Chapter 68: Preparing for a Four-to-One?

"Let's go, it's our turn to take the stage!"

Timing it perfectly, Jiang Ming, who knew there wouldn't be a second reminder from the staff about the match starting, waved to his teammates.

"GO! GO! GO!"

"Win it two-zero, and we can clock off straight away."

During the break, the five members of NXG, having fully enjoyed the online forums' praise for themselves, were now strutting with wind at their backs.

Among them, Song Yuan, the top laner dubbed the Prehistoric Megalodon by players, was the most so; the curve of the young man's smile was such that even if you made him immediately play the protagonist of 'Urban Dragon King Returns,' it would feel completely natural.

"Woof! Woof!"

"NXG!"

Clap! Clap! Clap!

Watching the NXG members, full of spirit and wearing their handsome battle robes, walk out from the tunnel.

The reaction from the audience in the seats was in stark contrast to when they first appeared earlier.

Much more enthusiastic.

Especially when Jiang Ming, dressed in a suit, came out last; the players in the arena were buzzing with the excitement of seeing something novel.

"Look, this is the essence of esports—the strong possess everything."

Arriving at the competition station, Jiang Ming opened the tactics board first, and taking advantage of the players installing their peripherals, he uncharacteristically cooked up a bowl of chicken soup.

"Applause, cheers, flowers, money, and even glory!"

"As long as you win, they are all yours."

The five young ones, who had never experienced the harshness of society, had never drunk such chicken soup before; at that moment, they only felt their blood boiling!

They also didn't know why Brother Ming, who basically never talked about anything other than matches during normal training, had suddenly changed his style.

"Hehe... but it feels pretty good, I suppose."

The third match of Group A's advancement bracket was a contest between the winners of the first two matches, where the double winner would advance directly to the main tournament.

Meanwhile, BLQG and DD, who lost the matches, would have to engage in a life-or-death duel in the elimination bracket; the winner would enter the waiting zone for the six-to-three elimination match on the fourth day, while the loser would directly end their brief 2013 LPL Spring Split journey.

"Regarding the Blue/Purple side allocation, since NXG had the mid-match break, LGD, who played back-to-back matches, obtained the side selection for this game, and LGD chose Blue."

"Blue side, first pick, wow, they directly banned Zed."

"A very rational consideration; I believe many players have recently scrolled past many compilations about Zed mid-lane one-shotting full-health heroes, and the earliest to execute that play was NXG's coach... uh, also the boss, JM. Although the player currently appearing mid is yihan, saying he can't play Zed is definitely impossible."

"Indeed, the threat Zed poses to the ADC is too great; if the Blue side isn't considering a first pick, it's best to lock him out."

Inside LGD, having witnessed firsthand how NXG brutally beat BLQG, their level of respect for the opposing team could be said to have reached its peak.

Although deep down, believing everyone was in the Challenger tier and the gap couldn't be that large, they still held onto a glimmer of hope, but during the BP phase, the five were frantically using their brains, thinking about how to defeat the opponent.

Regarding bans and picks, for the first three hands, they could be said to have taken targeting to the extreme.

Zed, Renekton, Thresh!

Protecting the bot lane from all angles, with no blind spots.

"The opponents are really shameless, six people fighting our five; having an extra person isn't fair," complained the top laner Little Star.

Taobao Quan scratched his head, "What's the difference between this and someone AFK-ing in the game while we fight 4v5!"

"Who said we don't have a coach?"

"By the way, what should we pick? I feel like the first pick shouldn't show mid or top; those beasts on the other side are all targeting the picks."

"Learn from NXG and show the jungler first; the jungle is less likely to be countered."

"Let's just build around Sweet's bot lane; keep picking Caitlyn, and find a top laner with fast wave clear who doesn't rely so much on engaging in team fights."

In the previous match against DD's offense, LGD had successfully turned the tables relying on Sweet's Caitlyn; the intention in the words of the few teammates now was to replicate that once more.

"Caitlyn won't work."

Sweet, who had not yet changed his name to Styz, thought for a moment and suggested, "I've watched the videos of NXG's previous few matches; we can't go head-to-head with them in the early game. NXG is too good at catching mistakes. Once they catch an opportunity, Caitlyn can't push towers, and we might not even have time to farm items."

"If we drag it to the late game, Sweet, how about I play Janna to support your Kog'Maw?"

"Feasible!"

The group successfully finalized the plan; after Jiang Ming's side banned Zyra, Malphite, and Lee Sin, the first pick locked in at lightspeed.

"Bear Domination."

—Warwick the Thundering Roar!

"Oh, LGD's first pick is Volibear; it's just unknown whether it's for top lane or the jungle," said WaWa, unable to judge, and kicked the ball to Joker beside him.

"It should be jungle; early game, the bear's reach is too short, making it hard to fight many top lane champions."

"Let's first see how the Purple side NXG's first and second picks will choose."

"Hey hey, these two champions?"

In the champion list on the right, a handsome man holding a large hammer appeared in the champion selection box.

"Fight for a better tomorrow!"

"Nice to meet you."

Future Guardian—Jayce and Fae Sorceress—Lulu.

"Jayce, huh? This champion is quite rare right now; is it for mid?"

"It should be; as a melee fighter, he's too squishy for top lane..."

Jayce, a champion that had been released on the Chinese server last July, with his ultra-high looks, dual-form switching, and seemingly beautiful long-range poke skills, attracted the attention and study of many players upon release; however, after actually getting him, a crowd of players cursed loudly.

Not only was he squishy, but his EQ skill was also very hard to land on the mid lane; facing the group of stat monsters in Season 2, Jayce often hadn't even finished switching forms before the person was already dead.

So he wasn't favored by many players on the Chinese server; Jayce truly became popular only after Shy performed a one-shot-four-PDD on the 2013 May All-Star stage, and after Season 4, when assassins were crippled by Riot, entering the mid-lane Jayce era of poke mages.

Jiang Ming bringing him out now certainly wasn't to let the rich, handsome guy go mid to lane against S3 assassins; in this version, whether it was the AP assassins like Ahri or Gragas, or physical assassins like Zed plus Talon, the rich, handsome guy's meager ability to chip away health was completely insufficient; after level six, a single slip-up could easily make him the opponent's RBQ.

So taking Jayce was either to counter mid-lane mages like Kassadin or Karthus, or to honestly go top lane and fight short-range with long-range.

pick rights exchange.

Seeing the soft support revealed in the bottom lane of NXG, the Blue Side's Lao Qiandi quickly locked in Big Mouth and Janna on the second and third picks.

"Preparing for a four-protect-one strategy?"

Jiang Ming saw the avatars of Big Mouth and Janna and felt somewhat helpless.

Indeed, a region's style is not formed in a day or two; since WE, in order to study how to defeat the opponent, teams within the same region have only considered how to strengthen their own bottom lane, completely ignoring the iteration of the meta.