League: I really didn't tank!

Chapter 433 The Thief Saint

The second day of the group stage.

The team in charge of today's opening ceremony is still the home team FNC, but their opponent today is slightly weaker, facing North American TL, which is a classic European and American match.

In this match, Rekkles and Caps, who were bullied by QG yesterday, successfully stepped up. With the help of this top European duo, FNC successfully pushed TL and brought the score to 2-1!

It has to be said that FNC is quite strong this year. Although they had a bad start yesterday and were crushed by QG, ​​they won their subsequent matches against Flash Wolves and today against TL.

After the first game, it's time for today's main event.

This is also the most anticipated match since the start of MSI.

In the commentary booth, commentator Guan Zeyuan excitedly announced, "The upcoming match is between two teams, QG and KZ, both with a 2-0 record!"

"After today's match, only one undefeated team will remain! It's the focus of everyone's attention!"

After introducing the match, Guan Zeyuan then turned to his two partners, smiling as he asked, "Regarding today's match, which side do you two think has a better chance of winning?"

Sitting on the left, Ji De naturally took the microphone: "QG has a higher win rate, which is a fact that most people agree on. But as an LPL commentator, I still have to say that KZ's strength is definitely not weak either. QG still needs to be careful and can't be careless!"

To Guan Daxiao's right, today's special guest commentator Lin Weixiang made no attempt to hide his opinion, saying bluntly, "What's there to say about this match? Just watch how Brother Shu kills!"

As someone who came from QG, everyone can personally experience Chen Dongqing's strength.

They all had unconditional trust in Chen Dongqing!

Just watch how Brother Tree kills them all?

So you think you, Khan, are the best top laner in LCK? You've never played in Worlds. Let's see how Brother Tree teaches you a lesson!

"Alright, the ban/pick phase has begun!" Guan Daxiao shouted loudly, "QG is on the blue side this game, and they've immediately banned Taliyah!"

KZ's strength lies in the synergy between mid laner BDD, top laner Khan, and jungler Cuzz in their respective halves of the map.

Khan in the top lane is definitely not a concern, while BDD is a staple of roaming champions like Taliyah and Ryze, so using the ban slot to limit the mid lane is the optimal solution.

On the other side, KZ was also fully aware of the situation, and they immediately banned Irelia, entering the second round of bans.

"Alright, in the second round of bans, both sides acted quite quickly. QG chose to ban Poppy, so KZ will definitely ban Fiora. This is a classic ban swap!"

"Then, as the final move, QG banned Ryze, while KZ banned Ezreal? No problem!"

Although Kai'Sa is very strong in this version, EZ is still the highest priority.

Even Uzi's Kai'Sa isn't as reliable as Ezreal's.

So yesterday, FNC chose to ban Kai'Sa and pick Ezreal, but in this game, KZ chose the red side, so they couldn't use pick instead of ban, and had to ban Ezreal, leaving Kai'Sa open.

But this also gave Uzi a chance to play Kai'Sa.

"What do you mean, Jian Zihao?" Banbazi asked at this moment, "Are we playing Kai'Sa today, or letting the opponent pick Vayne as a counter-pick?"

Vayne is a good counter to Kai'Sa. Ever since Kai'Sa came out, this matchup has been a staple in QG's arsenal, always ready to be played.

When the match ended yesterday, Uzi was muttering that he definitely had to pick Vayne today, since he had a championship skin and had to play it.

"What else is there to say?" Uz shouted. "It has to be Kai'Sa!"

Uzi has wanted to play Kai'Sa for over a month!

What champion Vayne? I'm really not familiar with her, I'll play her next time I have the chance.

Kai'Sa is the first pick!

Upon seeing this, the three commentators exclaimed in surprise.

In QG's two matches yesterday, Uzi's Kai'Sa was banned in both games, raising the audience's expectations.

Is Uzi's Kai'Sa really that invincible?

On the other side, KZ made a smart choice. They locked in Rakan first, establishing the tone of the Xayah-Rakan combination, but instead of locking in Xayah, they picked Galio instead of banning him.

It's not hard to see that KZ is very ambitious; they want Xayah, Rakan, Galio, and Camille all!

"Xayah and Rakan are definitely not going to be a matchup." Banbazi shook his head. "We can give them Xayah and Rakan, but we can't let them pick Camille and Galio. The synergy between those two is too strong."

"Then let's rob it," Chen Dongqing said. "Liu Shiyu and I are both good at it."

After a brief discussion, QG decided to lock in Camille first, and then pick Janna to synergize with Kai'Sa for a lane advantage.

KZ picked Xayah as their third pick, entering the second round of drafting.

