Chapter 259

After the two exchanged glances, Liang Yan finally spoke.

"Then we'll take his Orianna, Lao Zhang, don't be scared—he picks Jayce, I'll help you."

Lao Zhang immediately felt as if he had taken a calming pill, happily saying, "Alright, I'll just play Bo Bi safely," and as he spoke, he helped Perkz lock in Orianna.

Liang Yan, however, said you might not be able to get it, and at the same time locked in Karma.

Lao Zhang was about to ask why, but a sudden change on the screen left him completely stunned.

SKT's second pick, instantly locking in Bo Bi.

Then they locked in an Ezreal.

Liang Yan also froze for a moment.

SKT not taking Jayce and grabbing Bo Bi, Liang Yan could understand: one reason was fear of G2 obtaining a counter to the Blind Monk, another was the shadow left by the Blind Monk from the previous game, making him feel they needed a hero capable of restricting engagement to avoid being wiped out in one teamfight, while also guarding against a Prince-Orianna composition, and finally it was a reassessment of Bo Bi's priority.

But what does grabbing Ezreal mean?

Tang Anna's equally doubtful voice came through the headset:

"Forcefully dismantling them like this doesn't gain anything; are you trying to throw off our rhythm?"

Liang Yan shook his head; he also couldn't figure out what Kkoma was thinking.

Tang Anna asked again:

"What are you picking this game?"

Liang Yan was thinking.

The enemy top laner had already been chosen, the jungler too, the bottom lane was likely Ezreal plus Janna, mid lane either Cassiopeia or Viktor, and a more off‑meta pick could be Old Father Time……

This game we could take Graves, top lane picking Rambo, mid lane Orianna works against anything, no matter how the bottom lane goes, the upper half is secure. The problem is that Graves lacks engage; if we fall behind early‑mid, it's hard to come back later. Graves, pass.

Desert Spider?

Crocs are countered by Bo Bi; Duke isn't some weak top laner—his mechanics and laning are excellent. Moreover, if Faker picks Cassiopeia, her earthbind plus Bo Bi's steadfast presence would make the crocodile utterly useless. Crocodile Spider, pass.

Prince‑Orianna‑Rambo is also countered by Bo Bi; pass.

After thinking it over, Liang Yan felt only one combination was suitable for this moment.

"Olaf, then."

Liang Yan said.

Olaf is a meta pick, and his strength is more than enough.

The enemy's three backline squishies are only EZ, who is relatively flexible; we have Zilean + Lulu double shield granting speed, and I'll take Ghost, so engaging won't be an issue.

Also lacks a dash, so not afraid of being immobilized by Earthbind and Steadfast Presence.

His ultimate makes him immune, so Mang Seng can't kick him away and Bo Bi can't push him.

Basically no drawbacks, all advantages.

Liang Yan had barely spoken when Tang Anna grasped his intention:

"Hide a troll?"

"Hmm."

"Then pick it."

Perkz helped lock Olaf, while Zven took Jinx himself.

Now it's SKT's turn for the final two picks.

On the big screen, Kkoma stood behind Faker, speaking quickly. Faker sat in the gaming chair, eyes closed and silent, like a meditating old monk.

Wawa saw this and laughed:

"Oh wow, is Faker meditating?"

"It feels like the pressure is too much; adjust your mindset."

"That's really pressuring; in the last game such a big advantage was overturned by G2 in one wave, frankly if it were me I'd probably not want to play anymore."

"Over 8k gold swung, that's indeed exaggerated."

"When you look at it together with the team name, you'll find it's practically fantastical."

"Yes, G2 overturned SKT; who would have believed that half an hour ago?"

"But it just happened like that."

"So Jiao Shen will surely go down in history; after today, his name is destined to leave a heavy mark in League of Legends history."

"I've seen many junglers who can carry, but I've never seen one carry like this; I fear his value will skyrocket to an exaggerated level next year."

"That's definitely a sky-high price. I'll say it plainly: regardless of whether G2 wins today or later takes down ROX, as long as Jiao Shen's future matches aren't terribly poor, he'll be saddled with a huge burden, and he'll earn at least a seven-figure salary next year."

"Huh?"

"I mean US dollars."

"Oh, that's fine. After last year's Worlds, someone offered Faker a yearly salary of one million US dollars, but he refused."

"He seems like a very loyal person."

"Hmm, at least he's quite trustworthy."

"You eat raw broccoli, right?"

"Hahaha..."

Last year Faker had a fluffy hairstyle that the audience teased looked like broccoli; then in an S5 interview, interacting with the audience, he said if S5 won the championship he'd eat raw broccoli, and later SKT really won the championship, and Faker indeed ate a raw broccoli on the award podium… In this year's Worlds theme song MV, Riot also played with this meme.

Image: Faker eating raw broccoli.

After meditating for a long time, Faker finally opened his eyes and said something.

Then Kkoma nodded.

SKT locked Viktor with their fourth pick, then locked Jella with their fifth.

"Viktor plus Jella! SKT locked in their composition; next up is G2's final pick, they deliberately left a top lane slot for Conqueror, what will they choose?!"

Troll!

Wow, this troll pick is not bad!

Yes, one could say it's an excellent pick; at the same time as Kant Bo Bi, it also makes one's system more complete, and the troll's skill can also provide a buff to Olaf!

The imagery comes right away; when teamfighting, the troll pins down a pillar, ults suck in, a speed boost, you first charge forward with the stolen double resist to soak the initial damage, then it's, close the gate! Release Olaf!

Hey, not bad!

That's how you play it; at least in 5v5, G2's teamfight approach should be like this; as for small-scale fights...

In small-scale fights, Olaf is a bit invincible.

Yes, but the premise is that development can't be too poor; otherwise, even with a shield you can't hold up, and losing half your health before even reaching the enemy is definitely useless.

That's right, but theory is ultimately theory; how it actually plays out still depends on the players' performance. In the fourth game of SKT versus G2, will SKT take back a game to tie the series, leaving the suspense to the end, or will G2 win another game and advance directly to the finals?

Let's first play an interview clip to see what expectations both sides have for this Bo5; after we return, the battle will start right away!

Liang Yan's face appeared on all the livestreams and the on-site big screens.

I grew up in the orphanage.

Living conditions were actually not bad; we had food and clothing covered, and many friends.

But some things aren't that necessary, like snacks, extracurricular books, better shoes, nicer clothes… Often kind-hearted people would send them over, and then a bunch of kids would rush to grab them; the orphanage's parents and teachers wouldn't intervene, because this is inherently a life lesson that the orphanage kids need to learn.

So I've had this awareness since I was little:

The things you want, you have to fight for them with your own ability.