Chapter 282: They won't go for a 3-0, will they?

Since the semifinals ended, a week has passed, and G2's understanding of this version has also changed somewhat.

After repeatedly testing in scrims against H2K, G2 confirmed one thing: unless paired with Ashe, Miss Fortune's power is actually quite limited, and against the current meta's two major supports, Karma and Janna, she is at a disadvantage.

On the other hand, Miss Fortune cannot work without Ashe, but Ashe can still pair with other supports; although her power is similarly greatly reduced, thanks to Ashe's cheeky E ability, she can still cause big trouble for G2, whose early game revolves around jungle rhythm.

So today G2 didn't ban Miss Fortune; instead they banned Ashe.

It's worth noting that today's shot-caller for bans and picks was Ka Lao Si. Although Ka Lao Si repeatedly suggested letting Tang Anna take over, she refused each time.

So Ka Lao Si had to do it himself.

ROX's first ban went to Ryze, giving nothing away.

G2's second ban was Dragon King.

This champion can be considered the signature pick of ROX's mid laner Kuro; even without the female police cow head, his impact cannot be underestimated and should not be easily left open. Moreover, considering overall BP strategy, they also needed to reduce the number of strong champions on the field to prevent ROX from pulling some trick that would cause G2 to lose in exchanges.

ROX's second ban was just as decisive, sending Vi to the small black room.

Over the past week, due to lack of sparring partners, ROX has been playing solo queue on the NA server, and the only champion Xiao Huasheng has been playing these days is Vi.

His proficiency certainly isn't high, since Xiao Huasheng had never played this champion before; it's basically starting from scratch. After just a few days, the mechanics are fine, but claiming any deep understanding would be nonsense.

Therefore, Coach Nofe's BP plan for today's Bo5 is: unless they truly run out of ban slots, they would rather use a pick to ban Vi for Xiao Huasheng; otherwise they lean toward banning it outright.

Furthermore, Nofe also had GorillA practice a bit of Titan, to prepare for any extreme situation that might arise.

As for letting Smeb practice Titan and such, that's absolutely out of the question. It's not that Smeb can't play tank or utility champions; rather, ROX needs his carry ability, which was verified when they played three-star. Because ROX is a team whose core is the jungle—wait, I misspoke, ROX's core is actually the top lane and jungle, not mid and jungle.

If they absolutely had to pick someone from top, mid, or jungle to play a utility role, Nofe's first choice would definitely be Kuro, with Smeb as the second.

Xiao Huasheng absolutely does not play utility champions; he is the core of the core, and the entire ROX must revolve around his rhythm to serve him. ROX plays this way both because Xiao Huasheng has that ability and because Nofe's understanding of the meta is exactly that.

With only the last ban slot remaining, G2 slowed down their ban pacing.

Ka Lao Si and Liang Yan began to communicate.

There are still many key champions on stage, but if we had to name the most crucial ones, there are four:

Liang Yan's Mang Seng.

Smeb's Jayce.

Both are signature picks among signature picks.

In the eyes of the commentators and audience, Xiao Huasheng's Leopard Woman is also absolutely not to be left open.

Finally, there's also the version's mid lane second sister, Syndra (the elder brother being Ryze).

On the LPL commentary desk, Guan Zeyuan analyzed with sound reasoning:

"There are four key champions on stage, but the combined ban slots left for both sides are only two, so at least two will be released."

"From ROX's perspective, they also have to guard against G2 picking a Prince and Clockwork combo, so I personally believe that top laner Smeb's pick will most likely be held by Coach Nofe until the end, to keep the option of a Poppy Contingency."

"If G2 can think of that, then what they need to weigh is nothing more than betting on whether, after they release Jayce here, ROX will dare to contest it; if ROX does contest Jayce, then whether G2 takes the Prince, the Mang Seng, or the Leopard Woman are all things they have to consider."

Guan Zeyuan's homework was well done; he really had something to say, and what he said was exactly what Ka Lao Si was discussing with Liang Yan in G2's internal channel.

However, Guan Zeyuan overlooked one point: as the blue side, G2 only gets one first pick, so they cannot directly secure Prince and Clockwork, leaving them vulnerable to a strong counterpick from the enemy; as the red side, ROX can with their first two picks completely take Jayce and Clockwork for a strong counter, or if G2 takes Clockwork, ROX can counter Prince—all of which are possible.

The two discussed for about half a minute, considering every point, and ultimately decided to still put Jayce on the ban list.

Immediately after, as Liang Yan expected, ROX's final ban went to the Mang Seng.

Thus left were Syndra and the Leopard Woman.

Nofe thought G2 would surely contest the Leopard Woman and take Syndra, allowing ROX to secure the strong combo of Syndra plus Centaur, which would both guarantee the upper limit of core Xiao Huasheng and give them an advantage in mid-jungle confrontations thanks to mid lane strength; thus, even though G2 would get the Leopard Woman, without mid lane help Firrrrrre wouldn't be able to shine as much.

However, to Nofe's great surprise, G2 locked in Syndra without hesitation.

"Wow!"

Wawa started up again,

"G2 took Syndra?! No, the Leopard Woman is Pinaat's signature pick—how dare they leave it open? Their gall is huge!"

Miller also wore a grave expression:

"Although I have faith in Jiao Shen's skill, I feel we should still give some respect to such a signature champion. Syndra is strong, sure, but nobody has seen Perkz play it, so we don't know his level; on the other hand, Peanut's Leopard Woman is plain for all to see—just search any video site and you'll find full highlights of his Leopard Woman, which is quite exaggerated."

Guan Zeyuan chuckled and said, "Well then, it looks like G2 will have to pay some tuition for this game."

The danmaku then said:

{One-zero}

{G2 started messing around again}

{Calling you Jiao Shen, do you really think you're the world's number one jungler? }

{Feeling G2 is overconfident}

{Still not clear? European teams have always been like this! }

{They won't go for a 3-0, will they? }

{Feeling SKT is just like that, ROX winning the championship is a foregone conclusion}

{The danmaku are all prophets, seeing the outcome before BP even ends—awesome, awesome, admirable, admirable}

{A bunch of idiots, have you reached gold yet, just pointing fingers here}

The live commentator also shouted in shock.

And behind the ROX players' bench, when Nofe saw G2 instantly snatch Syndra, his eyes widened a bit.

"Grinding teeth?! ="