Worlds Season 6
Game 4
Champion Select
Game 4 begins!
At the bottom of the giant screen, the score PNG 2:1 UG was displayed in bold. Above it, the familiar draft interface appeared once more, neatly symmetrical—red and blue, left and right.
The audience couldn't help swallowing nervously as they stared at the small squares reserved for champion portraits in the ban-pick phase. For now, they were still empty.
Soon, PNG's team name lit up. A crystalline pale-blue animation circled around their draft slots—
This meant PNG were on blue side and could begin the first ban phase!
"It's here!!"
Chao Mi clenched his fists and shouted at the top of his lungs: "—It's starting!!"
PNG Ban — [Rune Arcanist]
"UG, the losers of the previous game, chose red side. That means PNG get first ban and first pick in Game 4!" Seeing PNG's opening ban, Qing Ci immediately yelled "Good!" three times in a row.
His booming voice echoed through the venue. "First-ban Rune Arcanist—absolutely no problem! One of False's signature champions, he delivered some astonishing performances with it in the semifinals. PNG haven't let him have it a single time throughout this finals series. Very wise decision!"
Rune Arcanist's ultimate, [R - Arcane Transfer], could teleport all allied champions and minions within a designated area—including himself—to a chosen location. It was essentially a team-wide teleport with an absurdly short cooldown!
In the hands of any team skilled at macro play, this champion wasn't merely strong. It was downright broken.
So seeing Rune Arcanist banned first eased Qing Ci's anxiety by perhaps a millimeter. It proved that PNG—and Chen Chen in particular—still had a clear head. They weren't letting the pressure of a potentially decisive game throw them into chaos from the very start.
"Exactly. Right now PNG just need to play it safe and steady. Don't gamble on unfamiliar champions! Anything capable of creating miracles—ban it all!" Chao Mi nodded repeatedly before adding viciously, "With Rune Arcanist gone, I'm not worried about mid anymore. I think PNG should keep applying pressure to both side lanes."
UG Ban — [Specter of Shadow]
UG immediately removed Fan’en as well. The champion had proven far too troublesome for them, making it impossible to leave open again.
PNG Ban — [Shadow Hawk]
"That's a very rational ban," Da Ju analyzed. "Both Key and Erllit are excellent Shadow Hawk players. But PNG's support priority isn't especially high—they prefer saving Erllit's pick for later so he can counter-pick. By the second ban phase, there's a good chance Shadow Hawk won't be available anymore, so banning it now makes perfect sense."
Qing Ci agreed completely. "Exactly. Key's Shadow Hawk has a ninety percent win rate at Worlds. He's only lost a single game with it. You could practically say that if he gets the champion, he wins."
"I think PNG need to pay attention to two people: first False, and second Key. You can't give Key too much room to operate. His understanding of the support role is on another level."
The commentators could see these things, and naturally Coach Yoonsoo could as well. PNG's first two bans were entirely within his expectations. The real turning point of the draft would be UG's second ban.
"Ban this one?"
Park Se-woo clicked on the portrait of Little Traveler and confirmed once more with his teammates and coaches over voice comms. "Should I lock it in?"
Kim Seok-chan nodded. "Little Traveler. Ban it. Erllit can play it."
"That team-wide invulnerability from [R - Fate Reversal] counters us too hard," Choi Hyun-woo added. "Can't leave it up."
"OK."
Park Se-woo pressed confirm.
UG Ban — [Little Traveler]
The chubby little deity's portrait appeared in the ban slot. The entire arena fell silent for a second. Then both the audience and the commentator’s desk erupted into confused discussion.
"...Huh?!"
Chao Mi froze, rubbing his eyes repeatedly to make sure he wasn't seeing things. "—What's going on?! Little Traveler?!"
"Why Little Traveler? Wh-what is this draft? I don't understand UG's angle at all!"
Even Qing Ci stammered unprofessionally as he hurriedly tried to make sense of it. "Back in the group stage, Tio also randomly banned Little Traveler against PNG once! So is this some special Korean coaching philosophy? Or do they have insider information that Erllit's been secretly practicing the champion recently?!"
Everyone knew Little Traveler had been reworked. Its ultimate, Fate Reversal, looked incredibly powerful. But— How many professional games had the reworked version even appeared in?
The champion had changed, but which team compositions he fit into and which champions he countered were still largely unknown to Qing Ci and the audience.
Qing Ci even flipped through his notes and confirmed: PNG's pick count for Little Traveler throughout Worlds was zero.
Zero appearances!
What had this chubby little immortal done to surpass a whole lineup of established meta champions and earn a first-phase ban in the World Finals?
The two commentators were completely baffled. Only Da Ju's expression grew serious as he sensed something unusual. "Right now, all of us coaches generally agree on one thing: Little Traveler is an extremely powerful counter to the Soulreaper King composition."
