Chapter 737

Not only Syndra, but there's also a chance to pick Cassiopeia (Snake Girl).

Homme supplemented Xi Ye's speculation, thinking again and said: "Although Li Zhixun's Syndra is also highly proficient, Cassiopeia is his signature, and it poses a greater threat to us, so let's ban it."

"Snake Girl?" Condi, the person in charge of the second ban on the second floor, confirmed.

Homme indicated affirmation.

Condi then placed Snake Girl in the red side's second ban slot.

Homme was more afraid of VG getting Snake Girl than the stronger early-game Syndra, because in the current version Snake Girl received a major boost: the base damage of her E skill, Twin Fang, increased by 5, and its AP scaling was raised from 35% to 40%.

Ordinary players might not feel or grasp the 5+5% boost, but professional teams are extremely sensitive to the stats of popular heroes; Snake Girl's E skill is her main damage tool, and with sufficient mana it can fire twice per second, which is outrageous—faster than the attack speed of most AD carries in the mid-to-late game!

So we can actually compare it: converting Snake Girl's buff to an ADC buff is almost equivalent to giving Caitlyn over 5 extra attack damage!

Know that in the previous version, Caitlyn became a near‑must‑pick or ban in the bottom lane just because her attack‑speed growth increased by 2%; Riot noticed something was off, so this version they nerfed her, reducing the penetration damage of her Q and Peacekeeper from 67% to 50%, which directly caused Caitlyn's popularity to plummet from Tier 0 to around Tier 2.

This shows how strong Snake Girl's buff is; it's obvious the designers thought current‑version tanks were too strong, mages couldn't deal with them, so they came up with this change on a whim, and without a doubt Snake Girl will be nerfed before the World Championship.

That's all for later.

After WE locked in their second ban, VG without hesitation placed Karma in the blue side's third ban slot.

Homme, seeing that, didn't hesitate and gave the third ban to the current version's most popular hero—Maokai.

Although Maokai was also trimmed a bit in this version, the nerf only affected the damage of his saplings; compared to the various buffs stacked on him in previous patches, this weakening is hardly even a tickle.

On the contrary, the big worm Cho'Gath, which was on the same tier as Maokai, took a heavy hit in patch 7.15; although its popularity remains high, its ban‑pick priority is now far lower than Maokai's.

As for the remaining popular Incense Burner Monsters, most teams think the strength lies not in the monster itself but in how well they play the game to get the Incense Burner out quickly.

After both sides used their first three bans, they entered the pick phase.

VG's blue side picked first; Fu Lan Duo's mouse hovered between Slipper Shoes and Wind Girl as she clicked back and forth, laughing, "Guys, want to give the enemy something nasty?"

Gangzi's eyes lit up instantly: "Sure, sure, this is totally fine with me, guys—let's go with this!"

Xiao Duan chuckled: "No, really? Going all‑out violent right from the start?"

Zhu Xiaolong also laughed: "This is way too ruthless!"

Zhu Xiaolong didn't veto it, but waited for someone's response.

After Liang Yan and the others had spoken, he finally said: "This move is too vicious; you need to give them time to adapt—just forget it."

Fu Lan Duo: "Tsk~"

Gangzi: "Come on, I think we should give the enemy a strong dose so they learn to be quicker!"

Liang Yan didn't object either, kicking the ball to Zhu Xiaolong: "Let the coach decide."

Zhu Xiaolong naturally goes with his instinct; his coordination with Liang Yan in this setup is already seamless. He smiled and said, "Forget it, forget it—don't play so violently right off the bat; give the other side a chance, we can pick again later."

"Fine, fine~" Gangzi no longer insisted.

"What should we pick first? Varus?" Fu Lan Duo asked.

With Gangzi present, we still need to look after him a bit—the enemy bottom lane isn't weak, and if they snatch Gangzi's most comfortable Varus, the bottom lane will be rough for us.

Of course, with Gangzi on the field, it basically means VG won't run the Incense Burner system—even though VG first exposed this system in the very game Gangzi played.

Everyone had no objection to Fu Lan Duo's suggestion, so she locked in Varus.

Seeing that, WE immediately clang—clang locked in two—snatching the version's hottest jungler, Gragas, and the mid lane bully Syndra.

Afterwards VG likewise double-picked, locking in Heimerdinger and Lulu.

In WE's first round, the last pick, Homme thought for a long time, hesitating between grabbing the Incense Burner Monster and the top laner; only when the referee reminded him that only five seconds remained did he decide, finally letting Xi Ye lock in a Shen.

In the Incense Burner Monster version, the support's BP priority is undoubtedly the highest; the problem is that this system has only just become popular, and most teams' understanding of it remains very limited.

One obvious thing is that WE doesn't even know that the best answer for the Incense Burner system is Ezreal—clearly Ezreal was still pretty hot in the previous version, and as the true strongest answer for this version, its popularity has actually dropped instead, can you believe that?

Liang Yan also really didn't expect that; all I can say is that these LPL coaches, whether Korean imports or domestic, all have somewhat rigid thinking.

—Who said that in the Incense Burner system, the AD must play a late-game hypercarry?

Liang Yan couldn't help but suspect these people are blind.

Obviously Ezreal gains double benefit from the Incense Burner effect, plus it has the only ultimate in the whole league that can protect the support, and its abilities in every dimension also perfectly fit the environment—why can't these people see that? Because they think Ezreal is an early‑ to mid‑game champion and fear he can't deal with all those late‑game tanky bruisers.

The problem is Ezreal crushes you in the early‑ to mid‑game—where would any late game come from?

As for LCK's situation, it remains to be seen, but the LCK playoffs are short—counting the opening Bo3, there are only four matches total, and now only the final Bo5 remains. Since SKT has already secured a Worlds ticket, this team has always liked long‑term planning, so to keep their strategies hidden they might very well sandbag in the final.

Dragon Pearl's scrubs are actually not much different from this LPL bunch……

So Liang Yan thinks that when SSG plays the qualifiers, they might very well breeze through thanks to their deeper understanding of the Incense Burner system…… Of course SSG might not reveal all their tricks either—Liang Yan can tell that even in practice matches against VG, SSG still holds back, which is their biggest difference from KT; in the spring, KT went all out against VG in practice, really laying it all on the line.