Chapter 856

RNG can't play Xialuo.

Zhu Xiaolong came back and said to Liang Yan like this.

Ah?

No way!

Shh!

RNG's people were next door, and the VG folks lowered their voices, but they still couldn't help feeling very surprised.

Liang Yan, as an experienced person, had heard some rumors to some extent: some said S7's Uzi couldn't play Xayah, others said it wasn't that Uzi couldn't play Xayah but that support Ming couldn't play Luo, and besides that there were all kinds of conspiracy theories—all sorts of them.

Liang Yan, out of curiosity, also asked why, and Zhu Xiaolong's answer was:

Uzi felt that Ming's Luo couldn't keep up with the rhythm of his own Xayah, didn't want to play it, and after a few games he threw it away.

Furthermore, FireFox also felt that Ming's Luo lacked some spirituality, lacking that flamboyant feel; at the same time, Uzi's Xayah was too aggressive, he always liked to use Xayah's ultimate as an output burst, in team fights he always wanted to go in, flash, and hook to kill someone, but often due to various reasons—Uzi felt it was teammates not keeping up with him—he would end up dying.

Liang Yan believed Zhu Xiaolong's answer; this fit his stereotype of RNG, whether about individuals or the team.

He suddenly remembered something.

In an alternate history, the Asian Games team built with RNG as its core achieved great success precisely because they chose Xi Ye for mid lane instead of Xiaohu, which was absolutely a wise choice, since Xi Ye's aggression is also strong and he synergizes better with Uzi.

Meanwhile, LCK's hybrid team appeared to be only superficially united.

Of course, internal strife is also a tradition there.

……

The remaining two matches, just like yesterday, were wrapped up by Group B.

The fifth match, Long Zhu easily defeated GAM, lasting only twenty-five minutes. Netizens couldn't help marvelling at the strength of LCK's first seed, all thinking that Long Zhu would advance with a perfect record without any doubt.

Next was the final match of the day's schedule.

Ba Xi wildcard CNB versus North America First Seed TSM.

Previously, mainstream opinion held that even if CNB were truly apprentices trained by VG and G2 Zhong Ren working together, their chance of winning this match should not exceed twenty percent.

After all, TSM is the Bei Mei Sai Qu First Seed among the five major regions; even though the Bei Mei Sai Qu is the weakest of the five major regions, their leader at least has the strength of a top-tier team from another three of the major regions, making it unlikely they'd lose to a wildcard.

Needless to say, North America fans—yesterday TSM being crushed by LZ really upset them, but today, TSM facing a wildcard team, isn't that a sure win?

However, at the end of the day's first match, Perkz publicly stated in an interview that North America would at least suffer a five-game losing streak, possibly six.

Netizens: Ah what?!!

The group stage's first round schedule had long been fixed; the teams in the Bei Mei Sai Qu would face whatever opponents in that round, easily looked up.

After IMT lost to G2 Zhong Ren, North America's record was three consecutive losses.

Tomorrow IMT will face SSG, their chances are indeed slim, so I won't say more, but do you mean today TSM will lose to a wildcard and suffer a four-game losing streak?

Not only did North America netizens think Perkz's brain had short-circuited, but netizens from other regions also found it unbelievable, since objectively this is unlikely to happen, so it's natural to be curious about why Perkz made such a rash prediction in public.

Will TSM really lose to a wildcard?

LPL netizens thought this was interesting; since there's no VG match to watch, let's look at VG's apprentices instead—if CNB really could win, then today wouldn't be totally awful……

With such expectations, netizens worldwide flocked to the official streams of their respective regions to wait and see.

As the time approached seven in the evening, the CNB vs TSM match, which attracted extra global attention due to Perkz's prediction, got underway.

The director's camera switched back and forth between the two teams' player benches.

It was clear that the CNB squad wore grave expressions, obviously under considerable pressure, and it was also clear they were serious about winning this match.

The TSM squad was relaxed, except for the relatively introverted Bjergsen, while the others chatted and laughed freely.

The ban phase began; each side banned three, and TSM's blue side first pick gave Bjergsen the champion Ahri.

This exceeded CNB's expectations; according to their research, Bjergsen usually plays mage core the most, or sometimes a utility champ, and rarely picks Ahri, a champion with a somewhat vague role.

After considerable thought, CNB double-picked Barrel + Plane.

TSM immediately double-picked Treant and Lulu.

CNB's second pick was a tiny cannon.

Entering the second round of bans and picks, the sides were evenly matched; CNB banned two junglers in a row, while TSM banned two top-lane champions.

Next, CNB's second-round first pick locked in the crocodile.

TSM double-locked their composition.

"Ezreal and Big Mouth?!" Miller exclaimed, "Goodness, TSM's lineup...... has an indescribable feel!"

"Ezreal jungling—I didn't expect anyone in the Bei Mei Sai Qu to play something interesting. But the front line only has a treant……" Wawa rubbed her chin, turned to Miller, and said, "If I recall correctly, this version of the treant isn't nearly as strong as before, right?"

Miller: "Uh……"

Su Xiao Yan immediately followed up: "Yes, the treant was still a top-three top lane pick in the qualifiers, but in the group stage its popularity dropped a lot, far less than the giant bug and Shen, though it's still in the T1 tier."

I think TSM's lineup indeed has a fairly low fault tolerance.

Maybe that's just confidence...

CNB's last pick was a gem.

Not bad.

In the training hotel, Tabe's eyes lit up, he turned to Zhu Xiaolong sitting beside him, who was watching the match together with him, and said with a smile: "This gem pick is pretty good."

Zhu Xiaolong nodded with a smile: "Yes, it looks much more solid now, and the overall framework is more balanced, with support in early, mid, and late game."

……

G2 Zhong Ren also returned to the training hotel; in the Europe Region training room, a similar discussion took place. Lao Zhang praised the CNB coach a few sentences: "This airplane pick is very good; although the early and mid game are not his power spike, this hero's strength lies in how smooth his development and itemization are—just give the crocodile and the wine barrel a bit of damage and it's enough; the lineup is completely fine."

Tang Anna, however, slightly shook her head.

Lao Zhang exclaimed in surprise: "Do you think the airplane is not good?"

"It's not the airplane's problem; the lineup is also fine, but..." Tang Anna's tone was reserved: "The combination of the little cannon and the gem is too weak early on; Xia Lu will be constantly pushed by Big Mouth; after level three in Zhong Lu, there's also little lane control; Ezreal soloing the wine barrel before level six is an absolute advantage, so if TSM focuses on the bottom half early, CNB will have a hard time dealing with it."

Lao Zhang slightly startled, thoughtful: "That's an angle I hadn't considered."

Tang Anna glanced at him, thinking, "You don't have a really capable close friend? Why don't you go ask him for advice?"

She didn't know that although Lao Zhang often chatted with Liang Yan on WeChat, it was just casual talk to stay in touch, and to avoid suspicion he rarely discussed games or competitions with Liang Yan.

In this respect, Lao Zhang is far more tactful than Tang Anna.