Chapter 76: 『A World-Another-Me?』 The Sliding Entry! Substitutes vs. Starters

"Bin's weapon is flanking!"

"Ah, but! Knight's Taliyah uses the delay of the Weaver's Wall to restrict Scout's Ahri! At the same time, the Unraveled Earth blocks the retreat, and JackeyLove has flown in!"

"Puppy's Jinx has nowhere to run, and the support isn't Thresh, so there's no lantern to save her!"

"Under BLG's slightly chaotic lane-swapping operations in the mid-game, both vision and resource allocation have encountered certain problems."

"In that case, we must first congratulate TES on taking the first game!"

In the first match, this newly formed BLG exposed quite a few problems.

Several members returned to the backstage with sullen faces, conducting a review under the coach's guidance.

The focus was on the mid-game resource allocation issue.

"Why did Ahri have to push one extra wave in that sequence? The weapon had already said he was going to use TP to farm it, wasting over ten seconds of his own time to defend, which indirectly led to the loss of the top tier-two tower lane! It ended up with the entire top jungle vision being completely occupied!"

"And this sequence, why didn't Jinx go to swap for plates earlier? You just had to farm one more set of your own jungle camps; it's not like we aren't letting you eat, is there someone trying to steal them from you!?"

"Bin, you too, it's the same old problem. We've said it many times: safe lanes should be given to the person most prone to dying to farm. Those few rotations of yours weren't handled well either."

Top laner Bin's specialty is offensive carry top laners, mid laner Scout's specialty is mage carries, and bottom laner Uzi's specialty is hyper-carry marksmen.

If all three of them want to take what they are best at.

It is obvious even on the surface that there are definitely not enough resources to go around!

Of course, the reason they could field this lineup today is that BLG must have verified it through scrims.

This lineup is not without its merits.

After all, as long as these three carries can get gold, they surely have the ability to carry under normal circumstances.

Then, as long as they can maintain a frequent offensive tempo and reach a certain advantage, they can divide up the opponent's map resources to supplement themselves, which naturally would be enough to create the grand spectacle of a "trident"!

The template the BLG coaching staff dreams of benchmarking is clearly that of the S8 IG configuration.

And in the jungle position, they even have Weiwei, who is capable of making even more complete sacrifices.

It's just that the result of the first game... was clearly not very satisfactory.

The good news is that the coaching staff has quite a few directions for adjustment.

BLG's coaching staff is the same SN coaching staff from S10, who were bought as a package by Uncle when they disbanded into WBG.

And head coach Steak, having been on the same team as Bin all the way since the SN era, is considered his own protégé, so relatively speaking, he certainly understands and trusts the top laner more.

Therefore, the direction of his adjustments is naturally prioritized toward the mid and bottom lanes.

"Uzi, um, how do you feel about your Senna? Have you practiced it enough?" Steak adjusted his tone to ask his bottom lane.

"Not yet..." Uzi scratched his head maturely and answered honestly.

Steak actually felt a bit helpless inside.

Because if you really want to talk about it, the Senna-Tahm Kench combination has appeared on the competitive stage for at least two years or more; it's not some "new thing."

Yet last time he asked the other party, they actually said they hadn't even played it once!

Clearly, the characteristics of the Senna-Tahm Kench combination are very well-suited to their "three-carry" lineup and is one of the adaptation strategies for the BLG coaching staff.

But since the other party hadn't practiced it, they naturally didn't dare to force the pick.

Then, they could only suffer for now...

The EDG members in the back were just finishing their discussion and were very concerned about this match.

Aside from the factor of former teammates, after all, this is an opponent they haven't faced yet, and an opponent they will likely have to play against in the playoffs, so intelligence is crucial.

"It's started, it's started. They really can't get 2-0'd, right..." Meiko called out to his teammates.

"Holy crap, Scout! Taking Galio first pick!?" Jiejie widened his eyes in surprise: "I haven't seen him play this hero in a long, long time!"

"Damn! And it's the Predator build. I remember him saying that Galio with Predator has zero laning ability and only 'leeches' take it..." Flandre also triggered memories instantly.

"But their playstyle has to change; otherwise, if top, mid, and bot all pick scaling hyper-carries, there's simply no way to play in the early game!" Maokai analyzed from the perspective of the opposing coach.

