Chapter 684: What stick to hit?

Entering the second round of bans/picks, aside from VG's first ban being decided quickly, the ban/pick pace for both sides suddenly slowed down, with almost every choice being dragged out until the last few seconds before a decision.

In the second round of bans, VG targeted SKT's bottom lane, sending Caitlyn and Varus to the ban list; if we talk about meta picks, the only mainstream marksman left for SKT to pick is Kalista.

"Ezreal's strength is OK, and pairing with Titan is indeed strong; once Ezreal hits level six, if VG's duo doesn't have a huge advantage, they actually can't stay in lane, because pulling a Titan that's all crowd control into a Pokéball and throwing it at you is just too strong."

"Yes, but does SKT dare to pick it? After all, picking Ezreal means this game must have early-to-mid game fights as the absolute core, testing the jungler's ability to set the pace and snowball, and that's exactly what SKT is not good at."

"Exactly; if SKT picks Ezreal but fails to gain an early advantage, by twenty-five minutes Ezreal is basically useless."

"Another point to consider is that Ezreal doesn't have an easy lane against Ashe, and Ashe also has a skill Sky Strike that can counter your jungler a bit, meaning that early on you want Kalista to have an edge, you have to rely on your own skill; given Bang's current personal ability… I think he'll have a hard time getting any advantage over our Ma Ge."

"Haha~ After all, I'm older now, not the invincible 'hit uh stick' from S5."

"What? You said what stick to hit?"

"No, no, you misheard!"

Danmaku: 【Dog Beating Stick!】

SKT's second round ban strategy continued the first round's approach, mainly targeting players, with both ban slots given to VG's top laner.

Fu Lan Duo's signature champion this year and the current version's top lane big brother—Crocodile—was undoubtedly sent by SKT to the Small Black Room. The final ban slot went to Fu Lan Duo's other signature champion—Kled.

Afterwards, VG's second round first pick was a hero that nobody expected.

Sow Sister?!

Wow, really Sow Sister?!

Looks like Jiao Shen will have to be the green leaf again this game. Speaking of which, this seems to be Jiao Shen's first time bringing Sow Sister onto the stage, right?

Yes!

When Sow Sister was just reworked in patch 7.9, her strength was absolutely off the charts; her new passive, Pig Skin, adds 100 points of both resistances at all levels—what does that mean? A basic attack from an ADC with 100 attack damage would have its damage cut by more than half! In the early game, she's practically a human tank!

Therefore, right after her rework, Sow Sister in high‑elo ranked was almost always either banned or picked, and her win rate was terrifyingly high.

The balance designer who works with his feet realized he had created an ultimate super‑model monster, so he immediately nerfed Sow Sister in the following 7.10 patch, changing the resistance bonus from Pig Skin to 20/60/100 at levels 1/7/14.

Sow Sister's popularity plummeted directly.

But she's still strong, so her appearance rate in later matches isn't low either.

Today it is indeed Liang Yan's first time picking this champion on stage, and the LPL commentators weren't wrong—this game he's meant to be the green leaf.

VG picking Sow Sister also caught SKT off guard, since VG had never used this champion even in scrims, so they naturally couldn't have guessed VG would take it, let alone prepared a counter.

Kkoma took a deep breath, walked two steps to stand behind Peanut, raised his right hand and lightly tapped Peanut's shoulder twice, then spoke in a low voice:

"Don't feel pressured; your matchup against Sejuani isn't stressful, the main pressure this game should be in the top and mid lanes, so you need to look after them a bit more."

Peanut nodded firmly, but secretly let out a sigh of relief inside.

Just now, when entering the second round of bans/picks, he repeatedly suggested banning the male gun, but Kkoma refused each time, saying VG would definitely not pick the male gun this game; otherwise VG's top laner would only be able to pick Shen, and if VG picked Shen, it would be like actively giving Huni a very comfortable growth environment—a pressure‑free Fiora/Jayce/Jax, whose later split‑push would make VG's lineup, which is average at catching enemies, very troubled.

But Peanut knows the opponent he faces never plays by the book, and he's genuinely afraid VG might pick the male gun.

Fortunately, the facts show Kkoma seems to be right.

Kkoma comforted Xiao Huasheng with a couple of sentences, then walked over to stand behind Huni.

Actually, there's no need to think too much about what to pick in the bottom lane; Kalista is impossible to take, Bang's skill has declined sharply this year, making it hard to reproduce his former 'dagger' playstyle, and he can't even shoulder the responsibility of being the team's sole main carry.

SKT brought Huni back precisely to make up for the lack of bottom‑lane carry ability; although Huni has various flaws, we must admit he has enough aggression—give him an advantage and a good environment to shine, and he can truly carry—Kkoma thinks so, and it was he who advocated signing him.

As for Faker, Xiang He is undoubtedly the team's absolute core, but his burden is too heavy; for the team's sake he sometimes has to take on tool‑like tasks, such as this game's Orianna—although she does have some damage output, in practice she's still a roaming‑support‑plus‑crowd‑control engage tool.

Kkoma stood behind Huni and said:

"Xu Chengxun, Fiora or Camille, you pick one."

Camille!

Huni gave his answer without the slightest hesitation.

Kkoma nodded, not surprised by Huni's choice, and also believed Jayce was a more fitting pick for the current situation—the enemy had hidden their top‑lane pick until the end, who knows what VG will pull out, Jayce isn't as extreme as Fiora (insane split‑push, terrible in team fights), and his self‑preservation is also better.

"SKT four‑lock Camille!"

"Can only say, no wonder it's Huni—he just has to play this kind of champion!"

"Then the last pick…"

"Leaving the AD pick to the last is also quite bold."

"No way, Bang's strength now isn't what it used to be; his status in SKT's core has declined."

Come take a look, what will Coach Kkoma finally give Bang... oh? Jinx?