Chapter 27: Classic First Pick Snatching Vayne!

The fundamental reason why they barely faced each other last season was that there was a certain gap in their scores...

The purple side banned Zed, Akali, and Varus.

It is worth mentioning that although the little fatty UZI's fame at this moment was far from reaching his future heights, he was already a rising young genius; at the recently concluded TGA Winter Finals, during his match with Huarui Spider, he piloted Varus to secure the first Pentakill of his professional career.

The purple side targeted the mid and bot lanes, while the blue side's bans mainly locked down the top lane and the jungle.

PDD's most proficient Zac and Rumble, along with the Widowmaster played by jungler Ming Kai, were all sent to the ban list.

After the bans ended, Jiang Ming, sitting in the first pick slot, typed in the chat box: "Do you need me to grab a champion for you?"

gogoing: "I'll just take one myself; Nunu and Renekton are still available."

"Are you taking Jayce? That champion feels fierce whether played top or mid."

"Help me grab Vayne, can you help me grab Vayne?" UZI said impatiently.

First pick grabbing Vayne?

Jiang Ming froze with his hands on the keyboard; looking at the classic childish remark in the chat box, he momentarily didn't know what to reply.

One could only say that the fifteen or sixteen-year-old UZI indeed lived up to his nickname "Crazy Little Dog."

Remembering he was live-streaming, whatever he replied might stir up controversy, so he simply decided to handle it with a cold treatment.

In the Royal Club team, the older Tebe felt somewhat helpless and tugged on the person beside him: "It's not Little Dog, grabbing Vayne in the first pick makes you too easy to target and you won't play comfortably; if you want to play it, we can just pick it later."

"Alright then."

"Brother Ming, help me grab Imperial Prince first."

Shi Zhenyu, who had already decided to buy a villa in the mid lane, hurriedly typed and said.

Among functional junglers, grabbing Imperial Prince was currently the most suitable choice.

At this very moment outside the game, facing a crucial match for promotion to the strongest King against a professional all-star lineup, the group of responsible personnel at the YY platform were so happy they were about to faint.

Increase the promotional intensity a bit more, and put in a bit more traffic investment.

Can't recover the costs?

Joke, how could you people know that the number of new users added to the platform in just these two days is enough to recover the costs.

Thus, after pop-ups and homepage promotions, the YY platform unleashed another major move, directly pulling up banners in the upper right corner of other game-related live rooms.

"The professional all-star match of the strongest in the YY platform LOL section awaits you!"

Under such heavy promotion, the number of online viewers in Jiang Ming's live room also began to climb in a straight line.

"JM, what champion should I get for you?"

When it came to the last two picks for the blue side, due to the exchange of champion choices between top and mid, gogoing, located in the fourth slot, asked proactively.

"Gragas."

Jiang Ming said after glancing at the opposing lineup.

He wasn't in a position to evaluate WE's tactical system; entering Season 3, constrained by the mid lane champion pool, whether forced or spinning in place, they still couldn't bear to give up the Global Flow, the core tactic with which IGL5 won the championship.

Top laner PDD had already started consciously trying the Piltover Rich Guy in public matches, which he had promoted multiple times, while Ruifeng was still clutching his Twisted Fate.

It wasn't that Twisted Fate had any problems; in the seasons after Season 3, he occasionally appeared in professional matches and still performed well, but this was Season 3, an era where assassins ran rampant; with Akali, Zed, Talon, and even Gragas who could run from top to mid, and Riven, Twisted Fate would have to slide-kneel before anyone he met.

Another reason for choosing Gragas was to consider how to counter Smile in team fights; in this match's lineup, the enemy's Caitlyn had Thresh for protection, making it somewhat difficult for other physical assassin champions to single-target her.

"Ruifeng, why don't you switch to Orianna? I feel the pressure of Twisted Fate against Gragas might be a bit high for you."

"Or Ahri..."

In the fifth and final counter-pick slot for the purple side, Fzzf suggested.

Twisted Fate isn't unable to fight Gragas; Gragas in Season 3 was a champion with high mana consumption skills; relying on W's Red and Blue cards for fast wave clear and mana regeneration, Twisted Fate could sustain and suppress Gragas's mana.

If the Yellow Card control is used well, it can also interrupt Gragas's E skill dash.

After pushing the lane at level six and using the ultimate to support the side lanes, it could also force Gragas to give up lane priority.

In the early game, it could be considered a slight suppression of the opponent!

However, the above were all relatively ideal matchup states; judging by JM's demonstrated competitive state, Fzzf really didn't think their mid laner could overpower the opponent.

Picking Orianna or bringing out an assassin like JM to counter would be the most comfortable rhythm.

Ruifeng shook his head, "Ahri... my proficiency is still a little bit lacking."

"As for Orianna, that's no better than playing Twisted Fate."

Regarding his signature Twisted Fate, Ruifeng had sufficient confidence; he would never be at a disadvantage in lane matchups.

Gragas has high burst but short range; use the Yellow Card to kite the distance. As long as you reach level six smoothly and fly to the bot lane to help the top twice, the combination of Smile and Fzzf can tear open a gap.

This was how WE won matches before.

"Alright then, pay more attention to your positioning in lane and try to coordinate with my jungle area," Ming Kai reminded, and to compensate for the lack of early jungle confrontation, he picked Lee Sin once again.

The draft mode champion selection countdown ended, and both sides' lineups were completely confirmed.

Blue side: Top Renekton, Jungle Imperial Prince, Mid Gragas, Bot Vayne plus Zyra.

Red side: Top Jayce, Jungle Lee Sin, Mid Twisted Fate, Bot Caitlyn plus Thresh.

As soon as the lineup appeared, a lot of doomsaying comments instantly filled the bullet screens in Jiang Ming's live room.

【GG GG, how can we fight when meeting four WE members?】

【Left side is a group of scattered masters, right side replaced the weakest Strawberry with PDD, directly creating a high-spec version of WE.】

【So uncomfortable, the system matching all WE members together is bad enough, and they are playing their most proficient Global Flow system.】

【Twisted Fate flies bot, catching fragile Vayne and Zyra is a sure hit; once Caitlyn's tower-pushing rhythm starts, the left side can't even defend the tower properly.】

【Ew, scatter, scatter, I already said ordinary public players can't compare to professional players; JM might have some skills in mechanics, but not many; once WE's tactics come out, there's no playing.】

Twisted Fate flies bot, no playing?

Jiang Ming chuckled inwardly; yes, Ruifeng's Twisted Fate would definitely fly to the side lanes to create rhythm after level six, a fact known to the entire league; he even knew Ruifeng would definitely fly bot to help Smile, but the problem is Twisted Fate has to reach level six first; before level five, unless Twisted Fate pulls all Red Cards, his wave-clearing ability cannot suppress Gragas.

Can that Card Player draw nothing but red cards?

The answer is naturally no; drawing only red cards would drain his mana so quickly that the Card Player would kill himself with his own play.

Therefore, Jiang Ming only needs to establish a health advantage, or even secure a solo kill, within the first six levels, thereby locking the Card Player in the mid lane.

Upon entering the game, since nine out of the ten players in the match were professionals, their level-one positioning was extremely cautious, thus denying the Card Player on the right any opportunity to invade, land precise crowd control, and seize the tempo.

Both junglers started normally by clearing their buffs.

As the minions spawned, countless eyes outside the livestream room shifted toward the mid lane.