Chapter 660

In the 7.12 patch, the nerfs to Doran's Shield and Doran's Ring had a huge impact on bans/picks, especially the change to Doran's Ring, which almost drove mage champions out of the top lane.

Among the many melee mage top laners, the only one unaffected by the Doran's Ring nerf was Rumble, either because he has no mana bar or because he also received a major buff in this patch.

The base damage of his level‑1 Q skill was greatly increased (almost doubled), although the extra damage to minions was slightly reduced, mildly affecting his wave clear, but his early‑game burst damage got a huge boost.

His W skill gained 30 points of shield, and although its duration was cut from 2 seconds to 1.5 seconds, it's still enough, so it counts as a buff.

The base damage of his E skill, Electronic Spear, also rose by 15 points.

All these changes combined gave Rumble an almost invincible standing in top‑lane 1v1s—crocodile, sword maiden, prince, all have to yield—but because he lacks mobility and is still squishier than traditional warriors, he's vulnerable to jungle pressure, and the massive overhaul changed his feel completely, raising the skill ceiling, so his pick rate is still slightly below that of the crocodile.

In short, Liang Yan was utterly shocked when he saw this change, feeling the designers were a bit insane—how could they come up with something so overpowered!

As for whether Rumble's absurd buff was aimed at VG, it's hard to say; although Fu Lan Duo isn't weak personally, she's certainly not top‑tier globally, and the philosophy of continually buffing top laners equals nerfing junglers applies—if you say this is a nerf to Liang Yan, that's not wrong.

Liang Yan had said they'd play aggressively this game; with the crocodile gone, Rumble was the natural first pick.

However, Fu Lan Duo refused.

"The changes to Rumble are big; the feel is off—I need to practice more."

"Not enough practice?"

"Hmm."

Fu Lan Duo admitted it quite candidly.

Liang Yan was a bit surprised; although he'd seen the patch notes, he hadn't actually played the buffed Rumble yet, so he wasn't clear on its exact feel, and hearing Fu Lan Duo describe it as quite serious seemed unexpected to him.

"Don't believe me? Try it yourself and you'll see—it's strong, but the damage to minions has changed; before you get used to it you can't control the lane at all." Fu Lan Duo said this to save face.

Liang Yan pondered for a moment, then nodded: "Alright, what do you want to play?"

"How about Jax, what do you guys think?"

It seemed Fu Lan Duo already had an idea in mind, and she spoke without hesitation.

The VG team voice chat fell silent for a few seconds.

In this patch, Weapon Master Jax received a major buff: after using his W, his next basic attack gains 50 extra attack range, making his auto‑attack + W combo easier to land, especially when chasing with Q—previously you had to press W first for the Q‑A combo, but now the extra 50 range lets you add an extra auto‑attack, turning it into Q‑A‑W, which equals an additional basic‑attack damage.

Moreover, Jax has been buffed in several consecutive patches; his strength is now quite solid, and he is definitely viable to pick.

Furthermore, Jax's hero role fits the current top‑lane environment.

Liang Yan knew Jax's patch changes inside out; since Fu Lan Duo volunteered, he was clearly confident in her Jax, and he immediately approved: "Jax is good to go."

Fu Lan Duo happily exclaimed: "Whoo~"

Zhu Xiaolong had no objection either, laughing: "If we're taking a weapon, we don't need to rush to grab it—they probably won't ban it."

"Yeah, we can hold off until the second rotation to pick it—perfect for giving them a surprise."

But Fu Lan Duo immediately sensed something off in Liang Yan's words: "That doesn't sound right, Jiao Shen—this isn't something you'd usually say."

"I think so too," Easyhoon nodded seriously in agreement.

Liang Yan was speechless: "What's wrong with me?"

"Tsk~"

Fu Lan Duo didn't go on, deliberately keeping him in suspense and making him feel sick.

"Should we ban Rumble then?" Zhu Xiaolong asked again.

Before Liang Yan could speak, Fu Lan Duo interjected: "With my current Rumble mastery, I can't adapt to the changes that fast—if the enemy top laner can play it well, I'll eat feces on stream for them!"

Liang Yan also grunted an affirmative.

The two team pillars nodded, and Zhu Xiaolong naturally went along.

As Liang Yan expected, the subsequent bans went as M17 gave the last two bans of the first round to two overpowered champions of the patch.

The results of the first round of bans for both sides were as follows:

Blue side VG banned: Caitlyn, Thresh, Karma;

Red side M17 banned: Renekton, Zac, Galio;

Afterwards, Blue side instantly locked in Elise.

On the Red side, M17 immediately grew tense.

"Holy shit!"

"Elise plus Kled!"

"Don't panic, don't panic—this is part of our plan. This combo is strong for tower dives, but we can pick Lanbao to push the lane; if the minion wave doesn't reach the tower, they can't dive!"

"Lanbao, then—damn it!"

"What about the other one?"

"Ashe, Ashe—when fighting Jiao Shen, aren't you guys taking the essential item?"

"Agreed, Ashe it is."

Red side M17's first double pick was Rumble plus Ashe.

M17's pick selection was entirely as VG expected; VG's second pick also locked very quickly, locking down Caitlyn + Rock Sparrow with two clangs.

Inside M17's team channel, there was suddenly another bout of chaos.

Ah? Didn't take Kled (Kled)?

Yeah, and why not grab Leblanc (Leblanc)?

Taliyah (Rock Sparrow) vs Leblanc feels very comfortable, really sneaky.

Damn, the opponent isn't playing by the rules.

Do we still need to take Leblanc?

Does Apex (M17's mid laner) have any confidence?

I'm fine; if he doesn't call for a push I won't step on him, in lane he can't do anything to me, with more mobility I'm not afraid of being caught.

Then Leblanc it is.

BP entered the second round, with M17 first banning Kled, VG then banning Mang Seng, M17 banning Prince next, and VG giving their final ban to Bu Long.

Afterwards, M17 picked first, locking in Rek'Sai.

VG made two picks, locking in Weapon Master and Luo.

The LPL commentators let out a wow and exclaimed in surprise.

"Wow! Jax!"

"Oh? This pick! Really unexpected!"

"Moreover, I think this Luo pick is very good, the aggression is maxed out, VG's lineup!"

"But the spider doesn't seem to have much synergy with the top and mid lanes..."

"What synergy? Don't you have faith in Jiao Shen's spider?!"

"That's also true..."