Chapter 107

Wow, Niu Tou with Lu Xi An! Very strong aggression!

But... I'm being serious, this combination, UOL's bottom lane might not be able to gain any advantage, and might even fail to secure lane priority. Because Lu Xi An had his range nerfed in the past few patches; picking him now is like dancing on a knife's edge, so many players dare not play him, especially since the opposing G2 still has a Xin De La...

But I still favor UOL's lineup.

Why?

Looks more suited to the current patch.

Because the captain can support the bottom lane?

Yes.

Alright...

Lineups locked, players from both sides begin swapping their champion positions.

G2, Blue Side

ban: Caitlyn, Karma, Nautilus

Top lane: Island, Ai Ke

Jungle: Firrrrrre, Lei Ke Sai

Mid lane: Perkz, Xin De La

Bottom lane: Zven, Da Zui

Support: Mithy, Lu Lu

Coach: ocelote

UOL, Red Side

ban: Vampire, Shen, Gem

Top lane: Vizicsacsi, Captain

Jungle: Move, Qian Jue

Mid lane: Exileh, Lak Si

Bottom lane: Veritas, Lu Xi An

Support: Hylissang, Niu Tou

Coach: Sheepy

Amid the cheers of the audience, both sides' ten players entered the Summoner's Rift.

Alright, the battle has officially begun! You're watching the first game of the 2016 Europe League of Legends Summer Playoffs semifinals Bo5! As the cheers fade, the battle has ignited; let's see what sparks will fly when these two top-tier teams clash in this match!

As you can see, the blue team at the lower left of the map is G2, while the team at the upper right is UOL. Both sides have already left base, and the director has displayed the rune masteries and summoner spell setups for all ten players from each side—uh—both sides' setups look fairly normal?

Hmm, pretty normal. Worth mentioning is Lak Si's talent: in ranked play, many players might prefer to take Thunderlord, but in-game Lak Si's skills aren't easy to land, so Exileh chose the talent 【Netherfire Touch】—a situationally appropriate choice.

And Perkz's Syndra normally takes Thunderlord.

Exileh's pressure is no joke; fortunately Perkz didn't bring Ignite, otherwise the pressure would be greater. But the jungler still needs to come help often.

Yes, Rek'Sai was heavily nerfed in patch 6.14: the cooldown of Seismic Shout increased from 0.75 seconds to 1.5 seconds, doubling, making it harder for him to discern enemy positions while burrowed, greatly weakening his sense of danger and opportunity; thus he is now far less strong than before, and facing Qian Jue (Kindred) in lane, it could even be said to be an advantage.

1.5 seconds—you can move several hundred yards in that time.

That's why many people have abandoned Rek'Sai after that nerf.

Player Firrrrrre still loves playing it.

Yeah, it's also the champion he's played the most this season, with a 100% win rate.

Pfft~

What's Teacher Sjokz laughing at?

Um, pfft, no, sorry, I'm saying, is it possible that his win rate with any champion is actually 100%, since he's never lost?

... Ah, yes.

The on-site Xiao Guai Wu burst into laughter, then began chanting Fa Re Fa Re in unison, very rhythmic, feeling like it could even be turned into a little tune.

— Xiao Guai Wu is a nickname given to themselves by Liang Yan's fans.

Monsters spawned.

Liang Yan, as usual, started clearing from the Magic Swamp Frog, then ate the two little ones of the blue buff, and then continued down from the three wolves.

Just after taking down the big wolf, the minimap showed the mid lane duo's avatars dangerously close; Liang Yan switched over to take a look and discovered that AP's Syndra had been hit by the opposing Lak Si's 【Guang Zhong Shu Fu】.

Judging by positioning, the one who actively sought trouble was likely AP.

When they just entered lane, the two swapped skills twice; AP gained a small edge, and at this point he probably thought he could crush the enemy. After hitting level 2 he pushed forward, his position already past his own frontline minions, but he got crowd‑controlled. The enemy unleashed a QAEA combo, plus the minion focus‑fire damage, dropping AP to low health—his remaining HP couldn't even withstand two basic attacks from Lak Si, and at that moment Lak Si's first basic attack was already raised.

AP's second summoner spell is Ghost; using both summoner spells now could still save him, but if he uses both he loses lane pressure—otherwise pushing the wave would get him caught by Thresh, and Lak Si's E‑Q flash isn't easy to dodge.

No matter how he chooses it's painful; in the end AP decided to keep both summoner spells and give up his life.

"Mine, you take this wave."

AP has become more obedient; after giving up first blood, he will actively surrender the lane.

Of course, even without Liang Yan saying so, he will still take it.

This wave must go under the tower; AP has no Teleport and no cannon minion to help tank; if Liang Yan doesn't take it, the turret will clear the wave.

"Don't be too careless; Lak Si's shield is really a pain when she's active."

"Liang Yan gave a reminder; by the time he spoke he had already reached behind the tower, and without hesitation he used 【Digging Tunnel】 to go through and start clearing the minions."

"There's no helping it; in this European environment, no matter how much you remind them, European players simply can't have the same caution as LCK players—even though G2 is now the most disciplined team in Europe, the lower‑tier players still occasionally pull off something outrageous."

"From the viewers' perspective, AP's play this wave was purely criminal."

"The commentator then condemned:"

"Just looking at it, you can tell his hands are rusty!"

"They won't even practice after returning from China, will they? Syndra looks like she hasn't touched a mouse in a month—what the hell is Perkz doing?!"

Now the jungler really doesn't need help.

But Firrrrrre is enjoying the minions, this wave of minions is really good.

That's right, Liang Yan hasn't started clearing the third jungle camp yet; after finishing this lane wave, his experience is almost up to level three and a half.

After clearing the Zhong Lu minion wave, the time just hit two and a half minutes; a mark has already appeared in the lower half of the river; at the same time, our Xia Lu duo has already pushed the wave to the enemy tower, with Mithy moving toward the river.

Liang Yan pondered briefly, but ultimately still gave up the most efficient jungle clearing route and changed course to head toward the river.

This game, AP's condition is not right; we may need to prepare for a drawn-out battle.

If only Lak Si were to take off, that would be fine; but if Kalista also takes off, it would be troublesome. This version of Kalista builds the ice hammer; if he stacks the mark layers, he becomes a little canyon sword saint, both tanky and damaging.

And G2's composition has only average ability to cut the backline; in team fights it's really hard to deal with a Kalista who has some tankiness and also has an ultimate for self-preservation.

In this game, anyone on the enemy side can take off, except Kalista cannot.