Chapter 320: "Natural Enemy?" Foreshadowing! Level 1 Team Fight!

"Both sides seem full of confidence; the tension is already rising before the match has even begun!"

The broadcast camera cut back to the commentary desk, and Guan Zeyuan casually opened the floor to the two beside him: "So, who do you two favor today? Kid, you go first?"

Being cued, Kid thought for a moment, and his answer was surprisingly unexpected: "Actually, I still favor V5!"

"After all, everyone knows V5's record this year is a bit terrifying. Although WBG won once by luck before, looking at the paper strength, there's still a gap everywhere except in the top lane."

Some confused viewers were left scratching their heads, wondering if this guy had changed his tune.

In reality, that was not the case!

Kid, who lived deep within the internet's largest barbecue shop, knew very well that "pre-match predictions" had zero influence on public opinion; no matter who you favor, there's always a chance of getting slapped in the face later.

On the contrary, the more people favor a certain team, and the more public opinion leans to one side,

the more likely it is to end up in a lose-lose situation: "If they win, it's because they were supposed to, so what's there to brag about? If they lose, they're total frauds!"

Unfortunately, Kid's scheme was seen through by Angel, who was watching him from the side.

"Well, I'm different from Kid; I really favor WBG!" Angel looked like he was analyzing it with sound logic.

"On one hand, this is my former team, so it's definitely my main team. On the other hand, as Kid just said, WBG actually has a lane with a huge advantage, especially the top laner!"

Kid's face turned green instantly.

This was poking at his "Achilles' heel"!

It was the same principle: the more pre-match opinion leans to one side, the worse it is for the favored side—with it put this way, if TheShy doesn't carry this game, won't he have to take the blame!?

He immediately argued his case: "You can't say it like that, Teacher An! Flandre is our first domestic champion top laner, even the first domestic double-champion top laner! And I heard TheShy's hand injury has flared up again recently, and his form isn't great."

"Kid, you saying that reminds me, Flandre's hand injury seems to have flared up recently too, I think it was that time he was beaten up in the matchup by Shy-ge."

Guan Zeyuan tried his best to suppress a laugh in the middle, watching the two frantically praise each other's opponents.

Fortunately, a crisp sound broke the deadlock.

"The BP for the first game of the finals has begun!"

"V5 won the coin toss and chose the blue side for the first game, sending the Crocodile to the ban list first!"

First round of bans for both sides:

V5: Crocodile, Varus, Xayah

WBG: Akali, Viego, Poppy

"The blue side first snatches up K'Sante, while the red side takes Aphelios and Vi in exchange!"

"V5 takes Jinx and Neeko, while WBG picks Milio to counter the threat of hard engage. The first round of bans and picks went very quickly!"

Thanks to the previous tactics used against Neeko with Qiyana, everyone soon discovered that Ding Zhen's Q had a similar effect!

Not to mention that even if the knockback fails to interrupt, since the new Neeko's ultimate is primarily a {Stun}, Ding Zhen can also use his ultimate 【Group Cleanse】 to break it immediately.

WBG being able to make it this far means their coach, Daeny, is definitely an indispensable figure; naturally, there wouldn't be any conventional errors in the BP phase, and the first three picks were all relatively common meta choices.

Clearly, the true strategic battle of this Bo5 final would only lie in the "preparation" of both sides.

Second round of bans—

WBG: Sylas, Wukong

V5: Jax, Gwen

"WBG still has top and mid left to pick. I wonder who they will leave the counter-pick for, Red Glasses!?"

"Locked in! Then this must be top lane Vayne! It couldn't possibly be Xiaohu's Vayne!"

"The confidence from TheShy!!"

Screams erupted instantly throughout the venue, and the chat was immediately in an uproar.

But to be fair, K'Sante was revealed on the first floor, and in the current meta, the possibility of it flexing to mid is low, so there really was no need for the top lane to take the counter-pick.

It's just that Daeny's consideration was perhaps more about stabilizing the mid lane.

After all, the opponent's mid laner hadn't been picked yet.

And K'Sante, having dominated for nearly a year in S13, still stood at the level of a phantom god despite multiple nerfs, known precisely for having "almost no natural enemies."

But if one had to name a "natural enemy"...

Vayne.

She is absolutely the one!

K'Sante's tankiness has no substance in front of Vayne, and his relatively clumsy tank mechanics play right into Vayne's hands; he is destined to be kited until he's dizzy, and in the mid-game side lanes, he won't even be able to play!

However, although everyone knows this counter-matchup,

everyone knows even better how high the risk factor is for playing this thing in the top lane!

And TheShy being able to pick all sorts of "strange heroes" to execute tactics is also a trump card in Daeny's hand, and one of the key factors that allowed WBG to get here.

TheShy's Vayne is undoubtedly trustworthy!

Ye Bo was quite aware of this—because just a short while ago, he had personally faced the opponent's Vayne in a ranked game using Varus top, and had truly felt the opponent's laning phase.

It was also after he went offline that night that he specifically discussed it with Flandre.

The restlessness at the venue hadn't yet subsided when, upon seeing V5's fourth and fifth picks, a wave of sound erupted even more intensely!

"Is it Talon! The second brand-new assassin Master Ye has pulled out in the playoffs!"

"V5 finally picks Talon and Nocturne for their mid-jungle, they've brought out a very rare counter-strategy!"

"It's clear that both sides are extremely well-prepared for this final!"

Daeny also revealed a look of surprise; one could see a clear two-character mouth shape on the broadcast screen.

He could understand the Nocturne jungle; it's a relatively comfortable choice against Vi in the jungle, and it counts as a dive-heavy combination.

But Talon was indeed unexpected.

He had considered the heroes V5's mid laner might pick: for instance, the previously dazzling Qiyana, or core mages like Orianna or Azir, or even LeBlanc and Tristana, which were no longer very strong in the meta.

Originally, Daeny wanted the mid lane to pick a counter-matchup, but this move truly disrupted his plans.

"Xiaohu, Galio will have a very hard time in lane, can you handle it?" Daeny asked his Tiger Vanguard, explaining.

"We need a front-liner who can provide support and prevent hard engage, otherwise the threat of Talon and Nocturne to our double-marksman backline is too great."

Although Galio won't have a comfortable time laning against AD heroes, one could even say it's very difficult.

But clearly, he is extremely effective at countering heroes like Talon and Nocturne who need to "physically enter the fray"!

"Ga ya, no problem." Xiaohu gave that resolute look from the promotional video once again.

Daeny didn't dare look directly at that gaze, fearing he would ruin the serious atmosphere; he quickly finalized the picks, put away his notebook, and prepared to head over for the handshake.

Before leaving, he was still constantly giving instructions...

Both lineups confirmed:

【Top: Pride of Nazumah vs Night Hunter】

【Jungle: Eternal Nocturne vs Piltover Enforcer】

【Mid: Blade's Shadow vs Galio】

【Marksman: Jinx vs Aphelios】

【Support: Neeko vs Milio】

The game entered the loading phase, and the commentary desk was still chatting about the rare picks from both sides.

In fact, Talon mid was not uncommon in matches before the Mythic item era; it only disappeared overnight once the Mythic era arrived.

A large part of the reason was the rework of 【Tiamat】, which led to insufficient early-game wave-clearing ability, severely impacting the roaming ability he relied on for survival.

It wasn't until the {First Strike} rune was released in S12 that Talon ushered in his second spring.