Outmaneuvered

"Anyone's Legend seemed a little confused too. After thinking it over for a long time, they locked in Taliyah and Jarvan IV. Taliyah is a champion Xiangkes often goes back to, and she can provide some support for the side lanes this game. That must be what they're thinking," PYL said on commentary.

Miller was clearly already impatient. "My curiosity is killing me. Let me see what IG are hiding for their top laner that lets them pick a lineup like this."

Lin Heng, in the fifth slot, knew everyone was curious and deliberately teased them.

"Riven? No way, you can't play her in this version."

"Fiora? Oh? Does TheShy want to split-push this game?"

"Kayle? That's probably not a good idea, is it?"

"Aatrox? He might be all right too?"

"Come on, Lin Heng, stop teasing us! I'm dying to know! How can this guy be so mean?"

"Gnar? That works. He's a decent pick and can add plenty of damage."

"K'Sante? K'Sante's a bit mediocre, isn't he?"

"Vladimir? Doesn't he take too long to scale?"

"All right, I get it. All the champions he's showing are Shy-ge's signature picks. Forget it, I'll just wait and see what he picks. You're keeping everyone in such suspense. Don't leave after work; I'll show you the might of a man from the northwest!" Miller joked.

Only in the final second was the champion picked.

"You've clearly given this a lot of thought!"

Shen, the Eye of Twilight, was locked in.

"?"

"?"

"?"

"?"

Everyone had a question mark over their head.

"After all that, they picked a really weak tank to coast through the game? What is this? What kind of lineup has Danny picked here?" Miller said, somewhat incredulous.

"Huh? Wait... don't rush..."

"Ashe top, Shen support!!!"

"Wait, wait, I need to process this Ban and Pick. Let me think, my brain can't keep up."

Miller's tone was exaggerated; he clearly couldn't accept the pick at all.

"I think I'm starting to get it. They're not fighting for lane priority bot this game, so they picked Ziggs for Uzi. Their main focus will be top. Their mid, jungle, and support—Twisted Fate, Nocturne, and Shen—are all very good at protecting the top lane.

"If Ashe gets ganked, there could easily be four people in the top lane at once! They're going to have TheShy apply as much pressure as possible, then use the level advantage from top to catch side laners and push towers."

"This Ban and Pick is brilliant! First they picked Ashe to break up Anyone's Legend's combo, then kept misleading Anyone's Legend throughout the draft. Just look at how Anyone's Legend banned Gwen and Caitlyn in the second round. They fell for it completely. Even we thought they were going to pick a top laner in the fifth slot.

"I have to say, this is brilliant. Ashe can build damage early and keep Sion suppressed, and she might even get a chance to take the top tower outright!" PYL said excitedly, seemingly grasping some of their ideas.

"And there's an even more brilliant part. It's a little frightening when you say it out loud." Miller looked at the five champions on the screen.

"Hmm?" PYL asked.

"TheShy's Ashe, Ning's Nocturne, Rookie's Twisted Fate, Uzi's Ziggs—none of them really seem to need a long time to practice, right?" Miller said.

"Now that you mention it, that's true. TheShy is definitely an expert with long-range champions like Ashe. There's no need to talk about mid and jungle; they already knew how to play those. Uzi played Ziggs less often because he wasn't popular back then, but his main job this game is to clear waves and help Ashe push towers. That's so easy."

PYL analyzed it in greater depth as well.

The lineups for the second game were now set.

IG: Ashe, Nocturne, Twisted Fate, Ziggs, Shen.

Anyone's Legend: Sion, Jarvan IV, Taliyah, Miss Fortune, Seraphine.

The chat:

[They're experimenting again.]

[Shen support is all right, isn't it? You can't really call that experimenting.]

[It's another ranged champion against a melee champion in Top Lane.]

[What the hell? You gave my GOAT Ziggs, a champion with no ADC soul?]

[Is winning the game more important, or is the ADC soul?]

[Nooo, Anyone's Legend is so mean. I wanted to see the god's Caitlyn!!!]

[Come on, man, you're still playing Taliyah mid in this version? She's nowhere near as good as J-shen's utility Taliyah support.]

[Taliyah really does no damage. I think she'd be better off playing Bunny in lane. Wouldn't it be better if she could keep Twisted Fate low in lane?]

[Feels like IG's lineup still lacks damage.]

[But they're really good at catching people alone, and their basic abilities are strong. It's the oldest global comp.]

[Is nobody really going to talk about this support? When will we get to see him play Lulu, Alistar, Nautilus, and champions like that?]

[Maybe he really can't play them. He only practices weird picks!]

As the viewers discussed it, the game had already begun.

The laning phase went just as everyone expected. As soon as they reached bot lane, Ziggs started throwing Qs to farm minions, paying attention to his positioning and last hits and ignoring everything else. He didn't interact with Anyone's Legend's bot lane at all.

Since Anyone's Legend had picked Miss Fortune and Seraphine, they weren't all that aggressive either, and the two easily took lane priority.

Lin Heng's Shen chose to sacrifice time getting to lane, heading to Top Lane at the start to place a ward in the second brush for TheShy.

Jungle Nocturne also found an opportunity to place a ward by the enemy Raptors to scout the opposing jungler's movements.

"Oh, this Ashe is already torturing him right from the start!" Miller couldn't help exclaiming when he saw Ashe already auto-attacking Sion.

"There's nothing he can do about it. Since they picked Ashe top, they absolutely have to build a huge advantage this game," PYL said.

"Right. If Ashe can't get a huge advantage to push towers, then IG's lineup doesn't work this game," Miller said.

"Mm, there's one crucial thing this game, and that's Tanzan's first move. He's clearing toward Top Lane, because he also knows there's nothing to be done bot this game. To put it plainly, bot won't even walk up to trade health with you. He definitely has to disrupt Ashe when he gets up there, or Top Lane will fall apart very quickly," PYL concluded.

"Right, so for IG, it comes down to how Ning protects the lane," Miller said.

But when Jarvan IV reached Top Lane on his first clear, everyone saw that Shen and Nocturne had already appeared together in the Top Lane river. Shen was helping Nocturne contest the Rift Scuttler while protecting Ashe as she applied pressure in Top Lane.

"Ah, Lin Heng even bought a control ward and placed it in the Top Lane river. He can afford to take a little less experience himself, but he's done absolutely everything to protect Top Lane. Now there's really no way to gank," Miller said with feeling.

"Seraphine was forced to roam along with him, but at most, she can only follow Shen and stop him from making a play with E-Flash. She's also very weak at starting fights."

"Oh, this Sion is having such a miserable time. Ashe keeps auto-attacking him. He can't clear a wave with Q and W until he gains some levels, and Ashe has already pushed the minions under his tower," PYL said.

"Investigate that turret thoroughly. It keeps going ding, ding, ding, but I haven't seen it hit Ashe once," Miller joked.