Chapter 162: Phew, G2!

OK, the match has entered Summoner's Rift; this is the live scene in San Francisco, and you are watching the opening match of the 2016 League of Legends World Championship group stage!

In this match, the two sides are: Europe Region's first seed G2, occupying the blue side at the lower left of the map, and our North America Region's second seed CLG, with the red side in the upper half of the map being their territory!

The battle is about to start!

The live audience shouted CLG's name in unison, while those cheering for G2 were few and far between, giving the North American team a clear home-field advantage.

On the big screen, the five champions from each side lined up in a row on either side of the river.

LPL livestream.

Although the right-side CLG lineup appears to have a certain early-game team advantage, they are still being cautious about their first match at the World Championship, and for now they show no intention of invading G2's jungle.

Although he is a newcomer to LPL commentary, Ji De is very skilled at hyping up the opening atmosphere, his voice full of passion.

Su Xiao Yan smoothly took over the topic, cooperating with the director's opening information.

Let's take a look at the rune setups on both sides...

Wow!

ColiN suddenly let out a startled cry, interrupting Su Xiao Yan's statement,

Pantheon's ability?!

Good heavens, Ignite?!

This... is so fierce, it's been a long time since I've seen a top laner bring Ignite in a match, and I didn't expect G2 to come out this aggressive right from the start.

What's more, take a close look—they have Ignite as the second summoner spell on three positions! This is too fierce... wait! Bard, what are you doing, diving so deep alone? You're going to get collapsed!

Ji De's voice suddenly rose to a piercing pitch,

The Troll came in for a flank, directly picking up a pillar and hooking it behind Bard! Bard reacted just as quickly, flashing the instant Ezreal's skill shot came his way!!

Mithy, you're being reckless with this Bard!

But he also paid a hefty price for his recklessness!

Something went wrong with the skin!

They got flashed right at the start, so G2's bot lane won't have an easy time; they were supposed to have a lane advantage.

G2 team voice channel.

Mithy, still shaken, said:

How could the Troll be lurking here?

You've been studied.

Liang Yan said calmly,

Don't be so reckless, brother, it's the Worlds—play steady.

Mine.

If you don't flash, you're easy to catch; first push the lane, then I'll go gank.

Okay!

This actually threw a bit of a wrench into Liang Yan's opening plan.

Liang Yan originally wanted Lao Zhang to play more aggressively top lane, while he himself would start at the Stone Armor Beetle, clear up to the top, then quickly take both buffs and, together with Pantheon, directly kill Ryze in a strong invade.

But now Bard got flashed at the start, so the enemy duo is likely to come in and trade aggressively, then summon the jungler to dive; even if they don't kill anyone, they'll push G2's bot lane out and make them lose a big wave.

That would throw off G2's entire early-game tempo.

So Liang Yan had to cancel his original jungle plan, instead starting at the Magic Swamp Frog, and at the same time reminded Lao Zhang not to play too aggressively.

Grab a small minion in bot lane, then go back to lane.

Before the jungle monsters respawned, Liang Yan marked his own Stone Armor Beetle camp.

The duo responded in acknowledgment, left a ward after their defensive position, and hurried ahead to take position at the Stone Armor Beetle camp.

1:40, the jungle monsters spawned.

Liang Yan cleared jungle while keeping an eye on the bot lane matchup.

He was right—the enemy duo, from the moment they met, showed a strong desire to trade, even engaging as soon as they hit level two.

The CLG duo hit level two first; the Troll suddenly burst from the brush, flashed in and landed a bite on Bard to go all-in! This opportunity was seized perfectly—Weakness applied straight away as a damage-reducing buff to boost output! Ezreal's Mystic Shot landed and began auto-attacks!

However, G2's duo had eaten a small Stone Armor Beetle at the start, and Sivir auto-attacked a minion to also reach level two! Bard quickly learned his E to hop over the wall, but Ezreal came with an E and followed, sliding down the slope!!

Bard was low on health! Sivir rushed over to give a heal, but the level-two heal amount was too low, still leaving him in danger!

He threw Ignite in retaliation, but it didn't succeed in dissuading Ezreal!

Another Mystic Shot! It hit!

Stixxay secured first blood!!

However, after taking three boosted auto-attacks from Sivir, Stixxay's health also became critical, so he flashed through the wall to dodge the second hit of Ricochet!

Sivir chased after the flash and kept auto-attacking!

Stixxay used his heal!

The Troll dropped a pillar that blocked Sivir! Her movement speed was greatly reduced, so she couldn't continue the chase! Although Stixxay was down to just a sliver of health, he ultimately survived!!

Phew, G2!

The venue.

A huge roar erupted instantly!

North American fans went wild!

After securing the kill, the CLG duo quickly pushed the lane; the Troll helped push the current wave, then went out to place a ward in the tribrush of the blue side's bot lane to prevent being flanked by the spider.

The two quickly pushed the wave to the tower, then retreated back to base.

But before the respawn timer was even halfway up, Hu Li's figure appeared from the river.

Hu Li is coming over—he's clearly visible to the ward at CLG's river entrance.

「You can't catch it. 」

「Yes, but Perkz's roam this time was effective; CLG's duo was forced to cancel their recall, and Bard had already returned to lane, the recall timing was missed, and recalling now would lose too much minion wave, so they chose not to recall! 」

「Well, this gives a bit of an opportunity! 」

「The minion wave began to counterpush; the Spider used the dragon as a stepping stone to enter the river, carrying red buff and heading toward the enemy jungle; it looks like they have a plan for the poorly performing Ezreal! 」

「Rek'Sai, however, was camping Pantheon in Shang Ban Qu; the Card had just cleared the minion wave; CLG's lower half area is isolated and helpless, or maybe a bit dangerous! 」

「The minion wave is coming; if you don't go now, you'll be too late! 」

「The Spider avoided vision well and wasn't spotted; CLG sensed something and sent a Troll over to place a ward, but what's the situation with you face-checking the bush?! 」

「The Spider's ward perfectly revealed the Troll entering the bush, and he clearly had anticipated the Troll's position! Upon seeing the Troll, he immediately cast Cocoon!! 」

「Hit!!! 」

「After unleashing its full combo, the Spider lunged forward! 」

「The Fox hiding beneath the river followed up with Charm to continue the control! 」

「Bard also came sliding through the wall, contributing a slow! 」

「The Spider finally landed the killing blow! 」

「One-for-one! G2 successfully traded back! 」

「That jungler is pretty impressive! 」

「No, I think it's mainly because the mid lane synergy is good; the Fox at level 4 started roaming, and it looks like he won't lose any minion wave by going back, and he's dominating his lane! 」

「Perkz, Europe's new magic king. 」

「Wow, Europe's new magic king?! It seems the Fox is his signature champion, right, Teacher Xiao Yan? 」

「Well, that's not the case; he plays Ahri and Ryze the most in regular season. 」

「But the camera cuts to the top lane; CLG also seems to want to take advantage of G2 jungler being down to launch an attack on Pantheon! 」