Chapter 300

G2 break room.

After the excitement, everyone sat in a circle, listening to Ka Lao Si speak.

In the history of the S tournament, there has never been a match where a team came back from 0-2 to win 3-2, but we cannot be complacent. In the first two games we gained a huge advantage in bans/picks due to information asymmetry, but from the third game onward, the bans/picks are basically revealed.

In other words, it's time to fight with real weapons and test our true strength.

Before you came back, I discussed with Anna: the score is now 2-0, and we are the blue side in the next game. We will have an overwhelming advantage in momentum, so I suggest we seize the moment and exert pressure early to crush them!

Are you saying we should pick an early‑game aggressive lineup? Liang Yan asked calmly.

It is an extreme early‑game aggressive lineup.

Ka Lao Si looked at Liang Yan,

"Liang, I believe you can do it!"

Liang Yan thought for a moment, then nodded:

"I'll do my best."

……

"Why not ban Leopard Woman? We've been banning Vi all along..."

In the ROX break room, everyone lowered their heads, listening to Xiao Huasheng pour out his grief to Coach Nofe.

Xiao Huasheng wiped his tears:

"Sniff, last night you told me Vi could be counter‑picked, but after I practiced Vi all night, I got banned twice in a row, sniff sniff sniff……"

"And what's so important about Leopard Woman? Sniff, how did I lose just one game with Leopard Woman and then give it to the opposing team? Am I really that bad, sniff sniff……"

"They also said this Bo5 depends on jungle performance, but they keep giving Jinghao weak champions, sniff sniff sniff, Coach, I really don't want to help with those champions because I know it wouldn't help, sniff sniff……"

"Please, Brother Lu Zhe, sniff sniff sniff, I just want to play a smooth game……"

Coach Nofe sighed, raised his hand and rubbed Xiao Huasheng's head twice, then asked gently:

"What do you think we should do?"

"I… I don't know either; I just feel that the lineup we picked is really uncomfortable, completely unlike the lineups we used to choose."

"You mean we lack early‑game confrontation?"

Xiao Huasheng's face was streaked with tears as he stared at Nofe, stunned.

Is that so?

The answer was, of course, negative.

But Xiao Huasheng felt that these two games were extremely awkward—previously, ganks would just happen when he went in, but now, no matter how he moved, everything felt off, extremely awkward; there was hardly any jungle skirmish, the jungle linkage wouldn't come together, and although the side lane could secure lane priority, it was always sabotaged by other factors, preventing any chemistry with Xiao Huasheng.

Why did this happen?

Xiao Huasheng only thought the lineup was flawed, never seriously considering that he himself was a player heavily reliant on lane support, and that his previously shown strong aggressiveness was actually founded on his teammates' advantages.

Nofe could see Xiao Huasheng's problem, and also the gap between Xiao Huasheng and G2's jungler; Firrrrrre looks like the same type of jungler as Xiao Huasheng, but in their fundamental understanding of the jungler role, they are utterly different.

The clearest manifestation is these two games: both played a round as Leopard Woman, yet their performances were worlds apart; this gap is not due to a huge skill disparity, but because, faced with the same situation, they made completely different choices.

Exactly, the problem Firrrrrre's Leopard Woman faced in the second game was exactly the same as Xiao Huasheng's Leopard Woman in the first: theoretically, the mid lane had no lane priority.

Xiao Huasheng's choice was to first stabilize his own development, then look for chances to help his teammates open up the situation, and then feed that back into himself.

Firrrrrre's choice, of course, was to go extremely all-in; if that Leopard Woman engage failed to catch anyone, the fallout would surely be worse than Xiao Huasheng's Leopard Woman game.

But after thinking it over, Nofe realized that was actually the optimal solution.

Otherwise, if Firrrrrre had adopted Xiao Huasheng's playstyle—stabilizing early—there would be no doubt that Xiao Huasheng's Leopard Woman predicament would replay on him, since Kuro and Xiao Huasheng had already prepared to attack him.

In reality, Firrrrrre broke the deadlock a step earlier and succeeded.

That is the difference between them.

But Coach Nofe didn't plan to tell Xiao Huasheng these things, since Xiao Huasheng's playstyle couldn't undergo a major change in a short time, so bringing them up now would be pointless.

Next, Nofe let everyone speak freely, discussing how to handle bans and picks for the next game.

Under great pressure, the ROX members, after some discussion, ended up making an extremely drastic decision.

They prepared to fight with their backs to the wall, to go all-in against G2.

"There's nothing else we can do......"

"Playing normally really can't beat......"

"I don't want to lose......"

"At least win one game......"

"Then let's do that."

"Let's go out and let them see the true Rocks!"

"ROX, meaning Rocks, signifies 'as solid as a rock'; it was the team name the members decided on together, symbolizing that even without sponsors, dirt poor, they would remain unmoved in the new season, continuing to fight and forge ahead."

"And the reason they kept the 'Tigers' suffix after the team name is because they are an extremely strong offensive team, not a mere stone to be beaten."

"ROX, trailing 0-2 and in dire straits, rekindled their fighting spirit."

"Everyone's hearts were filled with solemn resolve; the only thought at this moment was:"

"We must not be swept 0-3!"

"......"

"Welcome back!"

"In the shot, LPL commentator Wawa was glowing red-faced, his voice loud; he commented on the two games, still full of vigor, with a bit of the joyful, spirited feeling one gets when something good happens."

"In Wawa's mind, he had already come to regard G2 as a member of the LPL."

"Not a few LPL viewers shared this mindset; in the livestream chat, the phrase 'Four-seed, awesome' would occasionally fly by."

""In the finals' third game, G2 leads ROX 2-0! I believe viewers will find this surreal, but as you see, this is happening right here, right now, at the Staples Center!""

""Six months ago, right here, a world-renowned battle took place. That day, the arena's owners, the NBA Lakers, defeated the super-strong Golden State Warriors 112-95 in a stunning upset! We all know that before that game started, the Warriors had up to a 90% win rate in mainstream predictions! But the result we all saw was that night, the Lakers left a bold, vivid mark in NBA history!""

"I don't know what everyone thinks, but I think that if today G2 can defeat ROX and win the championship, then I believe this match will likewise be recorded in the history of League of Legends esports, because their situation is exactly the same as that of the Lakers back then!"

"Nobody is optimistic about them!"

"But they are here, and they are only half a step away from the championship!"

"Audience friends, the third game is here!"

"Whether it's 3-0 or 2-1, let's witness it together!"