AD Carry is the most controversial position in Season 7. It’s almost impossible for a League fan to avoid the #ADCin2017 meme. Some feel ADCs are irrelevant, their agency taken by tanks that can beat them one-on-one and assassins that can one-shot them. Others look at the crazy late-game damage and wonder why the whining continues.
No matter where you stand on the debate, rest assured that high-level ADC play does exist. You may need to go to Korea—or tune in at an ungodly hour—to get it. Just a couple of days ago, ADCs Bae “Bang” Jun-sik of SK Telecom T1 and Kim “Pray” Jong-in of Longzhu Gaming put on an absolute show over a three-game series. It was so much fun that we put together a list of highlights to remind you how great the ADC position can be.
So who won the battle between these two bot lane giants? Honestly, it’s you, the fans.
Bang and Co. with the skill shots
We’ll get to the one-on-one and two-on-two plays later, but even the best ADCs can use some help. SKT jungler Yoon “Peanut” Wang-ho set up his ADC for the kill with a clutch rappel-cocoon combo. Elise is kind of a marksman, right?
Pray finds his mark
Pray got some help too. This time, it was mid laner Song “Fly” Young-jin arriving right on time to take out SKT star Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok. It didn’t even matter that Faker cleansed the Ashe ult—Ryze was right there for the kill. Pray got three consecutive games on Ashe—he is probably the best Ashe player in the world—and delivered with deadly accuracy all series long.
Bang with the ballsy shifts
If any player/champion combination can challenge Pray’s Ashe, it’s Bang’s Ezreal. We’re so glad that he and Lucian are creeping back into the meta because seeing Bang on high-mobility champs is too good. Sometimes in the middle of games, when SKT needs a spark, Bang will take it upon himself to front line. In this play, Bang burned Flash on Kang “GorillA” Beom-hyeon and Heal on Pray by Arcane Shifting into the enemy team. We don’t recommend this in solo queue.
Bang does not care
Bang does not care for your Redemption or your turret, he will throw the kitchen sink at you and take a turret, dammit. We definitely don’t recommend this in solo queue.
Pray flashes for the kills
It looked like Pray was stuck in a tough spot, trying to hide innocuously behind the Baron. But cornering someone like Pray is extremely dangerous. When his moment came, he struck like lightning, securing first the Baron and then the win for Longzhu by cleaning up SKT in the teamfight. He took Peanut down, flashed onto Wolf for a double kill, before turning onto Huni.
Bang using map hacks
How do you explain this play? Bang is either using map hacks or he is telepathic. Longzhu jungler Lee “Crash” Dong-woo specifically swept the river bush to make sure he could surprise Bang on a gank. But he could only watch helplessly as Bang dashed out of Ashe’s range and then unleashed a culling right to her face as Pray’s arrow narrowly missed Wolf. Welcome back to the meta, Lucian!
Bang teaches how to trade on Lucian
This guy is out for blood. Bang knows Lucian is supposed to play an aggressive lane and delivered, grabbing Pray’s heal using only a few abilities and his BOTRK active. Knowing when (Ashe arrow was on cooldown) and how to do this is key to playing ADC.
Pray and GorillA dash and dive
They got a little help from Fly, but this is still a sick play. Pray somehow avoided all of Wolf’s Nami abilities, GorillA charged to the front line, and with three members, Longzhu cleaned up.
Pray vs. Bang, mano a mano
You don’t get one-on-ones much from ADCs, who are usually babysat by their support, if not the entire team. But we got one from Bang and Pray and they proved that they are nearly exact equals in skill. Both walked away near death after burning a bunch of abilities. Send both of these guys to the All Star Event, please!
Trading ults in lane
Pray and GorillA win this trade, but there is so much happening. The ADCs and supports are playing at an incredible level, complementing and reacting to each other as well as their opponents. Where are the supports like this in Bronze?
Pray 2v2 kill
GorillA set up his ADC perfectly for this kill, front-lining on Lulu and polymorphing Bang at just the right moment for Pray to get the kill. Even when Faker and Peanut come down to help, these two keep throwing out ridiculous damage. They are carrying the entire team at this point.
Bang gets the last laugh
In a desperate situation, Longzhu went all-in to kill Faker before help arrived. But Faker survived long enough for Bang to charge in and turn the fight. He brutally deleted Ashe from the map and then helped SKT clean up the Ace.
What a series. Bang and Pray won’t meet again in the regular season, but we can always hope to see them face off in a best-of-five come playoff time.