"Camille and Galio, and they even managed to get Aphelios and Leona in the bottom lane. The blue side's draft was done well this game!" Ye Bo objectively expressed his opinion on the draft.

The group's surprise had only just begun.

The game reached three minutes, and the jungle faced an invasion from Tarzan.

Galio's heavy punch aimed at the minion wave was raised halfway before being abruptly pulled back!

Then he turned and activated Predator.

Abandoning the minion wave to protect the jungle!

Even the opposing Knight hesitated for a moment before following to chase!

What was even more absurd was the mid-game rotation, the lane-assignment problem that everyone noticed in the previous game.

Galio came to the bottom lane again, just as he was about to raise his heavy punch at the minion wave in the middle of the road... he saw the approaching Camille, as if the scene were repeating itself!

The skin on Scout's face in the camera twitched visibly.

It was as if some kind of "personality confrontation" was taking place.

Galio was seen abruptly canceling his auto-attack and adjusting his positioning to avoid hitting too many minions with his passive AOE, thereby affecting the wave.

In the end, he only last-hit two minions before Galio turned and headed back to the jungle to assist.

And what truly made everyone's jaws drop was the conclusion of a victorious team fight.

Aphelios and Galio were chasing together. Even though a single long-range gust of wind would have secured the kill, Scout once again forcefully held back his ring finger!

Predator chase, W short taunt to hold the target, waiting for Aphelios to come and take the kill.

[?????? Who are you! Get off the Thief Saint!]

[Hey, no, why didn't you say you could play like this earlier? Why did you only decide to play like this after you got kicked out? How petty!]

[It's like this, people only know they need to change when they're pushed to the edge~~~]

[New conceptual god: Unemployed Thief!]

[Thief: "I'm not trying to prove how great I am; I just want to win some dignity! What I've lost, I must take back with my own hands!"]

[Stop joking, isn't this just drawing a tiger by imitating a cat, forcing a copy of Ye Wen's style? Does anyone really think this Galio is played well? This game is just White Sprout's absurd draft, plus Brother started again.]

After winning the second game, everyone on BLG was cheering and jumping for joy.

The coaching staff in the back even did the Minion-style celebration, sighing at the decision they had successfully validated.

Only Scout, as he walked off the stage, had a gloomy face, showing not a single shred of excitement from winning the first game.

He was even rubbing his chest, soothing the pent-up frustration.

Wasn't it agreed that he would be the absolute core?

So this is what an absolute core is?

Chen Rui, *******!

But while netizens say what they say, in fact, it wasn't that he was particularly clear-headed, but rather a helpless move with no other choice.

When he was at EDG, it wasn't that he didn't want to change like that.

It was because Ye Bo, who replaced him, was extremely skilled at using this playstyle, able to sacrifice his own farm at any time to take risks for the team.

How could he, learning it on the fly, possibly achieve better results than the original master?

That's why he kept insisting on trying to achieve results with the style he was always best at, but due to his severe decline in form this year, the fluctuations were beyond his control, which is why he unfortunately kept dying repeatedly.

This is only compared to the two in the BLG backstage, mid laners with a clear gap in raw skill, that it seemed to have some effect.

Ever since that AL match ended, Scout had effectively run out of options.

The only turning point left was to achieve results at BLG.

So during this time he wasn't playing, even when the coach asked him to practice heroes like Galio or Karma, he really held his nose and practiced them.

And in the first game, BLG actually did hand the ball to him, giving him the version-strong Ahri.

It's just that he still didn't produce results; that can't be blamed on anyone else.

Steak also stated bluntly that if he really didn't want to play these heroes, then they would have to let the other two step up.

"...What on earth is this! Scout is actually picking Karma!? Ah?"

"This, I really haven't seen him play this in at least two or three years..."

"It could also be because TES is back on the blue side this game, the ban slots aren't enough, and BLG wants to use Karma to see if they can counter Sylas?"

The EDG group simply couldn't believe their eyes.

Is this still the Li Yichan they know??

However, when Ye Bo saw this choice, a "strange" feeling suddenly arose in his heart for no reason.

It wasn't because of anything else.

It was just because these two heroes, Galio and Karma, if you add a Seraphine... that would be exactly the same as the hero pool of "Old Man Bo" he saw for the first time!

He wondered if Old Man Bo was the same back then.

In order to fight for the starting spot, in order to win the game, did he turn to practice these heroes he originally "looked down upon"?

