Chapter 207: A Super Swing in the Corner of Thought! Hu Zhou

"Welcome back to the main LPL stage! We are here at the V5 home arena in Longgang, Shenzhen!" Wawa's resonant voice echoed in the broadcast room.

"In the match that just concluded, the poorly adjusted BLG team unfortunately lost 1-2 to EDG. That last Baron play really ruined their lives; it feels like there were some significant decision-making issues."

Miller naturally picked up the thread: "Indeed. Even now, several teams we had high hopes for haven't shown a very good performance."

"However, these teams have undergone massive personnel changes this year, and the teams are still gelling, so it's understandable."

Aside from their top laner, BLG replaced all four other positions compared to last year, making them one of the teams with the most significant changes.

And just as the casters said.

The five "Galaxy Battleships" currently at the top of the LPL rankings—WBG, TES, and BLG—have all had very eye-stinging results, often collapsing even in battles against "weaker teams."

Of course, EDG is a case of a "lean camel being bigger than a horse," performing slightly better than the teams Top Esports lost to.

"But what's starting next is the JDG team, who have come to the V5 home arena to issue a challenge!"

The director pulled up the data panels for both sides.

"Currently, both teams are tied for the top spot at the start of the season with three-game winning streaks. They can be considered the two teams in the best form among our Galaxy Battleships!"

"From team composition to performance on the field, both sides can be described as evenly matched!"

"I believe this will be a clash of Mars hitting the Earth!"

At this moment, the bot lane duos waiting in the player tunnel seemed full of ambition.

Both sides were old rivals.

JDG's biggest acquisition this year was bringing in Knight and Ruler. This pair could be said to be the most expensive choice outside of the defending champion EDG's mid-bot duo.

Ruler was also the most stable player on that Gen. G team last year when they were kicked out of the tournament by EDG in the semifinals.

He even nearly pulled off an ultimate play in a desperate situation with Xayah—it was just a pity he was blown up by an invisible bomb in the end, failing to become a legendary moment.

In contrast, Ruler's expression was clearly more composed, but there was a distinct "determination" in his eyes!

In fact.

After Ruler went home from the semifinals last year, he had the idea of coming to the LPL.

His first target was EDG.

The reason Ruler wanted to join EDG was, of course, because this team had just beaten him up in the semifinals—and he felt that if the AD were replaced by him, he could definitely win the championship too!

Since Season 7, he had been longing to touch that trophy again.

Just thinking about that bizarre Sylas, that Camille who kicked him to death, and that Ziggs being his teammate, Ruler was already getting impatient!

It was only later that he heard from club personnel who came to contact him that EDG had internal problems, bluntly stating that it was highly likely they wouldn't be able to keep the original lineup.

Especially that they wouldn't be able to keep that key figure.

And because V5's moves during the transfer window were all conducted in secret, finalized rapidly almost every other day, they didn't give the outside world any time to react.

What annoyed Ruler the most was—why didn't He Youjun look for him!

Could I be weaker than Deft!?

In the LCK league, those two had never won against me once!

Of course, if Ruler were in front of Deft, he certainly wouldn't dare to say that... After all, Deft's seniority was enough to make him hang his head.

In the end, holding onto a bit of spiteful defiance, plus the fact that JDG paid too much, he resolutely joined the team he considered most capable of contending with this V5, despite numerous other invitations.

On the other side, V5's bot lane duo also didn't have the slightest worry in their eyes, looking very confident.

Even though last year's DRX had never won even a single small game against Gen. G, the kings of the region, within the league.

But everyone knew.

Once that DRX team from last year entered the World Championship, they were completely different from the team they were before.

BeryL even arrogantly stated, "Hey, it's just that they didn't run into us in the semifinals last year, otherwise we definitely could have gotten revenge!"

And both of them knew very well at this moment that the team and teammates they were on would only be more reassuring than their team last year.

This was their firm backing and confidence.

The EDG members walking off the stage met with the V5 members in the player tunnel.

Barrier, Meiko, and Clearlove bumped into them and exchanged pleasantries.

"Good luck, Master Ye!" Barrier, who had lost to JDG in the second match of the season, hugged Ye Bo as if he were "filing a complaint."

"You must ruthlessly sanction Kanavi!!"

