Chapter 70: Realized

Lao Zhang was just messing around out of boredom.

But Ka Lao Si absentmindedly glanced at the player screen; he didn't know which wire in his brain had been triggered, and suddenly asked:

"Liang, how about we pick another Rumble with Wild Core?"

The three mid/bottom lane players immediately burst into strange laughter.

Liang Yan asked:

"Do you mean Rumble Zed?"

"Yes!"

Ka Lao Si said excitedly.

"Uh…"

Liang Yan thought for a moment,

"We can take Zed, but forget about Rumble."

"Why?"

Lao Zhang was actually also eager to try; hearing Liang Yan say not to take Rumble, he couldn't help but feel doubtful. Objectively speaking, his performance with Rumble in the previous game was pretty decent.

Ka Lao Si also asked:

"Yeah, why not take Rumble?"

"Occasionally testing one or two games to confirm its strength is enough; for something like this kind of ultimate move, my suggestion is to just keep the feel in training scrims and ranked matches, and use it less in regular games to avoid being targeted in crucial matches later."

"Are you saying we should hide something for the playoffs or the World Championship?"

"Yes."

Ka Lao Si remained silent for a long time.

From the earlier pre‑match discussion where Liang Yan suggested going easy on H2K, to now hiding strategies in the pick/ban phase, everything Liang Yan showed demonstrated his strategic planning for the World Championship.

That certainty that G2 would definitely make it to the World Championship, along with starting preparations early, finally moved Ka Lao Si.

This was a completely new way of operating a season that Ka Lao Si had never realized.

Season operations…

Exactly, this is season operations!

Marvelous! Marvelous! Marvelous!

It's simply marvelous!

I, Ka Lao Si, have had an epiphany again!

"You're right!"

Ka Lao Si nodded firmly.

Then he asked again:

"So why can we take Zed then? Does it not need to be hidden?"

"Heroes like Zed will definitely change in strength with version updates, and might not even be playable then; plus, my hero pool is deep enough with many substitutes, so there's no need to deliberately hide it."

"Rumble is different—it's a mechanic monster; unless its mechanics or stats are directly halved, its strength will stay on point."

Liang Yan's explanation sparked deep thought among everyone.

Everyone present was filled with surprise.

Just like players, they had always only focused on how to play their own lane, which champions to practice in which version, and never considered the things Liang Yan mentioned.

And Liang Yan not only maintained his personal ability, but also thought about improving the whole team, even matters completely unrelated to combat outside the game.

This made AP and others naturally feel that, rather than saying Liang Yan is a player, he's more like a coach who personally leads the team into battle.

The team channel stayed quiet for a long time.

"I get it now, Liang—you're truly a genius, this is an angle I'd never considered. To be frank, you've made me realize that I, as a coach, am actually not qualified…"

Ka Lao Si let out a soft sigh,

"OK, I'll listen to you. Then for this game, shall we take Zed as a backup?"

"Sure, honestly it doesn't matter what I pick—just go with whatever system you want."

Ka Lao Si fell silent again.

System…

This was another term that, while not unfamiliar, he often overlooked.

After being reminded, Ka Lao Si began consciously building his own roster system, and considered with each pick whether the hero fit that system.

The picks on both sides quickly entered the final stage.

"G2's fourth pick: Zed!"

"Wow! Locked in!"

"Good heavens… could he be trying to teach Jankos how to play Zed?"

"No way—if that's really the case, he'd be way too arrogant!"

"Indeed, although G2 won the previous game and Firrrrrre got MVP, Jankos debuted much earlier than him and is his senior. How could a newcomer teach a senior how to play a game? That's awfully presumptuous."

On H2K's side, Jankos was teased mercilessly by his teammates.

Although Jankos was smiling and seemed not to care, when his gaze swept over the blue side's fourth‑slot Zed icon, a flicker of uneasiness crossed his face.

"Teach me to play Zed…"

"You little monster, today I, the little sheep, will either single‑kill you once in the jungle or give up my 'Europe First Blood King' title to you!"

But Coach pr0lly was nervously staring at G2's fifth‑slot pick box.

"No way… not again Rumble+Wild Core…"

As time passed, pr0lly grew so nervous he was about to sweat.

The commentator was also guessing.

"Karma should be going mid, G2 still lacks a top laner…… Theoretically, picking another Rammus would be fine, but this composition would be more fragile."

"Maybe G2 never even considered whether they had a frontline; otherwise they wouldn't have picked that composition in the previous game."

"The weirder the composition, the quicker the win?"

"As far as we can tell, this rule only holds when Firrrrrre is present."

"Maokai! Locked in, G2 still didn't pick Rammus…… hiss——"

"What's wrong?"

"G2's composition looks pretty good. You see, it has a frontline, crowd control, damage, follow-up, and has strengths in early, mid, and late game…… This actually looks like something an LCK coach would pick, a very complete composition."

"But the person standing behind the G2 player bench is called Ka Luo Si."

"And he's also a poke composition…… hiss, is this really picked by Ka Luo Si? Too weird, this isn't like him……"

"Seeing the blue side finally lock in a big tree, H2K coach pr0lly also froze for a moment."

"His feeling was the same as the commentator's."

"A composition that considers every aspect so thoroughly doesn't seem like something Ka Luo Si would pick…… pr0lly couldn't help turning his head to look at the G2 player bench."

"Could it have been picked by someone else?"

"Does G2 also have a player lurking with such coaching talent?"

"Never mind, whatever……"

"As long as it's not Rammus!"

"After pr0lly regained his focus and chatted with the players, he finally picked Old Father Time, filling all five of his team's selection slots."

"This was also an uncommon pick, drawing a burst of cheers from the live audience."

""H2K's composition is also really weird! Facing G2's composition with two frontliners, pr0lly still picked a top-mid-jungle all-AP damage lineup—why?! Do they want to experience being tortured by the big demon baron in Summoner's Rift?!""

""Uh…… it's indeed pretty weird, maybe... it's for Lu Xi An? After all, H2K only has this one physical damage core; if G2's two tanks build more magic resistance, that would effectively strengthen Lu Xi An's damage output.""

""That's a creative angle, but you might actually have guessed right, Sjokz.""

""Ahaha…"