The current Scout seems to have a bit of that feeling.

It's just that Scout's situation is clearly much better than Old Man Bo's; he's just suffering a little bit in-game to strive for a better career next year.

While all Old Man Bo wanted was just a chance.

Thinking of this, and connecting it to the opponent he would soon face, RNG,

Ye Bo couldn't help but sigh at the wonder of fate.

In the final first match, after Knight finished spinning the top in the second game, he successfully re-marked his territory, and the Sylas he grabbed first pick swung his whip fiercely.

"Congratulations to TES! Winning with a 2:1 score! The current points have reached 7-2!"

"But to be honest, as a team that made major personnel changes, BLG's performance this game is definitely commendable, especially the changes in player Scout, which were truly beyond imagination."

"Then let us take a short break and wait for our second match of the day!"

The commentary desk excelled at being cautious, not daring to comment too much on this match.

The barrage at this moment is incredibly lively.

Because those two fan groups with the strongest combat power, interspersed with quite a few trolls looking to stir up trouble, are launching the third Cyber World War.

【"Learning Trash" laugh at me~ Uncle still buys people, may I ask what this person is here for?】

【Haha, truly interesting. The junior sacrificed two games, may I ask what effect was cultivated in the bottom lane? Stupid coaching staff, can't even see who can carry!】

【Didn't the first game give you a BP focus? You didn't carry either! Just that Ahri, even more innocent than the opponent's Xiaohu!】

【Some people get counter-picked by Xiaohu, some people counter-pick Xiaohu, no wonder some people got kicked to the roadside and left homeless, running over to hug my dog's thigh, feels comfortable~】

【Don't argue, I'm going to take a bath.】

【Go take your bath, remember to close the door, watch out for the bathtub being stolen by a mole!】

Even Top Esports, known as the "Traffic Team," appears eclipsed in the face of this world war.

The barrage doesn't even mention much about them winning the match.

"Getting ready to go on stage," Mingkai closed the unsightly livestream screen, raised his volume, and clapped his hands to greet the team members: "Brothers, let's go, if we win this, the Guardian Angel is within reach!"

"Just do what we prepared in training these past few days, don't get reckless, listen to the calls," Maokai was also giving his final instructions: "Just like we said, this RNG is not the same as in spring, they actually aren't that adapted to the patch, we can win if we play our own game!"

The backstage referee came to notify them, and the EDG members filed out, walking quickly toward the stage.

In the player tunnel, everyone locked eyes with the BLG members who were walking off the stage and returning.

Jiejie waved, wanting to greet the other side, but Scout only gave a hurried glance before ducking directly into the opposite tunnel.

Perhaps he felt it was a bit embarrassing.

The high-pitched voice of the male host Liu Hang came from the stage, and everyone retracted their focus without paying much mind.

"First, please welcome Royal Never Give Up!"

"Top laner Breathe, jungler Wei, mid laner Xiaohu, bottom laner Gala, support Ming, and head coach Kenzhu!"

Compared to the Spring Champion + MSI double-champion roster RNG fielded in the first half of the year, the summer RNG swapped top laners with BLG.

At this moment, the team's star player Xiaohu, upon appearing, had a cold expression with his hands in his pockets, staring straight at the camera with the eyes of an emotionless killer, instantly drawing cheers from the entire arena!

Seeing this, Zzitai in the Huya secondary broadcast room immediately began to draw out his tone, exaggerating the atmosphere.

"Xiao~hu~! Today's main course!"

"Feels like he's full of killing intent today, this look, just like a real fierce tiger! Looks like he's already prepared to take Ye Bo down two-to-zero!"

Zzitai, having been expelled from the IG fan registry, is now a loyal dog of the Royal family, so it's only reasonable for his commentary to carry a tiny bit of bias.

"This guy is responsible for his own words, one thing to say, EDG's form has been better lately, mainly because RNG just lost a game..." Letme, who was on the call, saw Zzitai starting off so high and hurried to cool things down for his home team.

"Ye Bo!? What's the situation, what does that mean!!!"

Zzitai originally wanted to bicker with Letme.

But just then, seeing Ye Bo's entrance on the screen, he suddenly started shouting and howling loudly along with the livestream room.

It was just as Ye Bo was going on stage.

He suddenly, out of the blue, faced the camera and straight-up performed a chuunibyou "sliding tackle" forward!

Although the movement was very non-standard, everyone instantly got the meaning.

【Fierce tiger, huh? I'm a damn sliding tackle!】

【Lol, laughed to death, Master Ye is also a comedian!】

【All wrong! Today it's not Ye Bo's account logged in, it's Wu Song's account!】

【Xiaohu is the real comedian, although he's trying his best to disguise as a killer, but looking at his eyes, I always feel like the next moment he'll break character and jump up on the spot.】

【Like sliding tackles, huh? Wait until I show you what a fierce tiger descending the mountain is!】

【It was fine for the Spring Tiger Emperor to put on an act, but the Summer Tiger Brother wants to act too? Just wait! I'll knock you flying!】

Amidst the festive exchange in the barrage, the BP interface boomed to life!

Blue side RNG went first, banning Sylas, which had just risen in the patch—the reason is simple, because Xiaohu can't play it!

In a sense, Xiaohu at this current period can be called a "hexagon" player.

Which means there are no obvious weaknesses.

Practicing champions isn't too slow, and he isn't particularly "ground-bound" or selfish, he seems to be able to play any type of playstyle, and for now, he hasn't "coward-ified."

But actually, if you think about it carefully... he doesn't seem to have any particularly obvious strengths either!

Take "practicing champions" for example, the internet jokingly calls his champion pool "Goldfish-type" or "Pokémon-type."

Meaning Xiaohu's speed at practicing champions isn't slow, and the number of champions he has picked in his career definitely ranks near the top, more than the vast majority of people.

But as it happens, after a period of time, he will throw them all away!

It's like there are only five Poké Balls in his equipment slot; to practice a new one, he has to throw one out.

So, it is indeed a hexagon, it's just that under the metaphysical "seasonal change," it frequently shrinks and expands, hovering between a small hexagon and a large hexagon.

"EDG bans Galio, RNG immediately counters by pressing Akali!" Zzitai shouted, pinching his throat.

"Ye Bo's LeBlanc and Yone are fine, Xiaohu has Lissandra and Poppy to deal with them! Autumn hasn't even passed yet, these two champions shouldn't be expired!"

Both sides' first three bans———

RNG: Sylas, Akali, Aphelios

EDG: Galio, Kalista, Yuumi

"EDG chooses to ban Yuumi and not Zeri, so RNG must take it, right? It's impossible to give Zeri to the red side!" Letme speculated with some hesitation: "But feels like Gala doesn't play much Zeri?"

"They definitely have to take it, Gala even self-banned Aphelios, it's clear he's competing with you for Zeri! If you ban Zeri, he'll snatch Jinx, this BP has no issues!" Zzitai evaluated completely subjectively.

Besides the stat buffs, the more eye-catching part of Zeri's enhancement is the mechanism buff where W {can crit when penetrating walls}, which greatly improves the champion's early wave-clear and poke ability, fixing Zeri's early-game flaws.

This RNG team seems to still be maintaining the old traditions passed down from their ancestors, with tactical priority still heavily focused on the bottom lane.

Having released the well-known patch pick, there's no reason not to snatch it for Gala.

EDG's BP conspiracy is aimed exactly at this step!

Zeri's strength lies in her extreme mobility, playing a {kiting} game, so pairing her with a hard-engage support isn't a good fit.

And the two teams' supports, Ming and Meiko.

This is like two extremes!

If one were to say Meiko can't play hard-engage supports, then one could say Ming can't play enchanter supports, or at the very least, he is far inferior to his hard-engage play.

This is why EDG chose to ban Yuumi and release Zeri in the red side BP.

Not only because Cat + Zeri is the most compatible champion combination.

But also because Yuumi is the champion among all enchanters that least requires you to "know how to play."

"EDG first-picks Taliyah! This should be a pick-to-ban, General Hu has been playing the most Taliyah lately!" Zzitai, who didn't fully grasp the underlying intention, did see that Taliyah was a pick-to-ban.

"But if it's at the cost of releasing Zeri... then just wait for my Gala brother to show his power!"

"Damn it, yesterday Huanfeng even managed to output the highest teamfight damage using this Zeri thing, this champion is problematic!"

EDG second-floor reveals Nami without pretense, clearly wanting to pick their own bottom lane's best-practiced Lucian-Nami combo.

Zhu Kai paced behind the RNG player seats, putting on a look of contemplation.

