Chapter 16

What About Bot Lane?

Sep 14, 25League of Legends: The Legend Returns

"Winning the championship, huh—"

Hearing Jiang Ran's sudden question, Lin Xiao stroked his chin: "Hmm, then his 'God-tier' position can probably be confirmed."

Dian Dong Ci Li Bang continued: "Hmm, if the SD Team can win this World Championship, his 'God-tier' position is definitely secured—think about it, being able to win the World Championship means their SD Team has defeated and eliminated all other top-tier strong teams and top-tier players."

Qiao Xin Yu smiled: "So, in this World Championship final, the number 1, 2, 3, and 4 teams are all definitely going all out for the championship."

After a few simple remarks, the conversation once again returned to the selection of God-tier positions for other roles in the Pantheon.

"As for top lane... The 'God-tier' position will probably be really difficult to determine." Dian Dong Ci Li Bang mused: "After all, in the current world professional scene, there doesn't seem to be anyone who can consistently play with a dominant style in the top lane—"

Lin Xiao offered his judgment: "So, it's not necessarily true that top lane must have a 'God-tier' selection slot. There's no rule that every position must have two or three 'God-tier' players selected."

Indeed, if a position clearly lacks a particularly representative top-tier God-tier figure, and then they are forced to pick a few people just to fill the quota, that wouldn't be practical.

However, even if there are no God-tier players, several "half-step God-tier" top laners can still be identified.

"North America's number one top laner, Ason."

Dian Dong Ci Li Bang first offered his selection, starting with the easier choices.

Qiao Xin Yu continued: "On the South Korean side, NJ Se's Al, NJ Wolf's Wolf, and the three top laners from Tolk Team are all qualified."

Regarding the situation on the Korean server, the young girl who had previously battled on the Korean server ladder was clearly more familiar and had more authority to speak.

"Europe's KS Team's top laner f Redy and MST Team's dy Meat S."

Lin Xiao also named a few top-tier European top laners. After all, as a team captain, even though he hadn't yet reached the professional military, it didn't stop him from having long since begun studying the professional teams of major servers.

"For the National Server, it's Kang Qiao Qing Ge!"

Tu Dou enthusiastically nominated a player.

Lin Xiao calmly ignored his classmate Tu Dou's enthusiastic nomination, offering his assessment: "For the National Server, if we want to pick someone, Jian Ren Ni is probably entirely deserving—at most, others' strength might touch the threshold of half-step God-tier, but considering their achievements and other factors, they are 80-90% unlikely to cross that threshold."

...

So, here was the list of "half-step God-tier" players.

Although it was just a casual list put together by a few members of the Back Team, it already revealed many issues.

Koreans, North Americans, Europeans, National Server players.

The National Server and North America were tied for second to last.

Of course, this top lane position in the National Server, aside from Dao Jian Chu Ji Ni Tian who just entered this season, indeed hasn't seen any particularly outstanding players emerge—

But such results still made people feel extremely helpless and unacceptable.

A dignified National Server, with tens of millions of League of Legends players, in terms of player count alone, could even be said to surpass the total number of players in European, Korean, and other servers combined. Yet in this kind of Pantheon selection, on such a list of world-class top players, few could make their way onto it.

It was truly embarrassing to mention.

"To compete with world-class opponents, the National Server still has a very long way to go—"

Dian Dong Ci Li Bang began to sigh with emotion again.

But Jiang Ran posed his second question:

"What about jungle?"

Regarding this area of knowledge, Jiang Ran, usually quiet and reserved, clearly showed immense thirst for knowledge.

This was because as his strength improved, he genuinely began to yearn for higher realms.

Pantheon.

Half-step God-tier.

God-tier.

Each word, for any professional player aspiring to become a top-tier player, symbolized an unparalleled allure.

Lin Xiao, as an experienced person, could understand Jiang Ran's mindset, so he cheerfully continued to analyze:

"Jungle, huh—"

"Jungle should be a bit easier to determine than solo lanes."

"NJ Se AL's Kaos can probably be said to be the jungler closest to 'God-tier'."

"In terms of numbers, NJ Wolf's jungler, NJ Se AL's brother team, isn't bad either, but compared to Kaos, he's still a bit lacking—hmm, if I had to rate him, he's a solid half-step God-tier."

Lin Xiao analyzed unhurriedly, then was interrupted by Tu Dou's protest:

"I haven't heard of any of them! Wielding Scythe, tell us about the National Server players!"

Dian Dong Ci Li Bang rolled his eyes: "You don't even know how many National Server players there are..."

Tu Dou righteously declared: "I still know Kang Qiao Qing Ge!"

Dian Dong Ci Li Bang: "..."

Sure enough, he accidentally forgot again. One cannot be too enthusiastic when chatting with a naive classmate like Tu Dou...

...

"The National Server, actually, the jungle role is also very weak."

Lin Xiao offered his assessment without any politeness.

Dian Dong Ci Li Bang smacked his lips, expressing full empathy and agreement: "Hmm, that's right. National Server junglers might perform decently in the LPL, but once they reach world-class competitions, they all become timid—each one more timid than the last—all afraid of making mistakes and taking the blame. Damn it, with such a timid and fearful mindset, how can they compare with other world-class top-tier junglers?"

His last sentence was quite harsh.

But what he said was absolutely true.

Tu Dou, however, suddenly asked curiously: "What level is Lao Tuo? Can he be considered for the Pantheon?"

This was quite an insightful question.

Dian Dong Ci Li Bang coughed, feigning modesty: "Ai, Tu Dou, it's not appropriate for you to ask this kind of question. But putting that aside, in the previous season, among the National Server's professional junglers, I was at least ranked among the top tier—"

Lin Xiao nodded: "Hmm, you won't be as good now."

Dian Dong Ci Li Bang choked.

Qiao Xin Yu interjected with a smile: "Dian Dong Ci Li Bang, at his peak, could only approach the very edge of the 'half-step God-tier' threshold."

Dian Dong Ci Li Bang's mouth twitched, jabbed by the young girl: "Xiao Yu, your words aren't comforting at all, you know..."

Tu Dou summarized: "So it's because Lao Tuo is old."

Dian Dong Ci Li Bang was furious: "Old, my foot! This old man is in his prime right now, alright!"

However, his momentum immediately weakened, and he sighed: "Ai, but in this current state, I really can't compare to two years ago—"

Before Dian Dong Ci Li Bang could continue to sigh mournfully for himself, Jiang Ran asked one last question: