Chapter 523: Will VG Also Get Carried Away?

Lightning Wolf player bench.

Team head coach WarHorse (War Horse) paced back and forth behind the player benches, anxiously communicating with the players:

"Are they going for an early game? Are you sure they're going for an early game?"

"No Shen, they've put Ke Li Si Tuo on Vayne with a full armor-penetration build!"

"Hong Haoxuan, what's your take?"

"I also think they'll go for an early game."

"But we don't have a frontline tank anymore."

"How about a barrel? A barrel would work, right?"

"Let's magic burst, brothers—we can't win with a normal comp!"

"Agreed!"

"Then let's take the Male Gun first."

"Taken, taken."

"What about the second? LeBlanc? Lanbo?"

"LeBlanc first."

"Red side FW's first pick: Male Gun + LeBlanc, locked!"

"Immediately after, VG locked in two with a bang—Spider + Jinx—confirming FW's guess that VG is indeed aiming for an early game!"

"In FW's first round final pick, WarHorse, after careful thought, finally gave up Lanbo and gave the support a Karma first."

"Entering the second ban phase, VG still didn't ban Lanbo but instead banned two AD carries in quick succession; FW banned two mids and then picked Lu Xi An."

"This Lu Xi An pick startled Zhu Xiaolong: 'Holy shit, Lu Immortal!'"

"Everyone burst into laughter:"

"The coach got scared."

"Don't panic, Long Ge—they've already locked in Ahri, so you can't go mid Lu Immortal."

"Hahaha..."

"Zhu Xiaolong scratched his head embarrassedly:"

"Damn, that scared me—I thought our strategy leaked; I've been thinking we haven't used Lu Xi An in our scrims these past days, so how did they know?"

"Liang Yan couldn't help but chuckle and said:"

"Don't scare yourself; hardly anyone plays mid Lu Immortal at Master tier and above—we just practiced it with the second team, so nobody knows."

"FW obviously picked Lu Xi An because their AD slot was banned out too much and they didn't want to take Ezreal, that trash pick—this is the normal line of thinking."

"Zhu Xiaolong chuckled, finally relaxed, and began filling the last two pieces of their lineup as discussed during the equipment debug."

"VG's fourth and fifth picks secured Crocodile + Rock Sparrow, lineup fully locked."

"All the LPL casters sucked in a breath of cold air:"

"Crocodile again!"

"Should say crocodile and spider again!"

"But VG's comp is an extreme early-game aggression lineup… looking at it, it resembles the comp they used when KT faced G2 in the previous match!"

"VG might be a bit hard-headed."

"I think VG might be thinking that, since it's their first Worlds appearance, they need to open the world's eyes and tell everyone what VG is—just that team declaration you know."

"Yeah, conquer!"

"So their mindset is actually the same as KT's, and we've already seen how KT ended up…"

"That's definitely not a good thing; it feels like they still lack Worlds experience, their mentality isn't mature enough, and in situations like this, it's worst to act on hot-headed impulse."

"Please, VG, stay calm!"

"Exactly, we don't need a flashy start; just steadily win each game we should, steadily advance—that's the right path."

"Backstage, the KT members waiting in the lounge for their next match saw VG's lineup and all showed surprised expressions."

"Massage Li sat at the computer, with the notes from their loss to G2 spread out in front of him, looking at the two heroes VG finally locked in, his brows furrowed."

"What does that mean?"

"VG can be hard-headed too?"

"Can't you see KT already lost with this comp?"

"Or is VG trying to play teacher again, wanting to teach KT how to play?"

"Either way, Li Zhixun feels VG has a hint of targeting KT this game; if VG wins, it's practically a public execution of KT."

"The venue also became noisy, with some expecting VG to give KT a lesson, while others scoffed, thinking that even if VG wins it proves nothing, because the opponents' skill levels aren't comparable—KT faced champion G2, while VG is up against merely a 'wildcard'—to the audiences of the three major regions, LMS and NA have already been reduced to the same level as wildcards."

"LCK viewers felt humiliated, spitting sarcasm in their home region's streams or outright cursing."

"As FW locked in their final pick, in the LMS stream, the haters started burning incense for FW in advance."

"【Crocodile Spider, Jungle Synergy!】"

"【VG's BP is so bad, are they trying to bury KT as a side effect?】"

"【KT: Are you polite? VG: I just want to prove you're truly trash.】"

"【Some people, don't flatter yourselves—your Cyber Wolves aren't that strong, do you even deserve to be mentioned alongside G2?】"

"【Just quietly watch if you're from the mainland; don't speak, this isn't your LPL.】"

"【The 1% support rate makes sense—they don't even regard us as human, nor KT.】"

"Both lineups fully locked, the two coaches left the player benches, shook hands on stage, then disappeared into the backstage corridor entrance."

"The stage lights dimmed, and the whole venue's lighting shifted to dark red, symbolizing that a 'bloodbath' is about to begin."

The audience at the scene began to shout loudly in support; at first it was chaotic, then it became neat and uniform:

"G2!"

"G2!"

"G2!"

At this moment, G2 took over the position of the TSM cult, and also once again proved this team's popularity among global audiences.

In the backstage G2 lounge, G2 Zhong Ren heard the cheers coming from the scene, feeling genuine pride, but they actually understood that these cheers were actually offered to Liang Yan.

"WelcometoSummoner'sRift!"

As that solemn female voice fell, the Summoner's Rift in 3D perspective appeared before everyone's eyes.

The lineups for both sides in this match are as follows:

VG, Blue Side

ban: Shen, Xiao Yu Ren, Ice; Police Woman, Big Mouth.

Top lane: Flandre, Crocodile.

Jungle: Firrrrrre, Spider.

Zhong Lu: Easyhoon, Rock Sparrow.

Xia Lu: Kryst4l, Varus.

Support: Caveman, Janna.

Coach: Loong

FW, Red Side

ban: Galio, Kled, Kennen; Syndra, Jayce.

Top lane: MMD, Rumble.

Jungle: Karsa, Graves.

Zhong Lu: Maple, Lux.

Xia Lu: Betty, Lu Xi An

Support: SwordArt, Karma

Coach: WarHorse

VG's first MSI match has officially begun.