Chapter 34: Debut

2016 Europe League of Legends Champions League, week 1 day 2.

Berlin Arena.

Liang Yan sat in the player seats, his position was the second from the left in this row.

Keyboard and mouse were neatly placed in front of him, he wore a headset, his body leaned against the chair back, and both hands were properly placed on his thighs.

A covered water cup was placed next to the mouse pad, with a straw inserted, within reach by extending a hand.

Through the gap between the monitors, the audience seats below could be seen.

In the dim light, heads moved, but no sound could be heard.

The noise-isolating headset performed well.

But the headset was not quiet; instead it was filled with various sounds, the background being continuous white noise, atop which were teammates' chatter, Ka Lao Si's nagging, and occasional sounds of the referee testing equipment or asking players.

The mouse and keyboard had been checked and debugged.

The monitor had also been adjusted.

The account had already entered the room.

All that remained was waiting for the referee to announce the start of the match.

Liang Yan sat quietly, feeling quite novel.

He felt no tension at all, only a faintly fermenting excitement.

He was not a naturally big-hearted player.

His composure at this moment came entirely from his past life's experience in society.

As an orphan who graduated from a vocational college, self-studied to enter a 985 university, and ultimately became the public relations director of a Global 500 company, what great winds and waves had he not seen?

Although he had indeed never played professionally, he had seen pigs run.

——In between struggles, watching League of Legends matches was almost Liang Yan's sole entertainment.

Today's opponents were indeed unremarkable; Liang Yan didn't recognize any of the five IDs across from him, indicating they had never appeared on the world stage.

In his past life, Liang Yan had never watched Ou Mei matches, hardly even IEM, and his impression of Ou Mei players came solely from the MSI and S Series international tournaments.

Players who couldn't make it to international tournaments were all trash fish and rotten shrimp.

Liang Yan still thinks that way.

As for the faint excitement in his heart, it might be because this moment indeed carries some commemorative significance—for example, when people later mention his resume, they will say, 'Kaihuo Ge's debut match back then was in Europe G2, playing against GIA,' and so on.

'Kaihuo Ge' is a nickname Liang Yan casually gave himself.

He knew he would acquire countless nicknames in the future, given the LPL netizens' talent for stirring up trouble—it was inevitable.

'Please turn up the coach's volume a bit… headset, headset, not the microphone… ok, just like that… good, players ready can start.'

The referee's voice announcing that the game could start sounded in the headset.

'Go?'

Expect, sitting to Liang Yan's right, asked in the team voice channel, and simultaneously typed a query in the room's public chat.

GIA's captain replied: 【go】

'GOGOGO!'

Perkz shouted excitedly.

Ka Lao Si agreed, allowing AP to freely choose a champion this game, but the selection pool was limited to the top ten most picked champions in the LCK.

That range was more than enough.

AP was inevitably excited.

Furthermore, AP was the G2 captain; he said they could begin, and if no other teammate objected, it was taken as tacit agreement to start the match.

——This piece of knowledge was told to Liang Yan by CyanideFI before the match.

——This guy really gets things done.

Expect clicked to start the game.

Clang!

A resonant, powerful metallic clang vibrated the eardrums.

The picture on the screen before him flickered and turned into the champion select interface.

It began……

Liang Yan lightly took a deep breath and stretched, thereby relieving the overexcitement surging in his body at this moment.

Ka Lao Si stood behind Liang Yan with his hands behind his back, nodding satisfiedly.

He liked players who had a bit of looseness on stage, as looseness indicated confidence.

This game G2 was still the red side.

It was naturally Ka Lao Si's choice, believing that taking the red side could counter the enemy's ban/pick.

This counts as a European coach's particular experience.

Choosing the blue side had the advantage of first pick, but also entailed the risk of being countered by the enemy's later plays; Europe is famed for its chaotic playstyle, and this season being a Bo2 format, if the enemy managed to pull off a big play, the chance of capsizing in a gutter would greatly increase.

When there is a hard strength disparity between the sides, picking the red side is indeed more stable.

Seeing that the opposing side had already banned a fan mom, Ka Lao Si adjusted his microphone position and spoke into everyone's headset:

"Our first two bans are the same as last game; the third ban follows my command."

Thus Expect selected a Lu Xi An and sent him to the Small Black Room.

The opposing side's second ban was an Enchantress.

G2 then banned a Catwoman.

Each side had one ban left, and the opposing side's ban pacing slowed down.

Liang Yan sat quietly in his seat, watching without speaking.

Usually, he likes to target the support in Europe's BP, but so far in this match they've only banned one Fan Mom; suddenly, the likelihood of the region's understanding syncing with LCK seems low—probably both sides' coaches plan to give each one a Bard Bu Long, which still shows the emphasis on the support position.

But is it really necessary?

Liang Yan really doesn't understand why European teams place such special importance on the support position; after all, this isn't a version where a support can easily carry the pace.

When only a few seconds remained in the ban phase, GIA finally banned a Zed.

AP's mouth twisted slightly, and he let out a light snort.

Liang Yan also smiled.

Not banning a single jungle hero is pretty good; although he knows this is a newcomer's perk, he really hopes to enjoy such treatment in future matches as well.

Ka Lao Si pondered for a moment, then suddenly asked Liang Yan:

"Liang, if you could only pick Thresh, Spider, and Rek'Sai, which would you fear more?"

"I'm not even afraid..."

"Liang Yan thought so, but said:"

"The enemy isn't the mercenary in mid‑bottom, is it? Jungle doesn't need worrying; I suggest banning mid‑bottom, Ryze or Wheel Mom, or… banning a Minotaur."

"Mercenary" means Korean aid; many European viewers like to call them that.

"No, no, no—I want to play Ryze!"

AP shouted in the headset.

"You want to play, but as red side you might not be able to pick it, buddy…"

Liang Yan fell silent.

Ka Lao Si pondered for a few seconds, not knowing what he was thinking, and finally asked:

"Are you sure you don't want to ban a jungle champion?"

"That sounds familiar; Liang Yan felt it was somewhat familiar and gave an affirmative hum."

"OK, Expect, we'll ban Viktor."

"Viktor?"

"Yes."

"Oh."

Expect found Viktor, selected it, and confirmed.

On the big screen, the red side's final ban slot was filled with Viktor's portrait.

Next, the champion selection began.

The voice of veteran commentator Quickshot rang out:

"Both sides have used up their bans, yet Ryze, a T0‑tier champion, remains unbanned, and the strong supports Maokai Ekko and Bard Bu Long are likewise present in the top lane."