Chapter 273: My Second Victory Over My First

The conversation between Guan Zeyuan and Su Xiao Yan, as I recall, opened up the train of thought; as I recall, he spoke at length:

"Yes, in today's Bo5, we can see that SKT bans Leopard Girl regardless of red or blue side, because their two junglers may not play Leopard Girl very well, so they dare not give Leopard Girl to Jiao Shen, and they also fear that if they get Leopard Girl themselves they won't be able to make use of it and might even be crushed by Jiao Shen, which has precedent from the group stage, ultimately leading to SKT not daring to pick Leopard Girl at all."

"But ROX is different; everyone who has watched ROX's LCK matches knows how good Peanut's Leopard Girl is—it's the signature among signatures."

"So when ROX is on the blue side, they don't need to actively ban Leopard Girl like SKT does; relatively, their ban/pick phase will be much easier."

"What about the male gun, Olaf?"

"As for the male gun, there's actually no need to worry; SKT already proved it in the second game today—when G2 was pressured in lane, even just Jiao Shen's male gun couldn't turn the tide, and ROX's laning ability, aside from mid lane, is stronger than SKT's in both top and bottom lanes; whatever way SKT plays the male gun, ROX can copy and do even better."

"As for Olaf, just play him normally, right? In this game, Jiao Shen's Olaf indeed performed outstandingly, but I think he would have a similar effect with any other pick."

"Moreover, the key is that Perkz went berserk in this later game. Perkz's Orianna was the key player of this match, especially that 1v3—it was like summoning a god and getting S3's Faker!"

"Emm, that makes sense."

Guan Zeyuan nodded slowly.

Su Xiao Yan suddenly said:

"I have a different opinion. I think the key to the finals' ban/pick phase lies in the female gun and the Blind Monk. These two heroes are one is ROX's tactical signature, the other is G2's comeback signature; at crucial moments, the ownership of these two heroes is what can most decide the match's direction."

"Hmm, both of your analyses are very reasonable, but the interview stage ahead is already ready; next, let's hand the camera over to the stage and first see how G2's players will evaluate this match!"

……

The scene.

When the stage lights lit up again, the stands all around once again echoed with enthusiastic cheers and applause.

Sjokz, wearing a black form-fitting tailored gown, stood at the center of the stage, with a G2 player standing to her left.

"Welcome to the interview stage, to the live audience and global online viewers, hello, I am the interview host, Sjokz!"

"And standing beside me is…"

The venue suddenly erupted with a shout from ten thousand people:

"Fire!!!"

Then came various cheers and yells, very noisy.

Sjokz's speech was interrupted, so she put down the microphone, smiled and waited for the noise to subside a bit, then raised her hand to indicate the side:

"That's right, tonight's key player, Firrrrre!!"

"Can player Firrrrre greet everyone?"

Liang Yan raised the microphone with his left hand, a composed smile playing at the corner of his mouth; after a brief self-introduction, he raised his right hand and waved it a few times, then bowed slightly toward the stands, responding to the audience's enthusiastic cheers.

"Wow"

Sjokz made a playful expression, paused a moment, then continued speaking,

"As a newcomer just debuting, to have such high on-site popularity, in all my years as a host I've only seen this a second time."

The audience loudly erupted.

"Everyone is curious when the first time was, right?"

"Actually it's easy to guess."

"That's right, it was at the S3 World Championship, that person was called — "

The entire audience shouted in unison:

"Faker!"

Sjokz covered her mouth and giggled, her whole body shaking.

But she suddenly turned serious, took a deep breath, and slowly said:

"That's right, it's Faker."

"And today…"

Sjokz raised her right hand, holding up two fingers high, her voice suddenly rising:

"My 'second time'!"

"Defeated my 'first time'!"

This sentence is very ambiguous……

Or one could say, Sjokz deliberately used such an ambiguous expression.

But nobody laughed; the response was the venue's audience's extremely enthusiastic cheers.

"They are not direct opponents, but they are both the soul figures of their respective teams!"

"They have similar rise-to-fame experiences!"

"They both reached the highest stage in their debut season!"

"But today!"

"The old legend has fallen!"

"The new legend has been born!"

"History passes the baton here!"

After Sjokz waited for the noise to subside, she slowly turned to face Liang Yan,

"The first question."

"May I ask player Firrrrre,"

"At this moment, regarding this Bo5 that will surely be recorded in history, regarding this result, regarding your opponent, what do you have to say?"

"These are three questions……"

"But you can answer them all at once."

"Okay."

……

In the backstage lounge, Ka Lao Si and several players who had not been invited to other stages for interviews sat in front of the computer.

On the screen before him, Liang Yan suddenly restrained his smile, he lifted his gaze to the stands in his field of view, and slowly raised the microphone:

"Perhaps everyone still thinks that G2 is a dark horse."

"But what I want to say is, for today, we have prepared for a very long time, a lot, a lot."

"We never considered ourselves a dark horse."

"Because we know we are inherently strong; from the day we entered the group stage, we have come with the belief of winning the championship. No matter who the opponent is, there is only one thing we must do: defeat him, get past him, and move upward."

"Encountering SKT in the semifinals is fortunate for us."

"Because they are indeed strong."

"So they happen to be the best touchstone on our road to the summit."

"The 3-1 result looks easy, but today G2 indeed experienced the most difficult day since the summer season, and one could even say we went through a ghost gate."

"Fortunately we crossed over."

"I believe that after experiencing this match, our team has undergone some transformation, mentally and tactically, we will become more tightly connected; indeed, one could say that after beating SKT, the championship is within easy reach in my view."

With a boom, the entire audience began to howl strangely.

Sjokz also stared wide-eyed in surprise.

The G2 people before the screen also opened their mouths wide, their hearts surging.

Ka Lao Si turned his head to look at Tang Anna.

Tang Anna did not notice Ka Lao Si's action; she was gazing absentmindedly at the young person on the screen, seeming a bit distracted, not knowing what she had thought of.

Until Ka Lao Si spoke:

"Have you secretly mastered some tactic but kept it from me?"

Upon hearing this, Tang Anna froze slightly, then gave a mild eye-roll; she simply couldn't be bothered to answer, the meaning obvious.

You're not an idiot, are you?