Chapter 69: The Meeting of the Defeated, WE Regains Its Confidence

"Holy shit! Cold Vegetable initiated a duo stream?"
"Quick, quick, accept the duo invite!"
The chat was instantly flooded with viewers urging XiaOhU to accept.
Both of them had been defeated by Chen Yan.
If the two of them teamed up to watch the match together, the entertainment value would be off the charts.
Seeing that iCOn had sent a duo request, XiaOhU couldn't help but be slightly surprised.
He knew iCOn, but they weren't close.
After hesitating for a moment, XiaOhU chose to accept.
After all, they moved in the same circles and ran into each other all the time; declining wasn't a great look.
Besides, he was also curious about what iCOn wanted from him.
The moment XiaOhU and iCOn appeared in the same frame, everyone present completely lost it, and the screen was filled with rows of "Hahahaha".
"An assembly of losers."
"Are they keeping each other warm for comfort?"
The chat kept teasing them mercilessly.
iCOn must have caught sight of one of the comments because he instantly flew into a rage, "If any of you say Xiye possessed me again, I'm going to fight you! Am I really worse than Xiye?"
Hearing this, XiaOhU completely failed to keep a straight face and burst out laughing.
iCOn's expression darkened.
With extremely high emotional intelligence, XiaOhU tried to hold back his laughter while saying, "I'm not laughing at you. I just remembered something funny. Hehehehe~"
Watching XiaOhU struggle to suppress his laughter, iCOn's mouth twitched.
"I'll stop laughing, I'll stop. Let's watch the game."
"Hehehehe~"
......
Chen Yan had no idea that XiaOhU and iCOn had already hooked up.
By this time, the match had entered the ban-pick phase.
In this game, WE proactively chose the red side.
"They finally swapped sides."
"They should've picked the red side ages ago. EDG only has that one terrifying mid laner; let's see how he carries once he is denied the counterpick."
WE fans pointed and gossiped in the chat.
Of course, it wasn't entirely unreasonable.
Although the blue side generally had a higher win rate than the red side in most patches, special circumstances called for special treatment, and the red side was far from lacking advantages.
It was just that by choosing the red side, WE's ban slots became a bit tight.
Ryze, Syndra.
They originally wanted to ban Galio themselves, but after a second thought, Homme decided against it.
He figured Xiye wasn't incapable of playing Galio, so it was better to shift the ban pressure of Galio onto EDG and let them worry about whether to ban it or not.
You have to admit, Homme's drafting always had a clever method to it.
For their third ban, he targeted Zet's Kalista.
EDG didn't change much on their end, using their three bans on Lee Sin, Karma, and Lulu.
Actually, by this point in the series, both teams understood each other well, and there wasn't a massive clash in the drafting phase.
When it came to picking champions, EDG proactively locked in Janna.
"First-pick support?!"
This move left everyone dumbfounded.
The Ardent Censer meta hadn't arrived yet, so support priority was generally not that high.
娃娃 and米勒 (Wawa and Miller) also looked completely baffled. "Janna... Does EDG have some kind of special strategy up their sleeves?"
Furthermore, the two casters spotted a blind spot: by EDG locking in Janna, Jarvan IV and Galio were left open, and WE was the best team in the league at playing that exact combination.
"WE is definitely picking that."
Without a single moment of hesitation, WE decisively locked in Jarvan IV and Galio.
Securing Galio, Xiye's confidence suddenly surged back. "I'll let the opponents see my Galio, too."
Homme nodded. "Plus, our composition has Jarvan in the jungle, so we don't have to fear the enemy building Zz'Rot Portal."
For a moment, Homme felt like everything was running smoothly.
"NoFe, you've run out of tricks, haven't you? You punk still wanted to ride on my coattails—go back and practice more," Homme muttered internally, feeling extremely excited.
It wasn't that Homme was arrogant, but whenever WE secured their "do whatever you want" combination, they practically never lost.
Not only Homme, but WE fans were also spamming "It's in the bag" in the chat.
EDG fans, on the other hand, cursed NoFe as brain-dead, completely incapable of understanding basic drafts.
However, NoFe didn't panic at all; at that moment, he was in constant communication with Chen Yan.
"Brother Yan, what are we picking this game?"
Through recent matches, NoFe had grown to admire Chen Yan to an absolute degree.
Never mind giving Jarvan and Galio to the opponents; even if Chen Yan told him to pick mid-lane Amumu right now, NoFe would probably say it was a great pick with a lot of innovative thought.
"Doesn't matter, let them take it. We'll pick our own stuff."
Varus and Ivern—these were EDG's next two picks.
Homme didn't notice anything unusual and locked in Ashe for their third pick.
The first round of bans and picks concluded.
Compared to the previous two games, the biggest change in the draft this time was that WE had acquired the "do whatever you want" duo.
XiaOhU and iCOn analyzed for ages, but still couldn't figure out why EDG would hand this combination over to the enemy.
iCOn: "Is it possible that EDG has figured out a way to counter WE's system?"
XiaOhU instinctively wanted to retort, but remembering the first two games, he fell into deep thought.
Could it really be like that?
He blankly stared at the screen, where Chen Yan remained calm and composed, showing not a hint of tension despite it being the match point.
For a moment, XiaOhU was suddenly struck by the thought that he might be inferior to his opponent. Terrified, he quickly snapped back to reality and mentally brainwashed himself: "In terms of honors, seniority, and pure skill... I am the undisputed number one mid laner in the LPL."
......
On the screen, the second round of bans and picks had already begun.
The bans didn't change much.
What excited WE, however, was that they managed to acquire yet another champion they desperately wanted—Rumble!
Galio + Jarvan + Rumble, everyone who understood the game knew the sheer value of this top-jungle-mid core.
Instantly, the number of people cursing NoFe multiplied.
"This..." Wawa and Miller had no clue what kind of medicine EDG was selling in their gourd.
After WE picked Rumble, everyone stared at the screen without blinking, eager to see how EDG would deal with this composition.
Gragas.
mOUSe's Gragas was locked in first, and this pick wasn't particularly strange.
Because Gragas had built-in sustain and could use his Q to farm and poke from a distance, playing against Rumble felt much more comfortable compared to other tank champions.
Next came the most crucial part.
EDG didn't make everyone wait much longer, as lights flashed across the screen.
The next second, an unexpected champion appeared before the audience—Tristana.
"Tristana?!"
Wawa and Miller exchanged glances, finding it completely unbelievable.
"Don't tell me this is mid-lane Tristana."
"Or perhaps mid-lane Varus?"
Everyone looked at each other in blank dismay, having never imagined that Chen Yan would use this champion as an answer.
At the analyst desk, the two casters fell silent.
After a long pause, Miller managed a reluctant smile and said, "As far as I know, some players on the European server play mid-lane Tristana, and in high-elo ranked games, you can also see AP burst Tristana builds. I just don't know which style player ChenYan is going for."
Because Tristana was so unusual, it became the sole topic of discussion for everyone watching.
Only WE, upon seeing EDG lock in Tristana, completely shed their previous depression and cheerfully locked in Braum.
"We've got this in the bag."