Dream during the early game, it’ll ultimately have to come down to who’s more effective in a team fight.”

(Translator’s Note: To ‘poke’ somebody is to intermittently throw out ranged skills in an attempt to wear down the health of enemy champions. This is a crucial tactic when laning, or while skirmishing before a team fight actually begins. It is usually carried out by mages like Zyra, but Ezreal is also considered a hybrid mage-marksman.)

A mana-focused Ezreal really came into his own during the late game, when his poking and kiting abilities could drive his enemies up the wall.

Rather than going purely for attack damage in order to apply what would be an insignificant amount of pressure throughout the early to mid-game, perhaps it would be better to allow the both of them to each develop to their fullest. During the team-fighting later, she could brandish that appalling damage potential of hers—but he’d have his own considerable strengths as well!

That was what Luocheng was going for!

(Author’s explanation: The events in this series take place during Season 3, and as the story progresses, we’ll move into the new patch updates. Although the mana build described here for Ezreal has been rendered obsolete now, there’s no reason to abandon the memory of its legacy.)

(Translator’s Note: Of course, building Ezreal for mana remains popular to this day. From what I can gather, the changes in Season 4 meant that Ezreal could no longer do as much with AP items and AOE damage, and so became more purely focused as an ADC. He still plays like a mage though, and mana is still important to him.)

***

Since his item build would revolve around a ‘Tear of the Goddess’, Luocheng began to poke his enemies more frequently, while not really trying for an actual champion kill.

A lot of people couldn’t do well with a mana-focused Ezreal, mainly because they kept trying too hard to get kills—one of the cardinal sins in ‘League of Legends’.

Going for this kind of equipment made it especially necessary to have a precise understanding of your own damage potential. Rushing into a fight without absolute certainty that you could get a kill, against an opponent with DPS far superior to your own… although initially it might seem like you have the advantage in health, in the blink of an eye, you’ve given the enemy a Double Kill instead.

Focus on farming. Poke and harass as the opportunity presents itself. If the enemy presses for a fight, fall back immediately. If you’re building Ezreal for mana, but you can’t bear to play like a coward during the early game, then you can forget about becoming an all-powerful, one-versus-many Superman during the late game.

***

The true masters are able not only to adapt their build to the circumstances, but also to mold their tactics to fit their teammates’ builds.

Seeing that Ezreal had gotten himself a ‘Tear of the Goddess’, Jarvan understood that he basically wouldn’t be needed to gank the Bottom lane anymore.

This wasn’t because they couldn’t get anything done in a 3v2 situation, but if the Bottom lane was always in turmoil and danger, it would be difficult to charge up the ‘Tear of the Goddess’, and that would severely cripple Ezreal. Most importantly, going down there would likely result in another counter-gank, which could be devastating for their side.

The Jungler set the pace of the whole game. From this point forward, Jarvan would be bringing the action to the Top lane, Middle lane, and jungle. In this way, he could afford Ezreal some peace and quiet to farm as much as he needed to, until the promise of this particular item build could come to fruition.

On the opponents’ side, Lee Sin had quietly arrived at the same conclusion as Jarvan: Their Vayne had to be allowed to grow, as well. If Jarvan could keep his unwelcome protrusions away from the Bottom lane, then Lee Sin would also spare them his blind fumbling. For now, there would only be two lanes in the Summoner’s Rift for either of them, and the Dragons would only be sought out with the utmost of caution.

***

And so, in the wake of that 5v5 team fight at the sixth minute, tranquility descended over the Bottom lane.

There were a number of tense moments, but Luocheng always fled from them without reservation, holding himself firmly to these words: He could become any man the situation required!

And so, peace held in the Bottom lane, despite the occasional tremor. Meanwhile, in the other lanes, their teammates were battling like cats and dogs.

System announcements kept ringing out non-stop, announcing one kill after another!

And yet, it was as though there was an unspoken agreement between both sides, down in the Bottom lane. No matter how vicious the fighting was elsewhere, no matter how loudly the cries of battle and agony echoed through the Summoner’s Rift, it was as though all that was happening in another world.

It was as though Ezreal and Vayne were seated across from each other at a café table. Perhaps Ezreal might be sipping calmly from a cup of hot tea, making such comments as, “Aha, not bad! You’ve got 170 CS now—you’ve almost caught up to my own 173!”

(Translator’s Note: If they’ve reached 170 CS just by farming in the Bottom lane, this game has been going on for a really long time…)

Meanwhile, the sounds of battle happening elsewhere continue to drone on in the background, the fresh lifeblood of champions sometimes splattering across the stone walls lining the Bottom lane.

And then Vayne might take a sip from her own cup, glance with disinterest at the bloodstains nearby, and remark, “Mm, this tea is… truly delightful.”

If their teammates had been any less understanding, the sight of them just minding their own business down in the Bottom lane might already have caused some to leave the game in a huff!

Charlene herself had yet to reach such heights of strategic wisdom, so the whole thing looked profoundly absurd to her. The first six minutes had been filled with violence and ferocity. The fourteen minutes after that had been comparatively serene, almost courteous.

To be playing a mere game with such strict discipline and forethought, they’d made it into something else entirely!

Charlene was still a player of modest ability, so she only saw what was happening on the surface.

To Xiao Bei and Lin Dong, however, this was the weird calm before what promised to be a cataclysmic storm!

Indeed, the longer this seeming tranquility dragged on, the more brutal the inevitable clash would be!

In truth, the duel had been going on this whole time, neither opponent ever once stopping to take a break!

After all the havoc at the start of the game, they’d both realized that they were evenly matched against one another, neither one able to come out ahead right away. As such, they were both working instead to build up as much power as possible, for when the team fights later would decide everything!

The first battle had already passed.

The second battle was now ending.

Now, the curtains were rising on the third battle. Both Lin Dong and Xiao Bei could already smell the acrid smoke, hear the desperate chaos of mortal combat!