You Call This Steady

"A relatively healthy sleep schedule! A relatively healthy sleep schedule! A relatively healthy sleep schedule!" x6

"For today's BO5, my prediction is that we'll likely go the full distance with the opposing team," Coach Homme said as soon as they entered the lounge, preemptively preparing the players. "The opposing coach, Bai Seyueya, isn't bad, but his weakness is also very obvious. His coaching style is to put popular meta picks in the first game and see if his team can handle them. In my opinion, that's just giving away a free win!"

Having the powerful duo of Caitlyn and Lucian in their lineup also gave Bai Seyueya's BP a bit of a strange flavor.

The idea was simple.

If he could win with popular meta picks, then the subsequent games would be a complete stomp, establishing an unbeatable position.

If they lost, they could always adjust their strategy later. With a roster of top-tier talent, he felt no fear.

"So, for our first game, we're going all out?" Luo Zhen's expression was a bit excited. A show of force like that sounded awesome!

"No, to be precise, everyone else will go all out. I'll still pick a utility AD for you first."

"Huh!?"

While coaches focus on BP during the game, they also need to pay attention to player matchups off the field. Compared to TES, V5 had a significant disadvantage: they were prone to being out-aged. TES, on the other hand, had no veterans in sight; their average age was shockingly young, which was a major headache for Coach Homme.

"Got it, so I'm the safety net, right? The one who never gets a legendary but always gets an epic."

After his coach's explanation, Luo Zhen finally understood his role: to be the fallback.

Of course, that was the AD's role anyway.

ADCs didn't really do much before 25 minutes, and everything depended on the ADC's performance after 35 minutes. As for the ten minutes in between?

Emmm...

They were probably either getting instantly killed or on their way to being instantly killed. Every team fight felt like an escape from an ancient temple.

With their strategic direction clarified, V5 officially stepped onto the finals stage.

Before heading on stage, Luo Zhen finally met the JKL of this world.

Just as troublesome, with the same puffy physique, the same protagonist template. The only difference was that the support who used to be by his side, the one who looked like a tough guy, was gone. Instead, it was Zhuo, a support Luo Zhen had barely heard of in his previous life.

Noticing his gaze, PPGOD smiled and directly elbowed Luo Zhen.

"What, trying to pull off an upset?"

He was all too familiar with that look. Almost every new player would have that soul-piercing gaze in their eyes when they saw a star player in their position.

It was ambition, killing intent, and the recklessness of a rookie.

The youthful spirit of young players was often hidden in such gazes.

"Yeah, a world champion. But this isn't like FPX the day before yesterday. LWX and Hang don't have much coordination yet, while JKL and Zhuo have clearly played together for a while."

"And us?"

"If you don't snore when you sleep, then it won't be too bad."

"Damn it, can we not bring that up?"

PPGOD had never experienced this feeling before. Perhaps it was because the team's losing streak had affected the atmosphere, or perhaps the previous AD wasn't as chatty and noisy as the current one. Compared to his various "former ADs," the current one was incredibly loud, disrupting his peace.

But...

It was precisely this nonsensical chatter and bickering that made him feel a sense of belonging in this team for the first time.

Recalling what the coach had said to them yesterday, PPGOD now felt a genuine urge to help this unruly guy achieve an upset.

"Hello?"

"What is it? Spit it out, your dad is adjusting his state."

"If things get messy, how confident are you?"

"One percent, maybe even lower. What, scared?" Luo Zhen provocatively asked PPGOD, honestly stating his expectations.

The gap was obvious. From his one-on-one tryouts with LWX over the past two days, he had deeply understood how much LWX had held back during the Demacia Cup semifinals.

Oh, it couldn't really be called holding back.

After all, the pressure from Rookie and Karsa was real. It could only be said that the opponent was forced to suppress their early-game capabilities, which allowed Luo Zhen to barely keep up.

However, when it came to one-on-one duels, Luo Zhen had never won a single custom match against LWX.

"One percent? That's enough," PPGOD mused internally, then smiled and extended his right hand to Luo Zhen. "In that case, are you ready to go to hell if we lose?"

