Chapter 356: The top lane flows like water, the big tree stands firm like iron

VG decisively picked Kassadin and Ashe in their first double pick!

Huh?

Su Xiao Yan was somewhat surprised.

Ji De asked: "What's wrong?"

Um...

Su Xiao Yan smiled awkwardly,

"Recently Jiao Shen's stream isn't that popular, and I also checked him out; I recall he probably hasn't played Mantis."

"Don't you dislike playing heroes with weak leg skills, huh...?" Chang Mao Gan chuckled twice, the deadpan joke was painfully awkward.

Ji De, however, said:

"Su Xiao Yan still doesn't understand Jiao Shen enough; for such a popular jungler, you can be 100% sure he can play it, even if he hasn't in ranked."

Is that so...

"Of course, the World's No. 1 Jungler wouldn't play a meta‑strong champion; that's too weak… uh, too implausible."

Indeed, thinking about it that way.

EDG then picked Ryze and Zayn, to avoid being forced into a situation where VG bans two AD carries in a row after the second round, leaving them without a comfortable AD pick.

Immediately after, VG made a steady second pick, choosing the Serpentine.

First round of bans/picks ended! In the season's first match, both sides looked cautious, each locking in a mid‑lane marksman and a jungler in their two picks; thus the second round will be a battle for top lane and support.

Under the 10‑ban format, in the second round the red side bans first and picks first, then the blue side gets two picks, and the red side still retains the advantage of the last counter‑pick.

In this mode, the red side's disadvantage is not as obvious as before.

One could even say that, at least in this version, during bans/picks the red and blue sides actually have no real advantage or disadvantage. However, the red side's disadvantage on Summoner's Rift still exists and cannot be made up.

In fact, even ordinary players can feel it: for most people, the gameplay feel from the blue side's perspective is noticeably more comfortable than from the red side's.

"The second round of bans/picks starts with the red side's move; both sides will surely contend over a few strong long‑range supports, but VG seems unwilling to play mind games with EDG and immediately bans the female gunner, leaving EDG no choice but to ban Jinx."

"VG bans Alchemist again."

Patch 7.1 is again a version where top‑lane tanks dominate, mainly because patch 6.22 added a talent called "Giant's Courage"; even though patch 6.24 nerfed it a bit, the talent remains extremely strong. In short, after a hero enters combat and releases a hard crowd‑control skill, they gain a shield that grows thicker the more nearby enemy heroes there are.

The shield's base value is based on the hero's maximum health; obviously it fits tank heroes best. It started at 7%, which was absurd, then the designers saw the tank win‑rate and quickly cut it down to 5%, still overwhelmingly strong.

Thus heroes like Titan, Big Tree, and Bo Bi rose to prominence.

At first no one thought Alchemist could benefit from this trend, until Alchemist's win rate in high‑rank Korean server play shot up like a rocket.

When Alchemist's win rate hit 56%, everyone realized, 'Damn, Alchemist with Giant's Courage is also terrifying!' With a Zombie Warden's ultimate activated, movement speed skyrockets—faster than a regular hero sprinting—charging into a crowd and picking anyone at random, the shield becomes absurdly thick; though lacking mobility skills, it's slippery enough to be frightening, hard to kill, damage looks average but keeps burning, a true nuisance, and since the current bottom lane consists of immobile squishies, it's downright disgusting.

Another point is that this version has excessive physical output but lacks a bit of AP damage.

All major regions jumped on the bandwagon, and Alchemist became wildly popular.

In this game, VG's mid and bot lanes are both immobile short‑legs, and they're still afraid of Alchemist; to be safe they still shoved the disgusting Alchemist into the Small Black Room.

EDG's last pick followed with a ban on Fan‑Lady.

The three popular long‑range supports all went into the Small Black Room, so the bottom‑lane lane intensity will obviously not be high, meaning the pace will be slow and the game will be dragged into the late stage.

At this point the status of tanks rose again.

Long Ge said without hesitation:

"Let's grab Big Tree first, brothers."

Fu Lan Duo, who isn't fond of tank champions but has to practice them because the situation forces her, couldn't help but complain:

"Damn, every year they update and every year it's Big Tree; the flowing top lane, iron‑clad Maokai—when will this thing finally die completely? Playing it every day I'm not bored, but the audience must be getting sick of it."

Sima Laozei ignored him and asked: "Is it Big Tree?"

Long Ge, still unsure, turned to Liang Yan and asked: "Liang Yan, what do you think?"

Liang Yan said: "Big Tree is pretty good; whether it's strong or not doesn't matter, as long as we don't let EDG get it, we're winning."

"Then I'll lock it."

Sima Laozei said and directly selected Big Tree, locking it in quickly.

Fu Lan Duo cursed, saying, "Ma Ge, we're not friends anymore."

Ma Ge replied, "Oh, next time I'll treat you to a meal—don't come."

Fu Lan Duo cursed again.

Xiao Duan comforted him: "Qiang Ge, don't blame the environment; go with the flow, the times make heroes—I think that's how it is."

"I don't want to be a hero, I want to fight! Tata kai! Let Big Tree die soon."

"Big Tree won't quit the group."

Liang Yan blurted out a reply, then realized he'd once again played the prophet, and so fell silent.

The ambitious Marquis, hearing this, immediately asked:

"Why won't Big Tree quit the group?"

"Emmm…"

Liang Yan's mind raced, and he finally said:

"Because EDG only recruits Big Tree players who can top lane."

The VG team voice channel instantly burst into laughter.

The Marquis stared for a moment, then pondered to himself, not knowing what reason he'd found to convince himself, and eventually nodded: "That makes sense."

Fu Lan Duo immediately retorted:

"It's over, Marquis; you've completely turned into the shape of Little Foot Brother."

A puff of laughter came from behind.

Good grief, even the referee was made to laugh…

Liang Yan's face darkened:

"Get lost!"

If the referee weren't standing behind him, he would have kicked him right then; regardless, he'd have to help this kid recall how he originally made a name for himself.

Then, with EDG's last two picks, they locked in Titan and Tham.

VG's last pick was a single Thresh.

Many players use Thresh, including the opposing Meiko, who was once called the LPL's number one Thresh.

But if we're talking about the Thresh with the strongest laning aggression among all LPL supports, it's actually Xiao Duan; it's just that last year VG's two ADs were too weak, so Xiao Duan couldn't fully exert his true strength.

Now, paired with Sima Laozei, who loves to kill people, and 'the first pentakill Draven' Ke Li Si Tuo, it's a whole different scene.

Supports and AD carries often complement each other.