When an Alpha is Marked by One of His Own Kind

Chapter 28

DG was the blue team. HCG, red team. And so the first ban went to DG.
"Ban Elise," Er-Hua suggested. "If Daddy Lu doesn't take her, the other side definitely will."

Lu Zhe was unopposed to that.

Practically as soon as DG locked in their choice to ban Elise, their opponents fired back with the decision to ban Lee Sin. It seemed HCG had diligently done their homework; they knew Lu Zhe had been playing Lee Sin quite often as of late.

Immediately afterwards, the two teams took turns and banned Orianna, the Lady of Clockwork; Gragas, the Rabble Rouser; Lucian, the Purifier; and Pantheon, the Unbreakable Spear.

Then, DG got the first choice of champion. Lu Zhe spoke up: "Take Qiyana."

It was common knowledge that Qiyana was one of Qian Bao's strongest champions, but Lu Zhe had also used Qiyana as a jungler in official tournaments before. So this choice was a beautifully confusing tactic. Until DG's full team comp was revealed, HCG would have no way of knowing what role Qiyana would fill.

And so, HCG used their first pick to take Miss Fortune as their bottom lane AD. Then they took Jarvan IV as their jungler. Immediately afterwards, DG took the classic pair of Varus and Braum as their two bottom lane champions.

Commentator Jia's exceptionally enthusiastic voice rang out through the arena: "Looks like HCG's coach is communicating with the players-okay, HCG has locked in Rumble now. Miss Fortune in the bottom lane, Jarvan in the jungle, Rumble in the top lane. Let's take a look at how DG's Wolfy will respond to this."

A sweet, feminine voice made a timely interjection: "They have some options with Rumble. Playing Rumble in the mid lane with Jarvan in the jungle, and Miss Fortune in the bottom lane, is also a pretty good combination."

Commentator Jia quickly voiced his agreement: "Makes sense! Okay, now we're seeing that DG has banned Rakan, while HCG answered with a ban on Renekton! If I remember correctly, Wolf Cub has pulled out Renekton in a few games on the KR server. Looks like HCG really came prepared! They know everything about Captain Lu and Wolf Cub!"

As the commentators continued to analyze what they were seeing, the two teams locked in their final formations-

DG had Kennen in the top lane, Qiyana in the jungle, Ekko in the mid lane, and Varus and Braum in the bottom lane.

HCG would face them with Irelia, Jarvan IV, Rumble, Miss Fortune, and Nautilus.

......

"Everyone is probably just as excited as we are to see how DG will perform in the top and jungle today. Let's wait and see! The first week LPL summer tournament match between DG and HCG... starts now!"

The commentators' voices were completely blocked out by the players' headsets, and the voice channel was silent.

Shen Qiao equipped himself with a very conventional set of keystone runes. As soon as he finished buying his starting equipment, he headed out and made his way towards the top lane. Old Wo and Er-Hua headed for the bottom lane and joined Lu Zhe in the jungle to help him get a red buff.

On the other side, HCG's top laner and two bottom laners stuck to the river and let their Jarvan IV claim the red buff in their jungle. They were wary of DG, taking precautions to prevent them from grouping up. But DG had no intentions of doing such a thing in the first place. Both teams minded their own business, got their respective red buffs, and went back to their lanes.

As soon as Qian Bao came face-to-face with Rumble, she launched her ult without warning. She started wailing on her opponent and some minions all at the same time, ultimately reaching Level 4 before the rest of her team. She pressured Rumble all the way back to HCG's outer tower, where she prepared to trap him against the wall of the jungle and continue her assault.