As the second match began, Tong Yao felt like she was walking out of the player tunnel with her own background music—something solemn and heroic, like the winds howling over the icy river.
Sitting down in her seat, she rested her hands on the armrests and pondered which champion to pick this time—Vladimir was out of the question, the trauma from her positioning mistakes last game still lingered… Leblanc was impossible to get; this champion hadn’t been let through in any China Telecom match for a long time. So what else was there? Ahri? Talon? Diana? There were other assassin champions in the meta, but Tong Yao had watched the match replays—ordinary mid-lane assassins couldn’t do anything against a seasoned player like Ai Jia.
What about Twisted Fate? She still had her signature Twisted Fate. But should she bring it out now?
She knew that the other four major regions, including LCK, would also study China Telecom’s match footage—every major team did this. Everyone was holding back, and no team confident of making it to the S-series World Championship would expose their true strength during the league’s Group Stage.
Twisted Fate couldn’t be picked. Ming Shen, the data analyst in charge of Ban & Pick, wouldn’t allow it either.
Behind her monitor, Tong Yao’s expression was unreadable.
Commentator A: [The live feed has cut to ZGDX’s side—they’ve kept the same starting lineup as last game. We can see Little Fatty eating candy, Old Cat and Old K whispering to each other… The players seem pretty relaxed.]
Commentator B: [Are you just going to ignore the one sitting in the middle? Just because she’s petite and blocked by the monitor doesn’t mean you should pretend she doesn’t exist.]
The audience burst into laughter. Dazed, Tong Yao vaguely sensed they were talking about her and looked up in confusion, only catching a glimpse of the crowd laughing hysterically—Lu Sicheng sighed helplessly, grabbed a headset, and personally put it on her. She turned to him, still baffled.
Lu Sicheng adjusted her headset, his slender fingers brushing past her earlobe as if by accident.
The noise-canceling headphones worked well, so Tong Yao, now intently watching her man bending over to adjust her headset, had no idea the crowd was laughing even harder outside—
Commentator A: [Cheng Ge put the headphones on Smiling, basically saying: “You can talk trash about my girlfriend, but don’t let her hear it. If she gets mad later and says I didn’t defend her, I’ll be the one taking the blame.”]
Commentator B: [……………………You’re really something else.]
Amid the audience’s laughter, Commentator A was also in high spirits. The cameraman, ever considerate, zoomed in on Tong Yao and Lu Sicheng. In the cheerful atmosphere, everyone watched as Lu Sicheng straightened up after fixing her headphones, his gaze deep as he looked toward the camera. He curled his lips into a teasing smile and raised a finger to his lips in a shushing motion.
The laughter quieted slightly, and some girls watching the big screen covered their faces, letting out soft, flustered squeals of “Aiya!”
In full view of the crowd, Tong Yao reached up and grabbed Lu Sicheng’s hand—still near his lips—frowning as she whispered something to him. Lu Sicheng shook his head with an innocent expression and patted her head as if to placate her.
Out of the hundreds present, Tong Yao was the only one left in the dark.
Lu Sicheng put on his own headphones.Commentator A: "I know there were many opposing voices on forums and elsewhere when the Operator Team's dual carries got together. Back then, I seriously considered whether it was the right choice for professional players to date normally..."
Commentator B: "But looking at it now, it's actually great. I've been commentating LPL for three years and never had to eat dog food on the competition stage before."
Commentator A: "Hahahaha, putting that aside, I also think it's fine now. During matches, we watch the game, and when there's no match, we get free extra drama..."
Commentator B: "It makes me want to fall in love too. This kind of traditional positive energy deserves our blessings, not unnecessary comments... uh, you know what I mean."
Commentator A: "Too bad no one wants you."
Commentator B: "......"
Amid the commentators' lively discussion, three minutes later, the second match officially began.
The opposing team wasted no time in banning Kindred, Ashe, and Leblanc. Apart from Leblanc being a conventional ban, the other two were champions from the previous match—Kindred naturally suffered from that teamfight and they didn't want ZGDX to get the Kindred-Janna combo again. As for Ashe, despite Pope's impressive E-shield blocking her ult to prevent engages, there were still moments during the match when the harassment became unbearable...
—ZGDX's bot lane Ashe firing arrows to coordinate with mid lane for pseudo-solo kills and stealing the enemy mid laner's Blue Buff has happened countless times in the league.
On ZGDX's side, since the opponents had first pick this game, they banned the meta-strong Vladimir (knowing Tong Yao didn't want to play him again), then Jhin, and finally Sivir.
As expected, the opposing team first-picked Ezreal. This ADC is practically Riot's golden child—a versatile pick regardless of the meta. YQCB's choice was safe and sound, no issues there.
When it was ZGDX's turn, they locked in Big Mouth for their bot lane ADC. Little Fatty pondered for a bit, unsure what to pick, and eventually chose Taric.
The opposing team's second and third picks were Rek'Sai and Braum—both signature champions for their jungler X-Bang and support Liang Sheng.
