Chapter 618

In the opening match of the LCK Summer Season at the end of last month, Dragon Pearl's Khan picked two Princes, crushing KT's Smeb into fleeing with his head in his hands, helping LZ win 2-0 against KT directly, and he himself earned two MVPs.

He debuted in the LCK amateur team in S3, later spent nearly three years in the LPL secondary league without making a name for himself, and at one point no one in the LPL circle knew his real name—he only had the nickname 'that Korean top laner who just idles in the LSPL'—Kim Dong-he. After returning to the LCK and changing his ID to 'Khan', his debut match was astonishing.

In the following matches, LZ also won consecutively; the few champions Khan used quickly became hot in the LCK—of course, it wasn't entirely Khan who made them popular; in fact, on the Han Fu ranked ladder these champions were already hot, and Khan merely verified their strength on stage, after which other teams followed suit, finding them viable.

Besides the Prince, Khan's Sword Maiden and Crocodile were also top-notch, and these two champions became popular in the LCK—the former even reached the point of being either banned or picked.

Moreover, in yesterday's match against SKT, Khan also played a Snake Woman, but he messed it up…… and then LZ also lost this match, tasting their first defeat since the start of the summer season. After the game, SKT fans proudly said: 'The reorganized LZ is too overpowered; let our Demon King come cool you down!'

In short, EDG banned the Sword Maiden right off the bat; while this is partly due to Mouse's personal playstyle not suiting the champion, at a deeper level it seems they are trying to emulate the experience distilled from the LCK side, using VG as a test subject here.

Unbeknownst to them, VG, having been boycotted for scrims by their own region's teams banding together, had no choice but to arrange matches with LCK teams; recently they have played many scrims against several of the LCK's top teams, and their understanding of the current LCK patch surpasses that of any LPL team.

If EDG really wants to learn that LCK thing, they've literally walked into the line of fire!

A few minutes later, both sides finished their bans.

Blue side EDG three bans: Sword Maiden, Galio, Karma.

Red side VG three bans: Zac, Shen, Syndra.

After all, today is Zz1tai's first appearance since joining the team; building confidence is important. Before the match, Zhu Xiaolong privately discussed with Liang Yan, deciding to let Zz1tai play in the opener, and to look after him more in both the pick-ban phase and the actual game, so he can play more comfortably.

In the current patch, there are only two Zhong Lu champions that can be mindlessly picked for the first-ban slot: one is Galio, who, due to the Xia Gu Xian Feng changes and the shift in top-lane environment, is no longer suitable for top lane but remains strong, so he's moved to mid; the other is the lane bully Syndra.

Objectively speaking, Scout, the junior who once subbed for Faker at SKT, is obviously stronger than Zz1tai personally, and as one of EDG's absolute cores, if Syndra is left open, the chance of EDG snatching it is very high.

If Scout really gets Syndra, Zz1tai would have a hard time playing this game comfortably no matter what, so it's worth it for VG to give her the last ban of the first pick-ban.

After six strong champions of the current patch are banned, there are still four key champions left on the field; if we rank them by how popular they are in the LCK, it is as follows:

Kennen > Mang Seng > Thresh > Ashe

Zhu Xiaolong thinks that if EDG really wants to learn that LCK thing, their first pick will likely be Mang Seng or Kennen, in which case we can directly grab the Ashe ADC plus Thresh.

Liang Yan had no objection, but he felt that EDG's top laner isn't high-status, so the probability of them first picking Kennen is low, while picking Blind Monk is possible. As for whether EDG will ultimately pick Blind Monk or Thresh, it depends on what Meiko thinks.

If we must make a judgment, Liang Yan thinks the probability of EDG banning Thresh and picking Blind Monk is slightly higher, about 5.5 to 4.5; after all, Thresh is indeed a bit OP in this patch, and Meiko's Thresh can be considered a signature……

Just as he was thinking that, EDG locked in one pick.

"Oh no!"

Zhu Xiaolong exclaimed in surprise,

"Damn, they really grabbed Thresh."

Liang Yan smiled and said: "I said it—Meiko's status in EDG is high."

Zhu Xiaolong felt depressed.

Xiao Duan was also a bit unhappy, started complaining: "Hey I feel EDG's understanding is way off—he Zet is a useless bum, giving him Thresh is pointless, why steal my Thresh? Does Meiko even dare to roam without lane duty? To be honest, I just don't get it."

Fu Lan Duo, regardless of the setting, directly stirred the pot: "So angry, so angry oh!"

Liang Yan immediately retorted: "Shut up."

Fu Lan Duo was neither embarrassed nor angry; instead, she hehehed and began humming a tune softly, obviously in a good mood.

Thresh was banned, so VG's natural double pick is likely Kennen. Although AD Kennen's strength has slightly dropped due to the nerf to Blade of the Ruined King, he is still a lane bully, which means Fu Lan Duo's lane will be relatively comfortable.

Zz1tai, who had never dared to chime in, acted as a quiet listener in the team channel, feeling surprised by VG's internal atmosphere, with the sense that "such an awesome team actually communicates like this," which for him was also quite a novel experience.

EDG first picked Thresh; VG, although a bit surprised, quickly responded, snapping up Kennen and Mang Seng in two quick picks.

Immediately after, EDG without surprise locked in an Ashe ADC; after securing that pick, Nofe began to think, thought for a while, then started communicating with his teammates.

The pick-ban pace obviously slowed down; the casters watched the selection box on the left third floor flash rhythmically, taking the opportunity to first discuss both sides' early picks.

Wawa turned to Wang Ji and said: "Remember, Teacher is more familiar with the LCK environment; based on that understanding, who do you think would profit more from these two hands?"

"Hmm……"

Wang Ji pondered for a moment and said: "I think EDG will profit a little."

Miller interjected: "Oh? Is the priority of this combo really that high?"

Wawa deliberately showed off that little bit of version knowledge in his/her belly, immediately interjected: "Audience friends might not know, let me explain here:"

Hammer Stone in this version is indeed the chosen one among supports, because all three support items have added a quest mechanism; after finishing the quest, it upgrades...

PS: Some things in the new version still need to be explained clearly, otherwise everyone will be confused and won't understand why the picks suddenly changed.