A Support with Shields and Crowd Control

Since Royal Never Give Up's club was already based in Shanghai, Lin Heng hadn't left the city after losing his job.

As it happened, Invictus Gaming's base was also in Shanghai, so he got there shortly afterward the next day.

By the time he was brought into the training room, a crowd of people were already seated inside.

When they saw Lin Heng being led in, everyone turned to look at him, some sizing him up and scrutinizing him.

They were all curious who the club had chosen as its support after passing on Meiko and Ming.

Seeing the unfamiliar face, everyone looked a little bewildered.

Lin Heng didn't give it that much thought. As soon as he saw the group, he pulled a notebook and pen straight out of his backpack without another word.

"Holy crap~ Brother Wei, I'm your fan! I've really liked you ever since your Royal Never Give Up days. Your jungling is insanely intuitive!~ Can I get your autograph?"

"Brother TheShy, I finally get to meet you in person! I'm your fan! Here, sign right here... yeah, that's it..."

"Brother Rookie, thanks for all your hard work this year. Sure enough, Song Yijin is someone we can always believe in."

"King Ning! I saw you from way over there. You're so tall, you're like a city wall... bah, you're so handsome! I'm your fan..."

"God! I knew the rumors weren't groundless. You really came! I'm seriously your fan! Here, give me an autograph..."

Once Uzi finished signing, Meiko, who was sitting at the far end, cleared his throat and was about to take the notebook when Lin Heng put it back in his backpack. Come on, we're competitors. How could I ask you for an autograph?

"All right, the fan meet-and-greet is over. We've got a scrim scheduled and we're just waiting on you. Hurry up and log in. We're playing on Summoner's Rift," the manager called out urgently.

"Got it!"

Lin Heng sat down at an empty computer and quickly logged into his account. As soon as he got on, he saw an invitation and accepted it without thinking.

The instant he entered the room, Lin Heng felt a cold wind brush the back of his neck. The hairs on his skin stood on end, and he felt as though daggers were pointed at his back.

Lin Heng unleashed the fastest hand speed of his life and instantly left the room, but he felt like their gazes were still locked on him.

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His teammates turned to look at Lin Heng. Wasn't this guy just saying he was our fan? You call this a fan? Isn't he just a hater?

Lin Heng's toes curled. At that moment, he wished he were an excavator so he could dig a hole and crawl into it.

"Damn! How did I forget about that? This ID itself is part of the whole troublemaking act, but using it now could cost me my job."

At that moment, only one voice asked curiously, "What's wrong? Oh? Didn't you just come in? Why did you leave again?"

The room fell silent for two seconds before Lin Heng said awkwardly, "This is my friend's account. I shouldn't keep using his account to play, so let me find another one."

It wasn't until the game started that Lin Heng let out a long breath. With a moment to spare, he asked:

"Who are we scrimming against?"

"BLG. They want to try out a new lineup too."

"Oh~ them. That's fine, then. Not much pressure."

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His teammates looked utterly baffled, but there was nothing they could do. Whatever this guy's skill level was, he sure knew how to boast.

Ning was playing jungle this match. Maybe they really did think Ning would draw more attention than Wei, and since Ning was also an old teammate of their mid and top laners, they'd brought him in for the tryout as well.

Today's scrim was a best-of-three, fully simulating a real match, starting with the Ban and Pick phase.

For the first game, Invictus Gaming was on the red side.

After both sides went through the standard bans of Azir, Orianna, Rell, Dr. Mundo, Poppy, and Sivir, they began picking champions.

On the blue side, BLG first-picked Wukong jungle.

Invictus Gaming picked Taliyah and Xin Zhao in its first two slots.

BLG followed up with Ryze and Rumble. Although Rumble wasn't particularly strong in this patch, if your opponent's ID was TheShy, taking him away was definitely a sound choice.

Invictus Gaming then picked Ezreal in its third slot, a decent choice in the current patch.

With its AD carry picked, Invictus Gaming naturally banned Corki and Varus in the final two ban slots.

BLG banned Neeko, who was unbeatable paired with Ezreal, and Ambessa for top lane.

In the fourth slot, Invictus Gaming picked Galio for TheShy to play in lane.

BLG went straight for its bot-lane duo in the fourth and fifth slots: Caitlyn and Elise.

Clearly, BLG had no intention of backing down. You picked Ezreal because you want to fight in lane, so why would Viper and ON shy away from you?

Why would we be afraid of an AD carry who hasn't played in years and an unknown support?

"God, what support do you want?" Lin Heng asked.

"Come on, you're too much~ Don't call me God. Uzi or Zihao is fine. If nothing else, you can call me Puppy."

Uzi was clearly in a much better frame of mind than when he was younger. Joking around, he continued:

"Pick a support with crowd control and a shield. Just not Pantheon."

Behind them, Coach Danny was still asking, "Karma? Lux?"

This tryout decides whether you'll have a job next year, Lin Heng! Don't screw around!

Lin Heng kept trying to talk himself out of it, but his hands had already locked in the champion.

"Precision is the difference between a butcher and a surgeon." Camille was locked in.

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Seeing this, Danny immediately gave Lin Heng a delighted thumbs-up from behind him.

"Awesome," he said in halting Chinese. Clearly, he was very pleased with the pick.

The two lineups were finalized:

Invictus Gaming: Galio, Xin Zhao, Taliyah, Ezreal, Camille.

BLG: Rumble, Wukong, Ryze, Caitlyn, Elise.

There was a period when Camille had been played as a support, but picking her as support in the current patch was definitely not a very wise choice.

But with Galio on your team and the enemy's two carries being Ryze and Caitlyn, champions who feared being jumped on, who could resist picking Camille?

At first glance, the Camille pick was a little puzzling, but it made perfect sense in the context of the whole lineup.

Besides, if you picked Elise and Caitlyn to dominate the lane, there were two things you feared: extremely accurate hooks and point-blank engages.

Camille fit the second category perfectly. She could get right in Caitlyn's face to engage and also had very good damage in the early game.

Combined with Ezreal's passive in the early game, their damage was every bit a match for Elise and Caitlyn's. Once Caitlyn and Elise reached their weak period in the mid game, they could get in Caitlyn's face and suppress her at will.

They entered the game.

Uzi had already taken part in several scrims recently, so the manager and the club had a general idea of his current form and skill.

TheShy and Rookie went without saying. The main focus of this match was the currently crucial mid-jungle pairing.

The jungler in particular: Ning had only arrived today, and whether he still had what it took to compete was key to assembling the All-Star Class. The support position was less of a concern. If this one didn't work out, they could switch him out, and if all else failed, they still had Meiko to fall back on.

"Brother Ning, gank bot at level two?" Lin Heng asked outright.

"They picked Elise and Caitlyn. Even a pig could figure out they're going to target bot this game. How are we supposed to gank bot at level two?" Ning was nothing if not blunt.

"It's reverse psychology. Are we doing it or not?" Lin Heng continued trying to coax him.

"This game is meant to test you two. Don't blow it and get yourselves sent packing. Play it safe."

Rookie suddenly interjected. Though it was a warning, it was well-intentioned.

Hearing that, Ning got fired up instead. "Whoever chickens out is a grandson. Let's get them!"