League: I really didn't tank!

Chapter 367 Telepathy

Sitting in the players' box, Chen Dongqing sighed and said with a chuckle, "Brother Cui, your luck really wasn't great today, was it? You couldn't even beat Big B?"

"Well, there's nothing we can do about it," Banbazi said cheerfully. "When it comes to coin tosses, they're professionals."

"However, the right to choose sides isn't that crucial," Banbazi added. "Anyway, we're still on the red side, so it makes no difference."

At this moment, a message came through the headset that the match could start. Zoom, from the opposing blue team, typed "1" in the chat box and then clicked "Start Game"!

"Alright, the draft phase has begun!" On the commentary desk, today's main commentator, Guan Zeyuan, shouted loudly, "Let's see how the first clash between the two teams goes!"

Beside him, Remember added, "Personally, I think both teams should focus on the skateboarder in this round. How to handle the skateboarder issue depends on the attitudes of both sides!"

The draft phase is progressing rapidly for both sides.

FPX, on the blue side, immediately banned Caitlyn.

Without much thought, Chen Dongqing banned Rumble, a key hero for Doinb's victory over EDG, and it was essential to limit him.

Upon seeing both sides' first ban, Remember immediately exclaimed, "Huh? Neither side seems inclined to ban Kalista?"

FPX, being on the blue side, obviously doesn't need to be banned.

They already had a Kalista + Leona ultimate bloodlust combo in the bottom half of the map, and if they picked this combo, they could completely crush the bot lane. Even Uzi would be scared.

Therefore, all they need to do is break the enemy's Camille and Galio combo to ensure Kalista's safety in late-game team fights.

As their second move, FPX chose to ban Camille!

On the other side, QG was obviously aware of the situation. Since you've already banned Camille, why should I hesitate? Just ban Kalista!

Although they still banned Skateboard Shoes, they successfully traded bans with the opposing team, so it was clearly not a loss.

At this point, it was FPX who started to have a problem.

Should they ban Fiora again?

QG hasn't banned Poppy yet!

As players who came from QG, the FPX members naturally understood that QG, on the red side, could completely avoid banning Poppy, since the red side could pick a top laner later.

The reason QG keeps banning Poppy is mainly because they have plenty of ban slots. Poppy counters all fancy moves, and the heroes that Chen Dongqing is good at are not easy to deal with, so banning them doesn't result in any loss.

But when the ban slots are really tight, QG on the red side can let you pick Poppy, since Chen Dongqing can handle it anyway.

The FPX members understood this chain of logic and were slightly conflicted for a moment.

After much deliberation, however, they ultimately decided against banning the prince and instead opted to ban him instead.

QG smiled slightly and immediately banned Leona.

Seeing that Leona was also banned, the FPX players frowned again.

This is a bit difficult to handle.

This is definitely their usual way of thinking. They thought QG would ban Poppy as usual, and they would at least pick Kalista or Leona.

The result was somewhat unexpected.

Banning both Kalista and Leona completely denied FPX any opportunity to focus on their bot lane, effectively strangling FPX's lifeline.

Left with no other option, they had to change their draft strategy, picking Karma as a flex pick in the first pick.

At this moment, Banbazi also asked, "Karma's gone? Then Jian Zihao, do you want to pick Xayah and Rakan? Xayah and Rakan are invincible this version."

After thinking for a long time, Uzi finally said, "Xayah and Rakan, I'm invincible."

Janna is still outside, and going out first would be countered by Janna, but Uzi doesn't have many options either.

It would be far more terrifying for Liu Qingsong to get Luo than for him to get Janna.

Subsequently, FPX quickly locked in Varus and Janna, and the bot lane duo for both sides was confirmed!

QG then secured Sejuani as their third pick.

Next, it will be a battle for the top, mid, and jungle positions on both sides.

QG remained determined, letting Poppy through while banning Lee Sin and Gragas, two jungle champions Clid frequently uses. They also saved their counter picks for last, locking in Syndra as their fourth pick.

Faced with the threat of Fiora in the mid lane, FPX could only lock down Poppy first, and then add Zac as a jungler at the end.

With this, FPX's roster is now confirmed!

In the QG voice chat, Banbazi patted Chen Dongqing on the shoulder and said, "Both sides should be focusing on the bottom half of the map this game. You can play top lane yourself; just pick a champion you think can dominate Poppy!"

Chen Dongqing raised an eyebrow slightly: "Poppy? I haven't even faced her much in lane yet."

Poppy is a hero that QG has permanently banned, and Chen Dongqing has hardly ever played against her.

Banbazi laughed and said, "What, you can't handle it? If all else fails, just pick a big bug and put it in the front row."

"How could that be?" Chen Dongqing waved his hand. "Give me the captain. I'll add some AD damage, and my ultimate can support your bot lane."

Chen Dongqing has played a lot of heroes against Poppy, including Ryze, Vladimir, Cassiopeia, and even Darius, which he can easily defeat.

