Chapter 415: Top Seed Showdown

RNG, go for it!!

VG is awesome!!

RNG is awesome!!

Jiao Shen is invincible!!

VG, go for it!!

Little dog is awesome!!

The crowd's intermittent shouts gradually turned into a frenzy across the venue, with fans from both sides shouting chaotically, their voices merging into a huge sound wave that shook the entire arena.

Guan Zeyuan instinctively said: "Guigu, VG's popularity is really surging."

Unexpectedly, Wawa had already turned on the mic switch; this remark spread throughout the venue, instantly provoking loud laughter, with a VG fan shouting:

VG ten-year veteran fan here!

Embarrassed Guan Zeyuan seized the chance to back down:

"You're bragging, VG hasn't even been around for ten years since its founding!"

The audience below burst into laughter again.

Just then, the stage lights came on.

The commentators stopped their awkward chatter; Wawa gave a fake cough, raised her voice, and said:

"Alright, welcome back!"

"Today's final match of the schedule, also the concluding battle of the cross-group confrontation stage of the LPL Spring Season, and moreover the peak showdown between the top teams of Groups A and B!"

"The importance of this match needs no further explanation from me."

Miller immediately followed up in sync:

"A showdown between the top seeds—we've been waiting for this a long time!"

Guan Zeyuan:

"Ah, you really shouldn't say that; last night I searched online, even the cheapest tickets were selling for over 500, nearly five times the original price, and they're all sold out."

"That's really exaggerated."

"I actually think it's not exaggerated at all; RNG is already one of the most popular teams in the LPL, plus the rising VG, you know what I mean, right?"

"The scalpers must be making a killing..."

Guan Zeyuan whispered a sentence; Wawa gave another fake cough, didn't pursue the topic, and looked up at the big screen:

"Cut the chatter, BP has started!"

"In this game, VG is on the blue side; RNG has quite a few things to watch out for."

"Hmm, the good news is that this version has greatly balanced the champions; neither the Enchantress nor the Lion Dog need to be banned, so RNG's ban pressure is much lower..."

Currently using patch 7.5, after several consecutive patches of nerfs, the hype around the Spring Season's three phantom gods has finally faded; in terms of stats, the Enchantress and Lion Dog are basically half‑crippled, already weakened to the point where even an invulnerability mechanic is hard to compensate for; aside from a few especially confident players, other teams hardly pick them anymore.

Green Steel Shadow has also been heavily nerfed, but because its mechanic is truly unique, it remains the sole champion still topping the ban rate.

Guan Zeyuan's assessment of this version is fairly objective; the champion diversity in patch 7.5 has indeed seen considerable improvement, aside from Green Steel Shadow which is either banned or picked, other champions can be decided situationally for banning or picking, making this a fairly balanced version.

Of course, the ban‑pick rates of some popular champions will definitely stand out.

VG's first ban went to the Sheriff, and Uzi's lane still deserves respect.

RNG's first ban was Mang Seng.

VG's second ban, after some thought, was Jayce.

RNG's second ban dutifully sent Green Steel Shadow to the Small Black Room.

After the first round of bans, only one ban slot remained for each side; VG gave Lulu, and RNG held out until the last second to ban Braum.

After the first ban phase ended, FireFox, standing behind the RNG players' bench, watched the rhythmically flashing blue‑side first‑pick champion selection frame; his brow unconsciously tightened, and amid his tense expression a hint of unease brewed.

Many factors made him uneasy; VG's first pick would largely determine the course of this ban‑pick phase, and the choice that frightened FireFox the most was VG snatching Syndra or the Prince first.

Up to now in the Spring Season, VG has never played Syndra in a match; since they haven't scrimmed against VG, FireFox cannot tell whether VG's mid laner Easyhoon truly cannot play Syndra as the rumors claim.

After the boss issued the task 'winning one game counts as qualified,' FireFox could only do his best to seek more winning chances; after weighing it repeatedly, he decided that rather than doing a safe, mistake‑free ban‑pick that yields nothing, he might as well gamble.

If VG suddenly pulls out a Syndra + Mantis combo, or first snatches Orianna or the Prince to force RNG to grab the other, FireFox's subsequent ban‑pick would become very passive.

Fortunately, VG's choice was finally settled, and it was neither of those.

Seeing that the blue side's first pick had locked in Varus, FireFox let out a long breath, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and issued his own command:

"Frost Archer, Wine Barrel—let's take these two first."

Letme on the first pick and Mlxg on the second pick quickly locked in the two champions the coach mentioned.

Since the opposing side didn't snatch Syndra on their first pick but instead took Varus—a champion whose priority isn't actually that high—it means their chances of picking it later are low, because champions that occupy a core position are usually decided early so they can build the rest of the composition based on the opponent's response.

Furthermore, Xiaohu's Syndra is merely average; compared to Syndra mains like Rookie and Doinb, he's still quite far behind.

Simply put, Xiaohu's Syndra lacks flavor; although he rarely makes mistakes, he also has no standout points, and it would be better to simply pick a standard spell‑core caster for him to have greater impact.

So FireFox also didn't give Xiaohu Syndra; instead he first gave the team's big brother Uzi a handy Frost Archer, then gave the top laner an ultimate all‑rounder Wine Barrel that's hard to collapse in lane even if he plays poorly.

There's a saying that the style‑based ban‑pick is still solid: first give the carry a champion that can deal damage, then give the weakness a champion that can cover for it, thereby locking in both the ceiling and the floor.

No no no!

Wawa grabbed Guan Zeyuan's talking point and started stirring things up:

"What do you mean by that, Teacher Guan Zeyuan? I don't get it at all!"

"Um, that's what I mean."

"What does that later sentence mean? What weakness? Hmm?"

"Cough… uh… I mean, compared to our other two laners whose Kai'Sa ability is off the charts, our Letme player has a relatively steadier laning style. I didn't say Letme is weak at all—definitely not what I meant!"

"Sophistry, you're just being sophistic! Is that what weakness means?"

"That's exactly what I mean!"

Tsk tsk, I can't even be bothered to say you~