He emphasized every word. "Which makes UG's ban very interesting! This ban is basically a public declaration to PNG. I want to play the Soulreaper King composition. Not just the Soulreaper King by himself—the entire composition. I'm on red side, and I'm planning to take two pieces of it."
Chao Mi scratched his head furiously, disbelief written all over his face. "But is that even possible? PNG aren't stupid. They'll definitely see through something that obvious, right?"
"Right, PNG will definitely see through it," Da Ju nodded. Then he changed tack. "But so what? This Little Traveler is—"
"—bait."
Behind the player booths, Chen Chen took a deep breath and repeated the word. "Little Traveler is bait."
And not even subtle bait at that.
PNG were on blue side. If they took one powerful champion, they would have to give the opponent two powerful champions in return. Under those circumstances, Chen Chen had to consider which champion offered the highest value and the greatest chance of winning the game.
Certainly, they could first-pick a core mid laner from the Soulreaper King composition.
But PNG only had a single pick. If they grabbed Soulreaper King first, they would once again end up in the same situation as before—watching the opponent dismantle the rest of their composition piece by piece.
Chen Chen was certain that if he didn't take the bait and instead used the third ban on another mid laner or a composition piece like Shadow of Vengeance, UG would immediately respond in kind.
"Rune Arcanist is gone. We'll take Soulreaper King plus Shadow of Vengeance for hard engage."
Yoonsoo pulled the microphone closer and said, "We'll stick to the plan. Three or four sources of crowd control, play for the mid-to-late game, don't force things too hard early. Once teamfights start, we'll be unbeatable."
"Got it, Coach."
"OK, OK. Watch me cook—"
"But what if they ban Shadow of Vengeance and steal Soulreaper King?" Ahn Seung-soo thought it over and still sounded uneasy. "I don't think I have a jungler that matches up particularly well into him."
Yoonsoo smiled. "They won't."
Ahn Seung-soo looked up in surprise.
"I've dangled such an enormous bait in front of them. Do you think PNG can resist? Do you think Moonfire(Yue Huo) can resist?"
Yoonsoo patted the fluffy-haired jungler on the head. His gaze swept across the players before landing on Choi Hyun-woo. With a trace of emotion, he said, "They won't. Because if it were me, if someone used Rune Arcanist as bait against me, I'd bite the hook willingly too."
He continued, "We're already standing on the edge of a cliff. The losses in the first two games proved some of our previous strategies were wrong. If we want to win, we have to secure the strongest, most suitable composition available. Soulreaper King plus Shadow of Vengeance is the strongest engage composition in the current patch. Nothing else comes close."
"We're on red side. Getting both of them isn't impossible. We just need to pay a small price."
Give up one pick. Get two perfect champions.
Yoonsoo phrased it politely, but every player understood what he meant.
After a long pause, he spoke in a wistful yet encouraging tone. "...Come on, boys. Don't be afraid. You're UG—the champions who never give up! We've come back from two-game deficits countless times before. And today will be no different."
If Yoonsoo wanted multiple key pieces of the Soulreaper King composition, he had only two options.
Either drag PNG's mid laner off the stage chair and out of the arena… Or hire a few assassins to eliminate Sui Ning in front of the entire world. Otherwise, the only remaining choice was to offer PNG a piece of bait they simply couldn't refuse and make them willingly accept the draft trade.
Yoonsoo exhaled slowly.
Drafting was a transaction. And UG was about to place a massive bet.
Not only did he understand it. His players understood it too. Behind the Little Traveler bait, everyone knew what the true piece being traded to PNG actually was.
Stellar Sprite - Aeria.
UG's intentions were practically written in plain sight: We're drafting Soulreaper King + Shadow of Vengeance engage. We're playing explosive AoE teamfights. That's why we're banning Little Traveler, the champion whose team-wide invulnerability hard-counters us.
At the same time, they were sending a second message. If PNG followed the logic, UG's next ban would be Astromancer Prophet—a minor counter thanks to its revival and disengage tools. And in return, PNG would receive a champion they desperately wanted.
A classic case of: "You take yours, we'll take ours."
Would PNG agree?
Yoonsoo tapped his notebook and rallied the team. "Last game already proved that the Aeria composition isn't unbeatable." "Get your heads in the game! Let's force a Game Five!!"
"OHHHH—!!"
The entire team roared in unison.
Synergy. Mechanics. Patience. Perseverance.
Yoonsoo believed his players would overcome their opponents through sheer professional excellence. And because of that, a composition that demanded exceptional teamwork would allow the team and the draft to elevate one another.
Just a small price, Yoonsoo thought. UG's teamwork can make up that tiny gap.
At the same moment.
On the other side of the stage, PNG made their decision with only one second left on the countdown.
PNG Ban — [Explore]
Unable to resist the temptation Yoonsoo had offered, Chen Chen chose to ban Explorer, the marksman that fit the Soulreaper King composition best.
The trade was accepted.
