Chapter 160: Are you blind？

Snake had no match today; before leaving, Fu Lan Duo and Ke Li Si Tuo came over to bump fists with the G2 members and say 'Come on!', and the on-site cameras captured this moment.

The commentators and audience were all puzzled, but later a danmaku explained G2's encounter with Snake during their China trip last month, and the clueless crowd finally came to a sudden realization.

Afterwards, the stage lights went out, and the G2 members proceeded directly to the player seats.

After checking the equipment, everyone immediately launched a human vs. AI match for pre-match warm-up.

Tang Anna did not go on stage; Ka Lao Si wore an earpiece, pacing back and forth behind everyone, chattering non-stop:

"Guys, do you know why we picked this match as the opener?"

"Did you hear the boos from the audience just now?"

"They want us to lose! They want to use us to entertain the North American audience to sell tickets!"

"So, do I still need to tell you what to do?"

"Bring out all of our strength!"

"Crush them!"

Actually, there was no need for Ka Lao Si to provoke further; by the time AP returned to the player seats, he was already filled with killing intent, and the on-site boos successfully angered him.

The airborne Perkz is the most frightening to his teammates.

But when Perkz is in an angry state, to his opponents he is utterly terrifying.

Although Perkz's decisions may lose composure when angry, his mechanical skill greatly increases, directly transforming him into a lane war god who punishes opponents.

At this point AP breaks free from Liang Yan's control, yet when AP assumes this form, it is also the most comfortable game for Liang Yan, because as long as he feeds AP one or two kills early on, he can just watch AP go on a rampage later.

……

Official Chinese-language livestream.

The three commentators hosting today's opening match are ColiN, Jìdé, and Su Xiao Yan.

Image: ColiN, Jìdé, Su Xiao Yan

Jìdé (Remember) is a new commentator who joined the LPL this summer, but his first appearance as an official LPL commentator was actually at this year's MSI, where he became famous overnight for his ultra-fast mouth—delivering five sentences per second while commentating on the FW vs. SKT match at MSI.

At that time, Jìdé's voice had not yet been smoked into a raspy tone, his mind was not yet muddled, and his distinctive vocal timbre had strong recognizability:

"Speaking of which, what I'm most looking forward to today is the performance of G2 jungler Firrrrrre; it seems he first became widely known in the LPL through Su Xiao Yan's introduction, right?"

"Uh... actually, it probably has nothing to do with me."

Su Xiao Yan smiled embarrassedly,

"But back then, indeed nobody really knew him, and I might have been watching more European matches, so..."

Snake Brother (ColiN) interjected somewhat anxiously:

"Right, and I also heard some interesting things about this player today, namely regarding the ranking of the global top 20 players just released by Riot."

"Oh? Please tell us more."

"It's just that Firrrrrre isn't in the top 20 list, but he's actually quite popular in Europe—something Su Xiao Yan should know best, right?"

"Well, yes, Firrrrrre should probably be considered among the top tier in popularity in Europe—uh, the most popular group, I guess; on the Twicth platform his popularity has already surpassed Rekkles'."

"Yeah, and then his European fans are unhappy, probably because they think such a strong player—honestly his record is indeed quite invincible—yet he didn't make the top 20, so European netizens flooded Riot's Twitter, and I glanced around; the comment section is basically filled with people spamming one phrase."

"Oh?!"

"What are they spamming?"

"Areyoublind?"

"Wow."

"Ah... this..."

The two commentators listening in, both understanding English, could immediately hear the strong skepticism and mockery in that phrase.

Jìdé then smiled and faced the camera, saying:

"Well, this opening match is quite entertaining and topical, especially since it's EU versus NA, a regional rivalry; although it doesn't involve our LPL teams, our LPL netizens also love watching the excitement."

"Well then, let's cut the chatter; both sides' players are ready, so let's us together check out the BP clash."

"Please look at the BP screen: first we see that the blue side G2 banned the Star Forge Dragon King Orianna right off the bat, while the red side CounterLogicGaming—CLG—banned the cat girl with one ban."

"Teacher Su Xiao Yan, how would you interpret these two bans by both sides?"

"Well, the Dragon King point has only recently become popular; aside from that, it's just fast lane pushing, and it poses a big threat to fragile champions lacking mobility on the bottom lane, since this version's supports are mostly fragile anyway. If nothing unexpected happens, this champion should become the most popular mid laner throughout the S6 season, but G2, as the blue side, actively banned him—I suspect it might be because Perkz's mastery isn't high enough, or they aren't sufficiently familiar with the Dragon King system; otherwise, the blue side would normally have no reason to ban the Dragon King."

"As for CLG's one-ban on the cat girl, it looks like CLG studied G2; although Firrrrrre only picked the cat girl once in the summer split, anyone who watched that match should have a deep impression, because it was the European summer final, and his cat girl got 17 kills, 0 deaths, 6 assists—indeed from the stats you can see that match was basically his personal showcase."

"Wow, going undefeated and ultimately becoming a super god—that's indeed a bit exaggerated."

……

At the on-site commentator desk, the three North American commentators' tones were somewhat tense.

"Tam, ban Tam? Is G2 trying to cause trouble in the bottom lane?"

"Possibly... CLG seems to have the same concern, choosing to ban the Piltover Peacemaker, emm... this ban, do you two feel it shows a hint of weakness?"

"Alright, G2 as the blue side—being conservative won't be wrong."

"Alright, G2's final ban—I personally think it'll be either Rekkles or Karma; in that case CLG will have to ban Syndra."

"No, you might not understand G2; they hardly ever ban junglers."

"What?"

"Yes, because they consider their jungler invincible."

"Firrrrrre..."

"Yes, Firrrrrre. Although he didn't make the top 20, we must admit we need to give him sufficient attention."

"Sure enough, G2 banned Karma!"

And CLG indeed followed up with an instant ban on Syndra.

Compared to the playoff version, the overall environment of the World Championship has undergone major changes; the most noticeable trait is that everyone's champion picks have become much more fragile.

Now, long-range champions that can threaten squishy enemies lethally and dominate lane with strong scaling have risen to prominence.

The prime example is Syndra, who received a major buff in the latest patch, making her burst damage against squishy targets even more terrifying.

Both teams have used all three bans, and the pick phase begins.

G2 locked in Sivir right away.

CLG locked in Renekton and Ryze.

After that, on G2's side, Caedrel and the duo begin communicating:

"Miky, Janna or Bard?"

"Bard, that'll be enough to take them down."

"Vensi?"

"Listen to Miky."

"What does Liang think?"

"The bot lane just needs Bard to have lane priority."

「OK。」