Chapter 106

If not considering the enemy top laner's champion pool, G2 would actually have given their third ban to Kennen or Jesse, but perhaps because their understanding was too ahead of its time, now across all global regions, few top laners play Kennen or Jesse.

From a hindsight perspective, looking at all global regional teams during the playoffs, their research and understanding of patch 6.15 were very shallow, and this conclusion became very evident in the subsequent World Championship; teams that still used playoff lineups and tactics in S6 were all eliminated early without exception.

Unfortunately, no one could have hindsight at the moment.

Except Liang Yan.

Therefore, an objective fact is that G2's understanding of patch 6.15 was indeed ahead of the global meta by several patches.

It's no wonder the commentators didn't understand.

Moreover, G2 went on a trip before the match, so some sarcastic remarks were inevitable.

In UOL, they gave their last ban to the mid-year reworked and renamed "Shield of Valoran" gem (originally Gem Knight·Taric).

Since the gem's rework, it hasn't received any buffs—on the contrary, it's been nerfed—but suddenly became popular in this patch because everyone thought its ultimate providing team-wide invulnerability suited this fast-paced patch for counterplay, especially fitting for late-game carries like Wheel Mom or Captain, these big-core champions.

Next, both sides entered the pick phase.

G2 instantly locked in Syndra.

Seeing this, Unicorn team founder and coach Sheepy froze immediately.

Unicorn founder Sheepy

He had almost forgotten that League of Legends still had this champion Syndra, and G2 suddenly locking it in made his heart skip a beat, giving him an inexplicable premonition that something bad was coming.

Unable to figure out what G2 was selling in their gourd, Sheepy thought it over repeatedly and finally decided to give the top laner the patch's poster child, Captain, without hesitation.

Under his direction, Move on the second floor also locked in his own Kai'Sa.

Currently, there aren't many viable junglers; suddenly popular picks like Jiu Tong and horse-like champions, Move isn't proficient enough with them to dare use, but he plays Kai'Sa well, so Sheepy decided to build a composition around Kai'Sa as the anchor.

But what should mid lane pick against Syndra?

During G2's pick time, Sheepy kept thinking about this problem and maintained communication with his mid laner Exileh.

G2 daring to first pick Syndra naturally shows great confidence in it; although this champion is niche in the current season, her lane dominance is undeniable, and furthermore, AP, the new European mage king, is here—no European mid laner would dare face him without feeling three parts of dread.

Exileh, the new mid laner who just officially entered the top league this season, needless to say, also confessed to his coach that he lacks confidence in holding the lane with any standard mid laner champion of any version.

Sheepy then asked him:

"What can you pick to hold the lane?"

After a moment's hesitation, Exileh gave his answer:

"Lak Si."

At this moment, G2's second and third floor picks were locked in: they took jungler Rek'Sai and top laner Jesse, which look fairly conventional.

Both these champions are burst assassins; picking Lak Si would mean walking straight into the enemy's gun barrel—no matter how you look at it, it's not a wise choice.

But Sheepy had no alternative.

If you can't hold the lane, everything is just talk.

Sheepy gritted his teeth and decided to do something wild! He clenched his jaw and promised Exileh:

"Alright, you take Lak Si!"

Exileh, fearing the coach might change his mind, locked in Lak Si the moment his words finished.

The crowd erupted in an uproar, and the audience began to get excited.

Commentator Quickshot shouted at the same time:

"Lak Si! Wow!! Could this be UOL's hidden trump card?!"

Deficio said: "It doesn't look like it."

Sjokz also said: "I also think not; this Lak Si pick seems more like a helpless move forced upon them to counter Perkz's Syndra."

Quickshot, however, insisted it was UOL's trump card, trying to prove it from various angles.

As Quickshot's long-time commentary partner, Deficio just went along with him, oh yeah yeah yeah.

UOL's fourth floor locked in Lu Xi An.

Sjokz changed the subject:

"However, I believe G2's next two picks are the main event of this BP; clearly Unicorn also realized this, so they intentionally saved their last pick for support."

"Leave the last counter-pick slot for support?"

"Wow, quite a unique BP strategy, but honestly, this suits our region's style, and moreover, Hai Li Sang's strength deserves the team giving him a counter-pick slot!"

Hylissang, one of UOL's spring-summer roster pillars, has the nickname "Hai Le Song" in the LPL, but he wasn't famous yet at this time.

"Never mind what counter-pick or not, let's just blast him with Sivir and Jinx!"

AP said very domineeringly in G2's team voice channel.

Mithy added without regret:

"If we had known we wouldn't ban the sheriff, Sheriff Jinx would be even more explosive."

"No need, guys, Jinx is too brutal—don't scare the kids into crying on the first hit; let's start gentle."

This was actually said by Ka Lao Si.

It seems he has already learned a few essences of Liang Yan's cowardly path.

Sure enough, Liang Yan laughed and said:

"I agree, take something else instead; by the way, Zven, you said a few days ago you really wanted to play Big Mouth in a match? Come on, let's do it."

He had just finished speaking when Tang Anna's voice immediately sounded in the headset:

"I suggest we still don't practice; it's a waste of time. Lulu may have gotten a significant buff, but she doesn't fit the current meta, and in the next few patches, she won't have any room to shine."

Tang Anna's judgment is correct, and Liang Yan agrees with her expertise. But no matter what Tang Anna says, Zven's eyes have already lit up.

"Big Mouth is great! Give it to me! Give it to me!"

"Alright, give it to you."

Ka Lao Si laughed and agreed to Zven.

Tang Anna stopped talking, glaring angrily at the back of Liang Yan's head.

It's all this guy's fault!

G2 four-five lane swap, Kog'Maw + Lulu.

On the commentator's desk, the three fell silent for a moment. Then Deficio hesitantly said:

"It looks like G2 still has something new?"

"But their understanding is off."

"With such a weak bottom lane duo, are they trying to give up the First Blood Tower?"

"They wouldn't be trying to lane swap again, would they?"

"Impossible, in this version the early defense mechanism of the bottom lane turret has been removed, while other lanes have been strengthened, so lane swapping would be a huge loss! With the same time spent pushing towers, the bottom lane might already have destroyed the turret, while the top lane couldn't even take down one-third of it!"

"But Lulu has also been strengthened—her Triumphant Roar now grants increased attack speed, and both the Censer and Bami's Cinder now provide additional healing and shielding."

"They still can't win the lane against Lu Xi An."

"It depends on execution, and moreover, UOL's lineup lacks teamfight initiation; they're very likely to need to add a melee engage support—I'm guessing Bu Long or Alistar."

Deficio's prediction was completely correct.

After repeatedly comparing Bu Long and Alistar, UOL ultimately picked Alistar.