However, since the mid and jungle players on the team are both AP, it wouldn't be good for him to fill in with an AP role, so there's nothing wrong with bringing in an AD carry.

"Captain? OK!" Banbazi nodded, approving of Chen Dongqing's choice.

The lineups for both sides are now finalized!

Blue side FPX: Top lane Poppy, Jungle Zac, Mid lane Karma, Bot lane Varus and Janna.

Red team QG: Top lane Gangplank, Jungle Sejuani, Mid lane Syndra, Bot lane Xayah and Rakan.

Watching QG miraculously pick Captain in the last round, even the commentators couldn't help but exclaim, "That's just like Brother Tree!"

This guy's casting choices are completely out of step with the game's meta!

At this moment, Chen Dongqing quickly selected a set of Wind Rider talents, and the runes were the standard yellow armor, blue magic resistance, and red attack power. Only the Greater Quintessences were slightly special. Chen Dongqing chose three Greater Armor Penetration runes, which meant that he put all the rune attributes into the laning phase.

"Play it safe in the early game." Banbazi was still advising Chen Dongqing: "The captain is easy to catch, so play it safe in the early laning phase. In the mid-game, we'll need your split pushing to open up the game."

Chen Dongqing nodded: "Yes, I understand."

As the World Championship progresses, the biggest changes are undoubtedly in the top lane.

From the initial dominance of tanky top laners to the current popularity of split-push top laners, it's clear that major teams have gradually found the right meta for the top lane.

In the version where Ardent Censer dominates the bottom lane, all the teams are developing plans around the bottom lane.

In that case, the top lane would undoubtedly become an isolated island.

In this way, the individual skill of the top laner clearly becomes the key factor in determining the outcome of the top lane matchup!

Moreover, this individual ability needs to be utilized for twenty or even thirty minutes!

In the early laning phase and mid-game split pushing, the top laner needs to do everything on their own!

Why did SSG suddenly become so strong? It's because after the top lane meta changed, they have a very good top laner, Cuvee, who can even be ranked second in this World Championship.

When playing against G2 and SKT, Cuvee practically stomped his ass on the enemy top laner's face!

Of course, no matter how good Cuvee is, he's only ranked second.

That being said, under these circumstances, even if Chen Dongqing is playing Captain, he still needs to strengthen his split-pushing ability.

Therefore, the traditional Trinity Force Infinity Edge burst damage Captain build is definitely not going to work.

A semi-tank build with Trinity Force and Bloodthirster is a more suitable choice.

Chen Dongqing still bought a blue crystal and a potion and headed to the lane. His main strategy for the laning phase this game was to play it safe.

On the other side, in the FPX voice channel.

"Zoom, can you play a bit more aggressively in the top lane this game?" Doinb asked in the voice chat. "If you have an advantage in the top lane this game, we'll have a good game."

Poppy has some lane bullying attributes. Even if Gangplank doesn't have a dash and isn't afraid of Poppy's W restriction, he really can't withstand Poppy's hammer hitting his face.

If Poppy can push the lane, then while they're focusing on the bot lane, they can also gank the top lane for some gold, which would be the most comfortable rhythm.

But Zoom frowned upon hearing this: "That's a bit too difficult."

LPL top laners' fear of trees is ingrained in their very bones.

Who can guarantee they can suppress Brother Tree?

"I'll try my best," Zoom said. "If the enemy jungler reveals his position, I'll go in and trade blows."

"That's enough." Doinb knew this request was a bit difficult, so he nodded anyway.

Soon, the minions appeared online, and the laning phase began.

The director switched between the three lanes first. The laning phase in the mid and bottom lanes was uneventful and proceeded normally. However, when the camera switched to the top lane, the two top laners traded blows.

Chen Dongqing first placed the gunpowder barrel in the middle of the minion wave to control the lane, but Zoom managed to take it down perfectly with a timely passive shield.

Chen Dongqing was somewhat surprised. He raised an eyebrow slightly, then placed another powder keg on the spot and pressed down on Bobby while she was still off guard!

He positioned himself in an ambiguous spot, moving back and forth until he successfully baited Poppy's Q. Then, he took the initiative to move forward and engage in a back-and-forth struggle with Poppy. Finally, he seized the opportunity when Poppy turned her head and slashed at her with a Fire Blade!

After getting a free hit, Chen Dongqing quickly retreated and returned to the minion wave, firmly holding the middle position of the minions by the powder keg.

In one go, control of the line was easily obtained.

Just from that one move, Zoom was already sweating profusely.

He felt like he was being played.

How do I press this?

The director then switched the camera to the junglers on both sides, and saw that their jungle clearing routes were neat and uniform, all from top to bottom, which was quite in line with the rhythm of this version.

Xiangguo cleared the jungle faster, and his Sejuani arrived in the bottom lane immediately, initiating a gank!

Sejuani used her Q-Flash to stun Lin Weixiang, but the next second she was knocked up by Janna's instant Q!

Shi Senming used EW to control the situation, but Lin Weixiang dodged it with a Flash.

