Chapter 172: Someone Lies Low in the Grand Tournament

The group stage scene.

G2 Zhong Ren have already gone on stage.

BP is about to start; the camera sweeps over the player benches, both sides look relatively relaxed, but the expression of the G2 side coach is very solemn.

He exudes a killing intent.

In order to maximize the chance of drawing RNG in the quarterfinals, Ka Lao Si's demand for the team is that we must win this game; if we win this game, G2's odds of advancing as first place are high.

As for the situation in Group D, RNG is very likely to advance as second place.

Thus, when the quarterfinals roll around, as the Group A first-place qualifier, G2 will have a one‑third chance of drawing RNG.

Because the quarterfinals draw has the first‑place teams draw second‑place teams, and there is a rule avoiding same‑group half‑bracket matches.

So before going on stage, Ka Lao Si said we must win this game at any cost. Everyone knew he was truly angry at RNG, so even Tang Anna didn't object.

There's nothing more to say; without revealing our ultimate trump card, we should just pick as closely as possible to our strongest system.

……

LPL livestream room.

The three commentators for this match are Haier Xiongdi+Chang Mao.

Chang Mao, Wawa, Miller

"All right! The two teams' preferred playstyles and compositions have already been analyzed in depth by our teachers Miller and Chang Mao just now; the bans and picks for both sides have begun, so let's cut the chatter and see how they'll ban champions."

"In this match, blue side ROX bans and picks first; they opened by banning a Ryze, while red side G2 chose to first‑ban the Leopard Girl."

"Oh?!"

"Miller, bursting with passion, continued:"

"G2 actively banned a jungler, which is relatively rare in their BP; because they are very confident in their own jungler's individual skill, in my impression they hardly ever ban junglers, but this game they banned Xiao Huasheng's signature Leopard Girl right from the start—this shows they regard Xiao Huasheng very highly."

"Chang Mao's voice always carries a hypnotic quality:"

"It looks like Teacher Miller also did a lot of pre‑match homework."

"Haier Xiongdi didn't pick up his cue; Wawa took over Miller's topic and chatted on:"

"After all, Xiao Huasheng is a top‑five player among the top 20, so giving him some respect is appropriate. Speaking of which, I think Riot's ranking is fairly objective—look at G2's previous match, right? As G2's sole player on the list, Perkz indeed performed outstandingly, also helping the team secure CLG in North America."

"Mm, I heard you—you mean someone is incognito in the big tournament, right?"

"Eh? I didn't say anything at all—it's all you talking!"

"Then what about the one ranked fourth?"

"Huh?"

"You mean the one who performed the horse‑flying‑arrow stunt in yesterday's final game?"

"Impudent! Don't you want your Weibo anymore?"

"Hahaha……

"Cough cough! All right, let's get back to the match—ROX's second ban was a Rambo, while G2 banned Smeb's world‑famous Jayce; they've clearly done their homework, G2……"

Actually, G2's first ban of the Leopard Girl wasn't to counter‑pick well; it was to eliminate potential threats for the system they intended to pick next.

Including Jayce as well.

Of course, Smeb's Jayce is indeed strong; even before Jayce became popular, Smeb's Jayce was already famous, belonging to the type that can be pulled out to counter almost everything regardless of meta, which everyone knows.

"All right! ROX's final ban is Wheel Mom, so I feel G2's final ban should be Sheriff."

"Should be Sheriff—this is a hero they like to ban… huh?"

"Interesting—G2 didn't ban Sheriff, they banned Fan Mom!"

"This…… do they want to snatch Sheriff?"

"Not necessarily; I think they might want to snatch Syndra or Spider."

"Emm, then it depends on what ROX is willing to let G2 have, after all, blue side has first pick rights."

"I think they'll snatch Syndra."

"Why?"

"Perkz, although he's seventeenth, he's still a point worth targeting, and his title is impressive—Europe's new Magic King—just ask if you're scared."

"North America might be scared, but LCK……"

"Hahaha."

However, Wawa guessed wrong again.

ROX's first pick is——

"Spider!"

"Ah? Uh……

Wawa started looking for a way to save face,

"It's not wrong either; Xiao Huasheng's Spider is also very strong."

"You mean when playing against ANX, taking teammates into the jungle and giving away a wave?"

"You can't say that; that's nitpicking—they actually came back, right? Their stats were 5‑1‑11, you dare say that Spider isn't strong?"

"Strong is strong, but if—I'm speaking hypothetically—if that day ROX had played another team instead of ANX, I think ROX would have lost that game."

"That's impossible; in Group A there's no one who can match ROX one‑on‑one, whether it's ANX or any other team—swap in anyone and they'd still overturn…"

At that moment, on the big screen onstage, G2 confirmed their first two picks.

Wawa hadn't finished speaking when he became embarrassed again.

Miller also widened his eyes:

"They didn't even snatch Syndra, but instead first picked Janna plus Kennen?! G2's BP today… seems off—are they specially tuning it against ROX?"

"But that's not right—I remember Perkz's Syndra is still pretty strong in Europe; there's no reason not to take it!"

「So I also can't figure out, why exactly not take Syndra? 」

Because Zhong Lu, besides Syndra, there are many other pickable points, Perkz's hero pool is also deep enough, for example, all-purpose Hu li, in addition, there are enchantress vampire snake woman Viktor clockwork…… and the dragon king that will be unlocked only tomorrow, and even more sinister things.

Nowadays, Perkz's commonly practiced heroes are over ten.

This is still a bit scary.

Otherwise, how could you say he's a genius?

For G2, this match is the first barrier they've encountered since the start of the S6 season; naturally, the ban/pick won't be as casual as before, starting from the first ban, it is aimed at a certain goal, there is a pattern to follow, and since the opposing side hasn't noticed, G2 will naturally first secure those irreplaceable heroes.

First, the support position; given that Karma has already been banned by us, Janna is the only remaining mainstream hero fitting the version of the system we want to build; substitutes certainly exist, but that is G2's hidden trump card they don't want to reveal too early, it cannot be easily taken out, Janna is still available now, so naturally we should first grab it and then talk.

Then is Kennen; this choice can be said to be a move that sets the tone for the lineup, and also a move to ensure Lao Zhang doesn't run into big trouble in lane.

Rumble and Jayce have both been banned; in the mainstream top lane, there is no hero left that can counter Kennen; as for whether Smeb will pull out some non-mainstream stuff, that's not something G2 can control.

Furthermore, considering Lao Zhang's hero pool issue, this move to snag Kennen is basically the best play under the current conditions.

As for Zhong Lu's choice, it is much richer, so the priority naturally comes later.