Chapter 416: Zero

The audience enjoyed watching the commentators argue with each other, and laughter filled the venue.

However, everything has its limits; the three veterans' coordinated performance was already seamless, seeing the atmosphere was about right, Miller pretended to be a peacemaker, holding back laughter to smooth things over:

"Forget it, forget it, Yan Ge, let's let him off this time."

"Fine, I'll spare you this time."

Wawa wore a look of triumph, raising her head to look at the big screen,

"Let's keep watching the ban/pick phase; VG secured Thresh and Spider with their second pick!"

"Put all the top/mid choices into the second round?!"

Miller also looked at the big screen; the awkward expression he had put on vanished instantly, his eyes full of surprise,

"What if RNG snags the mid lane with their second pick, then bans mid lane twice in the next round? Marquis would feel a bit of pressure!"

"I think it's fine; Marquis's hero pool is too deep now—any ban you throw at him, he can still pick a comfortable champion, and if RNG goes first, he can even counter-pick you."

"Um... indeed."

Miller glanced down at the data prepared in advance and written in his notebook,

"As of now, Marquis has used seven different heroes this season, which is a significant improvement in his hero pool compared to last season."

"Actually, it's not just Marquis; the hero pools of VG's other positions have likewise become very deep!"

"That's why VG has been able to keep winning streak after streak—their fundamentals are just too strong."

"Could this also be a change brought to VG by Jiao Shen?"

"I don't know about that; it could also be the credit of Coach Long Ge."

"Speaking of that, VG brought in a new assistant coach two weeks ago—oh, I should say analyst. And this person, our long-time viewers should have an impression of."

"Yes, a professional support player who once finished runner-up in the S tournament!"

"And he had also served as support for Xiao Gou."

"Tabe!"

Not everyone checks Weibo, not everyone constantly follows team personnel updates, and in fact the vast majority of viewers don't look at transfer news; they usually learn a team's roster only through official match broadcast cameras.

As for team members who never appear in match cameras, many people have no knowledge of them at all.

So, when the commentators brought this up during the live broadcast, a considerable number of viewers felt surprised; the barrage instantly became denser, and countless people began discussing:

【？？？】

【Awesome, VG actually managed to snag the former dog consort—this is surely a counter to RNG's treasures, right?】

【No, I recall this guy's character has issues】

【Heh, esports Wang Jingwei】

【S5 leaked IG tactics—I'll hate him for life!】

【Tabe's ability is decent, but his character is indeed so-so】

【Who hasn't made mistakes when young… I feel Tabe back then also didn't anticipate any impact, just showing off】

【He's already been banned by the LPL; otherwise we'd probably still see him on stage】

【Objectively speaking, Tabe's leak is a fact, but IG's loss in S5 actually had nothing to do with him; he was also banned, so there's really no need to keep harping on it╮(╯▽╰)╭】

【No relation? Laughable—does anyone actually whitewash this kind of person?】

【It's not whitewashing; IG's strength speaks for itself—bottom‑tier group level, no amount of struggling helps. If you just watch the S5 match recordings, you'll see they simply can't win, having little to do with lineup or tacticsε=(′ο｀*)))sigh】

【Then how do you explain why he's so hated and gets slammed by so many? Do you think you're the only clear‑headed one while everyone else is an idiot? Laughable—just go ahead and whitewash, stop pretending to be a centrist!】

【Let's discuss properly instead of personal attacks—Tabe got flamed because the LPL's overall performance was poor back then, everyone needed an outlet for frustration, he just happened to make a mistake and became the scapegoat? Of course, he also deserved it. I'm done arguing, signing off╮(╯▽╰)╭】

In the G2 training room, Tang Anna let out a soft sigh, pulled her hands back from the keyboard, crossed her arms over her chest, and silently watched the match.

Sitting not far away, Lao Zhang heard the sigh, turned his head curiously to take a glance, only saw Tang Anna's expressionless side profile, shook his head, and wondered if he had hallucinated.

Seeing Tang Anna not wearing headphones, Lao Zhang casually struck up a chat with Tang Anna, who had already become the team's head coach:

"What do you think RNG's chances of winning are?"

"Zero."

Tang Anna uttered a single word in a cold tone, showing no mercy.

Lao Zhang chuckled:

"You're that confident about my brother?"

Tang Anna opened her mouth, but then suddenly thought of something, froze without making a sound, while the base of her ears subtly flushed with a faint blush, and finally she muttered indistinctly:

"Not bad……"

"What?"

Lao Zhang didn't hear it.

But Tang Anna stopped paying him any mind, her expression grew even colder, exuding an aura of "I don't want to talk to anyone."

Having worked together for nearly a year, Lao Zhang had pretty much figured out this young lady's temperament, tactfully refrained from pressing further, and merely wondered to himself:

"Why is she unhappy again? I didn't even say anything."

……

The venue.

Both sides' ban/pick phase has ended.

Lineup as follows:

VG, Blue side

bans: Vayne, Jayce, Lulu; Orianna, Ryze

Top lane: Flandre, Kled

Jungle: Firrrrrre, Spider

Zhong Lu: Easyhoon, Vampire

Xia Lu: Smlz, Varus

Support: Caveman, Thresh

Coach: Loong

RNG, Red Side

Ban: Mang Seng, Azure Steel Shadow, Rambo; Snake Woman, Crocodile

Top Lane: Letme, Wine Barrel

Jungle: Mlxg, Mantis

Zhong Lu: Xiaohu, Clockwork

Xia Lu: Uzi, Frost Arrow

Support: Ming, Grasshopper

Coach: FireFox

The map loaded quickly, and after entering Summoner's Rift, Guan Zeyuan said:

"From the lineup perspective, VG's composition is relatively solid; even with Kled, they won't lack engage ability. However, in small-scale skirmishes, I think RNG has an advantage—whether it's top, mid, jungle or bottom lane trio, their combat ability is clearly a bit stronger than VG's. Moreover, VG, due to the vampire point, struggles to exert power early on, so the early tempo might be relatively passive. As for team fights..."

"Team fight-wise, RNG's lineup has ample damage—whether it's the mantis or the clockwork wine barrel, they're actually quite effective against Kled."

"Yes, so I'm a bit worried whether Sheng Qiang Ge's Kled can survive a round of bombardment; with sufficient damage, Kled is hard to last until the second round of engagement."

"In that case, his passive actually becomes useless."

"That's right. However, since the picks are locked, we'll see how it plays out. The battle has already begun! The showdown between the top seeds of Groups A and B—let's wait and see!"