Through the headphones, the team's discussion could be heard. Currently, the enemy team seemed slightly lacking in damage, but every pick was tanky as hell, with Ezreal slippery as an eel... Clearly, their strategy was: "Oh, ZGDX has strong laning? Fine, we won't lane against you. We'll just pick all versatile champions and tilt you."
"Maybe Tong Yao should pick an assassin?"
"What should I pick? Trundle? Their comp makes it hard for assassins to reach the backline... We need something that can disrupt their formation."
"I think they're going for Ekko. Ugh, all tanks plus Ekko..."
Amid the chaotic discussion, Tong Yao sat quietly in her chair, studying both team comps. After some thought, she suddenly spoke up: "You know, Ai Jia is so stable—Azir would suit him perfectly. If he picks Azir later, doesn't this Ban & Pick phase look familiar to you guys?"As Tong Yao's words came out, the chatter in the headsets instantly quieted down—Lu Sicheng, who had been lazily stretching his legs and playing with his fingers while wearing his headphones, was also taken aback. He turned to glance at his girl, then at the computer screen, before his eyes lit up and he straightened in his seat.
The pick phase had now reached Tong Yao.
Without hesitation, Tong Yao locked in Yasuo.
The appearance of this infamous champion—one of the "Five Most Despicable Champions That Shouldn't Have Mothers" in the national server, known for being utterly useless in teammates' hands but godlike in the enemy's—naturally caused an uproar and frenzy in the venue. Even the commentators were baffled, muttering, "What's going on?" and "Are they really picking Yasuo? No way!" as they debated endlessly.
Out of the corner of her eye, Tong Yao noticed the YQCB players leaning over to peek at their side, as if trying to figure out what they were scheming...
In contrast, Lu Sicheng, sitting beside her, stared at the screen and suddenly chuckled. Then, under the bewildered exchanged glances of Little Fatty, Old Cat, and Old K, he calmly said, "Lock it in."
Tong Yao confirmed Yasuo.
The enemy team immediately countered with Trundle and Azir.
Little Fatty, playing as the support, glanced at his Taric, then at the enemy team composition, before becoming the third person to realize what was happening. He gasped, "Ahhh—isn't this—"
"It's the same composition we used against the Korean team OP during scrims. Back then, after they locked in Yasuo, we confidently picked Azir and Trundle, and then what happened? We got stomped." Ming Shen's voice came through the headphones, laced with amused approval. "You guys are all like this—you play a scrim, review it once, and then forget everything. What's the saying? 'A good memory is no match for a bad pen.' Only our Tong Yao takes notes, so she's the only one who remembers this..."
Tong Yao grinned.
By now, Lu Sicheng had relaxed back into his chair. Seeing her smile, he reached over and gently brushed his fingers against the corner of her upturned lips.
Then he sat up again and locked in Taliyah for her.
Outside the headphones, after Yasuo was locked in, the champion—initially assumed to be the Mid Laner—was suddenly revealed to be the Top Laner. The venue erupted once more into a buzz of discussion and chaos. Even the commentators were stunned. Regardless of the eventual outcome of the match, at least from the Ban & Pick phases of these two games, it was clear that YQCB had been outplayed by ZGDX again and again, led by the nose in both matches!
This was shaping up to be an absolutely thrilling BO3!
Just five minutes into the game, Pope, true to his habits, attempted a level 3 tower dive—only to be schooled by ZGDX's unconventional composition. Gragas arrived just in time to blast him away, disrupting his assault, while the swift-footed Taliyah roamed down and secured kills on the bot lane duo before Azir could react!
Ai Jia, arriving too late to help, immediately turned to flee—only to find his escape cut off by Taliyah's terrain-blocking ability. He could only watch as Taliyah dashed right into his face—
3:0 in the early game!
First Tower secured in the bot lane!
The first Elemental Drake was also effortlessly claimed!
Unaccustomed to such a bizarre composition, YQCB seemed caught off guard. This game, they finally felt the same pressure they had imposed on their opponents in the previous match. ZGDX's rotations were swift, their communication seamless, and Old K's vision control in the top-side jungle was flawless, allowing the otherwise sidelined Yasuo—Old Cat—to safely scale up without major setbacks...
At the 25-minute mark, the first major team fight of the game erupted.Taliyah's terrain barriers and Yasuo's wind wall formed an impenetrable defense, creating a self-contained system that firmly blocked any attempt by the enemy to reach their backline. When YQCB realized that despite Pope's exhausting efforts, he couldn't even touch the well-protected Lu Sicheng—only seeing Old Cat's Yasuo dashing back and forth like the wind on their side—they knew this game was already slipping away.
The tide of battle can change in an instant.
But sometimes, a game is already decided during the Ban & Pick phase!
At the thirty-seventh minute, ZGDX successfully pushed onto the enemy High Ground and secured the victory, extending today's intense showdown to a decisive third game!
OpenNovel