Chapter 57: In Retrospect! The Duel of Dual Daggers Between Ka and Ji!

"Oh, they really swapped him back out? Haha, EDG is straight-up trolling!" Sun Yalong started firing directly in his livestream stream: "Why even bother making that switch? Had to swap, just had to, couldn't stand being 2-0, right?"

"Kind of hilarious, totally makes no sense~" Xika chimed in right on cue.

"It feels pretty obvious now that EDG is much better adapted to Ye Wen's system. That old guy Steal Saint's farm-heavy playstyle just doesn't cut it. Look at him, didn't he basically turn invisible out there~?"

Kid, hyped up to the max, didn't care about any of that. He was having the time of his life watching this match and couldn't help but roar with laughter.

"Mainly because that game was completely blown wide open in the mid lane! Rookie was swimming through the entire game dictating the tempo, this is Rookie for you! Keep farming all you want! By the time you finish farming, Rookie has already crushed all your teammates! Pure individual skill!"

Even though Kalista secured a pentakill at the very end.

The MVP of the match still indisputably went to Taliyah.

Come to think of it, EDG was clearly on the blue side, yet they chose not to pick Taliyah even after the opponents left her open, and nobody knew why.

The director's camera first cut to Scout walking off stage, wearing an expression of extreme constipation.

Then it panned to the audience, where only a small handful of red-fan-club members could be seen with their heads down, scrolling on their phones, the glowing screens illuminating their faces.

"It's over! Why do I feel like after this game, the Steal Saint is going to need to buy a massage chair? Otherwise, his butt might hurt from sitting on the substitute bench too long."

Just as Sun Yalong was about to use this topic to spin a narrative, a super-chat banner suddenly drifted across the top right corner of the livestream.

[Lee Yoe-chan's Little Natto - Super Chat 20,000: Can everyone not be so harsh on Scout? How many games has he missed? It's totally normal to be a bit rusty!]

[Lee Yoe-chan's Little Natto - Super Chat 50,000: EDG is so heartless, they replace someone just after losing one game!]

Before the streamer even noticed, the chat bullet comments instantly erupted into a fan war.

[Oh, awesome, last night the unanimous narrative was that he trained too hard and needed a chance, and now it turns out he's just rusty?]

[Too rusty, missing just three games = rusty, then what does just playing three professional games equal = ?]

[What the actual hell, and you're complaining about being replaced after one loss? Why don't you mention that they replaced someone even after winning the last match! And the one they replaced was the MVP!]

[It proves the Three Saints and One Emperor theorem: Chicken Saint > Steal Saint!]

[Pure EDG starch fans, can we win a streak first? I'm truly sick of losing streaks. Scout should probably just honestly stay put and meditate for a while.]

When Sun Yalong finally noticed the bullet comments and took a closer look at the super-chat messages, it was a god-given opportunity, and the urge to stir the pot became completely irresistible.

"Well, the streamer has to say a few words for Lee Na-chan. You guys are purely forcing a black-campaign here. Did Corki lose his lane this game, huh? Putting facts aside for a second, when you lose, isn't there anyone else to blame?!"

"Exactly, Brother Sun! The chat SC is getting totally unhinged; if you don't believe us, let's roll the VOD! I remember Corki was actually up by 2 cs against Taliyah at the five-minute mark!" Xika's C-attribute burst forth: "Lee Na-chan's laning ability is definitely undeniable. This game was solely lost in the draft!"

"What? His name isn't Lee Na-chan... Hehe, really, is that so?"

Sun Yalong suddenly put on a serious look: "To be honest with you guys though, this stream has always been the biggest supporter of Steal... Scout! Last year when we watched games privately, we always said this FMVP mid laner had zero problems!"

"Why didn't we ever mention it? Well, if we said it, you guys would accuse us of clout-chasing, there's just no point~"

"True, we're all old homies here," Xika's voice drifted out. "EDG is definitely our home team, my absolute favorite is Scout! Ye Wen ranks second at most!"

"Beauties! Start hyping up Scout! Our DYS values sincerity above all else!"

"Sincerity is sincerity, though. If Ye Wen carries again this game, then there's really nothing we can do, it'll be hard for the streamer to wash this clean~"

[Lee Yalong and Ye Haoyu, running a pure hedge fund, huh? They've gone completely insane from stirring the pot.]

[Chameleons are just like this, just switched back from Green Mood and still a bit out of it~]

[The streamer's whole deal is purity, trading true sincerity for sincerity!]

[Just got here, I was listening with the stream in the background, how did Lee Na-cha even show up?]

[The classic reading characters purely by their radicals. You can only say it's fortunate Master Ye has an easy name to read, otherwise God knows how his nickname would keep changing on DYS!]

[Getting a bit into dark humor here, beauties. How is it that someone missed three games and won everything, but the moment he plays, not only do they lose, they even hand the enemy a pentakill!]

Truth be told, last game couldn't entirely be blamed on Corki.

None of the EDG members actually made any huge mistakes. If anything, they simply reverted to their long-standing traditional gaming style, and nothing more.

However, EDG getting 2-0ed and shut down by V5 in the Spring Split actually proved that, at least when these two teams match up head-to-head, this tactical style simply does not work.

Those two games in the spring—Rookie playing mid lane Tryndamere in one and mid lane Galio in the other—similarly roamed and blasted both Ryze and Azir to pieces.