EDG's two mid laners this year, FoFo and Yu Shen, clearly had laning abilities several tiers below Knight, causing EDG's jungle support speed and 2v2s to constantly suffer setbacks in head-on clashes.

In that match where EDG played JDG, their mid-jungle was completely crushed.

And Barrier had grown accustomed to the days with Ye Bo sitting in the mid lane over the past year... when had he ever suffered like this!

"Yo, is there a mole in our base?" Flandre joked, leaning on his shoulder: "How did you know we were going to take down Kanavi today?"

"Master Ye and I have a tacit understanding, okay? It must be Master Ye's idea, right?" Barrier said smugly.

FoFo, standing nearby, felt no ripples upon hearing this; after all, he knew the gap between himself and Ye.

Now he just wanted to avoid making mistakes; being able to hold onto the starting spot was good enough.

EDG's newcomer AD, Leave, didn't join the others; as if he had an appointment, he said hello and hurriedly put on his clothes and left.

Clearlove teased: "Do you have confidence in ending the first game in thirty minutes? If so, we'll wait for you to eat together."

"Thirty minutes?"

Ye Bo made a shrug gesture: "Factory Manager, your thinking has gone wrong; you look down on us too much!"

Clearlove seemed a bit surprised.

After all, among the current Galaxy Battleships, JDG indeed seemed to be the one in the best form.

Really that confident?

"Fine! If you're slower, you're paying for dinner tonight!"

Urged by the staff, the V5 members arrived at the player tunnel.

The host conducted the opening stage segment.

And during the pre-match opening segment, it was clear that the support for V5 far exceeded that for JDG, even forming an overwhelming advantage in volume!

This was the exact opposite of the scene when V5 played against TES and WBG.

It wasn't because JDG had low attention—as a team costing over 100 million, it was clear the players on the team couldn't lack fame.

Ultimately.

It was because the "reputation" of several people in this JDG was very bad!

The mid laner who hit his good brother's girlfriend's fetus.

The AD who was the most famous Korean-style bully in the LCK postmodern era.

And a top laner who frequently performed poorly in big tournaments and turned into a spinning top at the drop of a hat.

For a team composed of such players, if they wanted to accumulate true fans, they would probably have to rely on solid strength and honors, winning enough championships to potentially reverse it.

This was also a characteristic of competitive events.

Any negative news could be suppressed or even wiped clean by solid results—everything speaks through strength!

Before long, the adjustments were complete.

The broadcast screen jumped to the caster desk, and the BP panel suddenly pulled up.

"In the first game, the home team V5 has the priority pick, choosing the blue side first!"

"V5 starts by banning Kanavi's signature Wukong and Vi, while JDG only bans Akali, giving the second ban to K'Sante!"

"It seems JDG wants to release a mid lane hero at the start, which is also a solution recently attempted by several teams."

"And although K'Sante has been nerfed, it still seems to be a hot commodity; the mechanics are just too perfect."

As the tournament progressed, everyone's understanding of global BP deepened.

Everyone discovered that the "cost-effectiveness" of banning all signature heroes on the red side was very low—because that would lead to them having to continue bearing these ban slots after going to the blue side.

So the current understanding was for the red side to ban one and release one in the first round, then go to the blue side in the next game to first-pick one themselves.

Compared to banning 2 on the red side and then banning 1 and picking 1 on the blue side in the next game, occupying three ban slots over two games.

This could achieve "banning 3 heroes with only 1 ban slot"!

This BP strategy was definitely a very reasonable way to handle players who possessed heroes with huge deterrent power, and it would show even greater power in the longer BO5 format.

As for why JDG banned K'Sante.

One very important reason was... 369 didn't want to take Jax!

After Jax's rework, 369 always felt he wasn't playing the new version of Jax smoothly, so he was somewhat "resistant" to practicing this hero.

It just so happened that Jax also received some numerical nerfs along with K'Sante, so the priority wasn't as high as the previous version.

And the third ban for both sides became the focus of the clash.

"They should want to release Sylas; should we ban Ryze?" BeryL asked.

Ye Bo thought for a moment and said: "No need, we can flex anyway, let's target the bot lane."

V5 sent Zeri to the ban list.

On the other side, JDG's Homme immediately showed a suspicious look.