Immediately afterwards, Clid's Zac flew out from the darkness on the side and unleashed a full combo of EQW on Xiangguo, but unfortunately, the damage from FPX's bottom three junglers was a little lacking, allowing Xiangguo to escape with low health!

After a back-and-forth exchange, no kills were achieved, only Xiangguo and Lin Weixiang were forced to use their Flash abilities.

Clearly, QG profited.

"I'll come back later," Shi Senming said. "I can teleport and lift him up!"

"OK!"

The two sides ignored what had happened and parted ways.

Clid, with his health at high level, charged straight into Xiangguo's jungle and stole a set of Gromp.

But Xiangguo doesn't care, of course. He's on a hunger strike, so who's going to farm with him?

Xiangguo returned to base to replenish supplies, and then immediately caught the enemy mid!

Godve was incredibly effective, using W to catch the Dark Orb and then unleashing a WEQ combo to push both orbs together, precisely stunning Doinb!

Xiangguo landed a Q that hit everyone, then swung his W with a pig whip, forcing Doinb to use Flash.

Cheers began to rise sporadically from the audience, and Ji De couldn't help but praise, "Xiang Guo's rhythm is really good this game! He's already used two Flashes in just over four minutes! They'll have many angles to launch attacks from now on!"

Then, the competition entered a brief period of silence.

Xiangguo went back to farm jungle camps to catch up on levels. During this time, Clid tried to gank the bottom lane, but unfortunately failed. Zac had a good opportunity to initiate with his E skill, but Xiaoming interrupted it with a brilliant W move, which was quite cool and drew praise from Uzi.

Shi Senming just chuckled and didn't say anything.

Having played alongside QG all the way to this point, he has developed confidence and can often pull off some impressive plays, proving himself to be on par with any support player.

At this moment, Xiangguo was still saying in the voice chat, "Don't worry, brothers, let me clear a round of jungle camps, I'll catch those two without Flash, okay!"

"Okay, okay."

"We've been waiting for you to come. Once you arrive, we'll kill you!"

The QG members echoed in agreement.

But who would have thought that Xiangguo wouldn't initiate any ganks in the next few minutes?

It wasn't that he was invisible; it was that all his teammates were killed.

The time quickly reached 5 minutes and 30 seconds.

On the bottom lane, Liu Qingsong and Lin Weixiang were running low on mana, so they chose to return to base to replenish their supplies after pushing the lane.

Liu Qingsong casually charged up his Q skill and then blew it towards the minions.

Lin Weixiang did the same thing.

But this very action was seen as a huge weakness by the QG bot lane duo.

Taking advantage of the moment Varus's Q shot towards the minion, Shi Senming suddenly shouted "Activate!" and then flashed and W directly to his feet!

Huh? You're working that hard?

Uzi didn't react to this aggressive team fight at first, but fortunately he was quick. Xayah immediately flashed in, used WAQA to hit four feathers, then auto-attacked once more, and used E to deal maximum damage and apply root!

Lin Weixiang used Purify to instantly remove the imprisonment and ignite, but unfortunately his health was already beyond saving, and he was eventually taken down by Luo Xia and the other two with a round of basic attacks!

"First blood!"

The first blood was born, and cheers erupted instantly!

"Nice!" Xiangguo congratulated her immediately in the voice chat, and Sejuani rushed to the bottom lane, trying to dodge Janna.

But Liu Qingsong reacted quickly, knowing that he couldn't hold the tower this time, so he obediently chose to retreat back to the city.

Seeing this, Xiangguo sighed helplessly, and Sejuani turned to the mid lane again.

Picking Karma is also an option, Syndra is already level six.

But as soon as Xiangguo switched the camera to the mid lane, he saw a rubber man jump out of the darkness and fly straight towards Syndra!

Godwyane reacted quickly; he had already placed his finger on the EQ key, ready to send Zach flying.

But in that instant, Gao Dewei had a sudden thought and asked, "Chen Dongqing isn't at level six yet?"

"have."

No sooner had the words left his mouth than a gunshot rang out from the canyon.

Captain's ultimate ability, [Cannon Barrage], has been unleashed with Karma at the center!

Godwin couldn't help but laugh.

Playing for QG is so relaxing.

Your teammates always understand your thoughts instantly.

He immediately abandoned his EQ idea, chose to dodge Zac's lunge, and then carefully observed the movements on both sides.

He's greedy; he wants to wait for the captain to unleash his ultimate move and launch two more attacks before counterattacking!

He waited until Zac landed, hit a minion with his Q skill, and was about to use his basic attack on him before he immediately used Flash!

But his Flash wasn't for escaping; it was a bloodthirsty Flash!

Syndra flashed right up to Karma and landed a precise EQ push!

Immediately afterwards, Gordeswain triggered Thunder with a basic attack, and then Syndra grabbed the orb and unleashed a full combo with W and R!

During this time, the captain's ultimate ability continued to land, dealing massive damage to Karma, almost hitting her at full damage!

The damage from the two was just right; the captain's final barrage of attacks wiped out Karma's health!

(End of this chapter)