In the second round of bans, the blue side QG banned Jarvan IV and Lee Sin, preventing the opponent from having heroes who could initiate the fight, thus limiting the synergy between the opponent's mid and jungle.

On the other side, KZ banned Viktor and Jayce, following the same strategy: banning versatile top laners to create opportunities for Khan to gain an advantage in the top lane.

"Alright, KZ's strategy for the fourth pick is very clear: add an Excavator!" Miller smirked and said, "That's practically Cuzz's signature hero!"

"But there's a problem here too," Wawa frowned. "KZ left the top lane until last, which might affect Tree's performance. I wonder what kind of champion Tree will choose to counter KZ? Will he still pick Vladimir?"

In this match, KZ did not ban Vladimir, for a simple reason: they believed they were not FNC, and Khan was far stronger than Bwipo.

The fact that the vampires of Ilex were chosen is to give them a chance.

Of course, Chen Dongqing wouldn't force himself to choose a vampire.

Knowing full well that there are tigers in the mountains, yet still venturing into the tiger's den, is an unwise thing to do.

Chen Dongqing has a lot of heroes he can pick first.

In their final two picks, QG struggled for a long time with which mid-lane champion to choose.

After all, in the current situation, there aren't many mid-lane champions that can be picked to counter Galio.

At that moment, Gao Dewei's image inexplicably flashed through Chen Dongqing's mind.

If it were Godve, he would probably pick a champion like Diana and just annihilate Galio, right?

Or you could bring in Xiaohu a few years from now and pick Lu Xian or Xiao Pao.

Unfortunately, Xiaohu didn't know any of that at that time.

At this point, Xiaohu was still some distance from being a fully-fledged mid-laner.

After a moment's thought, Chen Dongqing began to consider when to teach Xiaohu a few moves.

After much deliberation, Xiaohu finally decided to pick Syndra to pair with Camille and force a mid-jungle matchup.

As for the top lane, Chen Dongqing didn't hesitate and immediately locked onto Karma!

Chen Dongqing previously said that he would choose Karma as the top laner to protect Uzi, and that was no joke.

He really wanted to choose.

In this version, it's not just the welder who can use Kleptomancy + Iceborn Gauntlet to torment warriors; there's also the steel-bodied old woman!

However, players all over the world are now immersed in the world of Viktor, and the strategy of stealing money from Karma has not yet become popular and remains a niche strategy.

This Karma pick also means that Camille has been flexed into the jungle role.

This also marks the first appearance of the QG Camille championship skin, designed by Xiangguo himself.

On the other side, although KZ quickly figured out Karma's location and possible strategies, they were still a little confused for a while.

QG's choices are too varied!

Who could predict this lineup?

As a last resort, Khan could only lock in Kennen to supplement AP damage.

The lineups for both sides are now finalized!

Blue side QG: Top lane Karma, Jungle Camille, Mid lane Syndra, Bot lane Kai'Sa and Janna.

Red team KZ: Top lane Kennen, Jungle Rek'Sai, Mid lane Galio, Bot lane Xayah and Rakan.

Miller immediately found QG's lineup abstract. "It seems like they don't have a frontline? Are they just playing a pure tempo-based strategy?"

QG's lineup is the kind that only appears in competitive matches. It has no front line, only kiting, poke, and initiation. Once forced to engage in a team fight, it's likely to be a loss.

(This version of the Jayce-Maoye mid-jungle combo in the World Championship is based on this system.)

Furthermore, this lineup lacks overall damage output, so the AD carry will face greater pressure to deal damage.

Furthermore, is it really a good idea to give Tree Brother Karma, a champion with relatively low initiative?

At this moment, Banbazi was also giving his teammates instructions over voice chat: "You guys should know how to play this game, right? In the early game, focus on coordination in the top half of the map, but don't be too greedy. Just maintain the situation and give the AD carry space to create opportunities."

"Once Jian Zihao has his three core items, our two support champions will protect our AD carry, making us incredibly strong in team fights!"

"Don't worry, we understand!" Chen Dongqing chuckled. "I have lane priority in the top lane, so the top half of the map is definitely safe!"

Uzi rubbed his hands excitedly: "You just go watch from the back, we're definitely carrying this game!"

For some reason, Uzi has been feeling incredibly hot lately, even hotter than during the S7 World Championship!

His reaction time, execution, awareness, and comprehension were all at their peak!

Now, let alone facing the Xuanming Elders, who are not top-tier bot laners, he is absolutely confident that he can win even against SKT's bot lane or Samsung's bot lane!

Therefore, Uzbekistan has absolute confidence that he can carry this game!