"They... are they not planning to take Sylas?"

Homme originally thought that if they released Sylas, V5 would definitely have their mid laner grab it; V5 had indeed done so before.

JDG could rely on the advantage of the last ban in the first round to adjust on the spot, deciding whether or not to release Sylas.

Ryze was a hero that heavily countered Sylas—but if we were to be more precise, it should be that it countered him before S10 and after S13.

Those with a heart could already see the clues.

It was because the item {Rod of Ages} was deleted when the Mythic item version arrived.

Leading to the previous Ryze only being able to build {Lost Chapter} in the early game, with his early game physique being no different from an ordinary mage, extremely fragile!

Facing Sylas's super high burst in the early game, Ryze would easily flip over, so it couldn't be called a "counter" at all in last year's World Championship, otherwise almost no one would have picked or banned it.

And with the return of Rod of Ages, the situation was immediately different.

Ryze's slight nerf was actually just another nerf to his early game ability, making Ryze more in line with the setting of a late-game scaling hero, not really affecting his overall strength.

"If he doesn't pick Sylas, he might want to play a farming style; in that case, let's release both." Homme waved his hand and slapped the table.

First round bans—

V5: Wukong, Vi, Zeri

JDG: Akali, K'Sante, Ashe

"Both sides gave their last ban to the AD, and both Ryze and Sylas were released!"

"JDG's meaning is very clear: if you pick Sylas, I'll pick Ryze; if you pick Ryze, I'll pick Azir to farm, or pick Annie to roam; these are all Knight's specialties!"

"Anyway, the red side has the counter pick; as long as they are determined to target the mid lane, they can create a counter matchup no matter what!"

"V5 chooses to first-pick Varus!"

Homme's BP ability was clearly much stronger than White Crescent's, and the red side made quite a few targeted responses.

Seeing the opponent grab Varus.

He also didn't hesitate to let his bot lane take Kalista + Viego.

"JDG already feels like they have killing intent with just these two picks; they should want to play an early game aggressive composition!"

"Due to the buff to hard engage supports in version 13.3, Kalista can be considered to have returned to the mainstream; although she can't compare to her peak period, she is no longer a hero that cannot be picked!"

"As for Viego, this is also Kanavi's most proficient warrior jungle carry besides Wukong and Vi!"

The impact of version changes was gradually appearing.

Due to the nerfs to Ashe and Heimerdinger, everyone seemed to think that the lane priority playstyle had been half-killed.

Therefore, bot lane laning and brawling might become the new mainstream, so hard engage supports that are good at fighting and battle heroes like Kalista naturally benefited as well.

"V5 still chooses Sylas, then adds Sion for the top lane; the composition is very solid!"

"And JDG really didn't hesitate, picking Ryze on the third floor! They just want to eat the mid lane counter!"

Entering the second round of BP—

JDG: Elise, Nidalee

V5: Renekton, Jax

Both sides' second round bans were highly targeted.

JDG was because their mid laner picked Ryze, who was weaker in the early game after being nerfed, and Sylas's only chance to win the lane was small-scale team fights.

So they chose to ban two strong aggressive jungle heroes.

V5 probably had a similar idea.

JDG picked Renata on the fourth floor, forming the classic "Kalista-Renata" combo.

Although Renata showed many problems in the match against Top Esports, such as weak early game initiative and weak laning ability leading to TES being unable to exert force.

But pairing her with Kalista would clearly alleviate many of them.

"V5 should still be missing a jungle and support; according to this BP situation, they should also be picking a jungle and support with strong early game confrontation."

"It's just that there aren't many suitable choices left outside; Twitch and Jhin feel like they would struggle against this combo; I don't know if BeryL still has any tricks up his sleeve."

"He really does!?"

Jhin support is a pick specifically targeting Heimerdinger to "dismantle turrets."

Twitch is a pick specifically targeting Draven to "drop axes."

Although it's not that they can't be picked, in front of the Kalista-Renata combo, these two supports wouldn't be the best response choices, and Homme was still very confident in the bot lane.

But Homme still didn't know BeryL well enough.

Actually, just looking at V5's performance on the field during this period.

If it weren't for something they specifically wanted to pick, V5's support would have picked very early, not pressed to the very end.

And V5's fourth and fifth floors locked in two heroes that left people full of question marks.

