Chapter 185: Breakout Battle (1)

Many of Snake's tactics are learned from G2; if you scrim a lot with the same team, of course there's a risk of exposing G2's tactics. Even if the opponent doesn't know Snake learned from G2, this kind of thing can be seen as soon as you engage.

Zuowu still had a bit of conscience; when RNG asked for a rematch, the first thing he thought of was this, so he said he would consult G2.

Zuowu certainly wouldn't tell Sanshao in detail why scriming with RNG required consulting G2; he just hinted at it obliquely.

After all, RNG is now basically Snake's god of wealth.

Over the past two days, to earn enough from RNG for return-flight tickets, Snake's members truly gave it their all, trying to shorten each scrim as much as possible so they could play more, since RNG pays per match.

The flight money is already earned—but even the cheapest discount tickets, RNG actually keeps sending money, so Zuowu certainly won't refuse.

Too bad Sanshao is too dense; he completely missed Zuowu's hint.

After hanging up with Sanshao, Zuowu then called Ka Lao Si, who then consulted Liang Yan and Tang Anna, receiving the same answer.

Both said two words:

"Whatever."

Thus Ka Lao Si replied to Zuowu:

"No problem, you guys can play however you like, but there's a condition."

"What condition?"

Sanshao didn't think much, instinctively asked back.

Then he heard Zuowu say:

"We need to add money."

Since it's an unexpected gain and RNG looks truly not short of money, Zuowu simply got greedy and raised the price outright.

"Add (you mua!)... how much more?"

"Add five hundred per match."

"……"

"Sanshao ah, let me speak a few heartfelt words: although we're just the Third Seed, you've seen that our results are surprisingly decent; saying we'll surely make the top eight is no problem. Since we've come this far, we naturally aim higher—aiming for top four from an eighth-place start isn't excessive, right?"

"So my meaning is, we also want to scrim against stronger teams to boost our strength. You should understand that, Sanshao, right?"

"But since you said you want extra practice, I think, we all come from the LPL; sister teams should help if they can..."

Sanshao listened silently, nearly bursting with anger.

"Help?"

"Your help is just extortion, right?"

"Did we give you face or not?!"

"And you also want to scrim with stronger teams, implying RNG is weak, huh?!"

"cnmd&%$##……"

"Fine!"

Sanshao gritted his teeth, but could only swallow it down with blood.

RNG truly needs to produce results.

The summer finals were crushed 3-1 by EDG, already dealing a significant blow to RNG's popularity; if they falter again at Worlds, the club's popularity will surely keep dropping, and even with Uzi's fanbase as a safety net, RNG could end up losing money.

By then, whether Sanshao can keep his manager position is uncertain; thus, no matter how stifled he feels inside, he ultimately agreed to Zuowu's condition.

After all, Coach Fly's attitude proves it—Snake really has something.

"……"

Three days passed in a flash.

The S6 group stage resumed.

The second round's schedule differs from the first: the first round had six matches per day, two per group, with the idle group resting a day; whereas the second round has only one group's matches per day, the four teams in that group play each other in a round-robin, after six matches the two quarterfinal spots are locked, and if a tiebreaker is needed they continue on the same day until the two spots are decided.

In short, every day is a do-or-die match for advancement.

This format greatly increases the excitement and watchability of the matches, helping to strengthen viewers' stickiness to live streams.

For the teams involved, this is a matter of life and death.

The day's battles kicked off with Group C.

The first match was EDG versus the Brazilian wildcard INTZ. After three days of scrim adjustments, EDG finally managed to keep up with the meta, distilling an early-game composition suited to its playstyle, and the bot lane also didn't make another blunder; although somewhat invisible, at least it didn't become the enemy's sixth man. Given EDG's clear superiority in raw strength, they eventually secured a steady win.

EDG's record became 3-1.

The second match was AHQ versus H2K. From this match one can see that late-game comps are indeed weak in this patch; AHQ's pick looks like they want both sides, trying to shore up early/mid game with top/mid/jungle of Rumble, Rek'Sai, and Sejuani, with the duo of Zyra and Orianna as a late-game safety net; the result was that the bot lane got crushed by H2K's Ryze + Caitlyn + Nautilus system, and because the lineup lacked a frontline, mid couldn't withstand Jayce's poke damage, the gold curve kept falling, and the so-called late-game safety net turned into a bubble.

H2K's record became 2-2, tied with AHQ, and they each have wins over the other.

Seeing H2K rise, European spectators began to get excited.

Third match, H2K versus EDG.

This match was again a win for the Ryze + Caitlyn system; EDG's coaching staff apparently had their wires crossed, picking the abstract composition of Bo Bi, Elise, Heimerdinger, Ezreal, Nami — which looks solid on paper but actually lacks any core carry — plus the bot lane remained invisible, and Deft's Ezreal faced H2K's Caitlyn + Karma with no way to fight back; just laning, he was pounded mercilessly, while H2K's mid Ryze would occasionally come over to stir things up, causing Deft's development to explode completely, forcing him to buy the relatively cheap Iceborn Gauntlet instead of Trinity Force, and because facing Kennen's dive put immense teamfight survival pressure on Deft, he had to rush a defensive Infinity Edge rather than an offensive one; thus, by game's end, Deft never managed to pick up his core Blade of the Ruined King; mid Scout's Heimerdinger did develop okay, but expecting a utility hero to save the world is really wishful thinking.

In short, although H2K's lineup also lacks much frontline, EDG severely lacks teamfight damage, and H2K still has Orianna constantly shielding, so every teamfight that drags out ends with EDG being picked off; even if Deft gives his all outputting, his gear is too poor — two skill hits do less damage than a single Caitlyn auto‑attack — and for EDG's fans, that sight is pretty suffocating.