After the first round of banning, both sides calmly selected their heroes.
"So, the blue team, the challenger, will first pick the support Master Luban, not giving the opposing team a chance to get the Luban father-son duo," Li Jiu commented with a smile. "It seems they understand AG, oh no, they understand the defending team's preferred strategy very well."
"Yes, that's right." He nodded Xiaosa.
Li Jiu watched the live stream. "It's the red defending team's turn to choose heroes on the first and second floors. Which two positions will they choose?"
The hero selection countdown has ended.
The hero icons on the first and second floors of the red team are lit up.
They are the marksman Gongsun Li and the support Su Lie!
"So brave? Picking a marksman hero right away on the first floor?" Li Jiu was quite surprised. As everyone knows, Yinuo's main hero is Gongsun Li, and picking her is a guaranteed point, but he picked Gongsun Li in the first round.
This can no longer be described as confidence.
It's arrogance!
The AG fans in the audience waved flags and cheered, instantly creating a frenzy.
"They're back! They're all back! This is the fearless AG team I've always known!"
"Do you even understand the significance of Confident AG's ability to crush everything? Whether King-Titled Player or Champion Emperor, you'll all kneel before Confident AG!"
"AG doesn't need oxen to plow the fields, because AG itself is an ox!"
When it was the blue team's turn to choose a hero on the second floor, they didn't hesitate at all and immediately picked the marksman hero— Di Renjie!
"Are they really going at it?" Li Jiu asked in surprise.
First, there was AG captain Yinuo, who confidently locked in his signature hero Gongsun Li.
Then came the Vice Captain of the Imperial Crown, Jueying, who instantly locked onto his favorite hero, Di Renjie!
It's a clash of titans, full of tension!
The challenger team's bottom lane duo is Master Luban + Di Renjie, while the defending team's duo is Su Lie + Gongsun Li.
Li Jiu analyzed from a professional perspective, "Judging from the laning phase alone, the two bot lane duos are evenly matched. Whether they can gain an advantage in the lane depends on the players' micro-management skills in actual combat."
"Yes, that's right." He nodded Xiaosa.
The second round of reversals began, and as expected, AG carried out their plan against Exalted Emperor to the end!
The remaining three positions are: Charlotte, Yuan Ge, and Sikong Zhen.
A murmur of surprise rippled through the room.
"Holy crap! Five kills on a Exalted Emperor lane champion? That's insane, inhuman!"
"Holy crap, Exalted Emperor is just a newbie streamer, and you guys are bullying and targeting him? Is there no law or justice left?"
"All of Exalted Emperor's signature top lane heroes have been banned. Does AG want him to just play with thin air?"
AG's actions against Exalted Emperor have drawn criticism from many viewers.
From the commentary booth, Li Jiu had a complete view, but he didn't speak out as righteously as before. After all, when he commented on the Wolves' match-fixing, he said, "The most fleeting things in life are beauty and youth, like flowers falling from trees."
He almost ruined his commentary career.
The second round of hero selection has begun.
The blue challenger has locked in [Lan].
"Wow! The answer explains everything." Xiaosa clapped his hands loudly, "Just as everyone expected, in this important competition for the title of Overlord, Huahai indeed brought out his signature hero, Lan!"
The fans of Huahai in the audience were extremely excited, after all, they had never seen Huahai play Lan since Huahai retired and became a streamer.
It's the other person's turn to choose.
The red team, defending their position, has locked in Cao Cao, the hero of this version!
"The defending team has chosen to give Xuanran Cao Cao." Li Jiu nodded. "This is an extremely wise choice. Cao Cao has high damage, is tanky, has excellent mobility, and burst damage, making him a solid T0-level champion in the top lane!"
"Yes," Xiaosa nodded in agreement, "Even the veteran lane bully Kaizer couldn't gain any advantage over Cao Cao, so you can imagine how strong he is."
Li Jiu stared at the live stream screen. "It's the blue team's turn to choose. The fourth player instantly locked in Chang'e, a strong mid-laner in this version. So only the top lane hasn't been chosen yet. We can look forward to Exalted Emperor's pick!"
The entire audience held their breath.
Three seconds later.
As the hero icon on the fifth floor lit up, a cold, deep, reverberant voice rang out.
"Conquer! In the name of winter!"
" Guan Yu?"
At the competition venue, Huahai was furious, his mind buzzing. "Hey Exalted Emperor, you said you'd play a fun top lane hero with crowd control, why did you pick Guan Yu?"
Su Hang glanced at him and said, "Can't Guan Yu use crowd control?"
"You can fight, you can," Huahai complained, "But the enemy team has too many crowd control heroes, like support Su Lie and mid laner Wang Zhaojun. Your Guan Yu probably won't even get into the fray before they break your horse's legs."
"Fine."
Su Hang smiled and said, "I have the skills."
In short, Huahai forcibly muted his microphone. You should know that Guan Yu is the hero that best reflects the skill level of the top laner, and he is extremely skill-dependent.
Huahai hesitated for a moment, then tentatively asked, "Brother Exalted Emperor, what level is your Guan Yu?"
Su Hang succinctly replied, "National 1."
"That's good." Huahai breathed a sigh of relief.
But when they saw the Summoner Spells that the Exalted Emperor possessed, they were instantly dumbfounded.
"Damn it! Stop messing around, Brother Exalted Emperor."
Commentary booth.
"So we see that Exalted Emperor chose Guan Yu to fight." Li Jiu's eyes flashed with shock. "This choice is not wise."
Xiao Sa said with Xiaosa and doubt, "The red team's support, Su Lie, can deter and counter Guan Yu. Now that the mid laner has picked Wang Zhaojun, once a team fight starts, Guan Yu's horse legs will definitely be broken, and he won't be able to run at all."
"Although Guan Yu has received multiple buffs in the current version, including the ability to heal while eating grass and accumulate movement speed while remaining stationary in bushes... Guan Yu still only ranks as a T2 hero in the top lane!"
"Why did Exalted Emperor choose Guan Yu, when there were clearly better options available?"
Not only were Li Jiu and Xiaosa completely bewildered.
Even the audience members were completely baffled.
"A baffling move! What exactly is Exalted Emperor planning? Is it Guan Yu forced choice due to circumstances, or a last resort?"
"I think Exalted Emperor is senile. Now that the lineup is finalized, tell me, in the late-game team fights, who can Exalted Emperor's Guan Yu take down?"
"Let's not talk about the late game. Just look at the early laning phase. Xuanran's Cao Cao, who's at Tier 0, can completely dominate Exalted Emperor's Guan Yu, who's at Tier 2!"
"Haha, case solved, brothers! Exalted Emperor is only good at one-on-one matches, he has absolutely no idea which heroes to choose for team matches!"
"Damn it! Exalted Emperor has really become a weakness. With AG's lineup, targeting Exalted Emperor's Guan Yu is a piece of cake."
"Even picking Lian Po would be better than Guan Yu. What a waste of such a good roster! AG will definitely dominate the top lane!"
The audience below the stage were chattering and discussing amongst themselves.
Before they could react, something even more shocking happened!
In the final adjustment phase between the two teams, Exalted Emperor surprisingly changed his Summoner Spell from Sprint to Flash!
Holy crap! Guan Yu Flash?!
The entire audience was completely dumbfounded!