"Well, I just came back from there, actually. I kind of miss it."

The two looked at each other and smiled, then reached out and firmly shook each other's right hands.

"The future champion AD, I firmly believe it."

"The future champion support, please take care of me."

Chapter Thirty-Eight: To get by in this world, you need connections.

Soon, a round of BANS:

TES: Caitlyn, Lee Sin, Xin Zhao

V5: Jinx, Lucian, Draven

Coach Homme's side directly picked three ADCs. Since they decided to target Bai Seyueya's arrogance, showing weakness in the first game was very necessary. They picked three ADCs, leaving only Aphelios open, to see if he would take it.

Aphelios is relatively weak this patch because it doesn't benefit much from Lethal Tempo's buffs, but as the only late-game hypercarry remaining outside of bans, its priority is still very high.

First Round Picks:

TES: Aphelios (First pick) + Thresh, Jarvan IV

V5: Corki, Leona (First and second picks), Poppy

Just from the first three picks and bans, V5 was already setting a trap for the opponent. They let TES pick Aphelios and Jarvan IV, then first-picked Corki, which is a must-pick this patch, followed by Poppy to counter Jarvan IV's engage.

They even kept Leona as a surprise pick, leaving TES a bit confused about their intentions.

The reason they dared to BP like this was simple: Tian's champion pool was too shallow at this point.

He could play Lee Sin or Jarvan IV, and if pushed, he'd bring out Viego. If he had absolutely no other options, he'd pick Olaf.

Yes, you heard that right. Gao Tiandi's champion pool was that limited at this time. Gao Tiandi's transformation didn't happen until the end of the Spring Split when TES, after trying different combinations and realizing Zhuo was the internal traitor, benched Zhuo. Only then did the team slowly recover and start their "Northern Expedition."

As for now?

With his current state, Tian, without Lee Sin or Viego in his pool, could only be considered a second-tier jungler in the league.

Second Round Bans: Jayce, Jax, EZ, Jhin

TES, as usual, chose to lock down the opponent's ADC options while also disrupting potential poke compositions. From Coach Homme's second round bans, it was evident that V5's strategy seemed to revolve around the top side. That's fine, they could directly counter-pick and target the bottom side.

With Leona as the support pick, what ADCs could the opponent possibly pick to synergize with her?

Kaisa?

Kaisa with Leona in this patch would get their heads blown off.

For their fourth pick, V5 directly locked in Graves.

Qing Tian's champion pool could be counted on one hand: Sett, Aatrox, Renekton, Lee Sin. Jayce was banned, so this Graves pick would prevent the opponent from playing their comfort picks, while the heroes they could play were not their comfort picks.

TES hesitated for a moment before finally picking Gnar and Syndra, who could synergize well with Jarvan IV.

At this point:

TES: Gnar (Top), Jarvan IV (Jungle), Syndra (Mid), Aphelios + Thresh (Bot)

A very standard lineup.

But... Coach Homme had been waiting for this.

"No problem, Xiao Zhen?"

"Absolutely, Coach. I won't die once this game, and I'll get an S-grade assist count!"

"Good, let's pick it!"

For V5's final pick, a champion that TES had overlooked all along suddenly appeared on the stage: Ziggs!

The moment the Ziggs icon appeared, even the casters on stage were startled.

"Ziggs + Leona. Wait, is V5 giving up on bot lane to focus on top and jungle?"

"Graves, Ziggs, Corki, with Poppy to counter engage. Is V5 running a triple poke composition???"

When V5's complete lineup was revealed, Coach Homme finally bared his BP fangs.

V5: Graves (Top), Poppy (Jungle), Corki (Mid), Ziggs + Leona (Bot)

If you want to fight over mid and jungle, you can't win.

But if my support can roam and leave Ziggs alone in the bot lane, would your Thresh dare to leave Aphelios alone in bot lane?

