Chapter 565

Ice Archer is essential; if KT loses the Ice Archer's convenient means of opening vision, pressure on the bottom lane will be too great, causing Deft to be constrained in lane, and it also restricts Mata's roaming—although Mata didn't do much roaming in the previous game.

Then we can only have both.

It's not impossible.

Smeb volunteered: 'Give me Blue Steel Shadow, I'll hold the rear!'

FIFAHUN, after careful consideration, agreed to Smeb's request, then discussed some details, and afterwards everyone appeared again.

In the second game's pick/ban, according to competition rules, the priority side selection right for this game's pick/ban goes to the losing side of the previous game, KT. KT still chose the blue side; in the first round of bans, there wasn't much change compared to the previous game, only swapping Ryze for Syndra, the rest unchanged, and they still secured the Ice Archer on first pick.

VG responded to change with constancy; in the second game, Kryst4l remained, and in the first round of bans they only changed one, replacing Mang Seng with Lulu, and then in the first pick they locked in Varus + Karma.

Anticipating KT's possible strategy of playing safe to aim for the late game, VG was prepared and therefore banned Lulu, which greatly boosts ADC late-game output while also providing protection and control, and then also banned Karma, which can similarly equip a censer to grant AD a bonus.

But KT's second-round picks truly exceeded VG's expectations; even Liang Yan didn't think KT would actually pull out such a lineup.

After the first round of picks, both sides still had the mid and top lanes undecided, and in the second round they each banned the opponent's top laner; VG banned Smeb's signature champion Renekton and the extremely strong engage champion Kled, which is particularly effective against poke compositions.

KT banned Jayce and Crocodile.

When KT gave the remaining ban slot to the crocodile, Liang Yan faintly felt something was off, guessing that KT might want to take Blue Steel Shadow, but since the bans were already exhausted and VG's lineup couldn't possibly choose Blue Steel Shadow, even if he guessed correctly he couldn't stop KT.

As expected, after VG locked in Shen, KT directly took Blue Steel Shadow, and then on the fifth pick they instantly locked in Ryze.

"Holy shit, they really took Blue Steel Shadow?!"

Behind the VG player seats, Zhu Xiaolong exclaimed in surprise.

Liang Yan's expression also turned grave: "This game they're going to play into the late game."

Zhu Xiaolong furrowed his brow, thinking: "Are they planning to let the mid and bot lanes fend for themselves while focusing all effort on the top lane?"

Liang Yan nodded: "Playing a 4-1 split push in the mid-to-late game is indeed a headache for us; Shen can't handle Qing Ying's solo push in the late game."

Zhu Xiaolong's brow furrowed even deeper, his tone tinged with nervousness: "KT has studied us deeply; as long as they don't fall apart like in the first game, we'll find it hard to gain a big advantage early, and we'll likely be dragged into the late game; to break the situation we can only..."

"Group up and push."

With little time left for picks, Liang Yan didn't let Zhu Xiaolong keep thinking slowly, but directly gave the answer,

"The later we play, the less Shen can withstand Qing Ying's solo push; we either swap someone to lane, or we all group up and push together. But if Shen goes head‑on, it's like losing his ultimate, which is too costly, so I suggest Shen still takes the lane, and then we need to be able to push forward in teamfights, looking for a chance to let Shen's ultimate come down and join the fight."

Zhu Xiaolong immediately understood: "So we can't let them clear the wave easily..."

"Hmm."

"Then... Rock Sparrow?"

"Rock Sparrow has no advantage against Ryze, and its role overlaps somewhat with Shen."

"Then Lu Xi An it is. Besides, the enemy lacks a frontline."

"That's the optimal solution..."

"How about Seraphine?"

Easyhoon suddenly spoke up, voluntarily suggesting a champion. Seraphine is also one of Easyhoon's signature picks.

Liang Yan felt Lu Xi An was best, because the enemy lacked a big meaty frontline, Lu Xi An could output high burst in early, mid, and late game, with no need to worry about lacking AP damage or being unable to affect people in the late game; at the same time, as one of the benchmark early‑game strength champions, Lu Xi An could undoubtedly suppress Ryze in lane, and in the late game his ultimate Sacred Lance Baptism is an extremely strong poke tool, able to sweep away those defending towers during VG's push with a volley. Therefore, for the current patch, Liang Yan felt there was no better choice for VG's situation than Lu Xi An.

But since Easyhoon had spoken up voluntarily, neither Liang Yan nor Zhu Xiaolong would refuse him, for Easyhoon was originally one of the most reliable pillars within the team.

Moreover, Seraphine is indeed a good choice.

Seraphine lanes against Ryze, and is also a very strong late‑game core, perfectly solving VG's lack of a late‑game damage core; if we want to fight a late‑game teamfight, Seraphine's ultimate also counters Qing Ying and the Blind Monk's engages fairly well.

Compared to Lu Xi An, Seraphine indeed has somewhat less burst and poke, but the advantage lies in Easyhoon's proficiency with her and the faith bonus.

Thus, Easyhoon's proposal ultimately gained everyone's approval.

Clang!

VG locked in Seraphine on the fifth pick.

After some adjustments, the lineups for the second game were completely locked as follows:

KT, Blue Side

bans: Twisted Fate, Syndra, Galio; Jayce, Gnar.

Top: Smeb, Qing Ying

Jungle: Score, Blind Monk

Mid: Pawn, Ryze

Bot: Deft, Ashe

Support: Mata, Zyra

Coach: FIFAHUN

VG, Red Side

bans: Ahri, Kennen, Lulu; Rengar, Kled.

Top: Flandre, Shen

Jungle: Firrrrrre, Mantis

Mid: Easyhoon, Seraphine

Bot: Kryst4l, Varus

Support: Caveman, Karma

Coach: Loong

Liang Yan predicted that KT's jungler would focus all effort on protecting the top lane to safeguard the development of Qing Ying, the core of their split‑push composition for this game, while the mid and bot lanes would opt to stall.

Thus, Liang Yan made catching the mid lane the core tactic for the first few minutes.

However, Score actually never went to the top lane at all, but stayed near the mid lane the whole time!

If Liang Yan hadn't reacted quickly, noticing the signs on both of his forays, he might have had his mid lane collapse from being counter‑ganked!

Only then did Liang Yan realize the true tactical intent behind KT's pick of Qing Ying in this game.

Smeb was used as a pure power plug-in at KT; in the early game, the jungle gave him no help, his survival depended entirely on Smeb's personal ability, and later, the fully developed Jade Steel Shadow will serve as a safety net for the team.

This made Liang Yan feel somewhat familiar.