Chapter 448: Scared the Hell Out of Me

BP entered the second round.

Due to VG's top lane still undecided, Homme cautiously banned a Prince to prevent VG from getting the Prince+Rambo combo. For the last ban slot, he hadn't fully decided yet; he would choose based on VG's last two bans. If VG showed intent to pick a top lane tank to fill the front line, Homme would ban the Gunner; otherwise, he would ban the Emerald God or Rek'Sai.

Homme was thinking, and in the next moment, when he saw the champion locked in VG's fourth ban slot, his pupils suddenly contracted sharply.

"Kennen? Still banning top lane?!"

Miller, who had analyzed a bunch of results all wrong, couldn't help but exclaim out loud.

Long-haired guy likewise had a clueless expression:

"What on earth is VG thinking? banning crocodile, banning Shen, banning Kennen…… what are they going to pick top lane?!"

Wawa, enjoying the commotion, shouted loudly while laughing:

"Interesting, so interesting!"

The venue became extremely noisy; regardless of whether the audience understood or not, they all joined in the uproar, making the whole scene extraordinarily lively.

At the WE players' bench, Homme paced back and forth anxiously behind the players.

The usually unshakable Homme felt his mind in turmoil.

He thought he had prepared himself mentally, that no matter what VG did, his mindset wouldn't be shaken, but things turned out otherwise; when VG once again played off-script, Homme realized he actually couldn't remain as immovable as a mountain.

At this moment, Homme's emotions uncontrollably fluctuated; the feeling of palpitations kept pumping with the expansion and contraction of his heart, filling his chest, making him wave after wave of panic.

They banned three top laners—what exactly are they going to pick?

In this version, which mainstream top‑lane champion is so weak in lane that its team utility is worth three bans to make up for the shortcoming?

An answer that suggests itself is——the crippled Green Steel Shadow after being nerfed.

But is it really that simple?

Is this VG's trump card?

In VG's understanding, does Green Steel Shadow still have such high priority?

Homme's mind was a tangled mess; countless guesses' threads knotted together in his head, and he couldn't tease out a clear line of thought.

Yet time ticked by second by second.

In the end, Homme still couldn't figure it out, so he could only make a clean cut.

He said to Ben on the fifth floor:

"Ban the Gunner!"

Ben is the support WE acquired from IG in exchange for Theshy; his engage is sharp, his operations steady, and in less than two seconds he found that bearded outlaw wielding a huge firearm—Graves—and locked him in the Small Black Room.

With things having come to this, Homme stopped overthinking, narrowed his eyes at Xi Ye's screen, intending to closely see what medicine the opponent was selling from their gourd.

VG's last ban removed Janna.

On the red side, WE had the right to first pick in the second round; Redmi decisively let Mystic on the fourth floor take Karma.

Immediately afterward, VG double‑selected and locked in their lineup.

Green Steel Shadow...

"Locked!"

Homme breathed a sigh of relief.

It really was Green Steel Shadow.

It scared the hell out of me; I still thought VG really had some secret ultimate.

Looks like I was overthinking it……

Hmm!!!!

Before he could finish letting out his breath, Homme's eyes instantly widened like copper bells!

"Wow!!!"

On the commentator's desk, Wawa let out a startled shout, then burst into excited laughter.

The venue then erupted in a deafening clamor.

"Good heavens?!"

Miller stared at the big screen, his eyes full of disbelief,

"Really Galio?!"

"Locked!!!"

"Really locked!!!"

Everyone erupted.

Homme was completely dumbfounded.

What on earth is VG's lineup?!

The long‑haired guy's lips twitched a few times as he muttered to himself:

"No way, Syndra's already out—where the heck did Galio go?"

"Green Steel Shadow jungling!"

Miller said firmly,

"It must be Green Steel Shadow jungling! I've seen Jiao Shen play this before!"

The long‑haired guy hesitated, thought it over, and said uncertainly:

"I also remember that when Green Steel Shadow first came out, Jiao Shen indeed played it for a while and it was pretty hot, but I also recall that it was because Jiao Shen made Green Steel Shadow popular that the devs later nerfed it hard, making it almost unplayable in the jungle, and it hasn't been buffed since, so that should be right, right?"

"That's correct, but aside from Green Steel Shadow, VG's lineup really has no other viable jungler—surely they aren't going to jungle with Galio, right?"

"Um… indeed, then it can only be Green Steel Shadow jungling."

"Hey, don't say that!"

Wawa, startled and uneasy,

VG's lineup looks pretty strong at first glance! If it can unleash its full potential, it feels kinda invincible!

Yeah, after Galio's rework, his ultimate is a semi-global support, similar to Pantheon's ult, but with a shorter delay and it includes a knock-up, making it an upgraded version of Pantheon's ult. Combined with Qiyana's crowd control, it's very strong in team fights.

But there's a problem, just as Long-haired Teacher said earlier, Qiyana jungling is too weak, too weak. Without teammates' help, even if the enemy doesn't interfere, a slight mistake could get you killed by jungle monsters.

Whatever the commentator could think of, Homme could naturally see as well.

After the initial shock, Homme carefully took a look at VG's lineup and felt reassured.

VG's lineup is indeed strong in team fights; small-scale skirmishes in the upper half of the map are almost invincible.

But the key is at least to develop steadily!

Qiyana jungling is really trash!

In the early game, forget about ganking; just whether she can reliably clear jungle and reach level three on her own is a problem!

Why is Qiyana jungling completely absent from ranked play these days? It lacks both sustain and jungle efficiency; after using Smite, clearing the second and third jungle camps is pure torture. To be blunt, any slight mistake in operation could get you killed by jungle monsters at level two.

There's no point even trying to invade him; playing this hero, you'll fall behind in lane level and never make it to the mid‑late game when you can start to shine.

Moreover, Galio is weak in lane too; if Kled hadn't been banned by me in the first round, I would definitely give 957 Kled to teach the enemy a lesson!

By now, VG's entire ban‑pick strategy has become completely clear. No wonder they banned Renekton and Shen—they're giving Galio a safety net for his lane.

Hongmi felt regret for banning Jayce and Kled for the enemy, but it's no big deal—Galio is just a tool, pressuring him in lane isn't important. So as long as WE's top laner avoids mistakes, the key is still in the mid‑jungle.