Caitlyn + Aurelion Sol!

"Picking Caitlyn when they already have Varus! Picking Aurelion Sol when they have Sylas!?"

"What is V5 doing? A super big swing!"

Homme was also stunned.

Kanavi reminded him that Sylas could jungle in this version, and he played it himself—it could basically be confirmed that it was Aurelion Sol mid.

Homme's heart trembled slightly.

Last year, when the JDG team he led faced EDG, he already felt that the opponent's BP always had a "corner of thought" that was "unexpected."

It was just that last year, JDG's lineup wasn't strong, and there were many restrictions on BP.

And this year, facing V5 with a stronger lineup, Homme found that that feeling seemed to have intensified!?

The previous corner of thought might have just been a right angle, but now it had at least turned a bend.

Knowing that if the red side wanted to force a counter, it couldn't be avoided, they deliberately made trap BPs in the ban phase to confuse, masking their true intentions, and finally hitting the late hand through swing reserves.

The counter advantage the red side should have had—now instead, they were hit by the opponent's late-hand counter!

Fortunately, Homme's thinking was equally clear; he didn't get stunned like White Crescent when facing sudden situations, quickly reviewing his own team's composition.

"69, you pick Jayce," Homme instructed his favorite disciple: "You have to play well in this lane; we must have lane priority in the top lane, and you have to protect Kanavi's jungle."

"OK, OK." 369 looked very confident.

"Don't worry! No one understands Sion better than me!"

Both sides' lineups confirmed.

《Blue Side: V5 vs Red Side: JDG》

【Top: Sion vs Jayce】

【Jungle: Sylas vs Viego】

【Mid: Aurelion Sol vs Ryze】

【ADC: Varus vs Kalista】

【Support: Caitlyn vs Renata Glasc】

When the lineup exchange was confirmed, the caster desk dared to conduct an analysis.

"Actually, the new Aurelion Sol's win rate is quite miserable, but Master Ye's new Aurelion Sol is still worth looking forward to!"

Miller continued to recall: "As for Sylas jungle, I do have an impression; it's been very hot in ranked recently, the type that basically doesn't farm the jungle, just fasting to fight and gank! Actually, it might really be quite suitable for this version!"

"But can this Caitlyn support really play anything as a support?"

"BeryL feels like Master Ye of the support position; he can pull out some weird things at any time, and these two just happened to be on the same team, haha."

After sighing, Miller queued the guest: "Duke, what do you say? Whose lineup are you more optimistic about?"

Today's professional guest was a former JDG legend, the master of egg tarts known as 369's younger brother, Duke Zoom.

Duke pretended to act a bit before saying: "Hard to say, hard to say... but V5's lineup feels quite interesting."

Wawa played along: "Oh? How so?"

Zoom simply explained his thoughts.

Ryze countering Sylas in lane is correct—but what does that have to do with my Aurelion Sol?

Although the new Aurelion Sol's performance on the current field isn't good, everyone thinks he isn't as strong as imagined, but clearly, there's no reason for Aurelion Sol's various attributes to be countered by Ryze.

And Viego has strong sustained combat power, but what he fears is that kind of super high burst hero who can kill him in seconds.

This is why JDG banned Elise + Nidalee in the second round—but Sylas is also this kind of hero.

As for the Caitlyn support in the bot lane, this is indeed something no one has seen.

But the range of Kalista and Caitlyn...

【Piltover auxiliary police, right? Genshin brother, give me a ruthless 80-foot old dog!】

【Fun fact, the new Aurelion Sol hasn't won a single game in recent matches; next door in the LCK, only Chovy has won one game; this thing feels like a pure trap.】

【What reference value do those noob-played earthworms have? This is the true Hu Zhou True Dragon certified by Riot!】

【I'm not worried about Master Ye; what I'm more afraid of is Prison Xun; won't Sylas jungle be beaten to shit by Kanavi... Even Barrier was captured by Kanavi last week; Kanavi is really strong this year!】

【A reminder, in the 2022 Spring and Summer splits, Kanavi and Barrier were capturing each other; so the question is, why were they capturing each other in Spring and Summer?】

【Xun: What is there to fear from Kanavi? Watch my move—Daddy is here!!】

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 208 =====