League: I really didn't tank!

063 Key point: Let's get going!

"Alright, the ban/pick phase has begun. We can see that both sides have completed their first bans!"

Looking at the screen, Wawa shouted, "QG, on the blue side, has chosen to ban Nidalee first! And LGD, on the red side, has banned Ryze!"

The first two bans were perfectly acceptable, as they were normal bans in line with the current version.

This version doesn't have a single dominant champion like Mordekaiser in the S5 World Championship version; there are many strong champions in this version.

Moreover, even if a strong hero is picked, there are ways to counter it, so the ban list is quite flexible, and many teams have their own set of strategies.

For example, Xiangguo's playstyle is aggressive. Even when playing a jungle carry, he likes to gank. So Graves is not a champion he is good at. However, he has Elise to counter Graves, so he doesn't need to be afraid of Graves and can still fight him even if he lets him go.

"For the second ban..." Banbazi thought for a moment, then said, "How about banning the Captain?"

"No problem." The team members all nodded, without any questions.

This captain wasn't actually targeting Marin; on the contrary, he hasn't played a single captain since coming to the LPL.

This ban is for GodV.

Among LGD's few victories, there was one game that they barely won because Gao Dewei's Captain carried the team, so it's worth targeting.

On the other side, LGD's ban speed was also extremely fast. They quickly banned Fiora as their second pick, targeting Chen Dongqing and also protecting Marin.

The QG coaching staff has definitely been studying Ma Datou closely. In the four BO3 matches since he came to the LPL, he has only played four different heroes.

Mundo, Rumble, Morgana, Gnar.

Some people switch lines, while others switch to a single line.

Of these four heroes, only Rumble can hold his own against Fiora; the other three are countered by Fiora, so LGD usually bans this hero.

"Alright, the third ban, let's see how both sides handle it! QG acted quickly, banning Trundle instantly, probably trying to prevent LGD from switching lanes?"

Seeing this, Guan Daxiao was somewhat surprised: "If they don't switch lanes, then Ilex and Marin will be facing off head-on. Is Ilex really that confident? He's facing the S5 FMVP!"

"You can tell from his playstyle, right?" Wawa laughed. "Top laners who like to rely on skillful maneuvers are fearless."

Immediately afterwards, LGD banned Alistar as their third pick, and both sides entered the hero selection phase.

At this moment, the QG voice channel was still buzzing with conversation.

The coach laughed from behind, "Chen Dongqing, this round we're counting on you!"

Without a doubt, this game will focus on the top lane; this was something they had agreed upon before the match.

After all, LGD is a very strong team on paper, with high potential in all three lanes (top, mid, and bottom).

Generally speaking, QG relies on the laning ability of the top and bottom lanes to gain an advantage, and then Doinb and Xiangguo coordinate a play in the safe lane to break through the enemy's defenses and win.

But this time it's a bit more difficult, since LGD's bot lane consists of imp and pyl, and even Uzi won't get much of an advantage.

All things considered, this game still depends on the top lane.

But actually, the suggestion to focus on the upper half of the draw was put forward by Chen Dongqing.

Because of Marin's arrival, he was kicked out of the team. He seemed unaffected and didn't care on the surface, but how could he not mind in his heart?

He's been waiting for this moment ever since the start of the Spring Split.

Against LGD, he didn't want to engage in any lane swapping; he just wanted to defeat Marin fair and square in the laning phase!

"No problem." Chen Dongqing nodded and said, "Try to give me a later pick. I'll decide on the hero after two rounds."

"No problem, let's pick Viktor first." Banbazi didn't hesitate and gave the mid laner a farming item first, so he and Wei Shen could farm together in the mid lane.

"Then, LGD quickly locked in... Ahri and Graves! If nothing unexpected happens, this should be the mid and jungle picks."

Banbazi continued to adapt to the situation, locking in Rek'Sai and Braum. This time, he chose Rek'Sai to counter Graves instead of Elise, mainly to avoid a double AP mid-jungle duo.

Braum is placed in the bottom lane to provide pressure and protection, since the bottom half of the map is not a priority lane today.

"Then, LGD quickly locked in Tristana and Nautilus, those were very aggressive picks! They left the final counter pick for Marin!"

"The enemy top laner picked last, so there's not much we can do," Banbazi said. "Chen Dongqing, what are you playing this time?"

If you pick first, there aren't many heroes you can choose. For example, heroes like Riven, who can be easily taken down by a Poppy, are definitely not considered.

"Let's go with Jayce then," Chen Dongqing said. "I'm confident I can pick this champion first."

"Okay." Banbazi didn't say anything more; his work was finished at this point.

QG locked in Jayce and Lucian for their last two picks. Lucian was obviously meant to be paired with Braum. Before Lucian's passive skill was reworked, his best partner was Braum, not Nami.

LGD's last pick was Rumble, a champion champion that Marin had won, and he was very confident in this champion.

"Alright, the lineups for both sides are set. Let's take a look at the final matchups!" Wawa commented from the stage.

Blue side QG: Top lane Jayce, Jungle Rek'Sai, Mid lane Viktor, Bot lane Lucian and Braum.

Red team LGD: Top lane Rumble, Jungle Graves, Mid lane Ahri, Bot lane Tristana and Nautilus.

"Then it's obvious that the key to this game is the top lane!"

Guan Zeyuan said, "Ilex's Jayce is building pure damage and armor penetration items, which means both top laners are carry positions and are very easy to gank!"

"In this game, it all comes down to which team has the better control over the top lane! Whoever wins the top lane wins the game!"

Colonel Guan's understanding of the game is indeed quite good; he really hit the nail on the head.

At this point, the LGD players had already started discussing the situation in the top lane.

Jungler Eimy and mid laner GodV are having a long chatter.

"Should I just go gank top lane at level three? This guy's Jayce likes to push the lane, so there's a good chance of ganking him there."

"That won't work. Neither Graves nor Rumble have crowd control; you can't kill them by just sniping them."

"Indeed, shall I gank Viktor in the mid lane first?"

"No need. Just farm the jungle normally, ensure your own development, and then wait for me to get lane priority in mid before we gank top together. That Jayce is doomed."

"Okay, I'll wait for your signal."

In just a few words, LGD had already discussed the general direction of the early game.

On the other hand, Marin didn't understand a single word of these discussions; he usually relied solely on game signals and imp's translations for team discussions.

Imp's Chinese wasn't very good either, and his translation was halting and clumsy, leaving Marin completely bewildered.

And what about QG's voice channel at this time?

"Come on, let's get ready!" Uzi shouted excitedly over the voice chat. "If we're too slow, it'll be too late!"

From the top-down view of the live broadcast, it can be seen that the five QG players are huddled together, walking past their own bottom lane's Krug camp.

The five walked from the stone beetle camp to the river and charged directly into the enemy's blue zone.

"Hey! It looks like they're planning a level 1 team fight!" Wawa couldn't help but raise her voice, "This wave actually seems to have some merit! They have Braum!"

Because at this moment they could also see that LGD was only making basic defensive positions, and they seemed to be completely unprepared for the level 1 team fight!

Something looks like it's going to happen!

[The pace is a bit slow today. I originally planned to update three chapters, but the release date is approaching soon, and my writing efficiency has been a bit low lately due to the heat. I need to try to save up some chapters, so I can only update two. Please bear with me, brothers.]

[Once it's officially released, I'll try my best to update ten chapters in one go! Brothers, just wait!]