Chapter 206

"As you can see!"

"This match is between our LPL second seed RNG and Europe's first seed G2. Moreover, since RNG placed first in the D group of the group stage, according to the elimination round rules, they have the priority to choose sides for the odd-numbered games in this Bo5. In the first game, RNG actively chose the blue side, while the red side is G2!"

Wawa's voice was full of passion, and the live stream's chat was packed with comments.

Miller smoothly continued:

"G2 has prepared this long; it's impossible they have nothing. Right off the bat they'll surely pull off something big, so I think at the start RNG should play it safe and use their best protect-AD composition to match G2's raw strength!"

Guan Zeyuan said:

"That's right. In this Bo5, RNG should mainly avoid revealing their hand, and the outcome is actually without suspense."

Wawa chuckled twice.

"If nothing unexpected happens, everyone from SKT should be watching the live stream right now, even cheering for G2, hoping they can force RNG to reveal their hand."

"That's for sure."

"Hahaha..."

Wawa is right, but not completely.

In the players' hotel just 500 meters from the venue, the SKT training room, everyone was gathered around a large screen watching the match live.

The training room was very quiet; no one was laughing, everyone stared intently at the screen, each with a solemn expression.

Coach Kkoma had a notebook open on his lap, holding a pen, and wrote on the top of a fresh page: 【RNGvsG2】.

Then he recorded the BP process.

Blue side RNG's first ban: Leopard Woman.

Red side G2's first ban: Dragon King.

"Why ban Dragon King but not the female cop?"

At the moment G2 locked in their first ban, Bengi, who was planning to become a coach next year, immediately turned to Kkoma for advice.

Kkoma noted G2's move in his notebook, thought for a moment, then seriously answered Bengi:

"In our understanding, Dragon King is indeed tied to the female cop, so if you don't want the enemy to get the Dragon King composition, you usually just need to ban the female cop, because a lone Dragon King is rather mediocre, whereas the female cop can pair with other strong supports to form a very difficult bottom lane combo, especially when that female cop is in Uzi's hands."

"If I were doing this BP, I would definitely ban the female cop without hesitation."

"But objectively, Dragon King's own strength is not low; his lane clearing and roaming ability is excellent. G2 choosing to ban Dragon King but not the female cop might be because they have a way to deal with the female cop, but they don't want RNG's mid laner to get Dragon King and interfere with Perkz's roaming, so they chose to ban Dragon King but not the female cop."

"This is just my personal guess; I cannot be certain how G2 actually considered it."

Bengi listened and nodded, his eyes showing fervent admiration for Kkoma.

After Kkoma finished speaking, he looked up at the screen, hearing the North American caster's doubt about G2 banning Dragon King, and couldn't help but slightly shake his head and smile.

But the next moment, Kkoma's gaze suddenly sharpened.

At the same time, a soft exclamation rose from the SKT members in the training room.

Everyone turned to look at Kkoma, their eyes filled with surprise and doubt.

"Why is this?"

Faker asked, confused.

Kkoma stared at G2's second ban slot on the screen, his furrowed brows slowly relaxing, he took a light deep breath, then noted two entries in his notebook:

RNG's second ban: Syndra.

G2's second ban: female cop.

After writing that, he finally looked up at Faker, shaking his head solemnly:

"I don't know."

"Why did G2 ban Dragon King and also ban the female cop?"

"Isn't that wasting a ban?"

"Could it be that they have so many bans to spare?"

Kkoma's answer was 'I don't know,' with no clues; we must watch the rest of this match to see G2's intention behind banning Dragon King and then the female cop.

Such a BP strategy is something Kkoma has never seen in practice matches against G2.

It's obvious that G2 is hiding a lot.

If nothing unexpected happens, G2 should be about to reveal something new that Kkoma has never seen.

Bengi suddenly said:

"Could it be that Firrrrrre also wants to play their Prince composition?"

Kkoma glanced at Bengi:

"Firrrrrre's hero pool is immeasurable; when he's on stage, G2 could choose any composition."

……

On site, RNG player bench.

Fly's brows were tightly furrowed.

Both sides had only one ban left, and now it was RNG's turn to make the final pick.

G2's strange second ban made Fly have to think more.

He also considered the possibility that G2 would play the Prince composition.

To be honest, Fly was afraid.

Compared to the players' blind optimism, Fly's attitude toward this Bo5 was much more cautious.

Moreover, the deeper the research on G2, the more Fly felt that the team's strength was completely unfathomable.

Since the group stage ended, Fly has spent every night lying in bed tossing and turning, replaying G2's bans and picks and match footage in his mind, and he finds himself growing increasingly anxious, even fearful.

Today, stepping onto this stage, Fly came with a pessimistic prediction.

——He believes RNG is the true challenger.

Fly had actually reminded the players many times; when facing G2, they must absolutely not take them lightly.

But it seemed no one listened.

If G2 really pulls out the Prince system they used against CLG in the second round of the group stage to face RNG, objectively speaking, Fly thinks RNG has no chance to win, because this RNG team truly can only rely on Uzi to carry, and the opposing team only needs to target Uzi in team fights.

Uzi is the absolute core of RNG; no matter how well the others develop, if Uzi falls in a team fight, RNG will quickly collapse.

Fly is very aware of this; in the summer finals, RNG lost to EDG exactly in this way.

Could G2 have figured this out as well?

Fly certainly didn't want to suffer defeat and lose reputation, so he had to think more.

Under the players' urging, Fly, who had been pondering for a long time, finally made a bold decision:

"Ban Rumble!"

First ban Rumble, then keep Bo Bi as a counter to any possible trick G2 might have.

This is Fly's line of thought.

However, due to his poor Chinese, and because he couldn't bring a translation on stage, Fly couldn't share his considerations in detail with the Chinese players on the team.

As a result, he was immediately questioned by the players.