But assistant coach Tabe started to feel something was wrong and smoothed out the logic for the players: "Ming, if they have Lucian-Nami, you can't go to fight if you pick a hard-engage support in the bottom lane."

"Xiaohu can pick mid first, preferably something that can roam, don't go head-to-head with this person."

"Ah, then let's go with Lissandra," Xiaohu said, pinching his duck-like voice.

Once the mid and bottom picks were out for both sides, the system was basically determined in advance.

Taliyah doesn't possess very strong laning ability regardless of whether she's nerfed or not; RNG's mid lane options are nothing more than magic-damage cores that farm without pressure like Corki or Azir, or roaming heroes like Lissandra or Twisted Fate.

Entering the second round of BP.

RNG blocks {Vi} + {Sejuani} for the jungle, limiting Taliyah's combination synergy.

EDG blocks {Gwen} + {Kennen}, two top lane choices that can create large AoE damage, filling the gap of their own team's fragility.

Tabe is definitely a leader among domestic coaches; he saw the intention at a glance.

"They are probably planning to force a fight in the bottom lane this game; the jungler will likely pick a high-tempo hero to rush the bottom lane with Taliyah."

"Flandre is hard to break through, we can consider picking something to supplement damage for our top lane; the opponent's lineup will be very fragile."

Breathe finally picked Gangplank.

"If Gangplank is going to lane, Renekton or Gnar would both work, hey, is Aatrox playable lately?" Maokai was a bit surprised by the opponent's pick: "But if we pick these, the opponent's late game will be a bit strong, our offensive pressure will be very high."

Aatrox previously had a very low pick rate among fighters due to the grievous wounds changes, but after the grievous wounds were reverted in this patch, he is considered playable again.

It's just that not many teams are picking him currently.

In the understanding of the durability patch, everyone still prefers carry heroes like Gwen, Kennen, Gangplank, and Kayle who aren't easily crushed in lane; even if they pick fighters, they tend toward Gnar, Jax, or Camille, heroes with strong split-pushing ability.

Flandre gave a positive answer: "I can play any of them, it just depends on which side of the map we plan to play."

Ye Bo looked at the matchup and suggested: "Actually, Kayle is fine, Kayle should be quite good at playing against Gangplank, and she has late-game support, plus our teamfight counter-engage will be very easy to play, it's just that Flandre needs to be a bit more careful in the early game."

"I'll listen to you, then Kayle it is," Flandre said without further ado.

Maokai had no objections, and subsequently, the red side's fifth pick chose Kayle to counter-pick Gangplank.

Both lineups are confirmed.

Blue Side: RNG | Red Side: EDG

【Top: Gangplank vs Kayle】

【Jungle: Viego vs Xin Zhao】

【Mid: Lissandra vs Taliyah】

【ADC: Zeri vs Lucian】

【Support: Leona vs Nami】

Just as the lineup selection was completed, the disconnected head coach Zhu Kai suddenly reconnected to the internet.

Holding the bowl of soup, he started feeding it to Xiaohu: "Mid-Tiger's form is spot on today, we just need to be confident! Only with confidence can we win the game!"

"Brothers, today we follow the lead of my brother Tiger!"

"No problem at all, we crushed them in the spring, we'll just do it again in the summer!"

Xiaohu drank the soup brought to his lips, revealing a spirited, mysterious smile: "Ah, don't worry."

Come to think of it, it was actually when Ye Bo first took the stage that Xiaohu had already heard the team manager complain about the story of the youth training recruitment.

He knew that the person across from him had "almost" become his substitute.

Although in the end, it didn't come true.

But, seeing Scout today.

It was hard to say that Xiaohu's heart was completely without fluctuation.

Sometimes Xiaohu couldn't help but wonder, if the recruitment had succeeded back then, would Scout be his "other self in this world" right now?

And on the other side, Ye Bo.

His gaze was firm and earnest, feeling his adrenaline surging.

His fighting spirit was overflowing!

He had been looking forward to this match—the "Substitute versus Starter" showdown!

My apologies to everyone, I didn't manage the promised explosive update, today there is still only 6k.

I don't know what's wrong these past two days, my writing state is really poor, maybe I'm having a rough time.

If the state isn't good, I can only ensure quality first.

I will adjust as soon as possible, I won't set any flags for now, but I will definitely do my best to update more and write more.

Once again, I'm sorry t.t

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(End of chapter)