Chapter 683

Hiss!

Zhu Xiaolong sucked in a breath of cold air, his eyes wide as he stared at Liang Yan's screen, where the opponent's first pick box had already locked onto the rock sparrow avatar.

Although VG and SKT had played some practice matches during the summer regular season, they hadn't particularly liked picking the rock sparrow for Easyhoon in those scrims, and even when VG played in the LPL, Easyhoon's rock sparrow pick rate wasn't high.

But SKT actually snatched the rock sparrow that VG had planned to give Easyhoon in this game with their first pick.

SKT's move was too cunning.

Was it just that our understandings overlapped with VG's, or did someone leak the info?

That shouldn't be possible, right?

Zhu Xiaolong's heart was filled with surprise; he nervously pursed his lips and spoke into the team mic: "What do you guys think the opponent's intention is with snatching the rock sparrow?"

"I don't get it, Long Ge; I need to figure out whether I should take your spot!" Xiao Duan laughed and tossed out a joke.

"His rock sparrow is pretty strong." Easyhoon said, his smile fading as he grew more solemn.

But what Zhu Xiaolong most wanted to hear was Liang Yan's opinion.

Liang Yan pondered for a few seconds before slowly speaking: "I don't think they're using a pick to replace a ban, because there's really no reason they could guess we'd want to snatch the rock sparrow; it's more likely our understandings just overlapped, after all we've scrimmed against them quite a bit, so some overlap in our grasp of the new patch is normal."

"Then the rock sparrow is gone."

"Let's switch to another composition."

"Sure, go ahead!"

"The Syndra system."

"... Huh?"

Zhu Xiaolong froze instantly.

The others also turned their heads in surprise, including Fu Lan Duo and Easyhoon sitting on either side of Liang Yan.

"Is it necessary?" Fu Lan Duo glanced at Liang Yan's profile, surprised, "Isn't this our secret weapon? Bringing it out now… is too early, right?"

Easyhoon nodded solemnly, but didn't speak, just looking at Liang Yan.

Over the past season or so, Easyhoon rarely picked Syndra in matches, giving outsiders the impression that he wasn't proficient with or didn't like playing Syndra. However, no one knew that, under Liang Yan's strong recommendation, Syndra was actually the hero Easyhoon practiced the most, his mastery already off the charts!

But everyone thought Liang Yan had repeatedly advised against picking Syndra in order to keep this trump card hidden until the S7 World Championship, never expecting him to actually suggest picking Syndra on the Intercontinental Tournament finals stage.

"Why?"

Everyone was waiting for Liang Yan's answer.

But Liang Yan gave no extra explanation, just uttering four words:

It's necessary.

Syndra is indeed a trump card.

But unlike what teammates and the coach thought, in Liang Yan's eyes, the purpose of this card is not to pull it out at a crucial moment to shock the opponent and easily win a game.

Instead, it is used to build Easyhoon's confidence.

Even now, Easyhoon still lacks confidence? Of course not normally, but Liang Yan can see that Easyhoon always has a demon—

SKT, Faker.

Just as Faker rarely mentions in public that Easyhoon once substituted for him, but to Faker it is an honor; Easyhoon also still holds a grudge about being pressed onto the SKT bench during the S5 season to guard the water dispenser.

One could even say that this obsession to prove he is not inferior to Faker originally served as the driving force behind Easyhoon's continued struggle on the LoL stage.

So, when Easyhoon faces SKT. Faker, his mindset will definitely encounter problems, whether positive or negative, and Liang Yan does not want any unexpected influence to occur at the most crucial moment in the future.

Liang Yan does not want to postpone resolving this issue until the S7 World Championship.

Now the opportunity is just right; it's time to let Easyhoon break free.

Liang Yan could never say these thoughts to Easyhoon's face, otherwise the effect would be greatly diminished, or even backfire.

Of course, given his current status, he sometimes does not need to explain when he wants to do something out of line, because the whole team already unconditionally trusts him.

So, after noticing that Liang Yan had no intention to explain further, neither Zhu Xiaolong nor anyone else pressed for more.

Zhu Xiaolong thought for a moment: 'Alright. They probably won't take Syndra with that pick, so we can take it on the third pick; shall we first grab Xia Lu?'

Hmm.

VG locked in their first pick, the classic combo of the version: Ashe + Thresh!

It seems this pick was also within SKT's expectations; when the camera swept over Coach Kkoma, his expression showed no change, just his lips moving up and down quickly a few times, obviously he had also made his second pick decision.

SKT's double pick: Excavator + Titan!

"Titan! Another pick that really surprises us!"

"Is this Titan probably a support?"

"That's right; in this version, tank top laners are not favored, and a top lane Titan has long fallen to the lowest of the low; moreover, a player like Huni, who plays this type, would not be able to play Titan well."

"It feels like it might be to break VG's double lockdown system, after all, Vi is still around."

"Eh? I didn't expect Teacher Miller to be so detail-oriented!"

"... After all, I've done my homework."

VG's double lockdown system has many possible lineups; Syndra plus double lockdown is indeed one of the most powerful among them, SKT's research on VG is certainly thorough, but it's a pity that Liang Yan never intended to use this trick in this game.

Because the lineup's power is too great, it would suppress Easyhoon's individual performance, and even if they won, it would greatly diminish Easyhoon's sense of personal achievement.

So, SKT's grab of Titan can be seen as them loading it onto themselves.

Objectively speaking, Titan as a support is absolutely not a strong pick in this version; of course, SKT surely has invested considerable effort in training and researching Titan support play, so it won't be too bad either.

Afterward, VG locked in Syndra on their third pick.

"Alright, both sides have locked in their first round picks; next is the second round of bans and picks. VG still has the top and jungle positions open, while SKT has left the core positions of the top lane and Xia Lu undecided. From now on, both sides will definitely contend over these four positions."

Miller glanced at the time, his tone a bit surprised: "The first round picks were extremely fast for both sides, the whole process still under three minutes; it looks like both sides intended to speed up the ban/pick pace to avoid giving the opponent too much thinking time, but which side exactly benefits more from such a BP strategy? Teacher Zeyuan, what do you think?"

Guan Zeyuan looked stern, shook his head: "I'll just watch standing."