Chapter 48: Come on, take Leopard Woman!

A strange wail came from inside the TSM base.

"What! Why is he banning his own spider?!"

"Crazy! This kid is too crazy! We must teach him a lesson!"

"It's fine, we still have Leopard Woman..."

"Don't ban Leopard Woman!"

"Let him take it! Let him take it!"

Shouting loudly, TSM casually banned a Bard, and then saw the blue side's first floor selection frame instantly lock onto a champion.

Lawless Outlaw·Graves.

At the moment the blue side locked in the Male Gun, the TSM base instantly fell silent.

Immediately afterwards, an even more intense clamor broke out.

What is madness?

You leave Spider Leopard Woman open, I stubbornly refuse to pick, and moreover I still want to first-hand reveal my jungle pick!

Moreover, I want to reveal it even when Leopard Woman is present!

With this Lawless Outlaw lock, G2 jungler's arrogant aura becomes almost tangible, bursting through the screen!

TSM members were howling, angrier than being scolded about something short and thin.

G2's side, however, was much quieter.

Mainly, the scene was a bit weird.

Moreover, it's even weirder that Ka Lao Si is actually willing to join Liang Yan in making a fuss.

Although the Male Gun isn't considered bottom-tier in this patch, it occasionally appears on the professional stage, but no one would ever reveal it as their first pick, because it has too many natural counters; those who reveal the Male Gun as their first pick usually end up dying horribly.

Liang Yan had Ka Lao Si give him the first pick of the Male Gun—this isn't fooling around, what is it?!

The little support Yudie sat in her corner spot, her face pale, doubting whether she had joined a fake professional team.

These big brothers are too scary to provoke!

Aren't professional teams supposed to be professional and rigorous? How can they just mess around like this!

Tang Anna ultimately didn't speak either, wearing a numb expression.

Even Lao Li didn't try to persuade them, just wearing a helpless, amused expression.

You guys say... will the other side not take Leopard Woman?

I don't know who, but someone asked softly in the headset.

I don't know...... if they take it, Liang will suffer badly...

Leopard Woman is the current patch's T0 jungler.

This champion's counter to the Male Gun mainly lies in suppressing the patch environment, not in inherent hero attributes.

Both are Wild Core-type champions, but compared to the Male Gun, Leopard Woman clears jungle faster, roams more flexibly, and has stronger overall ability.

The Male Gun heavily relies on teammates.

If teammates are disadvantaged on two lanes, or even just lose lane priority, the Male Gun's jungle is easily completely devoured by Leopard Woman.

As everyone knows, a Male Gun that can't farm is just a worthless little brother lacking both firepower and endurance.

Fortunately, the opposing side didn't pick Leopard Woman.

This let everyone breathe a sigh of relief.

It seems they still want to save face—if they really took Leopard Woman, that wouldn't be bullying newcomers, would it?

Mithy wiped the cold sweat from his face, chuckling awkwardly as he said.

He really didn't want to lose to TSM.

Not even in a scrim.

After G2 returned from MSI, why did they become a rat that everyone wants to beat? Do they really think it's because of 2-8? No! It's because they lost to North America!

For example, it's like how later TB lost to GAM.

They are to be nailed to the pillar of shame!

Liang Yan, however, felt a bit disappointed—'Come on, take Leopard Woman! If you don't take Leopard Woman, how can I prove you're bad? Aren't you strong? Take Leopard Woman and crush me!'

Each side picking one after another, the selection screen was quickly filled.

With Liang Yan's excellent examples leading the way, nobody felt like being overly cautious, lest they seem cowardly; Lao Zhang picked something relatively tricky for himself, and AP even volunteered to take a Shah he's equally bad at, seemingly also wanting to prove himself.

The lineup G2 picked this game looks quite unconventional.

G2, blue side

ban: Viktor, Vampire, Spider

top lane: Island, Crow (Strategist Leader·Swain, unchanged)

jungle: Firrrrrre, Male Gun

mid lane: Perkz, Shah

bot lane: Zven, Ember

support: Mithy, Morgana

TSM, red side

ban: Ryze, Big Tree, Bard

top lane: Hauntzer, Captain

jungle: Svenskeren, Mang Seng

Zhong Lu: Bjergsen, card

Xia Lu: Doublelift, Lu Xi An

Support: Biofrost, Bu Long

G2 has no front line at all.

Anyone who understands can see at a glance that the red side TSM's lineup is clearly more in line with the current version, especially this Xia Lu duo and the card; once this combo appears, the person on G2's side who bears the Lu Xi An lane will face enormous pressure after 10 minutes.

The jungler's pressure won't be small either; a burst combo of Mang Seng and the card can instantly kill any jungler lacking tankiness.

Ka Lao Si looked down on the opponent strategically, but as the battle was about to begin, he kept giving tactical details, walking back and forth behind the team, patting one person then another.

Actually, he had no real tactics; he just said whatever came to mind, and his reminders were entirely his subjective opinions.

"Zhang, you top lane, it's best to keep pushing the wave; after pushing, retreat to the back; as long as you disappear from vision, the enemy will be afraid, which can ease some of Liang Yan's pressure."

"The primary task in Xia Lu is to stay stable, stay stable, stay stable! Don't let him get a kill in lane! Even if you give up some last hits! Remember, your role is that of a tool; you don't need to deal much damage—leave the damage to Liang Yan, he is the core of the composition!"

"Lu Ka, I know your Shah... uh, maybe not as good as your other champions, so this game you don't need to stack much damage either; you can even build some semi‑tank items, like Zhonya's Hourglass, and... Iceborn Gauntlet? That's a good choice."

"But in other aspects, mainly teamfighting and counter‑teamfighting, Lu Ka you need to provide some support, because our lineup has no front line at all, so in these two aspects it's entirely up to you and Mithy's Morgana."

"Mithy, remember your shield! Shield! It's important—keep your finger on the E key at all times! Your primary task is not to engage, but to protect the carry! If you have safety in lane you can push the wave! This likewise reduces the jungler's pressure."

"As for Liang Yan... you handle it!"

"Why am I just supposed to handle it?"

"Come on, you also say a couple lines!"

"It's not that I really expect Ka Lao Si to give me any pointers; rather, Liang Yan finds Ka Lao Si's nervous chattering quite fresh, rarely seeing him like this."

"After the map reading ended, everyone entered Summoner's Rift."

"Liang Yan, as usual, still headed out with a jungle blade, a reusable potion, and a warding totem."

"After leaving, he ran to the upper half of the jungle, came to the riverbank, and placed a ward in the brush at the end of the left river wall of Zhong Lu to guard against Mang Seng's red‑buff level‑2 invasion."

"He then retreated along the small path and stood in front of the Magic Swamp Frog camp, waiting for the monsters to spawn."