"Then why do we even need red side? Wouldn't blue be better?" Abe raised an eyebrow, clearly intrigued by Zack Harper's so-called "little trick."
"On red side, we get to pick our mid and bot carries first," Zack Harper replied without missing a beat, his confidence radiating through every word. "If they lock in an enchanter support, we grab Leona. If not, we can flex to Ivern. But if we first-pick Ivern, they'll definitely slam Caitlyn."
He leaned forward slightly, voice steady and deliberate.
"Ivern can plant bushes for Tristana in the late game, then build Ardent Censer to shield her. As long as we successfully drag this thing out to late game, we're guaranteed to win."
Ivern and Caitlyn were a classic combo—traps placed in bushes prevented engages and doubled Caitlyn's passive stacking speed. But Tristana and Ivern worked just as well together, and in the current enchanter support meta, the synergy was borderline disgusting.
Sure, the Ardent Censer strategy wouldn't fully explode onto the scene until the S7 World Championship later this year.
But in reality, Riot had already buffed Ardent Censer right before the Spring Split playoffs began. And in every patch update since then, they hadn't touched the item once. The only reason the strategy hadn't been fully discovered yet was because teams were still figuring out how to optimize it around jungle and support.
Abe wasn't EDG's official head coach, but he'd been coaching for years. He understood exactly what Zack was getting at. He picked up his water bottle, took a slow sip, and asked with genuine curiosity, "So what are you planning to pick for the counter?"
"Kalista," Zack Harper said flatly, finally revealing his hand.
"Pfft—"
Abe choked mid-sip and spat water everywhere.
Everyone else in the room just stared at Zack like he'd grown a second head.
Giant question marks practically floated over their heads.
They all had the same thought running through their minds.
Is this guy out of his mind?
This wasn't some future meta where ADCs casually flexed into top lane. Right now, top lane was still dominated by two giant tanks beating the hell out of each other. You had old Pantheon—the ADC's worst nightmare—and the holy trinity of top lane gods: Poppy, Maokai, and Nautilus. In the current patch, none of them were scared of a ranged carry in top.
"If they pick Fizz, we use this strategy," Zack continued before Abe could object, cutting straight to the point. "If they pick a big tank top, then I'll just lock in Jax, Gnar, Jayce, Fiora, or even Gangplank."
In the current patch, Fizz had just received a buff. But the champion wasn't great mid lane anymore—he was way better suited to bullying tanks in top lane, kind of like how top Ekko had worked before.
"How confident are you?" Abe stared at him for a long moment, clearly weighing whether this was genius or suicide. He finally asked, "The guy you're facing top is no joke either."
"Letme, right? Yeah, I know." Zack's lips curled into a smile that was almost too polite, his dark eyes gleaming with something sharp and focused. "I'm gonna slaughter him like a pig."
You little smartass.
Clearlove shot Zack a death glare from across the room.
Abe, meanwhile, looked stunned. He turned to Clearlove, his expression deadly serious. "Are you sure you want to run top-jungle synergy with him? You two have never even practiced this."
"Let's try it. Maybe we catch them completely off guard," Clearlove said with a shrug. "On Korean solo queue, we just roll people."
"Alright." Abe gave a firm nod. "Then let's try it."
Meiko felt his head start to itch, like something was growing out of his scalp.
Zet, the ADC, looked equally lost.
What the hell is even happening right now?
Scout, on the other hand, had a small smile on his face.
Compared to Rory, he much preferred having Clearlove in the jungle. Rory had too many ideas of his own, always trying to force his own plays. Clearlove, though? He knew how to enable his carries. With Clearlove on the map, Scout knew he'd have way more breathing room.
Sure, he and Clearlove butted heads sometimes. But no matter how the game went, Clearlove's jungling always resulted in his lanes getting fed—just with different routes to get there.
Nofe, who had been about to say something, got pulled aside by Abe and came back looking completely bewildered.
When he returned to the room, Nofe looked at Zack Harper with a new kind of seriousness in his eyes.
This benchwarmer, this so-called "God of the Water Dispenser" who'd sat on the sidelines all Spring Split, had apparently been waiting for his moment. And today, he'd finally made his move.
EDG, backed into a corner by RNG, had no choice but to roll the dice on this gamble—even though they could see the risk clear as day.
If they didn't take the chance, they'd just fall off the cliff anyway.
Rory's expression was sour as hell. He was fuming, thinking it was obviously the mid laner's fault, so why the hell was he the one getting benched ?
Luke, the top laner, was the most miserable of all.
This round was clearly a mid-jungle communication issue, so why was he the one getting subbed out ?
Damn it.
Taking the L while lying flat on his back.
What garbage luck.
After a quick discussion, everyone headed out to take their positions at the player stations.
Since Zack Harper was a substitute making his stage debut, there was no flashy player intro for him. He just walked straight to the desk and started setting up his gear.
As Zack adjusted his keyboard and mouse, the caster's voice boomed through the arena:
"Alright folks, we've got some breaking news here. EDG has actively chosen red side for this game, and they've also made roster changes to their top-jungle duo. Coming into the game, we have Clearlove7 in the jungle, and making his debut in the top lane—Havoc!"
A massive wave of cheers erupted from the crowd.
"CLEARLOVE! CLEARLOVE! CLEARLOVE!"
The entire stadium chanted his name in unison.
The chat in the official livestream absolutely exploded.
"7777777!!!"
"The Battle of Pig and Dog—how can you have it without the Pig? Just the Dog?"
"The Pig is finally here, now we can actually watch some League."
"If Clearlove had started from game one, he would've sent Royal fans home 3-0."
"???????"
"66666666!"
All eyes were locked on Clearlove.
As for Zack Harper, the rookie? He might as well have been invisible.
"I'm really curious if Clearlove can help EDG turn this around," Miller said with a chuckle. "After all, Clearlove's given us plenty of iconic moments over the years."
"Absolutely. Clearlove's pathing and jungle tracking always feel a step ahead," Walker, the other commentator, nodded enthusiastically. "His game sense is just on another level."
"Alright, we're entering the draft screen—both sides starting their bans!" Walker's voice picked up with excitement. "EDG actively chose red side this game. I wonder what kind of strategy they're hiding up their sleeves. Hopefully EDG can push back and drag this series to game five so we can all enjoy some peak League of Legends."
"First round of bans is done for both sides."
"RNG on blue side has banned LeBlanc, Gragas, and Jarvan IV. Looks like they're really targeting Clearlove specifically," Walker continued. "EDG, on the other hand, banned Ashe, Elise, and Rengar."
"Should RNG just lock in Fizz again?" Walker mused aloud. "The draft from both sides hasn't changed much from last game. RNG could totally just run it back."
"I think they should. No reason not to," Miller replied. And just as the words left his mouth, RNG instantly locked in Fizz. "Haha, there it is."
"RNG won the last game with it, so it makes zero sense to let the other team have it," Miller added, shaking his head slightly. "Now let's see what EDG's rookie is going to pull out as a counter."
Watching RNG lock in Fizz again without hesitation, Zack Harper shook his head slightly.
RNG's current coach was the infamous Firefox—the guy who would let Galio through five times at the S7 World Championship. The same coach who locked in Brand at the S5 Worlds and got absolutely forged into meme status.
And somehow, this guy was still considered one of the highest-level coaches in the entire league right now.
That alone should tell you how mediocre the rest of the coaching staffs were.
Zack Harper, who had traveled back from the S14 World Championship, had a level of game understanding that was straight-up a dimensional gap compared to current pros.
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