Starting with Zaozi Ge, a dream lineup

Chapter 353 The Quarterfinals Begin, Targeted Solutions
In fact.

When Abramovich became a coach, he sometimes did so during training matches.

Abu deliberately prevented the players from choosing their own heroes, instead arranging the team composition and tactics himself.

I just want everyone to know just how important it is to follow your own draft and ban (BP) tactics.

By S10, the overall team composition had become standardized, and the counterplay between different tactical lineups was no secret among coaches.

Everyone uses the same few tricks over and over again; it's just a matter of who plays them better.

But something strange happened.

Abu's self-selected "reasonable lineup" based on his understanding of the game version has resulted in a mixed record in scrims, with a win rate of around 70-30%.

But when the power is delegated and the lineup is determined according to the players' wishes.

Edg won!

Abu, feeling helpless, decided to try again, letting everyone say what they wanted to play.

And surprisingly, they won again.

Later, a strange cycle formed: once he arranged the lineup himself, Abu felt unsure and let the players decide which lineups they could play. After that, Abu was full of confidence.

This is absolutely bizarre.

So when it came to the match against Tes, Abu simply let the players take whatever they wanted.

The first game of the best-of-five series between the quarterfinals and TES has begun.

Edg had a slightly higher score in this round and got the blue side first, while Tes was on the red side.

soon.

The first three bans for both sides are as follows.

Edg's first three bans were Akali by Knight, Irelia by 369, and Lee Sin by Karsa.

On the other hand, the TES team banned Li Luo's Elise, Zaozi's Kai'Sa, and Scout's Pantheon.

There was no specific target for Flandre. The reason is simple: they are on the red side and have a fifth counter pick, which they can give to 369 to try and gain an advantage in the top lane by using the counter pick in conjunction with Karsa.

The blue team had the right to pick first, and Edg didn't hesitate, taking the barrel directly.

Tes, on the other hand, didn't hold back and directly picked the strong bot lane duo of Miss Fortune and Braum.

Next, Edg picked Sylas and Aatrox to ensure dominance in the mid and top lanes.

In this way, Edg successfully obtained a combination that allowed them to do whatever they wanted in the early game, just as the players intended.

On the other side, Tes also revealed their third pick: Kiana, the Queen of Elements.

The two teams were neck and neck in their first three picks. Tes' coach believed that the reason Edg was able to gain an advantage in their previous matches was because the opposing team's early game lineup was weak and could not withstand Edg's fierce attacks.

Therefore, facing Edg's first three picks, they did not hesitate and directly gave Knight a solo kill hero to suppress him.

Subsequently.

In the second round of bans, Edg picked Renekton and Olaf.

Tes, on the other hand, banned Caitlyn and Senna to further ensure the safety of their bot lane.

Next, Tes picked Taliyah for Karsa as their fourth pick to complete their lineup, adding magic damage and giving the fifth pick, a counter pick, to the top lane.

This was the solution everyone came up with after studying Edg out of desperation, since of Edg's three open lanes, the top lane seemed to be the easiest to break through.

"What will Edg Abu pick?" Tes' coach, White Crescent, stared intently at the screen, looking at Edg's fourth and fifth picks which were still vacant, and couldn't help but speculate.

If this were a normal counter-strategy, and the player was in the position of Clearlove, he would definitely have given the bot lane a solid pick and chosen a team fight combination to ensure that the top, mid, and jungle lanes could open up opportunities.

this moment.

Many viewers are also very curious about which champion EDD will choose in the bot lane to counter Braum and Miss Fortune.

Blue square.

Edg's side.

The fourth position
The rosy clouds immediately shone through.

When this once controversial hero was revealed, the audience immediately erupted in cheers.

The more hard the puppy fell on this hero in the past, the more resilient it is now.

The fact that this hero was picked proves that Edg's bot lane doesn't want to play it safe at all, and is still aiming for a strong laning phase.

As for the fifth move, suddenly, a green avatar appeared.

"The Sword Saint has appeared?"

"This girl is a bit cheeky, haha. Speaking of which, the last time SofM played Master Yi was back in 18. The Taric-Master Yi combo was quite popular back then."

"Let's see what Edgg's bot lane duo ultimately decides to play?"

Today's commentators are Teacher Ji De, Rita, and the sarcastic Cat Emperor.

At this moment, none of the three believed that the hero Juggernaut could be used in a competitive match.

Inside the Edg match room.

Meiko asked with a smile, "Want to choose? You want me to play Master Yi, are you going to take it or not? Or you can just go support and I can jungle."

Tianye's words immediately amused everyone, and even Abu couldn't help but laugh along.

"Stop messing around, are you really going to take this?"

Li Luo naturally wouldn't choose the Sword Saint; the reason he let Liang shine was quite simple.

next second.

Li Luo said, "Get me Zhao Xin."

"Huh?" Hearing Li Luo's answer, Mei Kou quite straightforwardly chose Zhao Xin.

"Pfft!" The guy next to Li Luo burst out laughing, instantly understanding what Li Luo meant. He shook his head and said speechlessly, "Kasa won't mess with your mentality. He's got a very stable mentality. But Zhao Xin is definitely going to be an easy opponent this game."

"Yes, yes, let's choose Zhao Xin."

Even Abu didn't know which hero Li Luo would choose until he heard Zhao Xin's name. He breathed a sigh of relief.

After Zaozi Ge and Mei Kou were selected.

Li Luo's intended message was conveyed to the audience at the venue, the viewers in the live stream, the commentators, and even the Tes players not far from the stadium through the draft.

Gragas as support, Xin Zhao as jungler.

After this positional change, Edg's lineup became crystal clear.

On the other hand, the four members of TES who are currently on the surface are basically all countered by Zhao Xin.

The three commentators in the commentary booth shook their heads repeatedly upon seeing this scene, all of them stunned.

"As expected, Edg is a bit of a stunt. Look, Karsa is laughing. He probably wants to show some respect to his idol," Cat Emperor said with a sinister smile.

"Top Esports probably didn't expect this Gragas support move either. Miss Fortune has no mobility, so if the bot lane wants to tower dive, there's no way to stop her."

"Haha, this is practically a provocation to White Crescent. I wonder what kind of top laner TES will give 369 for the fifth pick?"

Right now. On the stage.

Team Tes

White Crescent frowned, staring at Zhao Xin under the shackles of his sword, and said speechlessly, "He's just messing around, enjoying himself, huh? But it's really disgusting."

"That old fox Abu is probably waiting for us to get the hero," Kasa said with a laugh.

It's just a Demacia Cup, so there's not much tension involved. It's only because all the teams fielded their main players this year that it felt a bit intense.

In previous years, he wouldn't have even played in the Demacia Cup.

"Give me a counter-attack, otherwise we're playing too passively," 369 chimed in.

This time, he didn't feel good; it was as if something had been stripped away from him, and he lacked the confidence to carry the game.

White Crescent understood this and instructed the support prophet to lock down Kennen.

At this moment, many people were amazed by Edg's incredible draft picks.

Even the commentators saw the foreshadowing Edg had laid during the draft phase.

Countless comments instantly filled the entire screen.

"66666"

"You picked Kennen for the counter-pick position, oh my god, White Crescent."

"Top Esports, who originally had a counter pick, is now being countered by EDG instead, 6666."

"Abu is still shrewd as ever."

Edg burst into laughter when they saw the opponent pick Kennen as their fifth pick.

"It looks like this game is going to be tough for Kaka. The only lane he can gank is mid. Scout is playing Sylas, and he might steal Kennen's ultimate. Tsk tsk tsk."

Abu, who had been invisible throughout, smiled helplessly: "We put too much pressure on them in the laning phase, leaving them with few options."

After finishing speaking, he took off his headphones, walked to the center of the stage, shook hands with the white crescent moon on his face that seemed to say, "You're such a cunning old fox," and then shrugged, tacitly accepting the blame.

After the ban/pick phase ended and there were no objections, the game officially began.

Edg (Red) vs Tes (Blue)
Top Lane: Aatrox vs. Kennen
Jungle: Xin Zhao vs Taliyah
Mid Lane: Sylas vs. Qiyana

ADC: Xayah vs Miss Fortune
Support: Gragas vs Braum
Top Esports (TES) lacks a strong foundation and its fans aren't very loyal, so the audience at the match was generally happy.

After a period of loading, everyone entered the game.

Without hesitation, Li Luo bought a jungle item and a scanner and headed towards the red buff for the red team.

Since Zhao Xin has been chosen, Li Luo must counter-jungle effectively in the early game, starting from the first buff.

As for soloing the enemy Taliyah in the jungle, that requires the right timing and location.

In fact, as long as Xin Zhao's economy is 800 gold higher than Taliyah's, he can easily kill Taliyah.

Casa was aware of this as well.

So at the beginning, Taliyah headed towards the upper jungle, placed her wards in the river, and went back to base to switch to a scanner.

All of this was clearly seen by Li Luo, who was hiding in the bushes.

When the summer split starts, most junglers or top laners won't place wards here at the start of the game. But at the beginning of S10, a large number of players still liked to place wards in the river to scout the opponent's movements.

For example, players like Karsa who rely on vision control can't change this.

The Aatrox, summoned by Flandre, and the two of them happily devoured the ward right in front of all five members of Top Esports, gaining experience in the process.

Once Aatrox gets online and finishes a wave of minions, he'll reach level 2, instantly shattering Kennen's dream of using his long range to pressure Kennen's health in the early game.

On the other side, after seeing the wards being cleared, Casa took a deep breath and forcibly suppressed the agitation in his heart.

Mindset is something that can't always be predicted.

He transferred to Tes this season with the intention of competing for the championship, but RNG strengthened their roster with JackeyLove as soon as he left, which made him very upset.

At this moment, facing Zaozi, Casa's competitive spirit made him want to prove himself.

After playing in so many competitions over the years, this is the first time that the Demacia Cup has brought me any more tension than when Flash Wolves made it to the World Championship.

Exhaling, Casa became focused.

On Edg's side, the group chatted and laughed, not taking it too seriously.

In regular matches, the draft phase often determines half the outcome, and this isn't just a saying. With the current lineups and identical items on both sides, the win rate in team fights is about 70/30.

With the level 1 red buff refreshed, after calling on Zaozi and Meiko to attack a few more times, Zhao Xin activated his first buff faster than Taliyah.

The time difference is two seconds!

On the other side, after helping Taliyah, Braum went to the bushes in the river and placed his ward.

This scene amused even the commentators.

"Hey, Top Esports' move is pretty clever. Are they trying to prevent Clearlove from invading their jungle?"

"In previous games, Clearlove always liked to make plays in the bot lane and jungle early on. It seems like Top Esports did their homework and studied this carefully. However, they wasted their time warding this time. Clearlove also knows his focus this game. As long as he ensures the mid and top laners develop, he can finish the game in team fights. He's not in a hurry at all."

In the game, Top Esports did their homework thoroughly, but Edg didn't buy it.

Zhao Xin started farming normally in the lower jungle and finished off the red buff.

On the other side, after starting with blue buff, Taliyah also chose to pull a wave of Gromp near the ward to ensure that she could reach level three with her three jungle camps.

The minions went online, and the three lanes began their laning phase smoothly.

"The factory manager suddenly started playing defensively this game, it's really a bit 'unusual', hahaha," Teacher said with a smile as he watched Zhao Xin not actively invading the enemy jungle.

"Edg didn't actually need Xin Zhao to gank aggressively in this game. As long as he could prevent Taliyah from easily attacking in the jungle, that would be enough. Besides, it's not easy for Top Esports to gank any of their three lanes. Wait, wait, I was wrong! What is Xin Zhao trying to do?"

Top Esports' "legendary" Cat Emperor had a sarcastic look on his face, almost saying that Zhao Xin was useless this game, but before he could finish speaking, Zhao Xin's actions quickly proved him wrong.

After clearing the red buff and finishing his jungle, Zhao Xin followed almost the same route the bottom lane had taken, heading straight for the bottom lane's tri-bush.

"Are they going to gank? Is Xin Zhao going to stay in lane at level two? Top Esports' bot lane didn't realize this, but Miss Fortune and Braum both have their summoner spells up; they're unkillable."

At the same time, within the Edg team, Meiko also said, "Mingkai, we can't kill him this time. You've exposed your position, and the enemy might try to steal your blue buff."

"No way, even if you manage to get Flash, it won't do any good. Their combination is pretty strong in the early game." Zaozi also didn't understand Li Luo's intentions.

"Who said I was going to gank the bottom lane? Save your skills for a 3v3," Li Luo said. Zhao Xin on the field also crossed the tri-bush. No one expected Zhao Xin to gank the bottom lane when both summoner spells were available. Top Esports also saved their wards and didn't place them immediately.

The bot lane had just started laning, and Hope, who transferred to Top Esports, played very steadily. Under these circumstances, the Braum and Miss Fortune combination was unlikely to be killed.

"Here it comes, here it comes, the factory manager's classic level 2 gank, but this time it's a bit of a waste of time, Taliyah has already taken down the Gromp, so what do you say, should we continue?"

The moment Zhao Xin appeared in the game's view, the Prophet immediately noticed it, paused for a moment, then smiled:

"Hey bro, let's try 3v3."

A wave of inexplicable confidence rose in the prophet's heart; he possessed such immense power that even he did not know why he had this confidence.

Seeing Brown's actions, Li Luo also laughed.

He's probably the only one in the world who knows about the Seer's skill, which is why he dared to take down the second level.

Wishing all readers a happy Lunar New Year's Eve, a happy family, and great fortune in the Year of the Ox!
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(End of this chapter)