"Alright, alright, keep it up." Banbazi patted Uzi on the shoulder one last time, then clenched his fist and said, "Watching your performance!"

Chen Dongqing watched the coach interact with Uzbekistan, a smile playing on his lips.

Although Uzi's entire career was full of problems and regrets, in this S8 season, right up until the World Championship, Uzi was undoubtedly the world's number one AD, and his dominance was unprecedented in history.

This is why Chen Dongqing chose Karma in this game.

First, Karma can indeed easily gain lane control, thus gaining an early advantage in the upper half of the map.

Secondly, Uzi is indeed worth sacrificing Kalmar for.

Let's go for it!

After a brief loading time, both teams' heroes rushed out of the fountain.

Taking advantage of this moment, the director switched to show the rune choices of both players.

When viewers saw that Karma was indeed using the Kleptomancy rune, they collectively cheered with satisfaction.

Steal! Steal as much as you can!

After Chen Dongqing led the theft of money multiple times, he now has another nickname: "The Thief Saint".

It's quite normal for a master thief to have omens indicating he'll steal, right?

As for his item build in this game, Chen Dongqing didn't build Extract, but instead opted for Corrupting Potion.

Building Cull on Karma would be too abstract; this game, we'll still need to rely on Corrupting Potion for sustain to secure lane kills.

Chen Dongqing played aggressively this game. He didn't defend the jungle at all, but instead camped in the lane bushes early on. When Kennen came to lane with the minions, Chen Dongqing used RQ to kill Kennen and the ranged minions, taking away more than 100 HP!

Taking advantage of RQ's slowdown, Chen Dongqing quickly walked up and stole five yuan with a swift and skillful move!

After stealing the money, Chen Dongqing immediately turned his head subtly, just as Kennen was about to use his Q, brushing past Karma.

Chen Dongqing grinned.

Dude, with that kind of positioning, aren't you going to lose your temper?

This year's MSI has one special feature.

This year's top laners are all new faces.

Bwipo and Khan are both top laners playing outside their respective regions for the first time.

Even for Flash Wolves, the top laner is no longer the classic Mimi Egg, but Hanabi.

The common feature of these new faces is that they are unaware of Chen Dongqing's strength, and they always try to exchange a few blows when they first meet.

What they have in common is that they can often understand Chen Dongqing's strength within a minute of going online, and then immediately change their tactics.

Bwipo was the slowest to grasp the concept; he only finally understood it after being tower-dived and killed.

Khan is a smart top laner; he has the strongest comprehension ability.

Based on Karma's opening basic attack and a turn to dodge the arrow, he immediately knew the situation.

We cannot defeat them by force!

With this in mind, Khan readily relinquished lane control and began retreating behind the tower.

This is understandable, since Kennen is unlikely to be able to push Karma in the early game, so he might as well just give up.

But this gave Chen Dongqing even more freedom to fight.

Karma's basic attacks are constant, and she uses her Q skill as soon as it's available, pushing the minion wave forward quickly!

Khan frowned slightly as he watched Karma's actions.

Pushing the lane that fast? Looks like they're not trying to tower dive.

At Karma's current speed, she can probably push the minion wave directly into the tower in just two waves.

There have only been two waves of minions, and the jungler isn't even level three yet. What can they possibly do?

Chen Dongqing quickly gave an answer.

Karma pushed the minion wave under the tower before the third wave arrived.

Because the next wave is a cannon minion wave, given Kennen's Q and W abilities' wave-pushing speed, it would take him a long time to push the wave back!

This is Chen Dongqing's time to make his move!

Chen Dongqing wasted no time and headed straight for the river!

The director gave a shot of Karma, who was offline in the top lane, and then quickly switched the camera to QG's mid and jungle.

In the mid lane, Xiaohu is firmly in control of the lane.

The reason is simple: QG's jungler is Camille, a champion known for her ability to gank mid at level two. BDD, a melee champion, didn't even dare to last hit, just stood behind and used his ultimate.

Relying on Camille's presence, Xiaohu is pushing the minion wave forward.

But in the darkness unknown to KZ, Xiangguo had no intention of ganking. After taking the red buff, Xiangguo went straight to KZ's top jungle!

Camille made her way forward in the darkness, and had now stepped into KZ's upper red zone camp.

Because he arrived so early, KZ hadn't even had time to place any wards yet.

"Hey, is Xiangguo planning a two-tier invasion?" Seeing this, Guan Daxiao immediately realized something was wrong: "It seems like it's actually possible! Shu-ge is pushing the lane fast and has already come to support! Both of them are planning something!"

There will be another chapter later.

(End of this chapter)