A horizontal comparison between Rookie and Scout, putting aside raw mechanics for a moment, has one most obvious difference: the former is far better at stylistic transitions.

He can lane when laning is needed, roam when roaming is needed, and play utility for the team when utility is needed.

As for Scout, whatever else might be said, without external pressure, making him play for the team is practically impossible; he genuinely isn't accustomed to it.

Because of his promise to Ahbu, since he failed to secure the win, he was swapped back out.

He didn't have the face to ask for another chance.

Yet he realized: weren't they supposed to be talking about this rookie losing and letting me come in to save the day?

How did it suddenly turn into him coming in to save *my* day instead?!

EDG's mysterious substitution drew quite a bit of criticism, but most people actually had their suspicions.

Moreover, it seemed to further substantiate the online rumors regarding the "Contract Incident."

However, the criticisms were mainly directed at the second game.

The repeated flip-flopping in the third game, on the contrary, received mostly praise, while the few dissenting voices merely disguised themselves as rational neutrals preaching human sentiments and reason.

After all, no matter what, the public opinion trend from the previous night was essentially about letting people prove themselves.

Well, the opportunity was given to you!

Yet although Scout didn't commit any massive errors, he truly didn't carry at all, even turning into an invisible man the entire match. He simply failed to step up!

There is no comparison without contrast.

Compared to Yone from the previous match, he looked like Supreme Lao Jun and Plankton!

One was high up in the heavens, while the other was at the bottom of the ocean!

And even if they wanted to talk about champion pools.

Since Taliyah was left open, why didn't you pick her yourself on blue side?

Or, to put it another way... why didn't V5 proactively ban Taliyah on the red side after seeing the substitution?

This was a question worth reflecting upon!

The livestream visual cut back to the caster desk.

"Alright! In the previous game, both sides fought to a 1-1 tie, and V5 has regained their form. The suspense of this clash between two winning-streak powerhouses is being kept right until the very end!"

"We need to inform the audience once again that EDG has made another roster change for the third game, with mid laner YE returning to the lineup. Of course, that's fine—we already discussed in the previous game that the two mid laners represent completely different tactical styles..."

The caster desk was still attempting to rationalize the decision.

The draft panel, however, was already revealed.

"Alright, the draft for the second round has begun! EDG is back on the red side once again!"

"It seems YE has been on the red side for both of his games..."

Miller quickly spoke up to interrupt his partner's dangerous internal monologue: "Right off the bat, V5 directly sends Yone—who YE played to absolute perfection in the opener—straight to the ban phase! Fair enough, at all costs, try not to give the opponent their warmed-up signature champion."

"EDG responds in kind by sending Taliyah to the ban phase!"

It is worth noting that the red side's sixth ban was used to disable Galio.

Although the red side has always been considered the disadvantaged drafting side, there are actually counter-play points they can exploit.

The first-round selection, the final ban of each round, and the fifth-pick counter position are all the drafting victory points for the red side.

Just like banning Galio at the very last second like this, even if the opponents had their suspicions, at most they could only choose to snap-pick it themselves, without being able to tack on another ban of their own.

"They banned Galio, so could they want to pick an assassin this game..." Nofe speculated.

"Yijin, what do you think?"

Buoyed by his performance in the previous game, Rookie was even more confident now and naturally had no reason to back down. "It's fine, I have plenty of champions I can play."

At the start of the summer split, which was also a massively revamped patch, all teams were still in the exploratory phase.

Therefore, the drafting at this stage was a rather formulaic script, with the first three picks barely differing from the first game.

Guessing that the opponent might want to contest the assassin, V5 proactively locked in Tahm Kench to secure the Senna-Kench combination.

EDG acquired the equally comfortable Aphelios-Thresh combo, and since the opposing support had already been locked in, they could secure Sejuani on the second pick—a champion from the current patch capable of flexible top-jungle flexing to liven up the draft.

Entering the second round of bans and picks.

EDG's fourth pick locked in first.

Ye Bo did not hesitate, nodding confidently to his teammates and coach.

"Let's take it!"

"My Akali doesn't even need the counter pick..."

When the icon of the Rogue Assassin lit up and her cold voice rang out:

*“An assassin who obeys no one is the most terrifying.”*

A small wave of commotion rippled across the venue, and cheers similarly erupted inside the livestream.

"Oh no! Ye Wen got pissed off from being swapped out! He's still locking it in early, this urban legend is actually coming true!"

"Let's see what Rookie is going to pick, holy cow!"

"They're playing for real!?"

"Turns out we really are getting a LeBlanc versus Akali matchup today!"

When Rookie saw this Akali, his expression visibly flickered.

Their very first encounter was with that Akali in solo queue, though back then the two sides were teammates.

Yet the various plays made by that Akali had indeed left a very deep impression on him.

Even before this match began, he had already anticipated the possibility of laning against Ye Bo's Akali, especially after the showcase with Yone in the opening game.

Thus, facing Nofe's inquiry, Rookie nodded in affirmation without the slightest hesitation.

He no longer chose an evasive champion; in this game, he would face his opponent head-on!

Ye Bo felt the exact same way.

He had equally been looking forward to laning directly against Rookie's LeBlanc.

Both lineups were locked in.

[Blue Side: V5 vs Red Side: EDG]

[Top Lane: Gnar vs Sejuani]

[Jungle: Wukong vs Viego]

[Mid Lane: LeBlanc vs Akali]

[ADC: Senna vs Aphelios]

[Support: Tahm Kench vs Thresh]