Chapter 62

What the hell?

Ka Lao Si, standing behind the G2 players' bench, held an open notebook, his expression quite surprised.

They actually double-banned the jungler?!

Tang Anna was spot on!

Since the opponents weren't following the usual path, after Ka Lao Si pondered for a moment, he also overturned his original plan and decided to play an unconventional card.

"We'll ban Big Tree!"

Lao Zhang selected Big Tree and placed it in the ban slot.

Then the opponents' third ban: Excavator.

With a wow, the crowd burst into a chorus of exclamations. The shocked cry of commentator PiraTechnics also echoed through the arena:

"Three bans on the jungler!

"The person receiving this treatment is actually a rookie who has only appeared once in official matches!"

"Is H2K gone crazy, or can I no longer understand the match?!"

"I really can't comprehend it!"

A faint vibration came up through the stage beneath his feet; Liang Yan sat in the players' bench wearing headphones, propping his cheek with one hand, unconsciously scrolling the mouse wheel with his right, gazing at the three jungler champion icons in the blue team's ban panel, his expression somewhat amused.

The venue camera caught this moment; the backstage director thought the angle capturing the player's side profile had flavor, so he immediately had the director switch it into the live stream feed.

The venue and the chat exploded simultaneously.

The female spectators in the venue couldn't stay seated, covering their mouths as they screamed loudly.

In the chat, it was even more blunt, the screen full of "handsome" and "husband".

Everyone watching has two eyes; there's not much difference between the EU and LPL audiences.

Liang Yan didn't expect the opponents to be this ruthless.

Actually banning the jungler three times, the H2K coach really has guts.

But it was useless.

If they really wanted to limit Liang Yan's champion pool, they'd need to give the opponents ten extra bans to have any effect—but then Liang Yan would only be slightly affected, while the enemy jungler would be completely unplayable.

So unless the opponents are willing to play with one less player, trying to counter Liang Yan via his champion pool is absolutely impossible.

Too bad H2K still lacks that awareness.

After H2K used up its three bans, Ka Lao Si immediately had Lao Zhang ban Ekko.

The opponents banned three junglers, while we banned two top laners.

Considering Lao Zhang's shallow champion pool, Ka Lao Si's ban-pick was actually quite unconventional; Liang Yan originally thought Ka Lao Si was banning those champions to let Lao Zhang play Weapon Master, but he didn't know Ka Lao Si had already planned a big play for this game.

Upon entering the champion select phase, H2K instantly locked in Thresh.

The "UC-type" commentator on the desk immediately started exclaiming again.

Drakos couldn't help but sigh:

"Blue side banning three junglers plus instantly snatching the jungler is equivalent to banning four junglers for the red side—targeting a newcomer like this is excessive."

"It feels like Firrrrrre is unusable; I already foresee that Firrrrrre's performance in this game will be……"

"What could it be?"

PiraTechnics didn't say it outright, but everyone could read between the lines.

How deep can a newcomer's champion pool be?

This really is being targeted badly.

So some folks who came just to see Liang Yan for fun are now disappointed, thinking his performance this game will probably be poor.

Ka Lao Si also cursed "shit" in his headset, everyone asked him what was wrong, but Ka Lao Si didn't say anything, just walked back and forth behind everyone, huffing angrily.

Liang Yan immediately had a premonition.

Thinking that the Europe Region was also called the "Chaos Region", his premonition grew stronger.

With this pick, Ka Lao Si's final decision was to take Lu Xi An + Bu Long first.

H2K then locked in Wheels Mom + Bard.

Then it was the red side's double pick turn, and Ka Lao Si asked Liang Yan:

"Liang, what do you think pairs well with Renekton?"

"This patch is definitely Thresh… huh?"

Liang Yan answered instinctively, but before he could finish speaking, he was startled,

"No, you wouldn't be thinking of giving Lao Zhang Renekton, would you?!"

Everyone: "What?!"

They all turned to look at Ka Lao Si.

"I didn't originally plan this, but after they banned three junglers, I decided to give you Thresh, as you said in the lounge, Renekton with Thresh is strong in this patch. But now Thresh has been snatched… if there's no other good pairing, we won't take Renekton, isn't there still Jax we can pick?"

Ka Lao Si was also straightforward, laying out all his thoughts.

"Jeez, I discovered you're really a genius, Ka Luo Si!"

AP commented thus.

Ka Luo Si scratched his head embarrassedly, but didn't talk back.

He originally just wanted to give the team a big surprise, but the enemy's first pick snatched someone, ruining his plan, which was truly embarrassing.

Liang Yan thought for a moment:

"It's not that we can't take it."

"What?"

AP looked over,

You'd better think it over before speaking again, we can't lose again!

AP's point is that I'm the best, and constantly losing would make me lose face!

G2 making the playoffs is definitely no pressure, because EU only has ten teams total and the playoffs have six spots—ten teams vying for six spots—so with G2's strength they can just coast; even if the team is full of noobs, AP's individual skill alone could get them in.

Just the record isn't that good.

Before this match, G2 had played four games, with a record of 2-1-1 (two wins, one draw, one loss), and according to this season's points system, that totals seven points.

Compared to spring split performance, G2's current record really isn't good—they only lost three games in spring split, but in summer split they've already lost three games in just two weeks; if they lose this match against H2K, it'll look really bad; online we don't know how they'll be mocked, but G2's team image will definitely suffer further damage, and who knows how many followers the official Twitter will lose.

So AP's point that we can't lose again isn't completely without merit.

Liang Yan didn't answer AP, adjusted the microphone, and only said to Ka Lao Si:

Besides Thousand Jade, there's actually another option.

Go on!

Male Gun. Given the situation, Male Gun would be a pretty good choice.

Explain your reasons.

I don't know how proficient Jankos is with Thousand Jade, but the redesign of Thousand Jade's mark mechanic is something for this patch; it's only been live two weeks since 6.11; even if he practices daily, his mechanics should be fine, but his understanding of the champion definitely won't be deep, because the redesigned mark mechanic is indeed complex; even a genius like Jankos would definitely need more time and actual match experience to hone it.

In my view, in this version Male Gun has an edge against Thousand Jade, especially early on; if paired with any two strong laners, it's a big advantage.

Orchid Bo is already strong enough.

The bottom lane may not be able to push, but it's strong in fights.

So if you think it's okay, we can definitely pick Orchid Bo.