Chapter 394: The Strong Are Not Necessarily Bald

Six ban positions used up, both sides begin picking.

VG, as previously discussed, first pick secured Qiyana.

WE's first pick was again unexpected.

"Huh?!"

"No way, don't pick Ahri?"

"I remember Xi Ye playing Ahri quite well, why not pick it?"

WE's first pick two selections directly locked a strong mid-jungle duo: Syndra + Mang Seng.

VG members likewise didn't understand why WE didn't pick Ahri but chose Syndra.

"What does that mean?"

"Just messing around~"

"Messing around isn't done like that; Ahri is so strong, he didn't pick it—does he look down on us? Is he going to throw the game?"

"Throw the game? Do you think the enemy has low IQ or that you look down on us?"

"What does Liang Yan think?"

"Looks like he wants mid lane priority."

"Yes, Syndra does have an advantage over Lux before level six."

The Marquis agreed with Liang Yan's view.

Before reaching level six, Syndra has a long-range advantage, and her skills can hit both champions and minions together, whereas Ahri struggles to do this, and her sole mobility skill W often cannot be used freely, otherwise she's likely to be caught, because in this version Ahri lost the passive of the low-health decoy, and the slow from her chains was also removed; without mobility skills, she's actually quite easy to be caught and killed.

But after hitting level six and learning her ultimate, Ahri will undergo a qualitative change. This version's Ahri ultimate is undoubtedly the strongest version ever.

Compared to that, although Syndra is also strong after her ultimate, in terms of ultimate quality she still falls short of Ahri by a tier.

Therefore, once both sides reach level six, assuming equal player skill, Ahri actually has the advantage; before that, Syndra has the advantage.

WE not picking Ahri but choosing Syndra is likely to secure early mid lane priority, but there's certainly more than just that reason.

Thus Liang Yan thought for a moment and said:

"Xiao Duan's intuition might be correct; they probably really want to mess around."

"How would they mess around?"

"Maybe they'll pick an extremely aggressive early-mid composition."

"Top lane Kennen Rumble, bottom lane Caitlyn Jhin?"

"Anything's possible."

"Should we still pick Ahri?"

"Of course, such a great hero—why not pick it? Make a flexible composition; we're not afraid of anything."

"Alright."

VG's second two picks: Ahri + Mantis.

On the commentary desk, Guan Zeyuan's expression was indescribably strange:

"My goodness, Qiyana Ahri Mantis—VG snatched them all; what kind of BP is WE doing? I'm really curious how the Redmi coach thinks?!"

"Feels like they can't win through macro, so they have to resort to a surprise tactic."

"Really?"

"Probably."

WE's third pick was Jhin.

"Really snagged Jhin, huh."

Zhu Xiaolong sighed, then in the second round banned Caitlyn and Kennen.

Meanwhile WE banned Jinx and Draven, then first-picked Karma.

VG's two picks locked Ezreal + Bu Long.

Not picking Thresh but Bu Long mainly because they needed a sturdier front line; otherwise, when it came time for a four-one split push, VG's four people would cluster together with no front liner at all, and if the enemy five-man group pushed forward, the defense would be extremely weak.

At the same time, Bu Long also counters Syndra quite well—the spell shield can help teammates block Syndra's ultimate—although Syndra's ultimate is a semi-lock-on skill, it has a projectile, and any skill with a projectile can be blocked by the spell shield.

WE's final pick aimed to completely reveal their strategy.

"Crocodile!"

"Wow, crocodile?"

"WE's BP this game is completely different from the previous game; they actually picked an extremely aggressive early-mid composition!"

"If you can't win, change tactics—that's the correct approach!"

"WE's composition looks strong; their top-mid-jungle fighting capability is formidable."

"Yes, especially in dealing with Qiyana, WE performed outstandingly; picking Jhin was unexpected, but he is indeed one of the few heroes that can suppress Qiyana."

"If they can bring out the strengths of their composition, WE's win rate in this game won't be low."

"It should be said to be very high—they have an advantage on all three lanes."

"That's right, while VG's composition leans more toward tactical; if you average the win rates of all their heroes, VG's composition's surface win rate is definitely very high, but how to put it—sometimes you gather the strongest few champions together, yet you don't necessarily get a 1+1=2 effect, because these big cores consume resources, and this version happens to be relatively resource-scarce."

"This really tests VG's team resource allocation; I estimate Jiao Shen will again be playing the leaf role this game, meaning from mid-game onward they'll definitely have to allocate some of their jungle resources to teammates, otherwise Qiyana and Ahri's development will be slow."

"No, if they want to avoid collapsing in mid-game—because WE's mid-game composition is indeed too strong—then VG must start allocating resources properly from the early game."

"Jiao Shen can't go soak up lane experience."

"Not only can't he soak, he might even have to give some jungle scraps to teammates; my meaning is early game, for example, starting from the second and third rounds, let F6 let the Stone Armor Beetle etc."

"Ah, then how do we play Mantis?"

"But I think they picked this composition precisely because they have to play this way; otherwise they truly can't withstand WE's mid-game assault, WE's mid-game is just too strong!"

"Alright, let's go! The second match of the top-tier teams in Group A, WE, with no retreat left, chose to go all out!"

The cheering voices of fans from both sides died down, Summoner's Rift had already appeared on the big screen, and the heroes of both sides descended into their respective sacred Quan Shui amid inspiring drumbeats and dazzling light beams.

"My ear is a bit itchy, referee, can I move my headphones a bit?"

Gangzi had bought his equipment and stood beside the Quan Shui, asking the referee via the microphone.

The referee said it's okay, but you can't pull them open.

Gangzi then pressed the headphones with both hands, rubbed them hard a few times, and suddenly his whole body shuddered—looks like he felt good.

The Marquis inadvertently glanced at Gangzi's hair, was stunned, and sincerely said:

"I suggest you wash your hair at least every two days, then it won't itch."

Gangzi chuckled twice.

"Wash your ass, strong ones don't wash their heads!"

Fu Lan Duo hearing that immediately teased:

"Strong ones aren't not washing their heads; they just don't need to wash them, because they're all bald—I see you're not bald."

"Who said strong ones must be bald? Has Liang Yan gone bald? Has Faker gone bald? Has Perkz gone bald? Nonsense!"

"Stop bullshitting."

"I'll just..."

"Stop bullshitting, get in position."