Yoonsoo immediately instructed Park Se-woo to continue according to plan.
UG Ban — [Astromancer Prophet]
Once again, they applied pressure to the support pool for reasons that seemed completely inexplicable, as though the league had suddenly reverted back to the regular season.
With that, all three bans from both sides were locked in.
The moment Astromancer Prophet's portrait turned gray, PNG fans around the world watching the match...
For a moment, PNG fans' brains short-circuited.
...Did I see that wrong?
[...]
[...?????]
[Holy shit???]
[...Huh?????]
"...Huh?"
Chao Mi instinctively covered his forehead, grabbed his oxygen canister from the desk, and took several deep breaths. Am I hallucinating from a lack of oxygen??
"I didn't see that wrong, did I?" Qing Ci muttered. His expression gradually shifted from refined and gentlemanly to downright ferocious as his voice suddenly shot up several octaves. "—I DIDN'T SEE THAT WRONG, DID I?!"
Da Ju was completely stunned. He hadn't expected UG to be this bold—to stake everything on a single gamble in the World Finals.
But then again, after a second thought, what other choice did UG have? They were down at match point. If they weren't going all in now, when would they?
With Rune Arcanist banned, Soulreaper King King was their best possible answer.
"Holy shit!!"
The young man sitting beside Madam Sui was the first to react. He practically launched himself three feet into the air from his seat, face flushed bright red as he swore excitedly. "Holy shit! Holy shit!!"
He wrapped the team flag around himself and vented his disbelief with a barrage of wild punches thrown into empty air.
Madam Sui jumped in surprise and looked at the crazed young man.
She still hadn't fully understood what was happening. Even after Coach Da Ju's explanation, most of the draft mind games had gone over her head.
When UG's third ban appeared, she had still been desperately trying to remember what players using Astromancer Prophet had done in previous matches.
Yet all around her, people had suddenly entered a state of collective frenzy. Everyone was screaming "Holy shit" without stopping.
Fans in the rows behind her climbed onto their seats and began furiously waving PNG flags.
It was as if they had lost the ability to speak. All they could do was shout. "AHHHHHHH!" To drown out the pounding of their hearts. To release their overwhelming excitement in the most primal way possible.
Under the gaze of billions of viewers, blue-side PNG instantly locked in their first pick.
PNG Pick — [Stellar Sprite]
Locked.
The entire arena fell silent for a brief second.
Then— From the spectator sections furthest from the stage all the way to the VIP seats—
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH—!!!!"
"Holy shit, holy shit!! They actually got her?!"
"PNG! PNG! PNG—!!"
"Fuck, I'm gonna cry—!"
"Winnnnnd—!! Winnnnnd!"
A tsunami of roaring voices surged forward from behind Madam Sui. The deafening cheers battered her eardrums until they physically ached.
And that was only the beginning. The boiling emotions of the crowd spread like wildfire. Within less than half a second, the air around her seemed to heat up.
"God damn it!" someone shouted while viciously wiping away tears. "1826—make it come true for me!"
Everyone had gone mad with excitement. Laughing and crying at the same time. The dim arena lights illuminated tear-filled eyes and expressions overflowing with ecstasy.
The young man who had reacted first had actually collapsed onto the floor, crying so hard he could barely breathe. Even Madam Sui's heartbeat accelerated involuntarily. Goosebumps rose all over her body.
She was thrilled. And terrified.
Soon, the crowd's chants merged into one unified voice.
"Wind!"
"Wind!"
"Wind!"
Madam Sui instinctively looked up. On the left side of the giant screen, a meteor streaked across the display. A familiar face appeared in the champion selection box.
A little girl with blue hair.
She recognized her. Aeria. Her son's best champion. Every fan said the same thing: Aeria was PNG's guardian spirit. As long as PNG got this champion, they could win.
Madam Sui looked toward the center of the screen.
The camera had zoomed in on Sui Ning's face. His beautiful eyes were filled with confidence. Filled with passion. Filled with countless stars.
The moment he locked in Aeria, a faint smile curved at the corner of his lips.
And before she realized it, Madam Sui was smiling too.
"...Uncle, Auntie." Xu Hexuan, crying so hard that tears and snot covered his face, handed them several tissues. Sniffling, he said, "Here... wipe your faces."
Madam Sui froze. Only then did she realize that tears had already streamed down her own cheeks.
And at that moment, every assumption she had previously made was overturned.
Yes, this was the World Championship Final. But the match wasn't everything. She had always wanted to leave her son a way out. She had even prepared comforting words in advance, thinking about what she would say if he lost and came away heartbroken.
But now— Seeing the light in Sui Ning's eyes during this deciding game— Madam Sui suddenly realized how powerless and hollow all those prepared words were.
...I don't want him to lose. Absolutely not.
For the first time, she thought stubbornly: Perhaps my role in the future is simply this. To protect the light in his eyes. And never let it go out.
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