On one hand, I have Leona for initiation. On the other hand, I have Poppy to counter engage. The opportunity will be given to Corki, who has Yordle Snap Traps, to deliver the fatal blow. The minion wave issue will be handled by Ziggs' ultimate. With TES's lineup, once the top laner loses TP, V5's long-range wave clear alone would be enough to make TES scramble across the map, not to mention teamfights.

What's even more deadly is that this lineup clears waves very quickly. If you want to force an engage, you can't even push the wave. Theoretically, it's unbeatable.

Well, only theoretically.

Because this lineup also has obvious weaknesses. Early game, apart from Leona, there's hardly any hard crowd control, making it difficult for the jungler to make plays. In small skirmishes, if there's no number advantage, they can't win. And it still depends on the players' performance and whether they make mistakes, but this is already the most suitable BP Coach Homme could come up with for V5's current players, tailored to Bai Seyueya's personality.

In short: give the tempo to the top side.

As they were leaving for the stage, Coach Homme was still constantly reminding the players.

"Although the core of this game isn't you, Xiao Zhen, your task is very important."

"Try not to die in the bot lane. If you feel danger, you can give up the CS, as long as you're alive, being alive means you're constantly creating advantages for your teammates."

"Similarly, you must gain an advantage in the top side as early as possible to relieve pressure on the bot lane."

"The core of our operation this game is the minion wave. We'll use the minion wave to make the opponent move, make them run around exhaustedly, and then let Rookie's Corki with Yordle Snap Traps deliver the most fatal blow."

"Whether we can win this game is crucial to winning today's match. I believe in your mutual understanding and hard work. Focus, children!"

Thus, the match began.

As soon as they stepped out, both sides lined up to prevent invasions. Strictly speaking, neither lineup had much ability for level-one invasion. The most basic requirement for a level-one invasion is sufficient crowd control skills, and neither side had that.

But as the minion waves were about to spawn, Luo Zhen still had PPGod linger near the mid lane according to the coach's instructions, to see if the opponent would invade their top side and cause trouble.

The same goes for this match: to understand the opening, you first need to get a clear picture of both junglers' situations.

Karsa's Poppy this game plans to start at F6. The main reason is that Poppy is slow to clear camps early on. Starting at F6 and clearing the top side allows for maximum early-game strength, at least avoiding the situation of a blue start where he'd be hesitant to fight in a small skirmish in the jungle.

However, starting at F6 means the enemy is very likely to come and harass you, disrupting your jungle clear rhythm.

"Will they come?"

"Given Xiaotian's state, I also think they might invade to help their jungler gain an advantage. Let's wait and see, anyway, our bot lane has Ziggs."

"What's wrong with Ziggs? Believe it or not, I'll steal your first tower gold with an AW combo in the mid-game."

"Alright, alright, focus up. Whether we can get a big lead at the start depends on this moment."

Aside from Ziggs standing in the river bush in the bottom lane and Poppy at the F6 camp to draw attention, the rest of V5 were all hiding in the bush opposite the red buff. In front of them, the entrance to the jungle all the way to F6 was in full view. As long as the enemy dared to invade V5's territory, they would surely be sent back in defeat.

And at this moment, from a God's perspective, under the gaze of countless viewers, TES indeed gathered their top, mid, and jungle players. It looked like they genuinely intended to invade at level one and annoy Karsa.

The atmosphere gradually became tense.

[Holy crap, a bunch of sneaky players!]

[Here they come, here they come. Is TES really going to charge in?]

[Is this Coach Homme's prediction? A top coach, this terrifying?]

[Please always remember, in this world, through wind and rain, only the sneaky ones will be waiting for you.]

Under the scrutiny of countless eyes, the TES group, led by Jarvan IV, ultimately chose to invade V5's top jungle. Looking at the Poppy dancing alone in the F6 pit, Xiaotian even felt this opening was secure and was about to drive them away.

The next moment...

"Swish swish swish~"

Accompanied by a rustle from the river bush, Corki, Graves, and Leona—a total of three powerful champions—completely blocked TES's retreat path.

At this instant, Karsa's lips finally couldn't hold back a smile.