Debut

Sure enough, most of the viewers still watching the LPL were there for the entertainment.

Comments flooded the stream: [The Colonel gets me!]

With Guan Zeyuan and 957 setting the mood, both the venue and the comment feed soon came alive.

As the comments buzzed with heated discussion, the players began to take the stage.

This year, the LPL had made a slight change to the entrance order: the captain would go first, followed by the rest of the team.

Invictus Gaming's captain was still Rookie, while Weibo Gaming's captain was naturally Xiaohu.

The players came out one by one: Rookie, TheShy, Ning, Uzi, and Joker.

Cheers swept through the venue like a rising tide, and Lin Heng found himself feeling just a tiny bit nervous.

But to Lin Heng's surprise, Uzi seemed even more nervous than he was. Walking ahead of him, Uzi's hand even trembled a little as he greeted the crowd.

Lin Heng could more or less understand some of the reasons. After all, by choosing to come back now, Uzi had given up too much, and there was too much for him to consider.

The attention Uzi attracted was undoubtedly a treasure for the LPL's market and popularity as a whole.

But for his own esports career, that same attention was a curse.

Even with headphones on, the cheers inside the venue couldn't be drowned out, and comments were already flooding in across the various platforms.

TheShy's contract renewal, the Incheon Trident's reunion, and Uzi's latest comeback filled the streams with comments.

No one paid attention to Lin Heng, who walked at the back, apart from a handful of female Invictus Gaming fans who took screenshots to admire his looks after seeing him.

But against the immense hype surrounding the reassembled Invictus Gaming, all of that seemed especially insignificant.

The best way to protect a rookie was to minimize the attention and exposure they received, but on a team like this, was reducing his exposure really possible?

Clearly not. Every play Lin Heng made on screen would be magnified endlessly and picked apart.

But was Lin Heng afraid of that?

He had exchanged points for attributes like mechanics, game sense, teamfighting, game understanding, and champion pool. His mental, however, had been perfect from the start.

Sitting at his computer while the game loaded, Lin Heng joked with Uzi beside him.

"Bro Dog, I can really feel how your return has saved the entire LPL's popularity."

"Come on, don't do that. My hands are shaking a little right now. Don't put more pressure on me," Uzi replied with a smile.

"Why are you shaking? I'm the rookie here."

Lin Heng had actually started chatting with him to ease the pressure after seeing his hands shake. But since Uzi had brought it up, they might as well talk about it.

"I'm excited." Uzi kept moving his mouse with his right hand, while flexing the fingers of his left.

Lin Heng paused, then smiled. He was excited too.

Uzi's excitement might have come from returning to the stage and his desire to compete again, while Lin Heng's came from finally taking the first step and successfully making it into the LPL!

"All five players are ready. We're heading into the pick-and-ban phase!"

"That's right. We've had a major patch update, so everyone's understanding of the game has changed since Worlds. The priority of some champions has changed quite noticeably too," 957 said.

"Can we not mention Worlds?" Guan Zeyuan put on an expression of anguish.

"My bad." 957 played along.

"Still, we really do need to see how the pros understand the game now. Even though the patch has changed, to be honest, the pros may have a somewhat different understanding of the things summoners play in solo queue."

Guan Zeyuan brought this up as well.

But no one had to wonder for long, because picks and bans soon began.

The new patch had also made some adjustments to side selection. Instead of blue side getting the first ban and pick as before, side selection and pick-and-ban order were now chosen separately.

In other words, a team could choose blue side and pick and ban second, getting the counterpick.

Invictus Gaming chose blue side and the second pick-and-ban order, banning Jayce, Neeko, and Orianna with their first three bans.

Weibo Gaming banned Ambessa, Malphite, and Akali with theirs.

With plenty of champions still available in the first ban phase, neither side agonized over their choices, and it went quickly.

Weibo Gaming had the first pick and immediately took Varus.

Though Varus had been nerfed, he was still very strong in lane on this patch.

Clearly, Weibo Gaming intended to prioritize bot lane this game.

Invictus Gaming then picked Rumble, a champion who always performed very well in TheShy's hands.

Invictus Gaming also picked Pantheon, a jungler who was performing well on this patch.

Weibo Gaming chose Wukong and K'Sante with their second and third picks.

K'Sante had a fairly comfortable lane against Rumble because he could get through Rumble's strong early levels relatively easily.

After level six, K'Sante would have a much easier time. If he stayed in good shape and found an opportunity to go all in, he could solo-kill Rumble.

On this patch, Ambessa and K'Sante were still the most frequently picked top laners into Rumble. Some other champions were at a disadvantage in lane.

Wukong was also a very good fighter jungler for the first game.

Finally, Invictus Gaming picked Taliyah third to pair with Pantheon.

Their extremely long-range, roam-oriented ultimates and abilities that comboed almost perfectly made them a very good mid-jungle duo for targeting the side lanes.

In the second ban phase, Invictus Gaming had already picked their mid laner, so they were bound to ban mid laners. They took out Syndra and LeBlanc, both of whom had been buffed on the current patch.

Weibo Gaming, meanwhile, banned Jhin and Sivir, two AD carries who could get through the bot lane fairly comfortably.

"What will Invictus Gaming pick for bot lane? They're going up against Varus, so there's some pressure there. And Sivir, who has a very comfortable lane against Varus, has been banned. Let's see what Uzi chooses. Right now, it's basically champions like Yunara and Miss Fortune."

At the casting desk, Guan Zeyuan, intentionally or not, steered the viewers' attention toward Uzi's pick in his first game back.

From champion select to his performance, this game would almost set the overall tone for his comeback.

"Uzi's picking Kai'Sa?!! We all know Kai'Sa was a champion Uzi used to play very well, and she's certainly great at ganking side lanes with Taliyah and Pantheon. But can Kai'Sa really lane against Varus? Won't he get poked to death? Her range is too short. He'd be better off picking Yunara, farming up, and teamfighting in the late game." Guan Zeyuan was clearly baffled by the Kai'Sa pick, but he remained respectful.

"But then again, it's been a long time since we've seen Uzi's Kai'Sa. Everyone's really getting their money's worth today."

Weibo Gaming then picked Ahri for Xiaohu to face Taliyah, a fairly good choice for both laning and roaming.

They also picked Alistar for support, a very solid champion who paired well with Kai'Sa, taking him away as a kind of ban.

"Oh, Weibo Gaming's composition is so solid! And with Ahri and Varus as their double carries, they have so much range and can kite so easily. On Invictus Gaming's side... huh?"

Guan Zeyuan stopped halfway through his sentence, as if frozen in place, because he had seen Invictus Gaming's fifth pick.

"So long, cage!"

The Unshackled—Sylas!